PBL Unit Sketch (2).docx - LTM 640 Portfolio



PROBLEM BASED LEARNING UNITA Cross Curricular Unit Plan Using The Following as Framework THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKSBy: Rebecca SklootALVERNO COLLEGELTM 622APRIL 3RD, 2014ENGLISH: Toni HillSCIENCE: Wendy Gadouas, Sahar AhmadSOCIAL STUDIES (US Government, Economics, & Geography): Tim KnuthCONTEXT3 – 4 weeks10 lessons/discipline with some overlapEach student will have a portfolio (binder) he/she will carry to each content class in order to utilize in each classGrade: 9# of total students: 130, 26 students/class contentBlock Schedule:5 classes/day: 4 content (English, Social Studies, Science, Math not included in this cross curriculum lesson plan), 1 elective, 75 minute class periods, 25 minute lunchEntire 9th grade student body will participate in PBLTeachers will teach seminars independentlyBased upon maps testing, in-class behaviors, ELL, special education needs and IEP’s, a multiple intelligence screening and any other pre-assessments leading up to this point in the semester we will put the students in appropriate 4-6 member groups.HOOKThe year is 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Lacks family is just about to discover that their beloved wife/ mother/ sister Henrietta Lack’s cells have been utilized in research labs all over the world without any informed consent for the past twenty years. This “tissue issue” will forever change their views on science just as the HeLa cells changed the face of medicine and research.Phone rings: Deborah Lacks: Hello. Lack’s residence. Deborah speaking.Caller: Hello. My name is Veronica Miller. I’m a reporter for the Youngstown, Vindicator. I would like to interview you about your mother’s cells. Deborah Lacks: What? Who is this? My mama’s dead.Caller: I understand, Maa’m. I’m calling to speak with you about Henrietta and what you think about her cells living on despite her passing. You know, they are even being used in labs in Europe, Asia, Canada, space missions…Deborah Lacks: Hold on now. Hold on. That just ain’t possible. Ain’t no one ever ask permission to do my Mama that way!! Caller: You didn’t know? You mean you were never contacted about this? Your family doesn’t receive any compensation either? Oh my. I apologize… Pardon me saying this but…May I suggest you contact an attorney? PROBLEM STATEMENTThe Problem: Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken without permission, and used in multiple ways, including but not limited to developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Depending on which side you are assigned, you will either be defending John Hopkins Hospital or advocating for the Lacks Family with regards to the use of the HeLa cells.Lacks Family: You are going to build a case to present before a panel of judges to try to convince that your family is owed financial retributions from John Hopkins for the HeLa cells. John Hopkins: You are going to build a case to present before a panel of judges to defend that you do not owe the Lacks family financial retributions for the HeLa cells because there aren’t any laws stating that compensation is mandatory.INTERDISCIPLINARY STANDARDSELA CCSS AND NCTE STANDARDSCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. HYPERLINK "" \h CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1.AIntroduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. HYPERLINK "" \h CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1.BDevelop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level and concerns. HYPERLINK "" \h CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1.CUse words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims. HYPERLINK "" \h CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1.DEstablish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. HYPERLINK "" \h CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1.EProvide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.NCTE STANDARDS 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes.NEXT GENERATIONS SCIENCE STANDARDSHS-LS3-1.Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring. HS-LS3-2.Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors. HS-LS3-3.Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population. HS-ETS1-3.Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.Crosscutting Concepts:Influence of Science, Engineering and Technology on Society and the Natural WorldSystems and System ModelsScience is a Human EndeavorCause and EffectScale, Proportion, QuantityWISCONSIN SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS, CCSS AND NCSSWisconsin Social Studies StandardsC.12.1 Identify the sources, evaluate the justification, and analyze the implications of certain rights and responsibilities of citizensC.12.2 Describe how different political systems define and protect individual human rightsC.12.3 Trace how legal interpretations of liberty, equality, justice, and power, as identified in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other Constitutional Amendments, have changed and evolved over timeC.12.8 Locate, organize, analyze, and use information from various sources to understand an issue of public concern, take a position, and communicate the positionC.12.16 Describe the evolution of movements to assert rights by people with disabilities, ethnic and racial groups, minorities, and womenCommon Core State StandardsLiteracy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.Literacy.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.Literacy.RH.9-10.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.Literacy.WHST.9-10.6 Use technology, including the internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared wirting products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.Literacy.WHST.9-10.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.Literacy.WHST.9-10.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.ESSENTIAL QUESTIONSELA How do you convince an audience that your claim is right?How do you determine what words, phrases, and clauses to to use to link major sections of the text?What is the best mode of communication to use when arguing a point? What approach to arguing a point is the best?How do you determine the validity of evidence?ScienceWho decides what is scientifically moral/ ethical?Why is aseptic technique so important?What does DNA do?How can genetic information be used?How does cancer affect healthy cells?Social StudiesWho was intended to be included in “We the People” in the Preamble to the Constitution?What happens when rights of two different individuals/parties collide?How does the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th amendment affect us today? Who should be responsible for deciding constitutionality of capital punishment?How should the Supreme Court determine which cases it is going to hear?TOPICAL QUESTIONSELA What are the modes of communication?How do you determine if evidence is relevant?How do you maintain an objective tone?What is important to know about characters in a narrative?What is text evidence?Science What forms the genetic code?How does DNA copy itself?How are mutations formed?How can mutations affect an organism?How is cancer related to mutations and the cell cycle?Social StudiesHow are popular sovereignty and limited government related?What are the four methods to adding an amendment to the Constitution? Which has only been used once?Explain which right and how it was protected by the court in Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965?How does the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment affect the guarantees in the Bill of Rights?In what respect do women as a group resemble minority groups?LEARNING PLANDay 1:Intro to PBL, Framing the PBLExtra CurricularSocial Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT identify the sources and analyze the implications of individuals rights, states rights, governmental and responsibilities.Procedure: A didactic seminar presentation of The Constitution and the 6 Basic Principles of the Constitution: Popular Sovereignty, Limited Government, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Judicial Review, FederalismAssessment: Students will be asked to journal on the lecture from the day for the last 15 minutes of class. I will prepare a RAFTS strategy to provide a writing prompt for the students. I will read the journals and assess for their syntax of the information from class.Science SeminarObjectives: SWBAT defend and debate their stance on various ethical issues in scienceProcedure: Students are given a handout containing several ethical scenarios and will answer the question “What would you do?” for each scenario. After, students will compare answers and write a brief summary comparing and contrasting their responses. Based on consensus, under what circumstances are the situations considered “ethical”? Students will then be separated based on their responses and will debate their stance on the ethics of science. Assessment: Student’s responses on corresponding handout. Student’s responses in class discussion/ debate. Math WorkshopDay 2:ECEnglish SeminarObjective: SWBAT define text evidence through a comprehensive strategy QAR, specifically Right There and Think & Search questions using The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.Procedure: Students will be listen to a lecture about QAR. Students will participate in an answer search focused around “Right There” and “Think & Search” questions in the form of a Bingo sheet. Students will be given 15 minutes to find as many questions from Part 1 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as they can on their Bingo sheet. When time is up, the class will play Bingo where the teacher will announce the column (B, I, N, G, or O) and the answer. If the student found that answer, he/she can mark it off of his/her sheet. The winner is except from answering all of the questions he/she didn’t get the chance to answer before time was up.Assessment: Students will complete an Exit Ticket by writing the definition of text evidence, QAR, “Right There” and “Think & Search” questions.Math SeminarSocial Studies WorkshopStudents will be asked to read two articles from and write a 2 paragraph summary of the article and a 2 paragraph personal response to the article.Science Workshop: Aseptic Technique LabObjective: Students will be able to culture an uncontaminated colony(ies) of a given bacteria using aseptic techniques. Procedure: Standard Aseptic Lab procedure (see attachment). Assessment: Student’s bacterial cells should be free of any contaminants. Students will be observed to ensure that they have used the standard aseptic techniques and a checklist will be used to record assessor’s observations. Also, a lab reflection sheet will be completed and turned in by the end of this workshop. Day 3:ECEnglish WorkshopStudents will finish answering the questions from Bingo sheet. Students will begin to read Part 2 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Chapters 12 - 17. Students are to list and explain all of the research or creations from the HeLa cells.Social Studies Seminar Objectives: SWBAT identify how The Federal Court System fits into the checks and balances and how this is a benefit of federalism.Procedure: 45 minutes: A didactic seminar presentation of The Federal Court System. Will present on The National Judiciary System, The Inferior Courts, The Supreme Court, and Special Courts. Assessment: At the conclusion of the seminar, students will be paired with a classmate and provided 30 minutes in class to work on the the task. They will be tasked with building their own graphic organizer that lays out the foundation for the American Judiciary System.Science Seminar:Objectives: Describe the results of Mendel’s experiments. Identify the role of alleles in controlling the inheritance of traits. Procedure: Students will investigate and explain that heredity is comprised of the characteristic traits found in genes within the cell of an organism. Assessment: Virtual Lab Activity. Students will be given the genotypes of different organisms and asked to illustrate how different alleles are passed from parent to offspring using Mendelian heredity theory though a series of simulations. Their correct responses and analysis of the data will be assessed. Math WorkshopDay 4:ECEnglish SeminarObjective: SWBAT define the six modes of communication and write a sequence of events for Henrietta Lacks’ life using Part 1 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.Procedure: Students will take notes as the teacher lectures, using a powerpoint on a Smartboard, and models using various resources,six modes of communication; read, write, speak, listen, see, represent. With this information students will choose a mode of communication (except for listen and see) and work with a partner, determined by same birth months, to create a sequence of events for Part 1 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Assessment: Students will complete an exit ticket listing the six modes of communication and an example for each. Partners will submit their sequence of events and what mode of communication they will use to present the information. Math SeminarScience Workshop: Field trip to Human and Molecular Genetics Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. 8701 Watertown Plank RoadExtra Group Time for working on presentation Science/Social Studies/EnglishDay 5:ECSocial Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT trace how legal interpretations of liberty, equality, justice have changed over time. Procedure: Initial 15-25 minutes of class will be spent presenting didactic information on the methods of amendment to the constitution. Using a jigsaw strategy, students will be broken into groups and asked to read specific amendments of the constitution. They will then be responsible for researching their specific amendment, and finding out specific details about the amendment. When was the ratification proposed, how long did it take to ratify? How many states approved of the ratification, etc. Which specific court cases have either contested, or upheld the amendment? They will be given this class period and the time during their workshop to develop their knowledge on the specific amendment and all of the pertinent information for that amendment. They will then report back in a formal presentation to different groups within the class on that particular amendment. Assessment: Students activities during class will be monitored and assessed. The students written summary and verbal presentation will serve as assessments for this topic.Science SeminarObjectives: Identify the events that occur during meiosis and fertilization.Procedure: Students will investigate how chromosomes recombine through meiosis and fertilization. Discuss what color pods the female plant parents have. Students complete the After the Inquiry Warm-Up worksheet.Assessment: The After the Inquiry Warm-Up worksheet sets up a discussion of heredity and the color of seed pods. Assess student’s responses in class discussion. Have volunteers share their answers to question 4 about what color pods the next three offspring will have.Math WorkshopExtra Group Time for working on presentation Science/Social Studies/English (staff will meet to assess progress, unit structure, etc.Day 6:ECEnglish Seminar Objectives: SWBAT determine how to determine the validity of evidence and if its relevant.Procedure: Students will have to use their knowledge of Mendelian heredity theory and answer a series of questions regarding a family with Widow’s Peak alleles. Teacher will then lecture about how to decide is if evidence is valid and relevant using the Mendelian heredity theory. For example, if the evidence says males in Michael’s family carry the allele for Widow’s Peak, then his sons will have Widow’s Peak. How do we know this? Mendelian heredity theory. Students will review fictional court cases evidence and research the evidence to determine if its valid (accurate) and relevant to the case.As a class, we will review the workshop assignment to ensure that everyone has the same accurate information in preparation for final assessment.Assessment: Students ability to identify valid and relevant evidence from the fictional court cases.Math SeminarOPEN FOR SPEAKERGuest speaker-ParalegalDay 7:ECSocial Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT interpret and recall the meaning and contents of the Decleration. They will be able to identify how governmental powers can be acquired, and legitimized. Procedure: Combined reading, text, coding and pairing and sharing. Students will be given a pdf version of The Declaration of the United States. They will be responsible for reading The Declaration and text coding as they read. Students are encouraged to work with partners on this reading assignment. Afterwards, as a class we will “share” our findings of the Declaration. Students will lead the discussion, and I facilitate the discussion. Certain prompts I will provide if not brought up by the students would connect to the inalienable rights and how they connect to the rights of Americans today. What did the founding father’s mean specifically by inalienable rights? Assessment: I will monitor the text coding throughout the class period, along with taking account of students participation in the in class discussion.Science SeminarObjectives: Explain how genetic disorders are traced, diagnosed, and treated.Procedure: Have students discuss why scientists study dogs to learn about human diseases. Students will look at a photo showing the chromosomes of a person with Down syndrome and count the chromosomes. The After the Inquiry Warm-Up worksheet sets up a discussion about the number of chromosomes in each cell of a person who has Down syndrome. Assessment: Have volunteers share their answers to question 4 about whether or not Down syndrome is a sex-linked trait. Listen to student’s responses in class. Doggie Diagnosis Planet Diary Activity. Math WorkshopOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORK Day 8:ECSocial Studies WorkshopStudents will be working on researching and preparing their amendment summaries and presentations.English SeminarObjectives: SWBAT to identify tone and purpose. SWBAT Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks tone and purpose in the book. Procedure: Students will listen and take notes on a lecture about tone and purpose. The students will be required to complete a set of exercise practices that will be collected and corrected for a grade.Students will be divided into groups of 4 - 5 and assigned a chapter from their required Workshop reading to identify the tone and purpose of the specific chapter. Assessment: Students will receive a grade on how well they perform on the tone and purpose exercises.Math SeminarScience Workshop: Lead a Discussion about how discoveries can occur independently of one another rather than leading to one since they are not always initially connected. This may make a good argument for either the Johns Hopkins or Lack’s family advocates as scientific discoveries are independent of one another and similar HeLa technology may have simultaneously been discovered in other labs. Day 9:ECEnglish WorkshopStudents will finish reading Part 2 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and list all the persons that have been introduced thus far in the book, and their role in Henrietta’s life or with the HeLa cells. Social Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT the amendments and how they relate to the change in culture, and the interpretations of liberty, equality, and justice over time.Procedure: Presentation of Amendment Research: Students will present their reports on their individual amendments to other members of their groups. As listeners, students will have to take notes on other group member’s presentation. Assessment: Each student will be responsible for presenting their findings on their amendment. They will also have prepare a 1 page summary of their amendment highlighting the requirements of the assignment.Science SeminarObjectives: Describe three ways of producing organisms with desired traits.Procedure: Have students discuss zebra hybrids. Then have students do the Inquiry Warm-Up activity. Students will examine the fingerprints of their classmates. The After the Inquiry Warm-Up worksheet sets up a discussion about the uniqueness of fingerprints. Assessment: Have volunteers share their answers about how to identify the owner of the unlabeled fingerprint. Listen to student’s responses in class. Observe students as they work through the activity. Math WorkshopDay 10:ECEnglish SeminarObjectives: SWBAT identify narrative components in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Procedure: Review narrative writing and its components.As a class, review the text and list the parts that are narrative. Students will then provide explanations for why the list of parts are narrative using evidence from their knowledge of narrative writing and the text to be collected.Assessment: Teacher will review the students’ explanations for accuracy. Math SeminarMath WorkshopOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORK (staff will meet to self-assess, and consider needed adaptations to unit plans)Day 11:ECEnglish WorkshopStudents will begin to read Part 3 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Chapters 23 - 30. Social Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT identify civil liberties afforded by the First Amendment. They will cite examples of these rights as witnessed in their daily life and in the media.Procedure: This lesson will focus on the Civil Liberties and the First Amendment Freedoms. Students will be asked to read 1 article, and present their findings to two other students who are reading a different article. After they have shared their readings, the students will independently choose an aspect of the first amendment (religion, speech, press, assembly and petition) and create a blog (requirements are that they must complete the blog once every 3 days) about their particular dimension of the first amendment. They can write about news, something that happened throughout their day, or any other area of interest associated with that aspect of the first amendment.Assessment: The blog will serve as the assessment and a rubric would be created to grade and assess.Science SeminarObjectives: Describe at least three complex patterns of inheritance. Discuss how characteristics result from inheritance and environmental factors.Procedure: Explain that some environmental factors can change an organism’s genes. For example, tobacco smoke and other pollutants can affect genes in a person’s body cells in a way that results in lung cancer and other cancers. Explain that this may have been the case for Henrietta Lacks. Still other genetic changes happen by chance. Changes in body cells cannot be passed to offspring. Only changes in the sex cells—eggs and sperm—can be passed to offspring. Not all genetic changes have negative effects. Genetic change in sex cells is an important source of life’s variety.Assessment: Students are given various case studies to analyze based on today’s direct instruction, previous readings, other information. Students will determine what type of inheritance is being described in each case study and what environmental factors could have played a role in this case study. Finally, students will use the Henrietta Lacks book and evidence from the book as a case study to determine the pattern of inheritance for Henrietta’s cancer. Math WorkshopDay 12:ECEnglish SeminarObjectives: SWBAT determine the psychological state of the Lacks’ family in relation to characteristics results from inheritance. Procedure: Students will listen to a lecture on the term psychological. Students will complete a Frayer Model graphic organizer along with this lecture. As a class, students will outline the events leading up, during, and after the Lacks’ family were tested for cancer by rereading Chapter 23. Assessment: Observation of how accurate the students are able to list the events.Math SeminarScience WorkshopOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORKDay 13:ECSocial Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT describe the movements and evolution to assert rights by people of different ethnic/racial groups, minorities, and women.Procedure: This lesson will focus on Segregation in America. I will present a didactic presentation on Jim Crow Laws, Brown v. Board of Education, Sweatt v. Painter, McLaurin v. Oklahoma, Plessy v. Ferguson.Assessment: Students will be responsible for taking Cornell notes. The notes will be assessed based upon an in class rubric for note taking.Science SeminarObjectives: Discuss what DNA is and compare and contrast DNA and RNA Identify the base pairs in both DNA and RNAProcedure: I will lead lecture explaining DNA and how it is the blueprint for all living things.The students will use the textbook along with videos and simulations to help concrete the inner workings of DNA and RNA as they pertain to protein synthesis. Science Connection Overview guides will be utilized to assist students in making sense of difficult scientific text.Assessment: Formative assessment: chart filled out by students comparing and contrasting DNA and RNA in terms of size, type, bases, site, strands, and sugar.OPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORKOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORK (Guest speaker from the south-Jim Crow laws)Day 14:ECEnglish SeminarObjectives: SW begin to compose their arguments for mock trials. Procedure: Students will work with group (Lacks or John Hopkins) to decide what facts and roles are necessary in build their case. They will use information from social studies, science, and English to build their case. They will have to determine what evidence to use, the relevance of it to their case, and how to present the information in an objective tone. Assessment: Observation: teacher will walk around as the group looking for students to be reviewing materials from all three classes, determining roles, and what and how evidence will be presented.Math SeminarOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORKDay 15:ECEnglish WorkshopStudents will finish reading Part 3 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and write a report, outlined by the teacher, of their progress thus far on their arguments for mock trials.Social Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT describe individual rights, and trace the legal interpretations of the legal rights afforded in the constitution and its amendments. Procedure:This lesson will focus on Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights. This will be a didactic seminar focusing on The 14th Amendment, Due Process of the Law, Griswold v. Connecticut, Stanley v. Georgia, and Row v. Wade. We will watch video clips of different proceedings within the previously mentioned court cases, and archival footage of public response.Assessment: Throughout the class period, students will be asked to write their thoughts on that particular portion of the seminar. They will be given 3 minutes each section to respond.Science SeminarObjectives: Describe replication, transcription and translation as they relate to DNA Through theses processes, discuss how amino acids are produced Describe protein synthesis and why it is important for all living beings Procedure: Webquest: From DNA to Protein- The students will work independantly and use the website: (DNA to Protein module) to answer questions on a worksheet/ reading guide. Immediately following this activity, we will work as a class using the same website to answer the question: What makes a firefly glow?Assessment: An exit slip will be handed out towards the end of the seminar, it will have 2 questions involving the components of protein synthesis and topics that may still be fuzzy from the day’s lesson. The students will be given the last 5 minutes of the class period to answer and will hand them in on their way out of the class.Math WorkshopDay 16:ECEnglish SeminarStudents will share their progress reports in class. Students will consider what they heard the opposing side say in their report, and determine what their counterclaims will be.Math SeminarOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORK (Guest Attorney/Judge)OPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORK (staff will meet to assess, regroup, and modify as necessary)Day 17:ECSocial Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT describe evolution movements to assert rights by those with disabilities, ethnic and racial groups, minorities and women. Students will be able to cite specific examples of court cases and hearings as pertinent to the subject.Procedure: This lesson will focus on Civil Rights and Equal Justice under the law. Students will be given 2 topics from the list below. They will then report 1 of their topics to the class at the end of the day. Alternatively they will research and present their second topic during the beginning of the second class period (Day 19). Personal input and opinion is encouraged in the communication of the topics.List of Topics: Diversity and Discrimination in American Society, Equality before the law, Supreme court and Civil Rights, Federal Civil Rights Laws, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Affirmative Action 1965, The Civil Rights Act of 1968, The Equal Rights Amendment of 1972, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978, United Steelworkers v. Weber, 1979, Johnson v. Transportation Agency of Santa Clara County, 1987, Adarand Constructors v. Pena, 1995, Gratz v. Bollinger, and Grutter v. Bollinger, Proposition 209Assessment: Presentation of their research will serve as their assessment on their individual topic. Science SeminarObjectives: Discuss cell culture: origins and procedure Identify practical uses both historically and currentlyProcedure: Introduction to cell culture through the use of videos, excerpts of scientific journals and a brief lecture period. We will discuss the origins of cell culture and the “tissue issue” involving Henrietta lacks in the 1950s. Assessment: Short paper on what cell culture is and how it drives research and the development of vaccines/medicines that will be shared in class.Math WorkshopOPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORKDay 18:ECSocial Studies WorkshopStudents will work on their second topic from Day 17.English SeminarObjectives: SW begin to finalize their arguments to present in mock trials.Procedure: As a class, we will review the checklist for mock trials and presentation requirements. Assessment: NoneMath SeminarScience WorkshopCentral Dogma Mural/PaperStudents will choose to either create a mural or write a paper on the components or protein synthesis. If they choose to create a mural they can use magazine clippings, drawings, or pictures to satisfy requirements. if they choose to write a paper, they must include details and descriptions involving DNA structure, replication, transcription, and translation, as well as size, type, sugar, site, bases, and strands. Day 19:ECEnglish WorkshopStudents are to work on composing their argumentative essay for grading using the rubric, that includes but not limited to resources from social studies and science class, and revision checklist.Social Studies SeminarObjectives: SWBAT describe evolution movements to assert rights by those with disabilities, ethnic and racial groups, minorities and women. Students will be able to cite specific examples of court cases and hearings as pertinent to the subject.Procedure: Continuation from Day 17. At the conclusion of the presentations, I will not significant information that the students may have left out regarding individual topics.Assessment: Continued presentation of research on individual topics. Students will self assess and assess a minimum of two other classmates.Science SeminarObjectives: Continuation of Day 17- discussion surrounding cell cultureProcedure: The class will continue discussing cell culture and the events that led up to its success, keeping in mind the information they learned on Day 2 (aseptic technique)and why it is vital to cell culture. We will also discuss the HeLa cell contamination as it still occurs today.Assessment: Students will create a timeline outlining the evolution and history of cell culture, highlighting important discoveries made with the use of culturing human cells. the students will trade their timelines with another student and they will edit/correct their work together. As a class we will then create a class timeline to be displayed.OPEN FOR SPEAKER/PBL WORKDay 20:ECOPEN FOR PBL WORKEnglish SeminarObjectives: SWBAT finalize their arguments to present in mock trials.Procedure: As a class, we will review the checklist for mock trials and presentation requirements. Students are ensure that their individual argumentative essays are complete and submitted by the end of the class.Assessment: Argumentative essayMath SeminarScience WorkshopThe Genetic Code: A Pop-it Bead Simulation- in this lab students will use Pop-it beads to simulate gene sequencing. Working with a partner each group will create a secret message beginning with a start codon and ending with the stop codon. A document containing a table will show the codons that specify each letter of the alphabet and therefore in the message. In the message. b =blue, r=red, y=yellow, and o=orange (for this assignment these act as base pairs A T and G C). The students will start this exercise by decoding a message on the document provided realizing the the start and stop codon do not have a letter in the message but rather they indicate where to start and stop with decoding the message. Then the students will create their own message being careful to keep it appropriate for a school setting and keeping in mind that each letter will consist of a triplet (codon) so length of the message should taken into account. The message can be thought of as a command that DNA uses and should be read in a certain direction. Using no more than 50 beads, the student will then code for their message and then trade their strand with another group to decode the “secret message”.Day 21:Presentation of mock trials. These mock trials serve as the Final Assessment for the students for this unit. Each “team” will face a team with the opposing view point. Students in observation will serve as the jury. Staff will assess presentations as the trials unfold. Each staff member, and the student body will vote for the top two teams from each viewpoint. The respective team from each side will face off in a final court battle. We will invite administration, and members from the community who assisted in presenting to and building the foundational knowledge throughout the unit to “judge” the final hearing. The panel of judges’ decision will be final. The winning team will receive a guaranteed A on the project, along with the ability to skip the final exam in 2 of their core content classes (if the school’s rules allow for this).ALVERNO EDUCATION ABILITIESCOMMUNICATIONUsing oral, written and media modes of communication to structure and reinforce learning processes.In creating our unit plan, we considered all areas of the Alverno Education Abilities. We felt that the PBL unit structure lends well to meeting the requirements of the AEA’s. However, we felt that we had to immediately anticipate how we would be communicating together as a cohesive staff throughout the duration of the unit. Specifically our unit addresses communication amongst the students and staff as the PBL format asks the students to work in small groups together. Further we provide free time for the students to come up with their own inquiry, we communicate curriculum as we see fit throughout the unit plan through preset seminar instruction, and we also provide the students ample time to work together within their respective groups. Students will use multimedia tools to communicate amongst their group and between interdisciplinary staff members. Students, will be communicating verbally, and through written modes of communication throughout the duration of the unit. As a final assessment students will tie all of these modes of communication together to present their artifacts and “case” to a jury of staff and students. COORDINATION Managing resources effectively to support learning goals.The unit addresses this ability in a variety of ways including building skills in collaborating and integrating the use of resources in focused learning experiences. The main learning activity is centered on the collaboration of students that are required to form an educated opinion and back it up with factual evidence. Tasks that are involved in doing so will call for the use of media and technology resources such as databases, the internet and discipline specific journals/literature. Once the students are given their initial assignment, they are instructed to decide amongst themselves which group member will complete each part of the task, this allows for student involvement in managing their own resources in the educational experience. The students are asked to organize the materials in a coherent fashion and deliver the information in a courtroom trial. To help them achieve this goal, we scheduled workshops and seminars that will provide the insight needed to perform all the necessary features of an actual courtroom trial. All teachers came together to ensure that our discipline specific content overlapped and had connections across the board.CONCEPTUALIZATION Integrating disciplinary knowledge with educational frameworks and a broad understanding of human development in order to plan and implement learning processes. In order for this to be a successful PBL unit, each team member must be an expert in his/ her respective field of study. In addition, each member must have a general understanding of the corresponding disciplines in order to design a collaborative unit to maximize student understanding. The overall learning activity requires that students are equipped with knowledge in each specific discipline as well as in their ability to identify how these disciplines correlate to enhance the student’s overall understanding, which should be highlighted throughout the lesson. As a result, this particular unit will serve as an excellent artifact that highlights the teacher’s conceptualization abilities. Also, this lesson is an excellent demonstration of conceptualization across the curriculum, as it highlights crosscutting concepts such as patterns, cause and effect as well as finding solutions to real world problems. INTEGRATIVE INTERACTIONDemonstrating professional responsibility in the learning environment.Each teacher involved with our interdisciplinary PBL unit is responsible for building their own curriculum. However, we as a staff are responsible for creating a unit that meets the curriculum standards, education abilities, and Wisconsin teacher standards. In doing so, we are fulfilling our duty to provide our students with a learning environment that meets the “standards” based requirements of our positions. Our roles in this unit will often ask us to take a role of observer while our students develop the pathway to meeting those curricular needs. This role will require that we ensure the curriculum is being met, while ensuring that we are meeting the responsibilities required as leaders of our classroom environments. We have placed “checkpoints” in our unit for all of us be able to self-assess the progress of the unit, and to share and assess the work of our teaching cohort.DIAGNOSISRelating observations of behavior and situations using frameworks in order to foster learning. Throughout this PBL Unit, there are several opportunities for teachers to provide both formative and summative assessments as well as self-assessments. The problem-based design allows the students to choose from a menu assessments provided by their respective teachers to reach all types of learners. The unit also allows for unique forms of assessment as the problem itself is unique. For example, the ultimate goal of this PBL is their final performance in the form of a mock trial which is a cumulative assessment based on prior knowledge from the various disciplines. Along the way, teachers will monitor the progress of the students through observations and checklists, debates, research papers, lab activities, reflections (self-reflections and peer reflections) and more. Although teachers may choose to use more standard forms of assessment such as admit and exit slips, chapter tests, quizzes, worksheets and other more standard forms of assessment, the flexible problem presented in this PBL Unit provides the teacher with the opportunity to be more creative in her menu of assessment, both formative and summative. diagnosis plays a major role in the PBL unit for the teacher’s themselves as well. That is, the “checkpoints” were imbedded into the plan so that teachers could meet to assess the progress of the unit thus far and deal with any unforeseen issues that may have come about that could effect the learning outcomes. This gives teacher’s time to reflect upon the progress of the unit so that the teacher’s themselves can revise and adjust the plan as well, essentially, a form of diagnosis. WISCONSIN TEACHER STANDARDS1. TEACHERS KNOW THE SUBJECTS THEY ARE TEACHINGFor one to meet this standard, the teacher is responsible for knowing and understanding the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and the structures of the discipline he/she is teaching. As equally as important in this standard, the teacher “creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the subject matter meaningful for pupils.”The unit plan demonstrates our proficiency in this standard as we teach meaningful seminars to our students regarding the content area within our respective subject disciplines. Our unit plan is diverse, content driven, and student focused.Our unit as an entity addresses this standard by creating a unit plan that immediately hooks the student. In creating a PBL unit as a cohesive teaching staff, the nature of the format, and the conscious decision to incorporate our seminar lessons with a task that requires the student to immediately take that information, specifically with the ill defined question in mind, and to create a connection across all curricular areas we are creating meaningful experiences for our students.2. TEACHERS KNOW HOW CHILDREN GROWThe PBL unit is designed to be a collaborative effort on the part of the students; this instruction allows the students to work together towards a common goal there by supporting their social development. Our unit also addresses this standard in that we pre-assessed our students before the unit was introduced to gain a better idea of how to proceed. We took under consideration previous knowledge from maps testing, in-class behaviors, ELL, special education needs and IEP’s as well as a multiple intelligence screening to group the students effectively and efficiently. From this information we understand each student is different and has different learning needs, and we tailored this unit accordingly. For example, allowing each student to choose their role within the group based on their strengths as an individual, works towards accommodating each learning type and helps the students recognize their strengths and weaknesses as a developing learner.10. TEACHERS ARE CONNECTED WITH OTHER TEACHERS AND THE COMMUNITYThis standard is addressed throughout the our unit because, in part, this is a team teaching effort even though the seminars will be taught independently, there is overlap among each discipline. Each teacher was involved in the creative process and we worked together to make the lessons intertwine. The unit, as a whole, was developed by one English teacher, one Social Studies teacher, and two Science teachers working together to provide instruction that meets the end goal of a simulating a courtroom trial. Within the unit we have also arranged for public speakers from the community to come in and speak with the students during class time. Reaching out to professionals from the scientific community and legal practice help the students make connections from the PBL unit to the real world. Building relationships with these community professional demonstrates this standard because we are not only becoming connected between our disciplines but also we are taking it a step further by incorporating individuals from these fields to help deliver the information to our students.BLOOMS DOMAINSOur lesson addresses Bloom’s three domains in the following ways:Cognitive:Through the social studies and science lessons content, students were able to comprehend various meanings, interpretation of instructions and problems, and state a problem in one’s own words. Students learning in English how to explain concepts/ideas using text evidence from multiple sources. They also had to use their knowledge of different concepts/ideas to apply to science lab or written assignments in English and social studies during workshops. Affective:Through the analysis of Skloot and the Lacks family, the students were able to follow the life of Henrietta Lacks and internalize what happened to her and why the HeLa cells was such a disheartening issue for the family. Also, through learning about cells and inheritance, students were able to really study the effect of the HeLa cells and examine if there was an injustice done to the Lacks or not.PsychomotorThis was evident in the students performing their labs; being able to use sensory clues to guide their motor activity. They had to detect the effects of different things during the labs in order to gain an understanding of the concept/idea of how it may work. The labs were guided by the teacher’s ability to set them up to perform the experiments. Through this development of understanding through motor skills, it consequently allowed the students to figure out how it fits the PBL problem task. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download