Classroom Strategies
I plan to combine literacy and reading strategies with hands-on labs in order to capture and sustain attention during the unit. My students struggle to find relevance in topics, and while they may find something interesting, it is difficult for them to make connections with personal background knowledge. This results in a struggle to make global connections to the implications of science on their lives. Understanding the advancements biomedical engineering has made over time may be motivation for them to remain interested in the class discussions.
Biomedical engineers are responsible for, essentially, keeping the human population alive longer than previous generations by development of new tools or techniques for disease diagnosis or treatment. This is accomplished through research in areas such as medical technologies (x-rays, prosthetic limbs), creation of vaccines, and gene therapies, in addition to diagnostic tools and health care computer applications. The breadth of this field is wide, such that we only know that the needs and opportunities will be increasing with certainty.17 Exposing students to biographies of biomedical engineers through reading assignments would be useful to help them make connections and engage with content.
Lab Based Activities
My goal is to use hands on activities, like the DNA extraction method, to hook students and to preview key vocabulary like DNA, genes, and chromosomes. I will also use this method as a way to link back to the scientific method discussion we have at the start of the year, especially concerning controlling variables and posing new questions. While it would not be inquiry based since students are supplied with a procedure, the strawberry DNA extraction method will raise questions since it is so different than the normal content I teach. I hope the activity raises their intrinsic motivation, and especially for my low readers, gives them an experience that will help them to stay engaged with subsequent readings.
Student Generated Questions
Offering students strategies for posing new questions is an area in which I feel I lack as an instructor. I tend to get caught up in teaching science content, but unfortunately, it doesn’t leave much time for their curiosity to come through. Therefore, a major rationale behind choosing to create an enrichment unit is to get kids to not only understand material, but also to be able to start posing their own high-level questions. I want them to have that sensation of wonder and awe. I also want to understand how the innovations in the world around us are available because of the asking and answering of questions.
Literacy Activities
I feel a strong connection to the literacy aspect of science education. I want to use strategies in my classroom that allow students to become independent readers of science materials, those who have the confidence to deal with complex texts, and the confidence to know where to find answers when they have questions. Therefore, after the demonstration portion, but before the conference portion, the majority of the activities will include literacy strategies. It will be essential that my students be able to understand material in order to ask the higher-level questions that are the goal of my unit.
The students will be able to apply the knowledge they learn about genetic diseases to our discussions on the body systems and how they function to keep us alive. When we get to our discussion on alveoli and their basic function (to increase surface area in the lungs for more gas exchange), I will now be able to ask higher level application questions about how cystic fibrosis may affect the structure of the alveoli and what possible outcomes that could have on lung function. Students would understand that cystic fibrosis can causes a build up of mucus, thereby blocking the alveoli and making gas exchange more difficult.
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