NASHOSPHERE

Innovative interplay

As a Biology teacher with dual certification in Communication Arts, I feel thrilled when the two disciplines can be creatively interwoven.  When my high school implemented a building wide read-aloud model two years ago (we require a minimum five minute teacher led read aloud every period in every classroom) I was truly excited!  Now I had an actual excuse to read in class with my students every single period.

Because of this, I am always on the lookout for interesting items to weave into and “update” the curriculum.   Discoveries in the life sciences change the content so frequently that textbooks become obsolete just a few years into adoption.  Using short web-based readings is a cheap and effective way to freshen the content and, often, to bring in primary resources.

Alternatively, the read aloud can be used as a way to add relevance by integrating high interest pieces that challenge and motivate teenage students.  For example, the past few years in my Zoology course, we have read excerpts from Mary Roach’s novel Stiff. The sordid and sundry details of the history of human dissection or cadaver crash test dummies seem to provide a rather gripping way to engage students using text with a high reading level.

So here’s what I’m thinking

Last year during our study of genetics, I incorporated information about certain genetic disorders from Learn.Genetics. Specifically, I used readings from the “disorder pyramid,” so students could see the different “levels” of genetic disorders, from single gene to multi-factorial conditions.  This website also incorporates still images as well as video clips so students can better visualize concepts.  After introducing the site on the first day, I allowed students to determine subsequent readings.

Just this past July, I found a website that really inspired me.  The Human Genre Project is the perfect interplay of literature and science. The website displays a colorful interactive karyotype of the 23 human chromosome pairs.  For example, a click of chromosome #11 brings up poetry or short stories related to that particular chromosome.  Attached to this chromosome is a short story entitled, “Seeing Light.”  Written about the PAX6 gene, it deals with the evolutionary development of what we would call the sense of sight. Ideally, a specific gene could serve as the writer’s muse, but some of the works are about the actual chromosomes themselves. One of my personal favorites is from chromosome X and is featured with permission of the artist at the end of this post.

The value I intend to add this year comes from the use of both websites in tandem.  In other words, I plan to begin with a more information-focused reading from Learn.Genetics , followed by a more artistic piece from The Human Genre Project.  I hope that this will not only appeal to a wider spectrum of students in the classroom, but will also serve to show that scientists aren’t a bunch of grey-haired old guys in white lab coats.

What are you thinking?

Am I weird here? Would you be comfortable discussing elements of poetry with your Biology students?  Am I the only biology teacher focused on the literary side of the field?  At times I wonder how much of an oddity my dual background in both Biology and English makes me.  However, my husband, friend, and coach also tends to align with me on this, and he doesn’t have a formal background in Language Arts.  So perhaps I’m not so odd after all.  Or maybe we both are.  This is certainly possible.

PS- The Human Genre Project is still accepting submissions.  Anyone interested?  ;)

Thanks to

All of my students aren’t just naturally interested in science? I have to actively engage them in some way? They don’t want to sit quietly, listen, and write down all of the details scientists have already discovered? According to constructivist ideals, learners need to develop their own knowledge, and any time they encounter something new, they build upon pre-existing knowledge. First however, they must be interested in what they are learning.

Engage is the first stage of the 5E lesson format from BSCS- often used in science classrooms. It is similar to the “anticipatory set” put forth in the Madeline Hunter model. In both designs, these represent the portion of the lesson when the teacher tries to show his/her students why their upcoming lesson is interesting and relevant. The instructor attempts to evoke the curiosity of students by stimulating them with some captivating topic. For example, teachers may tell an interesting story. In science, we often stage demos or incorporate a “discrepant event.”

Enter Animoto for education. Animoto is an application that allows its users to upload music and pictures, and it does the actual work of customizing the video. Registration for Animoto has always been “free.” However – this free-ness limits the user to the creation of a 30 second short video. When making a free video, one could upload anywhere from 10-15 images– less if text is included. Constructing a short video is great for certain projects, but what I have found is that once I begin my creation, I tend to want to make it longer than 30 seconds. When I started experimenting with Animoto, this was a small problem. Either I would end up paying three dollars to make a full-length video or fork over thirty dollars for a full year account.

However, if you are an educator, not only are you eligible for a free full-access account, but your students can also make videos for projects in your classroom using the same link. Easy, huh?

Animoto is Engaging

To this point, I have mostly seen both teachers and students use Animoto as more of a culminating project. “Here is a video of what we did.” However, Stacy Baker, a colleague on The Synapse and a fellow “Tweeter,” uses Animoto within the classroom to illustrate what her students will encounter. She uses Animoto to create movie trailers for upcoming units. Why is this idea educationally sound? Because you can use a short video to engage your students over what is coming up in your classroom.

Below is a movie trailer I created for my Zoology students for our upcoming unit on Mollusks. The creation of the movie was fun, relatively easy, and I felt like I really constructed something that I was proud of.

I also have a hunch that students will find this interesting in the classroom. Too often in secondary science, teachers find they are trying to illustrate abstract concepts to students with precious little schema. This is difficult when students can’t physically encounter the object to explore and investigate. This is also exactly why engaging them with a three-minute movie trailer to start off the unit is such a solid approach. The students are confronted with the “big picture” of the upcoming unit of study… and are allowed to connect it to their own framework of knowledge. The only challenge remaining? Be certain to create such an engaging overview that it really does provide something to connect to.