Teaching Strategies
Photon Journey and Photosynthesis
In the beginning of this part of the unit direct lecture and notes will be given. Students need to be taught the information about the photon development in the Sun, its travels to Earth and its interactions in photosynthesis. This unit is about photons and photosynthesis, so when photosynthesis does not need photons anymore, further discussion of photosynthesis will not occur because all the main parts of the process will have been described by that point anyway. Lecture will be given through Power Point or Google Slides. Students will have questions to answer in writing in their notebook from each slide as well as sketches to make. By putting this information in writing, students will have a first part of retention that they will then go back over later when reviewing and/or rewriting notes.
Another key strategy for this part of the unit is visualization of information. In order for students to best understand the timing of photon development as well as distances travelled, visualizing them will give students a better grasp on the topic. To engage students with thinking about large time scales and distances in a visual manner, students will have more concrete ways then just some numbers to consider the concepts of photon development and subsequent travel from the Sun to the Earth.
A third strategy used in this part of the unit will be an inquiry-based lab. This portion of the unit will integrate the two concepts of photons and photosynthesis that has been developed. Students should have questions ready to ask based on the notes taken and the visualizations created. By allowing students to inquire about their own interests with a testable question, they will deepen the understanding of the photons and photosynthesis. Furthermore, this will be a summative assessment for this part of the unit. Their comprehension of each part of this unit segment will be shown in their reporting and analysis of the experiment and its results.
Interference with Photosynthesis
This part of the unit will revolve around student-led classroom experiences. Students will do independent research on how disasters can potentially lead to photosynthetic interference through blockage of photons reaching the Earth. Students will then teach the class about what they learned. Such a strategy of having students responsible for teaching the topic to the rest of their peers will increase interest in the content and enhance understanding of the topics since students have authority over the research of ideas presented. The completion of this activity by each student or groups of students (depending on class size) will also be a summative assessment for this portion of the unit. Students will show how much they comprehend about the concepts of photosynthesis productivity and how it may and/or may not be impacted by environmental conditions.
Astrobiology and Photosynthesis
This final part of the curriculum unit will first involve a notes jigsaw. Students will be assembled into groups to discover parts of astrobiology concepts that they will share with their whole group. Students will benefit from learning from each other in a group setting. By interacting with texts and visual resources first on their own, students are owning the content and concepts. Tasked with sharing with other students in a small group format forces each student to be knowledgeable about the topic they have researched. And then to synthesize the concepts of each other group member will further develop the understanding of the astrobiology content.
Astrobiology and Photosynthesis will conclude with inquiry-based instruction. Students will choose an exoplanet to study. Using information learned in this part of the unit about photons, photosynthesis and what determines if something is alive, students will use data collected to determine the habitability of the researched planet. This will be a summative assessment for this portion of the full unit. As has been a theme with teaching strategies, students will be synthesizing multiple concepts learned throughout the larger unit, as they have been building on each other in each part, and in this unit specifically. With choice involved in inquiry, students are deciding how all the parts work together to suggest something that is still not known: if their chosen exoplanet can have any lifeforms. Throughout the unit students have had many different hats to wear: listener, writer, researcher, experimenter, group worker, and presenter. In teaching students how to integrate all of these into a cohesive whole is the key to the unit’s success.
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