Download STAV VCE BIOLOGY CONFERENCE 2008

STAV VCE BIOLOGY
CONFERENCE 2008
Engaging activities for teaching VCE Biology
Vojtech Markus
The King David School
[email protected]
Engaging activities for VCE biology
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Challenge students’ understanding
Need to communicate their thoughts
Apply their understanding
Become familiar with terminology
Provide fun and varied activities
Find out what they know
Guess the picture!
• Context: units 1 and 3-cell biology
• Knowledge of cell structure and
familiarity with diagrams
• Students required to search through their
biological knowledge
• Allows for lots of discussion, clarifying
misconceptions
• Highlights the need to apply their
knowledge
EXAMPLE
Ecological issue conference
• Context: unit 2-changes in ecosystems
• Students required to research and present
at a ‘mock” conference, portraying a
particular viewpoint in society
• PowerPoint provides background
information to task and assessment
• Allows for lots of discussion, highlights
the complexity of ecological issues
• Students enjoy the role-playing nature
Analogies
• Context: unit 3-enzyme interactions
• Receptor-ligand binding is fundamental to
biology
• Example 1: bucket, basketball, football, golf ball
• Example 2: baseball glove, baseball, basketball,
tennis ball
• Allows students to visualise interactions such as
lock & key, induced fit and competitive inhibitor
• Followed by analysis of weaknesses and
strengths of analogy (most important)
Linking terminology to label diagrams
• Context: unit 4 revision
• Lots of terminology and concepts
• Students required to sort terms (180 of them!)
according to headings, eg meiosis, linked genes,
gene expression, molecular cloning, patterns of
inheritance
• Followed by labelling a series of diagrams
• Groups compared each others finished products
• Lots of discussion and allowed for identification
of misconceptions
EXAMPLE
Simulations & analogies
• Context: unit 4-gene expression
• Linking DNA sequence to protein formation is
difficult for students to make sense of
• Use the analogy of a clothing manufacturer
• Simulate process with laminated diagrams
• Other simulations include liquorice, jelly babies,
toothpicks and chocolates (“Favourites”)
• Simulations foster discussion and provide
another perspective to lecturing, animations,
diagrams
Summary of activities
• Encourage students to explore their
knowledge base and then USE IT
• Develop skills in communicating their
ideas, verbally and in written form
• Encourage students to search for links
between terms and concepts
• Provide the opportunity for fun as well as
diversity in lesson activities