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Cell Anatomy of Animals and Plants Level: Intermediate --- Content: Science |
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Mr. Mueller is
preparing his seventh grade science class for life long
learning by engaging them in an independent learning experience. The unit
that they are studying is on the structure and function of cells. Using
Moodle, he provides the students with a number of online resources and asks
them to research the cell anatomy of animals and plants and create an online
presentation comparing them. The presentation must include pictures, models,
or drawings of cells and describe the function of their parts. He tells the
students that they can create any kind of presentation as long as it can be
published online so that it can be shared with Mr. Mueller and the rest of
the class over the Internet. He provides them with rubrics that will be used
for evaluating their presentations. He also tells them that they will be
taking an online assessment on the cell parts at the end of the unit and they
should prepare for this. Students use their
laptops to access the websites that Mr. Mueller has specified. Some of these
websites contain photographs and drawings, others
contain text about the function of cells. Some contain multiple-choice
questions that help them build skill in remembering the names of the cell
parts and how to spell them. These skill-building sites help students prepare
for both their presentations and their end of unit test. Students in the class
develop a variety of very creative presentations. Some create videos and
podcasts of themselves explaining the parts of the cell. Others use graphic
programs to draw and then label the parts of the cell. They create wikis, web
pages, PowerPoint presentations, and even music videos. In addition to
learning about cells, they learn a great deal about working independently and
how to communicate effectively using technology. When the projects are
completed, students post them on the Internet and send the web address to Mr.
Mueller and their classmates via email. Each student (and Mr. Mueller) then
use the rubric to evaluate their own projects and those of each of their
classmates. Mr. Mueller has
created an account for his class on an online assessment site that has tests
on many science and math topics. Teachers can also create their own tests and
the site keeps records and scores for all the students. Students can even
take tests using their mobile phones since the tests can be displayed in a
small format suitable for the screen of a phone. Mr. Mueller creates a
rubric using the Intel Assessing Projects tool and uses scores from the
rubric evaluation of the students’ presentations as well as their scores on
the online assessment. Tools used in this
scenario: |