PaytonKonekScienceMethods

  Week 6:  1.) This week in lab, we contined to look at the growth of our fast plants. We learned that the plants we are growing need to be cross-pollinated, and we did this by rubbing a dead bee against the flowers of our plants. In order to encourage the growth of seeds in our plants, we trimmed some of the buds. We also learned that plants have different female and male parts. Some of the male parts include the stamen, anther, and filament. The female parts include the pistil, stigma, and ovary. Finally, we talked about the natural and human-created challenges that impact the survival of turtles. We learned about this by reading a book, and playing a game. I was very surprised when I learned that the survival rate of turtles is about 1 in 1000.    In the lecture, we began talking about DNA. In this discussion, we learned how DNA is stored, expressed, and passed on.    4.) In lecture, I continued to get ideas for hands-on activities that I could include i...

  Week 5:  1.) This week in class, we learned about ecology. Ecology is the relationship between living things and their environment. We discussed three ecological concepts in class: ecosystems, habitats, and biomes. An ecosystem is a community of living and nonliving things that interact in an environment. A habitat is a specific place where particular organisms live. A biome is a large-scale category of ecosystem that has similar climate conditions and dominant types of plants and animals. There are six biomes: marine, forest, tundra, desert, grassland, and freshwater. We also learned about food chains vs. food webs. Food chains follow a singular path of energy flow. It describes who-eats-who, and starts with a producer, then proceeds to a consumer, etc. Food webs are more detailed and show how different living things in an ecosystem are related to what they eat. Finally, we discussed the 10% rule in a food chain. As you move up trophic levels, only 10% of the energy is reta...

Week 4:  1.) This week in lab, we learned about the 5E Model, which is used when developing lesson plans to help students develop their own understanding of science content and apply their knowledge to new material. The 5E Model consists of 5 components: engage, explore, explain, extend, and elaborate. In order to learn about the components, we created presentations that outlined the key points and the student and teacher roles for each. In engage, students interest in a topic is piqued. Explore gives students the opportunity to investigate a topic. Explain gives students the opportunity to show their developing understanding. In elaborate, students get to apply what they are learning. Finally, evauate gives the opportunity to assess a student's understanding. This model has a lot of similarities to the NGSS in the sense that it helps students develop a more complete understanding of course content. One thing that I really liked about the 5E Model is that it left a lot of opportuni...

  Week 3:  1.) This week in the lecture and lab, we explored the life cycles of different living things. One of the living things that we discussed, a butterfly, has 4 stages in its life cycle. The stages include the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and finally the butterfly. We also learned about the stages of the life cycle of a mealworm, which included egg, mealworm, pupa, and beetle. In class, we were given Play-Doh to recreate a life cycle of our choice. My group chose to make the life cycle of a frog. A frog goes through 4 stages which include egg, tadpole, froglet, and frog. We also discussed metamorphosis in class and watched a video of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. Metamorphosis is the process of changing from an immature state to an adult.   2.) Previously, I knew that living things go through life cycles. I had also learned about the life cycles of butterflies and mealworms. I could have probably stated the stages of a butterfly before class. However, I ...