Cell Unit Reflection.

Hello world.

Here are descriptions of all of the lessons I used for the cell unit. There are various handouts I have not included, but would be willing to provide at any time. There are three lessons, one lab, and one project. I administered a pre and post test for this unit. It took two weeks to get through this unit. I also have made comments on what worked and didn't work during each of these lessons.

Lesson 1: Notes on organelles. Students took notes on a powerpoint I created describing each organelle. Students were asked to draw each organelle, write down its function, and if it is found in animals, plants or both. This lesson took us about a period and a half to complete.

I think it was effective to have students draw each organelle. Next time I teach cells, I would like to organize my notes slightly differently and maybe include a "fun fact" about each organelle. I had a hard time limiting the information I gave them. I need to figure out how to determine what is most important about each organelle, and how to get that across. My mentor teacher talked about having each table research and then present an organelle. I like this, but I think I like giving them the information with frequent breaks for conversation better.

Lesson 2:  Cell membrane exploration. I used a lesson plan from CarbonTime curriculum that my mentor teacher uses. It is basically an exploration into how the cell membrane functions and the different jobs it has. Students worked in groups, read through the handout, colored, and described different aspects of the cell membrane. It took students about a period and a half to do this lesson.

This lesson was kind of an accident, but I loved it. I love the exploration qualities of the worksheet and how students have to build their knowledge of cell membranes throughout the packet. I also liked how it built on pre-existing knowledge students had gained in this year of biology.

Lesson 3: Now that students had an idea of each organelle individually, I had them cut out different organelles and paste them into a cell membrane for animal cells and a cell wall for plant cells.  I gave them one whole period to work through this project.

I also really liked this part of the unit. I framed it as a progression from individual organelles to a whole functioning unit, or cell. Additionally, there is a theme in this biology class of "building our own textbook" so I"m glad I made the decision to require each student to build both animal and plant cells .Some students had a great time doing this and others didn't. Next time for this one I would print out the instructions and have them tape that into their notebooks before I passed out the building supplies. I didn't do this and I think it would have been more beneficial to do so.

Lab: I broke the lab into two days. The first day, students went through a series of steps that introduced them to using a microscope. The next day I had students look at cheek and onion cells and draw them in their notebooks. They had conclusion questions they worked through at the conclusion of the lab.

The lab went really well. I made the onion cells for students and hand-held them through making the cheek cell slides as well. I would really like to get to a place where I can let that control go and allow students to do these types of things that they are completely capable of doing on their own. If I had let them do so, they would be less afraid to perform experiments with little instruction in college, which is terrifying if you haven't ever down so before.

Cell Analogy Project: The project was my favorite part of this unit. Students were asked to create an analogy about the cell. Some groups compared the cell to an airplane, the US, Seattle, the Seattle Center, all sorts of creative ideas.

By far my favorite. I will do this with any unit of cells I ever do. That said, I haven't assigned scores yet. I allowed students to present their cells in any way they wanted to. There are a lot of power points. I also should have built in more time do work on these projects in class, as well as having more project supplies on hand so they could do things other than power points in class. It was so fun to watch them present and hear how they think about cells. I was really nervous that they wouldn't have learned anything about cells and come up with these totally off-base analogies... but this was not the case. Some groups came up with the most elegant examples of various organelles. One group used our classroom as the analogy. My mentor teacher was labeled the nucleus (the control center) and me as the golgi apparatus. When this particular group of students came to me with their idea, I wasn't sure if it would work. When they explained that I am the golgi because I spread  information to all students (information representing various macromolecules in the cell), I was not only on board with their idea, but all of a sudden thinking about the golgi in a way I never have before. So cool.

Overall, creating and teaching this unit has taught me that organization is key to having the unit laid out, but having the flexibility to change questions, warm-ups or the flow of the unit if it is or isn't working. I also really like having a few lessons and lots of project-based learning to keep students engaged. I think their may be something said for shorter units with more focused content. This would mean more tests, but if they are smaller I think students would be okay with it.