Guide to Curriculum Units by Fellows of the Yale National Initiative 2013

by Katie I. Adams

"Kindergarten teachers get to do art and playtime; the upper grades are more academic." If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd have an incredible listening center! To outsiders, Kindergarten is filled with playtime, painting, and learning to write the ABC's. However, Kindergarten is packed with reading, adding, and writing several sentences on a focused topic—how the times have changed! Many state-adopted curriculums link a child's ability to print letters to his or her ability to "write" a sentence. I want to step away from this criterion by allowing my students to begin the writing process where it is developmentally appropriate and where written language has historically began—in drawing pictures.

As Kindergarten is often a child's first academic experience, I want my students to develop an enthusiasm for and confidence in their ability to "write." They need to understand that drawing pictures is a great way to share their ideas and that it is historically how many forms of written language were created. With this knowledge, they will feel a sense of pride in the work they create and will be eager to take the next steps in the writing process.

(Developed for English Language Arts-Writing, grade K; recommended for English Language Arts-Writing, grade K)

by April Higgins

What does a graphic novel have to do with civics?

This unit teaches students about the origin of governmental powers through an engaging and powerful graphic novel, The Girl Who Owned a City. The graphic novel outlines major themes in understanding the development of government such as theories about the state of nature and the social contract, instances of self-preservation, population growth, and structures of leadership. The essential question for the unit is, "Why does a government have certain powers?" By the end of this unit, the students will understand that the citizens agree to give up some of their personal freedoms to ensure that society is orderly and to protect their rights. A major component in this unit involves building a framework that the students can use when reading and discussing visual media. I will begin by teaching them about sequential art, and then I will introduce Scott McCloud's categories the relations of words to pictures. Finally, we will take a look at Williams Moebius's "Introduction to Picturebook Codes" to allow for in-depth conversations related to the composition of visual media.

(Developed for Social Studies, grade 6; recommended for Social Studies, U. S. History, and English Language Arts, grade 6-8)

by Kimberly Kellog Towne

This unit is designed for middle school art students, but it can easily be adapted to upper elementary and high school levels. The key concept is that students can have a positive influence on the world. After examining how art and literature facilitated change in the Victorian perception of animals, my sixth- grade students will create portraits of animals that will be reproduced as cards and given to the local SPCA to sell. The students will use oil pastels to create animal portraits and will complete a variety of activities that integrate writing and evaluating art. By connecting the novel Black Beauty and the art of Edwin Landseer and Harrison Weir with the idea that one person can make a change, I intend to have students understand that they can impact the world through their art, writing, and community service. By teaching this unit, I hope to give them a sense of empowerment. I want them to feel that they too, even if only in a small way, can bring positive change to the world.

(Developed for Art, grade 6; recommended for Art and English, Elementary, Middle, and High School grades)

by Sara Delman

The main challenge for my AP Literature students when studying the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex is reading and interpreting the chorus. It is densely worded and difficult, and I often get the feeling that students think of it almost as if it were a side note—one they don't really have to pay attention to in order to get the drift of the story. It's almost impossible to get them to ask questions about the chorus in order to find meaning, and in the past they've needed to have it spoon-fed to them. In this unit I'm attempting to teach Oedipus Rex by focusing mainly on the chorus and by teaching students about the important function of the chorus in classic Greek tragedy. I want both to pique their interest by uncovering the history of the chorus as well as comparing and contrasting the purpose of the chorus in classic tragedies with modern musicals that they are more familiar with. We will use images of the Greek theatre in addition to stills and clips from productions of Oedipus Rex and Broadway musicals to examine the role and function of the chorus in the tragedy.

(Developed for AP English Literature and Composition, grade 11; recommended for Honors English, grades 11-12, and English, grades 10-12)

by Patricia Kephart

Women of American history need to be taught in elementary schools. Our textbooks are stuck in the male-dominated twentieth century. We need to pull the teaching of history into the twenty-first century by stressing the contributions of women in order to complete the picture of American life. Our list of women should be multicultural, reflecting our population's true variety. The best way to introduce young children to history is by having them read picture books. Picture books blend the media of words and images, creating easily understood content. This is especially useful for teaching second-language learners. Students learn strategies for "reading" pictures. They refer back and forth between text and image to make meaning. Illustrations provoke discussion by giving students practice in debating concepts—a crucial prewriting step. Biography links informational text and good story telling. Not all picture books, however, are successful with young readers. This unit lays out what makes a good picture-book biography. The student reference bibliography at the end of the unit is a treasure trove. The list will give teachers a strong start in building their own library of books about great American women.

(Developed for Language Arts and History/Social Studies, grade 5; recommended for Language Arts, grades 2-6, and History/Social Studies, grade 5)

by Sheila McBride

"I read the words, but just didn't couldn't get any pictures in my head while I was reading." How can a teacher of reading help students visualize unfamiliar contexts? This unit offers an approach to using historical fiction in a middle-school English class to support and expand on what students are learning in Social Studies and vice versa. Forge, a young-adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, set during the American Revolution, puts a teen escaped slave, Curzon, in the context of a war, the contentious culture of slavery in a newborn country, and his conflicted feelings for a young slave girl, Isabel, whose own story of escape and rebellion is told in the companion book, National Book Award Finalist, Chains. Teachers might be tempted to pre-teach the historical context for this or other novels, but should they? This unit addresses new Common Core State Standards' recommendations in English Language Arts to downplay or eliminate the practice of "frontloading" reading with pre-reading lessons. Additionally, assignments in this unit are designed to help students critically evaluate the hypocrisy of our slave-owning Founding Fathers, while retaining empathy for them, some of whom appear in Forge, whose culture believed that only some "men are created equal."

(Developed for English Language Arts, grade 8; recommended for English Language Arts and possibly Social Studies, grades 6-8)

by Crecia L. Cipriano

The French language and culture often seem quite removed from the lives of my students. Whereas they see and hear evidence of the "point" of learning Spanish literally daily, it is often more difficult to convince them of the practical benefits of learning French. Although there are indeed plenty, perhaps the key is to finally drop the pretense that the competition is comparable in terms of present day, everyday relevance, and instead set our sights on the future, full as it is of possibility. Paris is the City of Lights! It's a city that begs to be dreamt of, that resonates with mystique and allure. So let's use that! Let's compel the adventurous nature of our future travelers and explorers through image-rich activities that will lead students to learn about the city based on what draws them in, familiarizing themselves with the landmarks that interest them most, and developing a conception of the city that has individualized meaning and significance.

Although this unit is specifically created for use in an 8 ^th grade French class, it provides a framework that can be applied to other language and city study as well as other grade levels of French.

(Developed for French 1B, grade 8; recommended forMiddle School French 1B, grade 8, and French I, grade 9)

by Matthew Charles Kelly

In my unit, students of Spanish will explore nationalist art, architecture, and propaganda of Spain and Mexico. The specific pieces they examine will vary in terms of medium and national origin. The will range from the small (medals awarded by the Franco regime in Spain and currency notes issued by Mexico) to the very large (a monumental housing project in Mexico City.) Students will analyze these pieces of art in terms of their historical and political setting and will analyze the relationship between the medium and the message. We will talk about the interplay between text and image in the works selected. Students will become more aware of the images that bombard them and will become conscious consumers of art and design, especially work that is intended to influence their behavior. Furthermore, we will elevate students' overall schema of the history of Spain and Mexico in the twentieth century and of the the twentieth century in general. Students will finish the unit by creating "nationalist" art of their own using a combination of text and visual art elements.

(Developed for Spanish III, grades 9-12; recommended for Spanish III, Spanish IV, and Spanish V, grades 9-12)

by Julie So Lizarraga

"Look at the snow!" exclaim my five-year old students on a cold winter day, even when it is only frosty dew melting away. Some students enter Kindergarten with comprehension of some weather words and images. Other students have limited prior knowledge of various weather concepts, vocabulary, and images. They all need to get a feel for the weather, and understand how much fun it can really be!

This Kindergarten weather unit addresses the difficulty teachers have in building on limited prior knowledge of young students by applying visual literacy strategies to construct foundational basic weather knowledge that students will use as prior knowledge in the future. Particular components of weather are difficult for students with limited prior knowledge. In this weather unit, teachers learn and apply visual literacy, visual language, and imagery skills to support student learning with intriguing science projects, engaging activities, and relevant use of technology. Students in Kindergarten are fun to teach because they are full of curiosity about the world around them. Using visual literacy ideas, imagery, and visual language research from the Picture Writing seminar, this unit provides information to help students gain a depth of knowledge about weather.

(Developed for Science and ELA, grade K; recommended for Science and ELA, grades K-2)

by Amanda Targgart Neeley

"That is why I wanted people in other countries to read Persepolis, to see that I grew up just as other children do."- -Marjane Satrapi ¹

For this unit, students will examine the ways their eyes see other cultures, in particular, Middle Eastern culture. The graphic-novel-memoir Persepolis will be the central text. This unit will encourage students to question their own perceptions and will also allow them to recognize the ways in which different countries and cultures are seen from different points of view. Many of my students are limited in their exposure to other cultures. Many of them rarely leave the city of Chicago. Most of their knowledge of about other countries and cultures comes from the Internet, books, and television; the messages they receive through these mediums, however, are often not critically analyzed in the classroom. In order to analyze cultures outside the United States, students must first reflect on their own values, reflect on how those values were formed, and then question them. The goal for this unit is for students to discover a wider global lens by learning about the Middle East and analyzing their own perceptions. This goal will be achieved through reading the story Persepolis.

(Developed for English I, grade 9; recommended for High School English Class, grades 9-10)

by Ludy Aguada

The anchor text for this unit is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. In this unit, students will use Marlow's recounting of his journey up the Congo as a metaphor for their own journey into learning how to make meaning from a text that, for many of them, defies understanding. They will use Socratic seminars, dialectical journals, group reading, and in-class essays to build the close reading skills that serve as the foundation for being able to interpret texts. Hopefully, with my guidance and support from each other, their journey will end on a much more hopeful, less ominous and brooding note than that of Marlow and Kurtz.

(Developed for AP English Literature and Composition, grade 12; recommended for English, grade 12, and AP English Literature, grades 11-12)

by Jo Ann Flory

This unit is centered on study of the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It begins with the use of more accessible, thematically related texts to introduce elements of the story and model the process of interpretation before applying that process to the novella. Throughout the unit the focus is on incorporating strategies that make interpretation of this challenging and rich text more accessible to and relevant for students.

One of the major themes in the book is the nature of evil. Students will engage in conversation and discussion of such essential questions throughout the unit as they interpret the work and express their understandings of and conclusions about this theme and how it is revealed in the book. Students will complete activities that enable them to make connections to the book and support their opinions with evidence from the text.

This unit was created for students taking 11^th grade Advanced Placement Language and Composition, but it would be well suited for any 11^th or 12^th grade World Literature or British Literature class.

(Developed for AP English Language and Composition, grade 11; recommended for World Literature, AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, and British Literature, grades 11-12)

by LeAndrea James

This unit will help students interpret the lifestyle of the Navajo people through poetry stories and literature. Student will be able to read the poetry stories and understand the historical background of the Dine people by reading through the text written in both the English and Navajo language. The text depicts the traditional way of living according to the history of Navajo/Dine people. The poem stories will help to remind students of how our Dine people lived in balance with the land and the seasons. The vocabulary written in the Dine language will be utilized as a medium for students to begin speaking their Dine language. The poetry stories illustrate the livelihood of a Dine family from the past. In addition, the students will dive into the historical aspect of the Dine culture by analyzing the Long Walk and the Navajo Code Talkers.

(Developed for Special Education and English Language Arts, grade 7; recommended for English Language Arts and Navajo Language Class, Middle School grades)

by Alexandra Edwards

I have designed a unit that empowers me to teach fiction and non-fiction books using interpretive methods. My goal with this unit is to increase students' personal knowledge of history in the US. I want my students to be able to clarify what American citizenship is and know the difference between true citizenship, according to what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights originally articulated, and the second class citizenship that was accorded many Americans during this time period. I also want them to determine the sacrifices made by all groups involved in the journey to true equality and becoming a part of the American nation. Finally, to answer the age-old question, why studying history matters, I want my students to make some sort of personal connection with the author, someone possibly not so different from themselves. Interpretation of what they read will undoubtedly produce many meanings, not just what emerges from my customary historical angle. This unit is not just a component to build a reading unit. It also encourages my students to interpret their reading and to see that there are several possible interpretations. That leads to discussion.

(Developed for U. S. and N. C. History, grade 8; recommended for Middle School U. S. History, grade 8, and High School U. S. History, grade 11)

by Christen Schumacher

How do you view Native Americans? Do you imagine clothing made of deer skin, feathers in a traditional headdress and cooking over an open fire? Or, do you know someone who is Native American and have a completely different idea of what it means to be an American Indian?

With the use of picture books, the students will journey through three distinct regions: the Southwest, Plains (Rocky Mountain Region), and the Eastern Woodlands (Northeast United States). Here, they will learn basic facts about how Native Americans lived in the past, and we will move through time (using an interactive timeline) into the present where we will discover what life is like for a child who is Native American.

The goal of this unit is not only to introduce my students to Native American culture, traditions, storytelling, and art, but also to have discussions about what it means to be an American Indian, both past and present. We will use children's picture books to displace stereotypes, learn about traditional stories and characters, practice interpretation skills with wordless books, and participate in other activities that will give the students a feel of life as a Native American, past and present.

(Developed for Language Arts and Social Science, grade 2; recommended for Language Arts and Social Science, grades 2-3)

by Elizabeth M. Miller

This is a unit

Where students read, write, explore

The urban landscape.

(Developed for Reading and Survey of Literature, grade 9; recommended for English Language Arts, grades 3-12, and Social Studies and Creative Writing, grades 6-12)

by Jeffry K. Weathers

Interpreting the Literal for the Revelational provides theories for interpreting literature, as well as aspects of cognitive science and how we think via analogy and metaphor. I also include my own composite theory about similes, chiefly that since similes are syntactically analogy and metaphor, having essences of both is and like in their nature, they are natural interpreters, the go-betweens and spirit, of concrete likenesses and abstract differences. The mind of this curriculum is works by literary critics (Frye, Perrine, Brower and Wimsatt), and linguists and cognitive scientists (Lakoff, Pinker, and Hofstadter and Sanders). The heart is literature about children who face loss and the struggle for identity (i.e., Grisha, The Flowers, A Child Called "It" and The Catcher in the Rye), following criteria for interpretation set forth by literary critics, and fourfold reading where the first reading is the literal story, the second is metaphorical with the understanding that it is something else, the third is with the question "how does this apply to me," and the fourth is for personal revelations the texts may provide. Collaborative interpretations are for students to problem solve as parents for the children in the literature and, ultimately, for their own future generations.

(Developed for English 3-4 College Prep, grade 10, and Film as Literature [except the literature will be films], grade 12; recommended for English and Humanities, grades 9-12)

by William Miles Greene

Students in urban high schools often feel uninspired and powerless over their own future but often excel or take interest in traditional forms of self-expression like song or poetry. Poetry is a special form of expression in that it allows one to express ideas and experiences through rhythmic language in an artistic fashion, often relying on the experiences of the reader for its interpretation. Specifically, Activist Poetry brings attention to social or political injustices and aims to encourage action against these social or political injustices through traditional activist methods. However, before awareness and action can be occur, a strong understanding of a poem's intention must be established. Understanding the author's intention is a vital step in the interpretation of a poem and is most effectively ascertained through the identification and consideration of a poem's tone. In this unit students will learn how to interpret the intention of a poem by examining the tone, mood and purpose of socially and politically conscious poetry. Consequently, students will improve their comprehension, literacy and skills in self-expression by analyzing the relationship between a poem, its author, subject and own personal experiences. Students will ultimately create poetry of their own, using techniques taught surrounding tone, mood and purpose, that aims to bring light to a significant social problem faced by that student's community.

(Developed for English, grade 9; recommended for English, grades 8-9)

by Leilani Esguerra

The skill of interpretation requires students to begin with the small details of a text, such as background information and vocabulary. Once the details are understood, students proceed to make meaning from those details. And in the course of making meaning, interpretation requires students to address varying perspectives in order to create their own interpretative conclusions.

This curriculum unit is designed to give students a road map or skill set to understanding texts that offer multiple or even questionable perspectives. This unit provides teachers with ideas for developing the skill of interpretation with particular attention to epigraphs from Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. Through the epigraphs, students will dissect and analyze the small details in order to gauge the reliability of the author-narrator. The goal of this unit is for students to readily practice the skill of interpretation. In doing so, students will learn that a single perspective is not always adequate for arriving at conclusions.

(Developed for Expository Reading and Writing Course [ERWC], grade 12; recommended for ERWC/English [High School], grade 12)

by Cheree Marie Charmello

Living Texts: Analyzing S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders by Thinking, Reading, Acting, and Thinking Again is an adaptable, English Language Arts unit that provides opportunities for middle school students to physically demonstrate their interpretations of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders through improvisation. The implicit purpose of the classroom activities is encouraging personal and social responsibility. Included in this unit is a sequence that can be used by students to efficiently and effectively interpret text. Both the interpretation strategies and the improvisational strategies are used within a performance sequence that uses each chapter of the novel as the foundation. Integrating these strategies will help students to interact with text through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic means, thus accessing each student's learning modality. Use of improvisation will help students to physically, linguistically, and artistically put themselves in the shoes of other people (characters), places (settings), and problems (plot) in order to help them see, hear, and feel what is going on in the words of the text. The unit's creation was guided by Common Core.

(Developed for Humanities [Cross Curricular Studies], grades 7-8; recommended for Language Arts, grades 6-9)

by Whitney J. Davis

This unit will focus on "growing giants in reading" through encouraging and improving your students' reading comprehension skills. I explain how to complete a chapter -by-chapter analysis of The BFG by Roald Dahl. Throughout this unit we will focus on strengthening reading comprehension skills, through reinforcing and improving your students' retelling, predicting, making connections, and critical thinking skills. Students will also gain background knowledge, and make text-to-self connections with fairy tales by reading books about giants such as: Abiyoyo, Fin M'Coul, and Jack and the Bean Stalk.

(Developed for Language Arts, grade K; recommended for Language Arts, grades K-2)

by Carol P. Boynton

Young students love to tell the stories of their lives. So many of their experiences are events happening to them or around them for the first time, making each memorable and, frankly, formative. As adults, we still carry such intensely meaningful events as memories formed by the powerful impact they had on our senses and feelings.

Useful in first through fourth grades, this six-to eight-week unit is designed for second graders to learn that biographies, the lives of people, are written expressions of memories and stories. The memories and stories in this case will be their own. The students will be introduced to the series of autobiographical stories of two children's authors, Patricia Polacco and Tomie dePaola. These mentor texts will set the foundation for the students to write, illustrate and publish their autobiography of small moments published in a series of bound picture books. Their inspiration and information will come from personal photographs from home and school as well as from their own drawings and art work.

(Developed for Writing, grade 2; recommended for Writing, grades 1-4)

by Torrieann Martyn Kennedy

Throughout this unit my second grade students will be learning about the character traits and contributions of famous people in history by reading biographies and autobiographies. Additionally, students will be adding their own important stories into the genre by writing their own autobiography. Their learning supports Common Core standards in Language Arts, especially reading informational text, writing, and speaking and listening, as well as North Carolina Essential Standards for Social Studies. This unit will be integrated into these subjects starting at the beginning of the school year with parts being taught throughout the first half of the year and revisited as needed. Various strategies include using mentor texts, graphic organizers, timelines, technology and art integration, keeping a notebook, participating in a discussion, and writing a memoir. All of these strategies will be employed for students to better understand the Art of Biography.

(Developed for Integrated in Reading, Writing, and and Social Studies, grade 2; recommended for Reading, Writing, and Social Studies, grades K-5)

by Camille Pires

Third grade children will explore the genre of memoir while learning targeted skills and strategies to help develop their writing. Youngsters will be expected to take memories and experiences, bring these stories to life with descriptive elements while finding the deeper message or magical moment each of these experiences represent. The format for this instruction includes a mini lesson, followed by an uninterrupted 40 minute writer's workshop at least three times per week. The unit is approximately 10 weeks long. Children are expected to work independently on all stages of the writing process including topic selection, outline, rough draft, and published stories while learning how to peer conference and work with the teacher one-on-one. The goal is that all children will develop richer more thoughtful prose and the three end products include an illustrated, hardbound book, a graphic novel and confessional letter to a family member or friend.

(Developed for Language Arts/Writing, grade 3; recommended for Language Arts/Writing, grades 2-5)

by Terry Anne Wildman

In this unit, elementary students will focus on reading and writing different forms of biography including autobiography, memoir, and narrative. They will read an example of autobiography and memoir prior to writing their own stories, with the understanding that we all have a story to tell. These examples will be drawn from pre-Civil War fugitive slave narratives. Using these narratives, students will write about what they might have seen and how they might have felt if they had been in the narrator's place. From these examples, the students will develop an understanding of time, space, and scale. Finally, using the principles of biography that we develop in the classroom, students will write a short graphic biography of a family member.

Key words: biography, autobiography, memoir, narratives, fugitive slave narratives

(Developed for Literacy, grade 4; recommended for Literacy, grades 4-6)

by Lisa Christenson

This unit uses autobiography, biography, and realistic fiction to teach the American Revolution. The unit utilizes an assortment of Common Core requirements and academic skills such as reading, writing, researching, and the presentation of written and studied material. Strategies discussed from the YNI seminar, will be modeled and discussed about the roles and responsibilities of the biographer throughout the lessons. Students will learn about African American heroes of the American Revolution as well those traditionally found in textbooks. Autobiographies and biographies will be assigned to students and as well, they will also self-select autobiographies and biographies to read in class and at home. Students will use graphic organizers to organize their findings from research on a person of choice from the American Revolution. This will culminate into a written multiple paragraph 'bio' on that individual and will be finally presented in Power Point to the classroom. The use of realistic fiction novels that reflect the lives of children of the 1700's will also be used to connect students to and draw them deeper into what life was like in early America. In addition to in-class readings and discussions, the use of educational DVD's will provide dramatic and visual support to deepen understanding of content. Lastly, a field-trip to the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco is scheduled where students will learn about the history of Africa, its culture, and its people.

(Developed for Language Arts and Social Studies/History, grade 5; recommended for Language Arts and Social Studies/History, grade 5)

by Michelle Wiedenmann

In this unit, sixth grade students will learn the writing process by studying and writing their own memoirs and biographies. Focusing on the Common Core Reading Informational Text and Writing Standards, students will first read an established author's personal narrative and biography to act as models for writing. Through the writing process, students will create their memoir about an incident that has brought about change in their life. Next, students will apply the principles of biography to become biographers and write their peer's biography. Finally, students will reflect on their memoir and their lives up until this point and work with their peer to identify their lasting identity. Students will determine what they truly want to be remembered for to help them create a remembrance statement to conclusion to their books.

(Developed for English/Language Arts, grade 6; recommended for English/Language Arts, grades 6-8)

by Audra K. Bull

Like a painter, a quality biographer paints a portrait of his/her subject. The biographer strives to convey an interesting and meaningful story. This unit will teach students to dig beyond the facts to a more revelatory exploration. This unit will employ four key lessons from the seminar. First of all, a quality biography, more than a simple recitation of facts, is a portraiture of a life presented in such a way to have relevance to the reader. In addition a biography, technically a non-fiction piece of text, is written with the elements of fiction: characters, setting, plot and theme. The biographer is a storyteller, yet not all aspects of a life are worth telling so the biographer must decide what stories to preserve and what to prune. Lastly, a biographer must remember there is no right or wrong way to write a biography. This unit will begin by analyzing iconic pictures representing historic events of the 20^th century as a method of revealing the story behind the picture. We will then transition to studying Walt Disney with the purpose of discovering the story behind his success. The unit will conclude with a living history presentation of a biographical subject.

(Developed for Reading, grades 6-8; recommended for Reading, English, and Language Arts, grades K-12)

by Taylor Davis

In this unit students will focus on mastering the skill of characterization through the study of the genre of autobiography. The objectives of the unit include understanding the genre of autobiography not only as the story of a person's life, but also as a portrait of a person's character, identifying evidence within a text that can be used to infer a character trait, and writing short student autobiographies with a focus on incorporating writing techniques that can be used to reveal character. The primary mentor text for the unit is an autobiography by the award-winning children's author Roald Dahl entitled Boy: Tales of Childhood.

The unit of study is intended for middle school students and can be adapted for grades six through eight. A variety of resources and approaches to teaching characterization will be used in the unit including visual aids, such as pictures and graphic organizers. Throughout the course of the unit, students will be asked to connect with the text by drawing from their own experiences of childhood, considering the development of their own internal character, and determining how it can best be shown to someone else.

(Developed for English/Language Arts, grade 8; recommended for English/Language Arts, grades 6-8)

by Raymond Smith

This unit will use three books loaded with personal trials and triumphs to achieve two goals: teach critical reading and writing skills to low income/high poverty area students and to build awareness around behaving with integrity and perseverance in their lives. By the end of this unit, students will be better readers and writers, able to effectively identify character traits and give evidence that supports them. In addition, they will have a better awareness about themselves and the difficult circumstances they face on a daily basis, and possible positive solutions and outcomes to these situations. I hope that as students get older and the consequences of their actions become more apparent, that they give some thought to what they learned in this unit by at least stopping, thinking, and choosing the best decision for themselves…

(Developed for English/Reading and Writing, grades 7-8; recommended for English/Reading, grades 7-8)

by Audrelia R. Dugi

This unit will deal with Navajo people enduring unplanned events over the past century. Students will be able to identify the character traits of the heroic, political, ordinary person, and military genres. My students will study a particular person that is associated with one of the four genres. Each student will become a biographer, starting with simple strategies and moving towards more complex interviewing and writing styles. First, students will read short biographies that highlight the four genres that we are studying. This will give them practice identifying characteristics from each genre. Secondly, students will begin by practicing the interviewing process. They will informally interview peers in class and then an elder will be invited to the classroom for students to practice a formal style of interview. The final project will be students interviewing family members about a great-grandparent. This particular assignment will be about a deceased person and this is a touchy subject for Navajos. With practice, guidance and rules taught in the classroom, students will have the confidence to break the barrier about speaking of the deceased.

(Developed for English Basic, grades 9-10; recommended for low level or struggling students in English, grades 9-10)

by Elizabeth A. Daniell

Richard III is one of William Shakespeare's more interesting anti-heroes. He is funny and clever, a master puppeteer. He woos his future wife over the bleeding corpse of her former father-in-law. He plays verbal hopscotch with his mother and sister-in-law. He even manages to convince great men to kill children. While not an accurate history, this is what most modern audiences think of when we try to visualize the last York king: the hunchback monster who stole the English crown.

The purpose of this unit is to explore the Shakespearean history Richard III as an example of biography, one that seeks to subvert the truth in an effort to please an absolute monarch. This unit, designed for 10 ^th grade English class, will focus on College Board's SOAPSTone strategy—subject, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone—in understanding the relationship between Richard III, Elizabeth I, and Shakespeare. Students will use both the historical and biographical approaches to literary criticism in examining the play. Finally, students will research fictional versus factual Richard III using the recent discovery of the remains as well as historical records.

(Developed for English II Teaching Academy, grade 10; recommended for High School English, grades 10-12)

by Sonia M. Henze

This unit, Glory Daze, will take the reader on a journey through the second wave of the women's movement in America starting with Gloria Steinem and spiraling out to her sisters in action over several decades then ending with the student as a modern feminist. Sources will include the autobiographical writings of Ms. Steinem and biographies by Carolyn Heilbrun and Sydney Stern. Several articles written by Steinem in the sixties and seventies will be used to show her own evolution into a feminist and the backlash she suffered along the way. By zooming in on this one woman, students will be able to see how the ordinary life of an average woman can impact the world. Ms. Steinem's words, actions and reflections helped change those around her. If nothing else she constantly provoked critical thinking and used humor as a bridge to awareness and understanding. She reminds us that words matter. Gloria Steinem continues to inspire people to get involved in human rights issues especially those affecting women.

(Developed for Women's Studies/Social Studies, grades 10-12; recommended for AP U. S. History, grade 11)

by Krista Baxter Waldron

I work with adjudicated youth who are very reluctant students in a blighted urban area. This unit is for similar secondary English classrooms but is adaptable for any zip code, provided the teacher is willing to research and assemble documents for his/her students' geographies. In short, my two key objectives are to engage my students as agents of change and beauty where they live and to improve their reading and writing skills for complex Common Core writing tasks. The six week unit has three segments. First, after discussing a Tupac poem to introduce the unit, we will spend one week exploring and defining our area via on-the-ground activities. We'll be out in taking pictures and doing some reflective writing. The second segment is the academic centerpiece, with document studies and written responses to those documents, which are selected from a variety of resources and represent our geographic area. The histories, stories, and statistics they convey are engaging for traditionally unengaged readers. There are accompanying Common Core style reading and writing practice assignments. Finally, we revisit Tupac and again to find the area's beauty in all manifestations we can. It will culminate in artistic map-making projects celebrating their communities.

(Developed for ninth- and tenth-grade combined Language Arts, grades 9-10, and eleventh- and twelfth-grade combined Language Arts, grades 11-12; recommended Language Arts, grades 9-11, and State History, grades 9-10)

by Andrea Frances Kulas

Currently, high above the intersection of Division and Western on Chicago's Westside (Humboldt Park) stands a large metal Puerto Rican bandera (flag). Another of these flags appears directly six blocks west of Western at the intersection of Division and California. Together these two banderas represent the geographic boundaries of the Puerto Rican neighborhood of Chicago. Erected in 1996, the 30^th anniversary of The Division Street Riots, these two flags and the space between them were renamed the Paseo Boricua. Not only does this area represent a physical presence of Puerto Rican pride, but it is also a cultural mecca of heritage in regards to the Taino Indians (the original inhabitants of Puerto Rico) and Puerto Rican culture. While my students understand the physical layout of the Paseo, many don't know the history and importance of the Paseo. Before students set out on their post-secondary career I want them to journey through a rich history that is right across the street from their school. By using original and gathered artifacts, students will examine the history of Chicago's Paseo Boricua by engaging students of both Puerto Rican and non-Puerto Rican heritage.

(Developed for Senior Seminar, grade 12; recommended for English, Social Science, and Humanities, grades 11-12)

by Waltrina D. Kirkland-Mullins

Invisible cities. They are all around us, revealed in the most obvious yet overlooked places: revealed in beautifully adorned masonry on the exterior of Baroque and Victorian edifices, awnings and windowpanes, and centuries-old wrought iron fences that surround a common space where sightseers stroll, the homeless find shelter, and community activist convene to protest injustice, and more … all revealing past and present contributions of people across cultures—some too often too omitted and/or forgotten.

This premise serves as the undergirding for my curriculum unit, Whence We Stand. Targeted at third graders, it has been created to help young learners—particularly residents within urban settings who have had limited interaction beyond the boundaries of their immediate neighborhoods—internalize being part of a broader, historically and culturally rich locality. Students across cultures will take an experiential journey to New Haven Green and surrounding areas, navigating diverse landscapes layered in "invisibly visible" cities. Through complementary visits to landmark venues, coupled with related readings, collaborative map-making exercises, and complementary writing activities, young learners will grasp the concepts of time and place; its collective impact on physical and human characteristics and interactions; changing landscapes and since the inception of the New Haven colony that render all inhabitants across centuries a valued, integral part of the historic community.

(Developed for Social Studies/Language Arts/Mathematics/Social Development, grade 3; recommended for Social Studies/Language Arts/Mathematics/Social Development, grades 3-5)

by Gloria Brinkman

The pathway of one's personal travel story is a richly textured avenue of investigation for adolescent students. In this unit students will explore ways to articulate and creatively illustrate their stories of migration and urban mobility. The high school campus is a mirror of the migratory landscape of the modern city. In present day the city has become a mecca for families moving across geographies both global and local. Significant to this cultural dynamic is the fact that cultural traditions and social customs play out in adolescent students' personal histories as they are lived throughout the school day. This contributes to cultural visibility and invisibility in our urban school community. In the classroom the challenge, for even the most experienced educators, is to rethink the design of instruction to address the often transitory conditions of student engagement.

This curriculum unit seeks to develop students' awareness of the virtual environments within which we act out our lives every day. These 'invisible cities' are the physical, social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of life active within both the urban milieu and its microcosm, the urban school campus. Inspired by Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, this curriculum unit explores students' own travel stories as a path to creative expression in written and visual formats.

(Developed for Visual Art, intermediate, IB Middle Years Program, grade 10; recommended for Visual Art Intermediate, Creative Writing, and Theatre Arts, grades 10-11)

by Sydney Hunt Coffin

How do we address our own relationships with language? What are the immediate and/or historic origins of our heritage? How do we form identities around language? How can poetry highlight the beauty of communication across cultures? This unit explores ways to celebrate bilingualism in schools and surrounding neighborhoods through close readings of Spanish and English performed, spoken words. Students will address their own relationships with language through their own varied vocabulary in order to explore how our identities are formed through language during this unit of five, ninety-minute periods. In the context of an English class, students will reflect on personal aspects of language acquisition and ultimately compose a poetic narrative expressing the intangible journey towards fluency in a bilingual poem, with the expectation of a performance.

(Developed for English I, grade 9, and Poetry Elective, grades 10-12; recommended for English Language Arts and English as a Second Language, grades 7-12)

by Benjamin Barnett-Perry

Students with disability often feel stigmatized. They struggle with feeling abnormal and inferior to their general education peers. The goal of this unit is to examine the idea of normalcy and how it relates to disability. The history of normalcy and the inception of the medical model of disability give a glimpse as to why disability is thought of as negative. Through this process a new model emerges, one that rather than attempting to "fix" people with disabilities to allow them to fit into society, instead seeks to alter our environment to accommodate all people. This social minority model is best illustrated through the examination of Ed Roberts and the history of the disability rights movement. The concrete of Roberts' success teamed with the introduction to the concept of Universal Design illustrates how the social minority model has worked to promote independence and foster community. Self-advocacy plays a big role in this investigation and is necessary if this model is to be transferred to our current education system.

(Developed for Tutorial Resource, grades 9-12, and Psychology, grades 11-12; recommended for History/Social Studies and Special Education, grades 6-12, and Psychology, grades 9-12)

by Barbara Ann Prillaman

In this unit, high school students will solidify their understanding of sociological research methods and implement them in individual authentic situations. They will focus on the guiding questions: What is the sociology of the art of the dining out experience? What are the social research methods that sociologists use to collect data including their strengths, and limitations? How do sociologists justify the importance of their research? In collecting data, how do we make the invisible visible? Following the Common Core Standards to integrate knowledge and ideas, students will actively participate in an action project in which they will synthesize Internet resources (documents) they have collected, observations and interviews they have conducted, and field notes they have written to answer the question: In collecting data, how do I make the invisible visible? This unit is collaborative in nature in that students in different schools will work together through the use of Google Docs and Blogs, to focus on developing their technological skills necessary for college or the work place.

(Developed for Dual-Enrollment Sociology, grades 11-12; recommended for Sociology or another course regarding Research Methods, High School grades 11-12)

by Valerie J. Schwarz

There is history all around us, just waiting to be discovered. Some is visible and some is invisible. Some is shared and some is concealed. Richmond openly portrays the military prowess of its Confederate past, but is also full of untold, hidden secrets waiting to be revealed. This unit will seek out Richmond's invisible history from the days of slavery and reconstruction that some might wish to forget. The slave and tobacco industries, the Lumpkin Jail, and the Winfree Cottage will be examined. The legends of Henry Box Brown and Anthony Burns will also be explored. The unit will teach fourth graders to distinguish between history and memory and how to discover the past even when it has been selectively omitted. This unit could be adapted for social studies and history classes from grades 3-12.

(Developed for Language Arts, Virginia Studies [Social Studies], grade 4; recommended for Language Arts and Social Studies, grades 4-6)

by Sarah Alice Weidmann

My unit, Vacant Lot: The Chicago Ickes Community Remembered, answers the essential question: Where does a place go that is no longer there? The content objectives connect sociology, history, and drama. Through a case study of the Chicago public-housing project, the Harold Ickes Towers Community, students will write reflective essays in relation to the essential question and a historic quotation. The quotation asks students to consider the decisions of policy-makers about public housing in Chicago. Students will also re-enact a moment in time from Ickes' oral history that shows the fight for human dignity, the theme (or heart) of this work. The purpose of this re-enactment is to create public dialogue about social policy in real peoples' lives in Chicago. As the final component, students will create a memorial (inspired by the process of Maya Lin) to place at the Ickes Community site, now a vacant lot behind our school.

(Developed for Language Arts and Social Studies, grades 7-8; recommended for Writing, Reading, Social Studies, and Drama, grades 6-8)

by Sara Stillman

Beneath Bay Street at the corner of Shellmound Street and Ohlone Way lays a story of our nation's growth, decline, and rebirth. When examined closely, the Bay Street site tells the story of the Ohlone people, Gold Rush settlers, and the industrialization of our of a city and subsequent contamination of the land. This history is rich in beauty and uncomfortable truths that my students will explore as they question what they will leave behind to tell their story and how our society will be viewed by those who come after us. As they fill in the gaps of our historical narrative through an Art Based Research approach: students will create a timeline to visualize the scope of our investigation, map each period of history to track the city's evolution, visit locations that existed in the past to uncover what they have become, examine primary and secondary historical documents, and create a public art installation that gives voice to Emeryville's past, present, and future.

(Developed for Advanced Art, grades 11-12; recommended for High School Visual Arts/Social Studies, grades 10-12)

by Leonardo DeAndrade

In spite of alarms and warnings, the era of fossil fuels seems to still have a long life ahead. However, our environment keeps paying the price for our constant reliance upon them to power our world. The overall goal of this unit is to help students at the elementary level be aware and proactive about energy usage and conservation. We measure energy consumption at home and use a variety of resources -fiction and non-fiction texts, videos, hands-on experiences, and guest speakers- to enhance students' awareness, understanding and mastery of the concepts. The unit is organized sequentially to initially studying the definition of energy, its sources and ways of storage, and later energy consumption in the US, and rising concerns. More specific objectives include learning about the process of photosynthesis, petroleum, natural gas and coal as nonrenewabale sources of energy, and finishing with solar and wind power as renewable sources. We also explore the consequences of our overdependence on fossil fuels both in discussions and through hands-on activities. Towards the end we return to energy consumption at home and progress to concluding with a look at how to commit to energy conservation right now.

(Developed for Science Integrated with Mathematics and Language Arts, grade 5; recommended for Self-Contained Science/Mathematics/Language Arts, grade 5, and Science, grade 6)

by Miesha Gadsden

Children love asking questions, especially when it relates science or inquiry. Our world is full of science and questions that are just waiting to be answered. Why is the sky blue? What makes a car move? Why do bees buzz? This unit will help students tap in to their own natural curiosity about energy in a fun and exciting way! This science-based unit is designed for elementary age students, specifically 3^rd -5^th. We will discover the vital role the sun contributes to the survival of plants, humans and the balance of our ecosystem.

Energy is a very abstract concept to teach to younger students and this unit will give students a basic understanding and foundation of science that they can use to help them in the future. Energy is defined as the ability to do work. I want students to understand that energy is all around us and can be seen in various forms. We will specifically target how light energy from the sun helps plants make their own food, which we eventually eat and use for survival. Students will develop their own exploration activity where they research plants around the world and the impact the sun and humans have on them. My hope is that students become more aware of their surroundings and the role they play in their environment. I want students to walk away with a new appreciation of where they live and understand that their actions not only affect themselves, but the world.

(Developed for Science, grade 3; recommended for Science and Social Studies, grades 3-5)

by Jinsue Choi Hafalia

Energy. Where does it come from and why do we care? This unit is designed to help high school chemistry students see the relevance of chemistry to their lives and to encourage them to become critical thinkers and responsible citizens of their community. In this curriculum unit, students investigate the effects of energy use on the environment. Over the course of four weeks, students will explore parts of the California State Standards for chemistry under the sections titled "conservation of matter and stoichiometry" and "chemical thermodynamics." The theme of energy will tie together the standards for reactions, stoichiometry, and heat energy.

Specifically, students will investigate the chemical equations for the combustion of high octane gasoline and biodiesel in order to compare the energy output as well as the environmental effects of the two fuel types. The unit includes combustion demonstrations and the production of biodiesel from vegetable oil in the classroom. In addition, they will analyze scientific articles to develop their own opinions on the issue of energy consumption and conservation. As a culminating task, students will take on the role of different members of the community and pitch their own proposal for a solution to this energy problem.

(Developed for Chemistry and AP Chemistry, grades 10-12; recommended for Chemistry and Environmental Science, High School grades)

by Eric J. Laurenson

This seminar is dedicated to renewable energy and the consequences of our energy intensive society including global warming. This unit will explore the nature of energy sources and generation. In my AP Physics II B class and Gifted Physics I classes, I will explore the viability of fusion as an energy source. I will also make the case that we need to have a monumental effort much like the Apollo Missions on a global scale to be able to solve the scientific issues of fusion. Money and lots of effort would drastically reduce the time to realize a commercial fusion reactor. In my physics classes, we spend a lot of time on energy and electricity. I will explore the need for carbonless fuel sources, primarily fusion, as well the relative amounts of energy we get and use from different sources, including fossil fuels and renewables. I will make the case that we should be pursuing controlled fusion. The unit will culminate in a Creative Design Project to design parts of a fusion power plant.

(Developed for AP Physics 2B, grade 12, and Gifted Physics 1, grades 11-12; recommended for Physics first-year courses, grades 9-12, and Physics second-year courses, grades 11-12)

by Kenya Lawrence

Humanity's number one problem for the next 50 years is energy. Solving the energy problem involves a comprehensive approach which includes renewables and energy conservation. Blending the science of energy with Algebra I supports sociopolitical awareness of the energy industry in our students, makes connections to real-world mathematics and exposes students to careers in the energy industry. The curriculum unit provides an overview of the origin of our electricity, the impact of our use on the environment, the potential of wind energy and biodiesel, and the case for energy conservation. Through this unit students will reason algebraically to analyze important environmental and economic impacts of our past and current energy use. Through demonstrations and inquiry-based learning opportunities students will acquire and retain mathematical concepts which include writing, solving and graphing linear equations and inequalities, systems of linear equations and inequalities, and direct and inverse relationships. Students will also analyze data statistically using box-and-whiskers plots, mean absolute and standard deviation, z-scores, and curve of best-fit. Some unit activities are repeated in a chemistry or physical science class; nonetheless, do not feel like you are stealing the science teacher's thunder.

Keywords: coal mining, renewable energy, biodiesel, algebra, inequalities, equations, statistics, energy efficiency, wind, math

(Developed for Algebra I, grades 8-10; recommended for Algebra I, grades 8-9)

by Luis Alberto Magallanes

This curriculum unit is directed to students in Algebra-1 and Algebra-2, with the analysis of data and the discovery of empirical formulas, related to solar energy. Some mathematical manipulation can be used in 6^th, 7^th and 8 ^{t h} grades, with the concepts of ratio and proportion, calculation of areas and measurement of angles.

A brief information on the ancient use of solar energy by the Incas is included. There is background information on renewable sources of energy, in search of cleaner options that will not compromise the security and health of our mother earth. Although there is not an assurance of a real clean solution, we need to balance the options and take the least damaging one.

Currently, 60% of the electricity used in the US comes from coals and 20% from nuclear energy. One can imagine the amount of waste produced by either of these two options to obtain electricity. On one hand, mining the coal leaves the land unusable, and on the other hand, a lot of waste from the result of nuclear fission is being "stored" in the same plant, which normally closes after a period of time.

This curriculum unit presents the benefits of using solar energy. Calculations related to efficiency including cost and usage of solar energy in comparison to the use of traditional electricity are as well included.

(Developed for Algebra I, grades 9-12, and Algebra II, grades 10-12; recommended for Pre-Algebra, grades 6-8; Algebra I, grades 8-9; Geometry, grades 8-10; and Algebra II, grades 8-12)

by Robert McDowell

This curriculum unit is designed to provide engaging lessons in biofuels and biofuel production. Students will start by discovering the levels of carbon dioxide that are created by the combustion of the fossil fuel gasoline, and move on to explore the deficiencies and environmental consequences of using corn as a feedstock for ethanol production. The effects of farming the corn as well as its production will be discussed in class. Students will engage in activities exploring the production of cellulosic ethanol and discuss the advantages of biobutanol over cellulosic ethanol. Emphasis will be placed on the principles of sustainability and environmental unity to teach the students about the promise and possible drawbacks of the use of biofuels as an energy source. Implementation of the lessons will involve hands-on student centered activities in order to engage the students and have them understand the issues at a very high order. Energy will be tracked from photosynthesis through to combustion, and students will gain an understanding of the complexities of energy and carbon dioxide pollution. Student led debates and group discussions will form a large part of my assessment of the success of the curriculum.

(Developed for AP Environmental Science, grades 11-12; recommended for Environmental Science and Chemistry, grades 9-12)

by Arcadia Alice Teel

My students can easily see the benefits of the oil industry in our state. Students should be able to understand the processes that form petroleum and refine it, so that they have an understanding of why petroleum can be used as liquid fuel energy. This leads to an understanding of why refining petroleum and burning it contributes to an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and causes other environmental problems. They will also be able to make predictions about which types of fuels are most efficient. This unit incorporates MYP standards and guidelines in a 10th grade Chemistry I class. Activities featured in this unit include balancing equations with colored candies or bingo chips in order to practice coefficients and mole ratios. A group presentation regarding the different types of oil deposits, their location, how they are recovered and the environmental effects is also included. Artistic students are given the opportunity to shine with a poster project describing the different stages of refining and the final assessment of the unit is a 700-1200 word essay.

(Developed for Chemistry I, grade 10; recommended for Chemistry I General and Chemistry I Pre-AP, grade 10)

by Jolene Rose Smith

Although the United States is known as the richest nation in the world, we still have issues similar to people in other countries. Globally, nationally, and locally there are educational, environmental, and energy problems. People need to be educationally informed about their environment and how energy can help make their lives better. To remedy this, we need to begin with our children in our classrooms and schools, because they come to us for help, counsel, and for academic discourse. The subject of energy science is way to connect to our children because it incorporates fossil fuels and the renewable energy with Mother Earth (Nihima asdzaan). Mother Earth has the components of respect, reverence, balance, harmony, beauty, power, and wisdom; we need to teach our children so they can have the knowledge of Mother Earth's reverence, balance, harmony, beauty, power, and wisdom. This is when Mother Earth and people will live in Hozho doo haa' ayiih do hodilzin; then environment and energy will not be so challenging. Earth's fossil fuel and renewable energy have their places and can be brought to balance because these resources came from her.

The unit will cover the fossil fuels of coal, petroleum, and natural gas and the renewable resources of sunlight, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. I will introduce my unit at the global level of how the world's resources are extracted from the earth and how the resources are exported and utilized. Then I will move to the national level of how the US extracts transports and uses the resources. Finally moving to the local level on the Colorado Plateau and on the Navajo Reservation, the unit will cover how the locals extract and use the resources. The learning activities will be an extensive hand-on synthesis level of learning where students will create and explain their projects.

The Kayenta Unified School District is located on the Dine Nation in northeastern Arizona. There are approximately 2,200 students from kindergarten through 12 ^th grades. The majority of our students are bilingual speaking English and Navajo at home and school. A majority of our students are on the free lunch program at the three school sites (elementary, middle, and high school). About 99% of our students are predominantly American Indians (Navajo a.k.a. Dine').

(Developed for Science, Diné Culture and Language, grade 5; recommended for Science, grades 5-6)

by Laura Ann Carroll-Koch

Imagine a band- aid that when applied fuses and heals the skin or a bio-lens that when placed on the eye corrects ones vision; or cancers, when discovered, can be attacked and destroyed by nano-armies, armed with healing genetic arsenals, DNA warriors. This is the potential of the science of genetic engineering. This unit is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of genetic engineering through hands-on activities, interactive projects, and creative problem solving. These activities will offer opportunities for students to think like engineers practicing innovation, invention, and cooperative learning. Through the study of the human cell, students will learn the elements of cell biology. The structure and function of DNA and the processes of replication, translation, and transcription will afford students the conceptual background to understand the ways in which genes can be manipulated. Students will then study concepts of gene therapies and the ways DNA can be engineered. In the end, students will apply these concepts in a project where they create their own gene therapy to correct a genetic illness.

Ultimately, the purpose of this unit is to offer students a glimpse into the world of genetic engineering, inspiring a new generation prepared, excited, and empowered to advance the landscape of global health.

(Developed for Science, Reading, and Writing, grade 4; recommended for Science, grades 4-8)

by Amanda Issa

This unit is suited for students enrolled in Biology and Biology AP. This unit examines the genetic makeup of a disease or medical condition and seeks out possible cures using genetic engineering. This unit is modeled around STEM education and involves project-based learning, which is aligned with the New Generation Science Standards that California schools will soon adopt. This unit is extensive and will be carried out over 8 weeks because it requires students have a proficient understanding of fundamental DNA structure, function, mutations and biotechnology. Cell Biology and Genetics have been the two most interesting units for my students in past years. Although there is a large amount of content to cover, the students are generally engaged in understanding the structure of the most basic unit of life. Students of all learning levels are capable of grasping a basic understanding of the structure of DNA and the purpose of our genes. During my Physiology unit last spring, I observed the intense interest students have in disease and human health. I anticipate the students will be quite engaged when presented with this project because it brings together their knowledge of how genes are determined from DNA and diseases that result.

(Developed for Biology/Life Sciences [Genetics and Cell Biology], grade 10, and and Biology AP [Genetics and Cell Biology], grades 11-12; recommended for Biology, grades 9-10, and Biology AP, grades 11-12)

by Laura Kessinger

The evolution of Genetic Engineering unit is comprised to give students a thorough understanding of the field of genetic engineering, its past, present and future. The unit begins by fully introducing the human genome, traveling through a complete set of chromosomes, individualized genes, DNA, and base pairing. It is essential that students are able to visualize, explain, and build genetic material before they begin experimenting with the engineering concepts introduced. The unit continues with an explanation of genetic engineering's roots in husbandry, elaborating on how humans began to choose breeding patterns and interrupted some of the natural processes through selective breeding, grafting, and simplistic hybridization. Students should see the evolution from farming experimentation to Mendel's inheritance specifics.

From Mendel's work to today students will discover the explosion of knowledge, interest, and experimentation that has brought genetic engineering to its biomedical and agricultural applications today. Students will be exposed to the replication process of PCR and plasmid manipulation. Students will also be expected to verbalize a stand on consumption of genetically modified organisms and support their stand with researched facts and figures. Finally, students will be exposed to what the future applications of genetic engineering might be, how a career in genetic engineering might suit their curiosities, and where the college programs for genetic engineering are. This unit is designed for fourth grade but could easily be adapted up to eighth grade.

(Developed for Science, grades 4-5; recommended for General Science, grades 4-8)

by Maria Orton

This unit is written for a general chemistry course in an urban setting which will have covered bonding, polarity, molecular structure, and types of chemical reactions. Students will use their chemistry background to reason through how basic chemistry concepts can be used to help explain the structure of DNA and how genetic engineering works. The intent is to relate the foods we eat and genetically engineered crops to what they have learned in science and the effects on Agriculture. This unit is meant to elicit their prior knowledge of particle behavior and relate it to their everyday lives in order to provide meaning behind why they should choose to study science. Students will read several articles and case studies around genetically modified foods and have a chance to grow and analyze crops. As a culminating project students will be asked to create a position paper using the claim-evidence-reasoning model to state why they think genetic engineering of crops should continue or not and most importantly why they believe that. Since students will actually grow both modified and nonmodified zucchini they will have real data to help guide their opinions and use facts from their research to back it up.

(Developed for Chemistry I PSP and Conceptual Chemistry, grade 10; recommended for High School Chemistry, grade 10)

by Timothy K. Spence

If there was ever a good time to integrate science and technology into a high school math curriculum, that time is now. This curriculum unit focuses on HIV-1, the virus which causes AIDS. It looks at both the frightening early history of AIDS, and also at our present condition, where antiviral therapies have made HIV infection manageable for most patients. Today, incredibly, HIV offers hope to those afflicted with other genetic diseases as well, through the science of gene therapy. HIV is a lentivirus, and lentiviral vectors, which are altered forms of virus which can be introduced into a patient's cells to turn on or turn off some genetic expression, are a fairly recent introduction into this rapidly growing field. The unit can be separated into three sections, and each can be taught separately, or as an integrated lesson plan. There is a history component that focuses on the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and a science component which explores the mechanism of retroviruses. Finally, there is a subunit that integrates mathematics, using the topic of probability, which is one of the California standards for Algebra II, and also a component of the new Common Core Standards.

(Developed for Algebra II, grades 10-11; recommended for Biology, grade 10, and Chemistry and Mathematics, grades 10-11)

by Stuart Surrey

The artificial manipulation and insertion of genetic material from one organism into that of another is the basic underlying principle of genetic engineering. As we enter the twenty-first century, applications of genetic engineering will become particularly important in the areas of medicine, agriculture, and industry. At the present time, however, there are a number of deep seeded controversial issues regarding the creation and/or use of genetically engineered products. The two major objectives of this curriculum unit are to: 1. examine those issues involving the creation and consumption of genetically modified crops, and 2. improve the critical thinking and reading comprehension skills of my students. Since it is essential that the students have a thorough understanding of molecular genetics, a significant portion of this unit will be devoted to reviewing the structure of DNA, transcription, translation, and genetic engineering. After an in-depth review, the students will be given the opportunity to debate a number of scenarios involving the consumption of genetically modified crops. This curriculum unit is intended for eleventh or twelfth grade students enrolled in an average or honors environmental science class.

(Developed for Environmental Science/Science, grades 11-12; recommended for Environmental Science and Biology, grades 9-12)

by Vanessa Vitug

The TV shows CSI, House, and Elementary dramatize the forensic analyst. In watching forensic scientists at work, we believe, "I too can be Sherlock Holmes." However many of us do not have Sherlock's deduction skills and must rely on the study of genetics, forensics, and biotechnology to solve real world cases. "DNA" is used in everyday language but few understand the elegance of its construct or power to reveal our internal machinery. Students at Mt. Pleasant High School struggle with connecting science to the real world. They do not connect DNA structure, DNA replication, and protein synthesis to genetic engineering, biotechnology or medicine applications. My unit is written to help students make real-world applications of science tangible and address Common Core State Standards. Students will understand DNA structure, restriction enzymes, DNA purification, DNA amplification through PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and separation through gel electrophoresis in a mock-crime case setting. Students will be assessed through laboratory writings and a final essay which summarizes their findings and conclusions. Finally, students' ability to articulate their overall understanding of DNA use in forensics will be assessed in mock-trial setting. This unit can be adapted for high school Biology courses but intended for forensic science.

Grade Level: 11^th-12^th grade Forensic Science

(Developed for Forensic Science/Science, grades 11-12; recommended for Forensic Science/Science, grades 9-12, and Biology/Science, grade 9)