stressful for me. I really had trouble coming up with a topic to teach for my Inquiry Based Unit of Instruction. Once I finally got my lesson figured out I was pumped!
I was going to use Easter Eggs and M&M's to teach about genetics, specifically dominant and recessive genes. Each student was given an egg and the shell was either a solid color or a combination of two colors. After brainstorming with a partner and then as a whole class. The students had to determine what color the 4 M&M's in their egg were based on the color of their plastic egg shell. After figuring out what color was dominant and which was recessive, they were then given 4 M&M's and had to determine what color their shells should be.
It took a while to get my lesson plan laid out along with the lab worksheets for the students. I was pretty nervous to do this lab because it was the most complicated of the ones I have written so far. The lab started out well but then got pretty intense. Once we got to the point of opening the eggs to figure out what the different colors were, I could tell the students were getting a little stressed because they couldn't figure it out.
The most frustrating part for me was that it made sense to me and I knew what the answer should be but I didn't know how to explain to my students without giving away the answer. We were able to get to the answer and get the lab finished but the students and I were both frustrated at one point or the other.
I think the lesson can be really awesome with some changes. It was a great hands on activity for the students and a great visual of what dominant and recessive genes mean. Even though this lab didn't go exactly the way I had planned or hoped, I am looking forward to making some changes and teaching this lesson again!
"It's not about how bad you want it, it's about how hard you are willing to work."
I really like the idea behind your lab Laura! It sounds really interesting and definitely poses a challenge to students. You mentioned in your blog that next time you use this lab, you would make some changes. What are some examples of changes you would make? I would have loved to be in your lab group to test this out. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGood Job of engaging creativity!
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection Laura! I think you have a great starting point! The thing to keep in mind is that it's ok that our labs don't go as planned. In fact it is probably one of the best places for it to go wrong! Now when you try it again at your cooperating center, you know what to change and what to keep. In other words you will be ten times more ready to do it again! I also struggle with knowing how I want it to turn out but having the fear that it wont turn out that way unless I give students the answer. However, I think that if you leave it up to students they will bring forth ideas and thoughts that you might have never thought about that will actually add to your lesson. It's still a bit scary with it being out of your control, I feel the same! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHey Laura - What a really cool idea! That sounds like a good way to make genetics fun! It is obvious that you put a lot of hard work and thought into this lesson and that you truly put yourself out there as you tried something new. I am beginning to learn that inquiry is frustrating and also exciting I am not sure how to respond when students get frustrated - how could that be changed to a great learning moment? Overall - you are doing fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLaura, I think that this sounds like a great way to teach genetics, and it is so creative! I am sure with a little tweaking, you will have a great lesson. Also, don't forget that when you teach it during student teaching, it will be taught with other genetics content, so that might help students understand it without getting frustrated! Don't get discouraged that it didn't work out exactly how you wanted it to... now is the perfect time to try new things, and this will only add to your learning and growing process as an educator! :)
ReplyDeleteLaura, your IBI lesson was great. It was kind of confusing as we worked through it. However, I think a lot of that stemmed from us actually having a knowledge of genetics. With an actual group of students, this would be a great way for them to be introduced to the whole concept and work through it themselves. Great job!
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