ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: I want students to understand the fundamentals of science. By gaining this understanding, students will become confident in their science knowledge. This confidence will help them to be successful in a science related occupation if they so desire. I also want them to understand that learning is a life long experience and that hard work, respect for others, and communication skills will provide a strong foundation for any career they choose. Goal(s): Students will understand the physical features of an amphibian that allows them to live both in water and on land. Students will compare and contrast the anatomy of a frog to that of a human being.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: In what ways do amphibians represent an evolutionary bridge between aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates?Objectives: Students will understand how metamorphosis works. Students will identify dissection tools and their functions. Students will identify internal and external structures of frog anatomy. Students will infer what features of the frog’s anatomy and morphology lead us to classify it as an amphibian. Students will investigate the anatomical relationship between a frog and a human.

Assessment

What quiz and test items e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? To test for knowledge of frog anatomy and metamorphosis, I will use a quiz format for best answer. I will use a scope cam to give a more visible approach to frog parts. They will be asked to identify those parts that I point out. What academic prompts e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? A series of questions will be provided during the dissection. These questions check for understanding and promote critical thinking. The answers will then be shared and discussed with the rest of the class. Students will also be required to write an essay explaining procedures and everything they learned during their discovery. What performance tasks and projects e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product)  will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? Student groups (of two) will be required to make a presentation of their amphibian topic to the rest of the class. The presentation must require some form of technology. Presentations will be graded by a rubric. They will then be asked to answer class questions and interact in a professional manner. What other evidence e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? All evidence will be collected. This will include group samples, quizzes, essays, and presentation drafts and outlines.

Instructional Strategies

When I introduced this unit in Phase II, my original plan was to use an inquiry-based method of teaching. After completing phase II and reading information in phase III, I have decided to transform my unit into more of a project-based method. Although some of the unit will still be inquiry-based, I feel that a project-based method will enable the students to gain a greater knowledge of the information presented, and at the same give them a more “real world” experience by designing a portfolio. I have decided to form groups of three students with each person within the group assigned one or more of the assigned activities. Each person will be responsible for teaching the other people in their group the research that they have compiled. The group will then decide how they want to arrange their portfolio of information to best present it to other groups. By transfoming this to a project-based unit, students will learn how to communicate and rely on another for information, rather than me telling them. By having students recording and sharing results, they will become the teachers. This will help promote a higher-order method of thinking. In designing their portfolio, the students will be self directed to learning the objectives of this unit without them realizing that they are learning. In creating this portfolio, “real world” experiences of 1)making a quality project for a presentation and 2)competing with the the other groups, will enhance the learning process and bring out the best in each individual. By using the inquiry-based method and the project-based method, there will be a more cooperative learning environment that will benefit both the student and myself. I feel the students will gain a greater knowledge of the information presented, and at the same time, be motivated to possible further investigate this field of study.