Evolutionary Medicine

Activities

Day 1: KWL on the impact of disease and Civil War

The teacher will review with students what a KWL chart is. K is for what I want to know. W is for what I want to learn. L is for what I learned. The first day the unit is introduced students will have an opportunity to make a KWL chart independently in their daybook. Then they turn and talk with their neighbor about what they placed in the know column. Next they will turn and talk to a different neighbor about what they want to learn. Turning and talking to a neighbor may make them think of something else they might want to add to their KWL chart. Finally students will share with the class. I will make a KWL chart of a permanent bulletin board display that we can refer to throughout the unit. Students will tell me what they know and what they want to learn and I will write it on the class KWL chart.

Teacher will also place a timeline on the permanent bulletin board. Every time we explore an interesting event the first student who asks to add it to the timeline will be able to write it on an index card and post it on the board. This way the students will have a visual display of the events they are exploring.

Day 2-5: Cell Comic Strip

In this activity students will be able to describe Cell Theory. Students will also be able to explain the functions of each part of the cell and how it relates to other parts of the human body.

The teacher will explain and show students the difference between a prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell. Using daybooks students will explore the description and functions of cellular components. The cell components are cell membrane, cell wall, chlorophyll, chromosomes, cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi bodies, lyosome, microtubule, mitochondria, nuclear membrane, nucleolus, nucleus, plastid, ribosome, and vacuole. Students will play a matching game to assess understanding of the descriptions and functions of the cell components.

Then students will create a cell comic strip about a missing component. The directions for the comic strip will be for the students to think of a component they think the cell can do without. Then create a comic strip about the missing component. Students will be given example comic strips from the news paper to help generate ideas. When students are ready they will draft ideas on a Storyboard before they publish their Cell Comic Strip. The exit ticket for the Cell Comic Strip will ask the students to describe the most favorite and their least favorite part of the activity.

Day 6-20: Describe that Disease

In this activity students will explore three science objectives. First students will describe, compare, and contrast diseases by placing information in a Venn diagram. Second students will evaluate human attempts to reduce risk of infections and treatments for infection. Finally students will analyze data to determine trends in how infections spread.

Throughout the unit the teacher will be discussing small-pox, tuberculosis, measles, diarrhea, and syphilis and students will take notes during the discussion in their daybook. After each disease is discussed students will have to create either a foldable or graphic organizer to reflect the knowledge obtained. Each foldable or graphic organizer must contain information about the history of the disease, treatment in the past and present, implications during The Civil War, and miscellaneous information the student wants to provide. In an effort to extend knowledge about the diseases students will have to write either a letter or a journal entry telling someone about their day. Included in the letter or journal entry students will need to pretend they are a solider from either side and pick a disease they are suffering with. Then they will need to tell about the events in their day either in the hospital, on the battle field, marching, at camp etc. Students will need to vividly explain the events they have witnessed and or are dealing with.

Day 20-25: Why was that said?

In this activity students will examine the Figurative Language in the Gettysburg Address by interacting in a group setting, reflecting on the learning experience and describing the impact of the outcome of speech at the end of the Civil War.

The teacher will review with students the components of figurative language. Students will take notes and include examples in their daybook on imagery, simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole and an idiom. Then students will make a Vocabulary book foldable to review the components of figurative language. Next we will read independently and collaboratively the Gettysburg Address. After it has been read students will be given an opportunity to complete the Dialectic Journal in their daybook about the speech. Following that we will discuss the document to consider historical implications and possible consequences from that speech. Students will also be asked to describe the figurative language used within the speech. At the end of this activity students will complete an exit ticket. On the exit ticket students will be asked to respond to one of the following questions, think about what would have happened if the South won the Civil War if Jefferson Davis would have made the Gettysburg Address, and what he would have said.

Day 28-30: Questions, Questions, and Questions

In this activity students will generate questions, make connections, draw conclusions and make inferences by appropriately participating in whole group discussions. They will consider implications, consequences and conclusions of those decisions.

Throughout the unit students will generate a bank of questions that relate to knowing, applying, analyzing, generating, integrating, and evaluating. Teacher will review with students the differences between each level of question. Teacher will also randomly ask students to answer the questions they collaboratively generated. Then the teacher will place 6 posters on the wall titled with each level of question. Students will be placed in pairs and given a color coded stack of question related to the topic of war and disease. Within the pair they will have to read the question and decide which level the question is associated with. They will place each question under the appropriate poster.

Day 1-45: Book Club

In this activity students will increase fluency by reading and exploring, self selected literature. Students will draw conclusions, take notes, make connections, draw inferences, and compare and contrast information. They will take an active role by appropriately discussing literature in small groups.

Teacher will ask students if they have ever read books on disease and or the Civil War. Then the teacher will explain to them that books help reinforce, and review concepts previously taught. Before revealing the book display teacher will read a portion of Pink and Say ²⁷ in an effort to peak their interest about the books selected on war and disease. Teacher will introduce and explain the Book Club Rubric to students. They will realize that they must read 5 picture books and 1 novel throughout the unit. While reading the self selected picture books student must complete a book recommendation form. The form will explain the students recommendation rationale for the book to their peers. Additionally students will complete self selected activities from the novel list while reading the novel.

This activity will be completed throughout the entire unit. If a student completes another activity early they can go to the book display and work on the rubric. In addition to that students will work on the novel activities for homework every night until completed.

Throughout the unit we will also view excerpts of the Civil War Journal movie series and the film Glory. We will view the portion that depicts the treatment of the sick prisoners at Andersonville and a part that talks about the formation of the 54 ^th regiment. Looking at the film will give the students a visual image of the events that occurred during the Civil War.

The students who read Killer Angels will watch the film to compare and contrast the movie to the film. While watching the film students will take notes in their daybook to record similarities and differences between the novel and the film. Upon completion of the film we will have a discussion about their observations and conclusions.

Day 45: KWL

Students and teacher will review what we placed in the know and wanted to learn column. Then students will refer back to the page in their daybook where they created their initial KWL chart and write in the third column what they learned. After they complete the third column independently they will share what they learned with the class and the teacher will complete the third column on the class KWL chart. For the final exit ticket students will have to answer what was the most interesting information they learned during the unit.