Content Objectives
The students that will be enrolled in my Geometry classes for the 2021-2022 academic year will be mostly sophomores whom I’ve had the honor of teaching as freshman. As freshman at Brashear High School, they have successfully passed Biology. As sophomores, they will be enrolled in Chemistry. The content background may be a refresher for the most part: What is biotechnology? How can we understand biotechnology, the status of global biotechnology, and its importance? What are the concrete threats to biotechnology? Is it possible to maintain biotechnological affordability, accessibility, and appropriateness to improve the human condition? One of the things I love most about being a teacher is that each day I get to see the direct impact of the work I do. I imagine that biotech engineers feel the same gratification, from their resulting research and development that I feel from my students. Teachers, like biotech engineers, must often attend to urgent matters. Over the past fifteen years, I have seen just how high the stakes are for my students. Every skill or life-lesson I teach them can open the door for opportunities and put them on a different life path. Similarly, advancements in biotechnology, like prosthetics, are enhancing the capabilities and quality of life of individuals with physical impairments. By creating a curriculum unit focused on engineering in biology with a geometrical lens will allow me to enlighten the mind of my students, while sharing ways biotech engineers are changing the lives of everyday people. This unit will foster transformational change by influencing all areas of the students’ lives, from academic growth to problem solving and career development. Academically, the students will gain exposure to real world scientific connections.
At Brashear High School, we believe that part of the 21st century of competencies are Accountability, Advocacy, and Awareness. These three competencies have their foundation in the core beliefs of Empathy, Equity and Efficacy. [text omitted] responsibility for their work and actions through Advocacy by participating as active and compassionate members of our school community while using their voices and actions to relentlessly demand equity for and integrity from our community, our peers, and ourselves. Accountability measures include holding everyone in our community to the highest possible standard and expect each other to do the right thing granted that we require ourselves and others to be fully engaged in learning. Ultimately, through Accountability, students will commit to demonstrating situational awareness and empathy by acknowledging the boundaries and individuality of one another.
[text omitted] the fields of geometry, biology, and technology. With the advancement of technology and the advancement of medicine, these fields are growing and weaving together. Currently, the global pandemic has necessitated needs in the medical field, which in turn [text omitted] showcases how science and technology overlap and support each other. This will also show possible career paths in these fields. This unit will be a total of ten 45-minute periods (with-in an alternating 90-minute block schedule) introduced at the start of the second semester. There will be several topics that will be covered with accompanying activities and projects. [text omitted] and gain an appreciation for the importance of human centered design of biotechnology and will have learned about the various arguments that people make in favor of affordability, accessibility and appropriateness for ethnically, religiously and socioeconomically diverse communities in the U.S. and abroad.
Comments: