A
Gene Journal:
Creating a Newspaper about Genetics Judy
Jones
One of the
classes that I teach is a group of AVID students in grades 9 and
10. (See my earlier article about this program, The
AVID program in Chapel Hill, NC). Recently, my two AVID colleagues
and I were collaborating on what projects to design for these students
to help them develop their writing skills and also their ability
to use technology effectively. There already was an existing project
for the 10th grade students – to research some of the HBCU’s
(Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and prepare a powerpoint
presentation.
We decided that
a good experience for the 9th grade students was to create a newspaper.
I suggested that “genetics” would be a useful topic
since that is the general area of study in their 9th grade biology
class and it is also an area that challenges them. Together we agreed
that this would give them help in their biology classes and also
meet our goals – developing writing skills and learning to
use computer productivity tools.
It was my task
to design this project which I am sharing with you. When I was discussing
this project with another colleague (a biology teacher), we became
excited about the possibility of adapting it for many other topics.
This spring we are going to modify it to address our students’
study of the various phyla of living things. I hope that you will
find the project useful – and that you will consider adapting
it to many other topic areas.
My experience
has been that students learn a great deal from projects that involve
research and then presentation of what they have learned in a way
that allows them to express their creativity.
Target Group:
9th grade biology students.
Designed to be done in groups of 2 or 3 students.
Relevant
National Science Standards:
CONTENT STANDARD C: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12,
all students should develop understanding of
- Molecular
basis of heredity
CONTENT
STANDARD G: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students
should develop understanding of
- Science as
a human endeavor
- Nature of
scientific knowledge
- Historical
perspectives
CONTENT
STANDARD F: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students
should develop understanding of
- Personal
and community health
- Science and
technology in local, national, and global challenges
To
the Newspaper Project.
Please share
your ideas with me via e-mail.
To the How To's |
