- Sample Lessons
- Lesson One
Lesson Plan 10
Biology
Shawn P. Schwartz
30 Students
OBJECTIVE:
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the structure of DNA by constructing simple models of DNA with materials given to them in class. Students will also discover that some female scientists such as Rosalind Franklin have not been given proper credit for their discoveries and they will apply their feelings on this matter to a three hundred-word essay.
MATERIALS:
-Spiral notebook
-Pen/Pencil
-Biology textbook
-Chalkboard with pre-drawn structure of DNA
-Chalk
-Overhead Projector
-Blank Transparencies
-Medium tip transparency marker
-Yarn (phosphate group)
-Buttons (deoxyribose - pentose sugar)
-Assorted colored toothpicks (nitrogenous bases: red – adenine, yellow – cytosine, green – guanine, blue – thymine)
-Styrofoam peanuts (hydrogen bonds)
-Scissors
-Tape
-Paper
-Prepared DNA model, taped to a blank transparency
-Transparency with an example of a Rosalind Franklin social justice essay
-Personal computer
-Projector
NOTES:
The teacher will be handing out materials such as scissors and tape. Although the students are usually well behaved, the teacher may need to monitor them to make sure that they are not using the scissors improperly, wasting the tape, or taking the materials with them after class is finished. This is important so that the teacher can cut down on unnecessary expenses.
STEPS:
ANITICIPATORY SET: (2 minutes) Ask students to think of a time when their work or actions may not have received proper credit or were completely overlooked. How did this make the students feel?
1. (3 minutes) Take class attendance, get all of the students settled, and have students pass up homework.
2. (10 minutes) Have students open the biology textbook to Chapter 10. Call on individual students randomly to each read aloud one paragraph in the chapter related to the discovery of the double helix and the general structure of DNA.
3. (10 minutes) Turn on the overhead projector and place all of the materials on a blank transparency. Label what each material used to construct the DNA model is supposed to represent with a medium tip transparency marker. Show the students that the yarn represents the phosphate group, the buttons represent the deoxyribose, the assorted colored toothpicks represent the nitrogenous bases: red – adenine, yellow – cytosine, green – guanine, blue – thymine, and the Styrofoam peanuts represent the hydrogen bonds. Finally, show the students a completed DNA model that has been previously mounted on a blank transparency and present to them how the model relates to the diagram of DNA that has been drawn on the chalkboard.
4. (20 minutes) Randomly divide the students into six groups of five students. Give each group yarn, buttons, colored toothpicks, Styrofoam peanuts, scissors, tape, and a blank piece of paper. Have each of the groups construct a model like the one on the transparency and label the parts with a pen. Monitor the students to make sure that they stay on task, they twist the yarn like a double helix, they label all of the parts properly, and they match the proper nitrogenous bases (adenine to thymine and cytosine to guanine).
5. (5 minutes) Direct the students’ attention to the projector that is hooked up to the personal computer. Show the students the website: http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/chemach/ppb/cwwf.html and ask them to read aloud the first paragraph. After students understand that Rosalind Franklin played an integral part in the discovery of the double helix, ask them to write a three hundred-word essay on why they believe Rosalind Franklin did not receive credit on her discovery and, if it was because she passed away, why do many textbooks still neglect to mention her discovery?
6. (10 minutes) Show the students the transparency with an example of a Rosalind Franklin essay. Use my personal computer and the projector hooked up to it to show students how to navigate to http://www.homeworkplanet.com/ by going to the Hip Hop Circuit website and clicking on Resources, then Student Tools. Show them that they can use the resources such as the thesaurus and the multiple languages dictionary to help them write their essays.
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY:
Students will write a three hundred-word essay on why they think Rosalind Franklin did not receive credit for her discovery and why some textbooks continue to neglect mentioning her work. This activity will allow students to directly tie in the aspect of social justice to their lesson on the structure of DNA by making them think of how women’s rights relate to the history of scientific discovery. Students will be assessed by whether their essays meet the guidelines of the assignment. If the students’ essays meet the criteria of being three hundred-words long, using proper sentence structure and development, as well as demonstrating original thought, then their assignments will receive an “A”.
LITERACY ASPECT:
In this lesson many students will utilize their reading skills by reading aloud one paragraph in the chapter related to the discovery of the double helix and the general structure of DNA. Students will also make use of their reading skills by reading, in unison, the first paragraph of the website regarding Rosalind Franklin’s contributions to the discovery of the double helix. Finally, as a homework assignment, every student will develop their writing skills by writing a three hundred-word essay on why they think Rosalind Franklin did not receive credit for her discovery and why some textbooks continue to neglect mentioning her discovery.
REFLECTION/RESPONSE:
The students paid attention to the subject matter because of the usage of a variety of audiovisuals to teach them as well as the hands-on activity of constructing a DNA model. However, this lesson takes a great amount of preparation, so make sure to schedule the appropriate amount of time in the morning for preparation of the DNA drawing on the chalkboard, the placement of the needed materials, and the preparation of the DNA model on the transparency.