Sample INB Unit for Biology

I've talked a lot about Interactive Notebooks and I wanted to give you some examples of how it actually looks within my classroom. I am going to walk through our Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration unit page by page! It may be lengthy, but I wanted to give you the best glimpse I could!

Many of the resources were not created by me, but rather edited to fit into the notebook from resources I already had. Check out my post on Printing Tips for INBs for how I did this!

I also added notes on how each of these was assessed and graded. Check out my Overview Post on Interactive Notebooks for more information on how I grade Notebooks!

First, we talked about ATP and its role as an energy molecule. Students received an introductory paper before instruction that required them to do some drawing, analyzing some diagrams, and do some reading. This was modified from several resources I had and printed using the "Booklet" option in Acrobat.

The following day, we took some simple notes on the ATP/ADP cycle. I modified this diagram using Google Drawings. We used color coding for ATP (orange) and ADP (purple) that we will carry through our other notes as well to help maintain continuity and help students draw connections between content.

When taking notes, I typically use Google Slides & my SmartBoard or my Document Camera. Both work great! I model good note-taking for my students and use think-aloud techniques as we go - such as "I'm drawing an arrow to help show the order..." and "I'm writing a star because this is important." Even after a few units, students are able to understand the key points better because of our note-taking strategies.

Their homework after the notes was to complete the Pre-Lab portion of their lab concerning aerobic and anaerobic respiration by reading a few paragraphs and completing a comparison table. The lab was completed at the beginning of class the next day. Again, this was printed using the "Booklet" option in Acrobat. This lab was graded during their notebook check.

To help lead into Cellular Respiration, I created this flow chart in Google Drawings. I was having a difficult time finding a flow chart that wasn't too detailed for my 9th graders, which is why I created my own. Luckiy, this was super easy using Google Drawings! This was a great reference for the rest of the unit as well. We kept this color coding consistent through the rest of the unit.

For Cellular Respiration notes, I followed a similar format as ATP/ADP. I used a picture available from our textbook and our already established color coding. These notes were using Google Slides & my SmartBoard. Between each step, I would pause and utilize informal questioning to review the previous content. At the end, students were answering questions from the entire page.

We took a quiz on Cellular Respiration & ATP/ADP. I created the quiz in ExamView, ensured the questions were on three pages, and saved it as a PDF. From the PDF, I printed it as a "Booklet" in Acrobat. When taking the quiz, students had a bubble sheet they turned into me (for data collection) and they also wrote their answers on their quiz copy to keep for their notebook. After the quiz, we reviewed the questions together.

Photosynthesis notes looked very similar to the others - color coding, think-aloud note taking strategies, and similar formatting.

A big focus for our standards is the interdependence of Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration. After learning both processes, we completed a sorting activity for the two processes (they were not required to color - but some students do anyways!). This was an example of a "Sticker Check" activity where I would give them a sticker for having the correct answers to give them approval for gluing it down. It also makes grading later on MUCH faster since the stickers are evidence of a 100%!

As homework, students watched the two Amoeba Sisters videos on Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis and completed a review paper. I created the cover paper with title, picture, and links and combined it with the PDF available from the Amoeba Sisters website and printed it as a "Booklet" in Acrobat - just modifying existing activities I had!

Any other Amoeba Sisters fans out there? I love their videos and they have free worksheets for so many of them! Check them out on YouTube and on their website!

The final part of the unit was our culminating lab using Elodea and bromothymol blue - a classic Biology lab. This lab paper was printed in Acrobat using the "Booklet" option. The first page was directions for part 1, setup for part 2, and predictions. Page two had a data table and explanation questions. The final page had an analysis question that students were required to write a paragraph response. This was another assignment I graded during the notebook check.

Pictures of the notes that I included are what I upload onto my class website for absent students to review. CamScanner works great for this and allows me to take a picture of the notebook and upload it as a PDF.

The tabs, page numbers, and dates are all part of our notebook routine, which I outlined in this post about Notebook Setup.

I hope this gave you some ideas for how to implement this within your classroom. What other questions do you have?

... Lab Day Today!

My chemistry students did a lab today that is one of the most intense labs they have done all year. The first semester of chemistry is mostly just the basics of matter and mixtures, but we don't talk too much about chemical reactions until second semester. This is the first lab we have done that involved a chemical reaction.

The lab we did involved a single displacement reaction of iron with copper (II) sulfate to produce copper and iron (II) sulfate. Students really seemed to like it since the copper (II) sulfate is a bright blue solution. Bright colors seem to catch their attention :) 

Typically, in order to do the lab students have to complete a pre-lab assignment that has questions about key prior knowledge and specific lab procedures. Instead of students doing the pre-lab on their own, we did it together in class. I also walked through the lab with them and explained techniques like decanting that were foreign to them. I do not normally take class time to go into that much detail, but this lab required it. It is a stoichiometry lab, so precision is absolutely necessary. I emphasized this to them as much as possible. 

Students walked in for lab day, I gave them a few last minute pointers and instructions, and they began working on the lab. It was quickly evident who was paying attention and who was not -- but we made it work. 

For the lab, students had to carefully measure out copper (II) sulfate, add distilled water, and heat it on a hot plate until it was fully dissolved. The reaction works best when the solid is completely dissolved and the solution doesn't boil. 

  

While the solution was still warm, they added iron filings and let the reaction sit for five minutes. Pretty quickly it was evident there was a chemical change -- strong odor, color change, solid forming. The originally bright blue solution turned a more brown-green color as the reaction occurred and copper solid formed. The solution is decanted into a waste container and the copper solid is washed and dried. 

The analysis portion of the lab asks students to compare the theoretical mole ratio (we did this together in class yesterday) with their experimental mole ratio. They have to perform several stoichiometry problems, calculate their percent yield and their percent error. 

To assess the chemistry labs, I give them an online quiz on our eClass platform and will also collect their lab to grade. The quiz is an easy way for students to see how well they understood the lab, since they are graded automatically and because it usually takes me a while to grade labs. I used this lab after we had spent several days practicing stoichiometry problems. This was their first chance at seeing why and how those calculations are actually used. 

This was my first year doing this lab, and I must say that I am impressed! For groups that followed directions correctly, their percent yield was pretty high -- although many of them lost some due to the decanting. This lab is available on my Teachers Pay Teachers website and includes teacher notes with supplies, safety precautions, and recommendations. 

I am hoping all the teachers out their had a great end to their week. I know I am personally ready for a weekend! What great things happened in your classes this week?

... Inquiry Is Not Easy

Inquiry is a method in science teaching that has been at the forefront for several years now. It revolves around the idea that students need to explore a topic and problem solve first before being given the information. Less regurgitation of information, more utilization and application. There is a point of struggle and resolution in inquiry that I think really is key.

This is a great idea, in theory, but in reality it can be really hard to do inquiry in some classes. One of my largest classes is also a team-taught class with many special education students in it. The class, in general, requires a lot of support and encouragement when covering a new topic -- and this is AFTER they have the information already, not an inquiry situation. How do you support students in the ways they require while still allowing them enough struggle to make the inquiry worthwhile. 

Scaffold

Yes I said it, every teacher's favorite buzz word. Scaffold. For some classes, they need support to be able to "do" inquiry. They are not comfortable floating in the abyss of possibility and need a little direction. I am here to tell you that that is okay. 

One inquiry lab that I love to do with my students is a very simple enzyme lab that involves two types of liver -- one raw and one that has been soaked in acid. After making initial observations, they add some hydrogen peroxide and watch the reaction. This is an activity I use at the very beginning of enzymes to give them a picture of what we are discussing. Enzymes are tiny, but seeing a piece of liver react or not react based on if it was in acid is something they saw and observed. 

To scaffold this lab, I ask lots of probing questions -- Why isn't that liver bubbling the same? Why do you think the pieces of liver are different? Do you think the liver will do different things? I also make the lab quick. They do the experiment and are back in their seats within 15 minutes. I give them only a few questions to ponder and not a huge problem to solve. I supply them with key parts of inquiry -- investigation without information, questions to promote thinking, and an experience that highlights a key topic -- but I also give them key pieces of information they need to be successful -- the liver and hydrogen peroxide are constant, there is not a huge challenge needing to be solved. 

Inquiry is do-able with all student groups. If you know your students and understand where they are at, it is possible. This simple liver lab can be expanded for very advanced groups and can be scaffolded like crazy for groups that struggle. Just because they struggle, doesn't mean they cannot participate in inquiry. 

Inquiry for all! 

A copy of my liver inquiry lab is available online in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Check it out!

... We Learned About Osmosis Today!

In Biology, we are currently in our Cells unit. We have learned about the different parts of the cell and have spent the past several days learning about cell transport, primarily diffusion and osmosis. 

In high school, I remember doing an osmosis lab using an egg and perhaps at one point also some dialysis tubing. I remember thinking "why the heck would you soak an egg in vinegar and then in sugar?!" The connection wasn't there for me, even though I understood osmosis and diffusion. 

I knew going into this unit that I wanted to do something different. I had seen pictures and posts using gummy bears instead of eggs. I figured my 9th graders would enjoy this much more than an egg. 

On Day 1 of the lab, we did all of the setup. We took our initial mass measurements  and soaked each gummy bear in a different solution: water, 50% sucrose, or corn syrup. We made predictions about what we thought would happen, and we let our bears  sit over night. 

On Day 2, we took out the bears and measured their mass. The expressions on the students' faces when they first looked at their bears was priceless:

"WHOA! It EXPLODED!" (A bit dramatic...)
"Eww... could you even eat that?" (They were definitely not allowed to eat them...)
"I wonder if you could make jello like this." (This comment was so random, I had to laugh)

The bears were pretty awesome looking, even I was impressed. They were able to get their measurements easily and clean up was a breeze since I opted for disposable cups and weigh boats to avoid the sticky mess of 200+ cups. 

I think that this lab really helped them to visualize what happens in a hypotonic solution since many of them saw their bears expand so far that they burst. It took some coaxing to get them to verbalize the connections, but I was very impressed with how quickly they picked up on what was happening in the lab! 

I posted the lab -- along with teacher setup and notes -- on my TpT site! Hopefully your students enjoy it as much as I did!