Strategies
I will use a variety of strategies to convey content information to students. Because BAC has such a diverse population of learners, I need to teach every lab activity using a variety of methods that addresses the differing modalities of those learners while also taking into consideration the "scientific method." The presentation of the unit's content material may have students look at or create charts, review or complete diagrams, build or study models, integrate technology using our "Smart board," view related videos, read and discuss material, and conduct experiments.
The Scientific Method
The scientific method needs to be employed in any hands-on "lab-style" learning activity that you teach in this unit. The scientific method, however, adapted to meet the objective of the activity is a primary way to foster higher level thinking and questioning amongst your students. This should become a matter of practice, in whatever its form to ensure that students are coming away at the conclusion of your lesson, and the unit as a whole, with correct information. (Science Buddies, 2008)
The scientific method starts when my students ask a question about something that they observe such as "How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?" Moreover, in order for the scientific method to answer the question it must be about something that you can measure, preferably with a number.
No one likes to be unprepared, least the teacher. Doing background research is a definite must. Each of my unit's activities has some reading activity that accompanies it. Reading activities can take a variety of forms such as journal articles, websites, newspaper articles, etc. The readings for this unit need to be done before lesson implementation. I always proofread the materials before assigning them to ensure I have cleared relevant vocabulary to allow proper comprehension. In addition, all reading needs to be followed up by some type of discussion to ensure that my children understood what was read.
A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work. It can be stated in a variety of formats, however the preferred "If _____ [I/We] do this _____, then _____ [this] _____ will happen" model is best. My children will need to construct the hypothesis in a way that they can easily measure, and of course, their hypothesis should be constructed in a way to help them answer their original question.
My unit's experiments will test whether their hypothesis is true or false. It is important for their experiment to be a fair test. My students should conduct a fair test by making sure that they change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same. Many an experiment in food science has gone wrong due to more than one factor changing per experiment. My children will repeat their experiments several times. These repeats called "trials" are done to make sure that their first results were not just a random accident.
Once my students' experiments are complete, I will have them collect their measurements and analyze them to see if their hypothesis is true or false. Actual scientists often find that their hypothesis was false, and in such cases, they will construct a new hypothesis starting the entire process of the scientific method over again. Even if they find that their hypothesis was true, they may want to test it again in a new way.
My students will communicate their results in a variety of formats. They will be completing lab sheets, creating graphical organizers/charts/graphs, presenting information orally, and lastly creating a "Unit Project" display board.
Visuals, Diagrams and Models
In the study of the human body, it will be essential for me to incorporate the use of visuals, videos, diagrams, and models in the lessons laid out in this unit. The need to address a number of learning modalities is crucial in order for me to meet the needs of all learners in my classroom. Some of these can be found at a variety of websites that allow users to download and use them in educational settings. Others are for sale commercially online for use in classrooms. All of these can be used to reinforce the lesson activities.
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