Living vs. Nonliving Lesson Plan Purpose/Rational SOLs

Living vs. Nonliving Lesson Plan

Purpose/Rational: Students will investigate what constitutes something as living.

SOLs:

LS.2 The student will investigate and understand that all living things are composed of cells. Key concepts include a)cell structure and organelles c)development of cell theory

LS.4 The student will investigate and understand that the basic needs of organisms must be met in order to carry out life processes. Key concepts include c) factors that influence life processes

LS.12 The student will investigate and understand the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activities. Key concepts include e) environmental issues

Material and Resources:

Petri dishes, two or three Dropper bottle

Duco brand cement Overhead projector

Water

Safety: Students should not ingest anything while in lab. Elevated concerns when working with probe ware equipment.

Engage/Explore:

This activity is adapted from Martin Sheilds Biology Inquiries Standards-Based Labs, Assessments and Discussion Lessons entitled "What is Life? Part 1: Glue Goblins." Here students will have to look at a mystery object and decide if it living or nonliving. They will attempt to justify their decision based on observations and their prior knowledge, or misconceptions, on what classifies something as alive.

On an overhead projector, there will be two or three Petri dishes with water. I will place a couple globs of Duco glue in the water, trying to have students not observe what it is exactly I am putting in the water. This should cause a reaction between the water and the glue, which will result in the glue moving around the dish. I will ask the students if they think the item is alive. Then pass out activity sheets entitled "What is Life?" Students will then answer questions on the activity sheet; first individually, then with a partner/small groups. This will then lead into a group discussion. This activity/group discussion will allow me to gauge what they know. I will focus in on misconceptions students may have on living organisms. As stated in Douglas Llewellyn's book Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry "The learning cycle, specifically the Engagement stage, does, however, provide the teacher with a means of assessing students' current beliefs and understandings" (47).

30 minutes

Explain:

Students will define the 14 vocabulary words on page 47 for in class work/homework, time permitting. Also they will write these on note cards to improve study skills of these words (15 minutes)

There will be an additional lecture done by Mrs. Cunningham on Thursday October 1st discussing the 6 properties of life.

Elaborate:

For this section, students will conduct a Probeware lesson on stimuli and homeostasis. Please see further information in the Probeware Lesson Plan.

Probeware Lesson Plan

Objective: For students to interact with technology, such as the computers and probeware. In addition, students will continue expanding knowledge of living vs. nonliving objects. Finally, students will explore how stimulus affects homeostasis of animals.

SOLs:

LS.2 The student will investigate and understand that all living things are composed of cells. Key concepts include a) cell structure and organelles c) development of cell theory

LS.4 The student will investigate and understand that the basic needs of organisms must be met in order to carry out life processes. Key concepts include c) factors that influence life process

LS.12 The student will investigate and understand the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Key concepts include e) environmental issues

Materials:

Hot Plate 4 computers (laptop and power cords) 4 Vernier Labpro (USB cable, power cord) Surge Protector Software for LoggerPro

Water 4 Temperature Probes Video (United Streaming) 4 Clamps Smartboard and projector

Salt

16 Beaker Ice

Safety: There will be extreme temperatures used today in this lab. Students will practice and feel comfortable picking up beakers.

Procedure: Students will begin with think pair share of the properties of life. They will then watch the short clip on the properties of life, via UnitedStreaming. This movie will confirm/present again the information from the day before in the Explain section of this unit. Students will do a think, pair, share on the terms stimuli and homeostasis (15 minutes).

Instruct students how to operate the computer and collect data.

Students will measure three different water temperatures: Hot, room, and Ice water. They will collect data for 3 minutes and observe changes.

Students will complete activity sheet, drawing the connection between stimuli and organisms reaction to the stimuli. Students will discuss fish as an example reacting to various water temperatures. Finally, students will discuss salt, and other solutes in water, and its effects for the various organisms. (40 minutes).

Clean up and review (5-7 minutes)

Evaluation: Students will provide the following evidence for understanding water temperature.

Performance Criteria Students should understand the words and meaning of "Stimuli" and "Homeostasis" Students should understand how organisms are affected by change in temperature Characteristics of living vs. nonliving

Evidence Think, Pair, Share activity and what is recorded on their paper Activity sheet on temperature change

Think, Pair Share activity

Points

2=completes activity and explanation without mistakes 1= completes activity but offers incomplete explanation 0= does not complete activity or explanation

Students will provide the following evidence for understanding what constitutes something as living.

Performance Criteria

Evidence

Students should describe and explain common characteristics to life Students should investigate why an item is either alive or not living

Activity Sheet "What is Life?" Activity Sheet "what is Life?"

Points or Rating

2=completes activity and explanation without mistakes 1= completes activity but offers incomplete explanation 0= does not complete activity or explanation

What is Life?

1. While observing the mystery "thing" on the overhead screen, fill in the following:

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