Week 7

 

Week 7: 

1.) This week in the lab, we started by checking in on our fast plants. Our plant isn't doing too well and is barely hanging on. I'm scared to see what he looks like next week. Next, we discussed our reading on rubrics. Some of the pros of rubrics that we discussed were that they help teachers track students learning progression and identify areas of struggle. This will help the teacher make considerations to meet the needs of their students in future lessons. Then we continued our learning on DNA. We discussed the three proponents of protein synthesis, which are replication, transcription, and then translation. We then talked about the base proteins in DNA: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. Making DNA strands out of candy helped us visualize their structure. Finally, we completed a lab where we flipped a coin to determine the traits of a baby, which helped us learn about phenotypes and genotypes. 

 

3.) For the most part, I already had an understanding of all of the topics that we discussed in class this week. I remembered discussing the bases of DNA in another class but didn't remember the names of the bases, so the modeling activity was a good review. Also, I completed this almost exact baby lab in middle school. I remember having a lot of fun then. It was interesting to complete the activity again with a new lens, and it was also a good refresher. The newer content for me this week was our discussion on rubrics. I remember learning that rubrics can help teachers identify weaknesses, but using them to track learning progression was new to me. I also learned more about how rubrics can facilitate engagement and scaffolding for students. 

 

4.) I believe that the activities that we completed would work really well in an actual classroom. The DNA activity provides a group opportunity for students to visualize the structure of a DNA strand. Since I have already completed the activity in my K–12 setting, I can verify that it is very engaging for students and provides a group opportunity for them to learn about the content. 

 

 

5.) In terms of the content, I do not have many remaining questions, but I do have one regarding my plant. I wonder why it is growing so badly. Avery and I did our best to help it grow successfully.