Personal Learning Path

MS-LS1-3 Construct an explanation supported by evidence for how the body is composed of interacting systems consisting of cells, tissues, and organs working together to maintain homeostasis. My goal for this week is to make an engaging lesson to introduce my students to the respiratory system. I started by posing this question to my students: If you were an engineer creating a set of artificial lungs, what design considerations would be important to think about? When I initially made the slides for this lesson, my cooperating teacher said the students may not have much to contribute to this discussion, because they hadn't been introduced to the respiratory system before. I chose to begin the lesson this way anyways, in order to see how they were able to think about the lungs and their function without much background knowledge. I was impressed to see that they came up with very innovative and thoughtful modifications, and we had a strong discussion as a class. Next, we watched th...

MS-LS1-1 Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different types and numbers of cells. MS-LS1-3 Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. When teaching science, I have found that using analogies is a great way to help students visualize something that is too small or abstract to see. One analogy I felt was particularly effective was that our bodies act like fish tanks. I used this analogy during the introduction of our homeostasis unit, after the definition of homeostasis was given: the ability of the body to keep itself stable, even when the internal or external environment changes. My students understood changes in the external environment very quickly. When it's very cold outside, your body shivers to keep you warm. When it's very hot, your body sweats to keep you cool. They were not as sure what internal environmental changes m...

MS-LS1-1 Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made up of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. During our microbiome unit, we had our students grow petri dishes using a swab of one group member's hand. We kept the petri dishes incubated, and the students took the dishes out each day to count and draw their colonies. At the end of a week, students graphed their data to display how their colonies had grown over time. However, I don't feel like students got as much out of the activity as I would have liked. For this week's learning post, I would like to find another lesson that incorporates petri dishes in a more meaningful way. After reading through a few lesson plans, I decided on one that I think would have created the most positive change in my classroom. The was presented by Teach Engineering and can be viewed here: https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/nyu_bacteria_activity1 In this activ...

MS-PS1-1 Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. My goal for this lesson was to incorporate literacy of scientific articles as well as emphasize the need for collaboration in science. We had previously introduced students to the molecular structure of solids, liquids, and gases, and were learning about how molecular and macro scale events related to each other. Students normally sit at tables of 4, so for this lesson I had each student at a table read a different article relating to a macro scale event that related to a phase change at the molecular scale. The four articles were about Old Faithful, Niagara Falls, Slot Canyons, and Glacier Caves. After students read their articles, they met in "expert groups", or groups of students who had all read the same article. In their expert groups, students filled out the section of a graphic organizer I made that corresponded to the phase change in their article. Student work ...

MS-LS1-1 All living things are made up of cells, which is the smallest unit that can be said to be alive. An organism may consist of one single cell or many different numbers and types of cells. MS-LS1-3 Construct an explanation supported by evidence for how the body is composed of interacting systems consisting of cells, tissues, and organs working together to maintain homeostasis. This week I was tasked with teaching an introductory lesson on the circulatory system to my seventh grade students. I remember learning about the circulatory system in middle and high school, and always having trouble remembering the different chambers and what their jobs were. In order to make the system more accessible to my students, I used areas in the classroom to represent different parts of the circulatory system. I projected a room map: Each stick figure represents one student stationed throughout the room. They each had task cards, instructing them where to send students tha...