Lesson # 1 Heredity [Intro PowerPoint]

Name: Amanda Rake

Date: 02.19.16

Content Area: Science [Genetics]

Grade Level: 7th

Goals:
3-LS3-1.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals
have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exis
in a group of similar organisms.
[Clarification Statement: Patterns are the similarities and differences in traits
shared between offspring and their parents, or among siblings. Emphasis is
on organisms other than humans.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment
does not include genetic mechanisms of inheritance and prediction of traits.
Assessment is limited to non-human examples.]

Planning:
The information I have about the class is very minimal so far. For
this lesson I will be teaching two classes back to back. The students
have not learned anything about genetics thus far, so this will their first
dip into genetics because I will be teaching the first lesson in the unit.
There are some exceptional learners in the classroom in which I believe
the notes will be very useful because they are fill in the blank,
therefore the students will be able to pay attention to the lesson versus
rushing to write all of the details down quickly. In my lesson I have
provided many visuals, games/ questions that will prompt them to
use the vocabulary taught in the lesson in their reasoning. The first
class that I teach is very attentive to detail and may be able to practice
punnet squares and complete the entire PowerPoint and notes way
before class. The second class I teach is very chatty and may require
some extra discussions and thorough explaining. The common
misconceptions are from the vocabulary in which I have provided many
examples to get the students thinking about their thinking and
reasoning. I will give many opportunities for students to pair share as
well as share with the class. You are carefully considering the needs of
the individuals as well the whole group in your planning, which is very
important. You then use that information to consider how best to
present the content.
Objectives:
Students will describe characteristics and distinguish between
Dominant and Recessive, as well as, Phenotype and Genotype
Students will practice completing punnet squares
Predict the outcome of different genotypes

 Use vocabulary when explaining their reasoning to the

PowerPoint questions
Vocabulary: Phenotype, Genotype, Homologous, Heterozygous,
Dominant, Recessive, Genes, Heredity, alleles
Language Function: Practice, participate, describe, distinguish,
explain, predict
Assessment:
Informal: As I go through the PowerPoint I will be walking around
checking to make sure that they fill in the notes as well as create some
of their own notes. Since the PowerPoint is interactive it will give me a
chance to have students share their reasoning and answers. I will have
plenty of pair shares so students can check with their partner and
come up with solid answers. When I get an answer I will ask other
students who came up with the same answer to clarify. Students will be
reminded to use their vocabulary to ensure they keep the vocabulary,
forever. Having the students explain their thinking out loud as if they
were the teacher will help me understand if they get the material or
not.
Formal: The formal assessment will be their drawing of a monster. As they flip
a coin they will write down the genotype, and when they draw their monster they will
show that they know what the phenotype is. When I look at their drawing I will compare
it to their genotype answers, which will either shoe recessive or dominant traits. This will
happen however later in the unit. Its good that you have included what you will be
looking for, specifically, in their drawing.
Materials:
Note Pages
Link to Genetics Powerpoint:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tg8VWn8CDONsIhnJRpq
eN_lQDzqVt94p-WEMhvMPShs/edit?usp=sharing
Pencil
Procedures:
Approximate time needed: 65 min
Introduction: [2 min] Before I start the lesson I have found a really
interesting story/fact about genetics. We all eat some kind of fruits
and vegetables. Each year the new crop of tomatoes carry over genes
for characteristics that were inherited from the previous crops seeds.

Scientists are manipulating the information contained in the tomato

and are trying to find new ways to produce different tomatoes. One
way they have tried is inserting a gene from a winter flounder, which is
a fish, into a tomato so that it is cold resistant. Why would this be
beneficial? This will get them thinking
Steps for instruction: [45 min]
1. View slide one on the PowerPoint and introduce the new topic.
Make sure all students have the power notes and a pencil. Make
sure to copy and paste [or click] the link below and then view
present.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tg8VWn8CDONsIhnJRpq
eN_lQDzqVt94p-WEMhvMPShs/edit?usp=sharing
Thank you for including the PPT, it helps me to see the big
picture
2. Go through the PowerPoint by slides:
3. Talk about characteristics on slide 2 from what the students
see of the three siblings. Spark conversations if they are stuck
and have them think about what physical characteristics they
have in common such as: similar eyes, curly hair, full lips and so
on.
4. Continue explaining slide 3 and 4. On slide 5 remind them that
Later we are going to learn the three different ways that we can
express alleles.
5. A complete set of a human chromosomes found in a body cell.
Each sex cell has only one of the chromosomes from each
homologous pair. It is important to understand homologous and
heterologous. homologous chromosomes- chromosomes that
have the same sequence of genes and that have the same
structure.
6. On slides 7 and 8 students will look at a mom and daughter,
daughter and father and look at their similarities and differences
side by side.
7. Slides 9-11 will talk about Mendels work. In addition to the notes
I will add: Mendel noticed that a trait that appeared in the parent
generation did not show up in their offspring [the first
generation] BUT showed up in the second generation. A true

breeding plant: a plant that will always produce offspring with

the same form of a trait when it self-pollinates. For example, a
true-breeding plant with purple flowers will only produce plants
with purple flowers.
8. Go over slides 12 and 13. On Slide 14-15 we will start to discuss
dominant and recessive. Not on slide, but will talk about If
there is a dominant gene present, that will cover the gene of a
recessive trait. If there are two recessive genes, then the gene
that will be present will be the recessive. Let me show you [click
to next slide]
9. Slide 16-18 are examples and questions that they will use what
they just learned to answer what they think the phenotype will
be if they know the genotype. I will also ask them if it is
homologous or heterozygous helpful for a sub if you include the
answer as well
10.
Slide 19 asks them to talk about the possibly genotypes.
I will also ask them if it is homologous or heterozygous
11.
Slide 20 asks them to talk about the phenotype that
matches the genotype. I will also ask them if it is homologous
or heterozygous
12.

Slides 21-23 are more interesting examples of relatives

13.
Slide 24 and 25 are two riddles that will recap how we are
half of our moms and half of our dads- we are genetically made
up of them both.

Practice: [10-15 min] We will begin punnet squares and I will do a

couple examples. When I get the results I will ask the students which
will be dominant or recessive trait, the phenotype, the genotype, and
whether the alleles are hetro or homo. This part needs more
explanation. Consider what a sub would need to know if he/she had to
follow your plan.

Engagement Students will stay actively engaged by answering

questions throughout the PowerPoint. This will ensure that students are
following along. I will have the notes on the PowerPoint to help them fill
in the blanks, however as I walk around I will allow students to say
what word it is that they are filling in. This will help me make sure I am
going at a nice speed and will make sure everyone is keeping up.
Students will be asked also a variety of questions throughout the
lesson. It is important that students know the answer, however it is
equally important that they know how they came up with that answer
and can justify it, as they will have to on the test. Since I have included
a wide variety of questions, students will have many opportunities to
pair share as well as shout out answers. I will call on students to
answer and then call on students to answer if they got the same
answer [or a different one] and justifications. As the lesson goes on the
questions will become more challenging.
Strategies for students requiring additional assistance: I will
have emailed my CT the PowerPoint so she can upload to their
classroom website. I will have the PowerPoint and notes on the
slides, however I will be saying the notes out loud verbally. I will
encourage them to jot down any extras I am saying or think of ways
we can remember the vocabulary. I will use the thumbs up and
thumbs down to make sure all students are ready to move on.
Closure: The lesson will end with two riddles in which they will
have to add Refer back to slide 24 and 25. After the students have
answered the riddles, I will ask them how the riddles connect to the
lesson.
Link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tg8VWn8CDONsIhnJRpqeN_
lQDzqVt94p-WEMhvMPShs/edit?usp=sharing

Lesson Self- Assessment

Name: Amanda Rake
Lesson topic: Heredity [Intro PowerPoint]
Date: 2/19/16
School/grade level/ number of students: East Middle School [7th
grade & 24 students]

Name of Cooperating Teacher: Patti Sommers

Planning and preparation: Describe how your plan provided
opportunities for active engagement. How did you provide for the
needs of diverse learners? Did you adjust your plan in any way?
Describe how and why if you did.
- I planned and provided different opportunities for active engagement
throughout the lesson in a variety of ways. Having a PowerPoint was
great because it allowed students to take notes and interact with the
notes. For example, I had the students answer certain questions on
particular slides to assess what we have been discussion discussing
throughout the PowerPoint. I did not really have to adjust my plan that
much since I left room for if we had extra time, and gave myself plenty
of time to finish the notes and examples. In one class I started to
discuss punnet squares and we did an example and then I had the
students come up to the board and work on them. I also made the
powerpoint from a googledoc which was good because it was easily
shared with the kids that were absent and available for the exceptional
learners. When I printed out the powerpoint I added side notes that I
wanted to make sure I pointed out. I could have had the students write
down certain definitions, however they received a handout with the
vocabulary. Very thoughtful plan for how to keep students engaged
throughout the lesson.
Classroom environment: Evaluate the ways in which your
encouraged student participation. How did you elicit student
responses? How did you engage them in responding to you and each
other? Evaluate your plan for individual, small group and/or whole class
work. How effective were these different organizational techniques for
keeping students involved in your lesson?
- I encouraged kids to participate by asking them questions of how
they came up with an answer. I encouraged them to give explanations
to their responses individually, by doing a pair share and then with the
whole class. I provoked student responses by having them turn and
talk, answer questions verbally, picked on children who had their hand
raised as well as encouraged students to share their answer when I
walked around the room ease dropping eavesdropping. Although this
was the first day for the chapter and the two classes I had were
different in terms of where they ended up at the end of the lesson
[class a; started working on punnet squares and class b; just finished

the PowerPoint with five minutes left to discuss and share what
questions we may have]. Having the whole class come up with the
answers, reasonings, ways to express different alleles, distinguish the
difference between phenotype and genotype, dominant and recessive
as well as other terms I was able to keep their curiosity the whole
time. You had a lot of information packed into this one lesson, but
provided students time to think about and share what they were
learning, which is great.
Instruction: Evaluate your choices of instructional strategies. Did they
have the effect you intended? Were the needs of all learners met?
What changes would you make if you repeated this lesson?
- Some of the instructional strategies I used were having the kids do fill
in the blank notes as well as listen to me as I do the PowerPoint. The fill
in the blank worked well because the children were not writing the
entire time and blocking out what I was saying. Some of the things I
talked about were not on the PowerPoint, which was a time for the
students to write down what they wanted to remember and found
important. I did tell the students what was important to remember and
that this may be a test question. Yes; the students were engaged and I
was able to focus on explaining and allowing for students to add their
input rather then just them writing three pages of back-to-back notes.
This sounds like it was very effective. You know they would have
missed important concepts if they were focused solely on taking notes.
Before the lesson I set some objectives that the students should
be able to do such as know the different b/w: heterologous and
homologous, dominant and recessive, phenotype and genotype and
why Mendel was important. I had the students think about their own
family and compare how they look compared to their brothers, sisters,
parents etc. I think that this was intriguing for students because it was
very relatable.
I believe that all of the needs of the learners were met. My CT
was their there walking around as well as the exceptional learners aid
to help student stay on track with the notes and answer any questions.
Since it was a lot of information I wanted to make sure that they were
staying awake and engaged but also learning. I was very surprised on
how quickly they caught on to the vocabulary and how they used the
vocabulary in their answers [with some prompting]. When I asked
students, are you sure? they were not even hesitant because they

knew, and could back up, their answer. It was a really well put together
lesson that I hope to use in the future.
In the future I would change the font because as I was walking in
the back [without my glasses] it was a little hard to see some words. I
could have just created more slides and added pictures or a video to
go along with the PowerPoint. This was my first PowerPoint lesson ever,
so I think that I had a great start on what I was planning on. The
PowerPoint was created from a different online PowerPoint my Ct had. I
completely revamped it and created a whole new one with pictures,
interactive questions and different animations to keep the students
interested. The notes included some pictures from the PowerPoint and
had the bold & underlined words as the words that the students had to
fill in. If I were to do this again, I would like to add more real life
examples and/or more information pertaining to more of the science to
the different genes. However, I did not want to over stress the students
with too much information and my CT had other linked lessons that
talked about genetic mutations and so on. Other than that, I wouldnt
change the PowerPoint. Your modifications for future use seem very
appropriate. Its good that you are carefully considering how much
information to include, and aesthetics like font type and size.
Assessment: What assessment processes did you plan and how did
they work? What did you learn from listening to student responses,
examining their work or listening to their interactions? How well did
your assessment procedures inform you about student attainment of
your lessons objectives?
While walking around listening to the students answers and
discussions I found out 1) how intrigued and curious they were about
this topic and 2) how quickly they caught on. Since I let them know
beforehand that I wanted them to use the new vocabulary when giving
answers, they were quite focused on understanding and asking
questions when we went over the vocab. I made sure to ask multiple
questions and varied how I asked them over and over. I felt like I was
doing a lot of repeating, however it worked! The major factor was
having them distinguish between Dominant and Recessive, as well as,
Phenotype and Genotype. As we went over examples and then from
the punnet squares they were able to use what they know and teach
it to the class. I had multiple students share the pen and come up to
the board to do punnet squares start to finish. I was so surprised how

many students wanted to come up to the board. To ensure that

students wanted to be up there still, I made sure to ask themdid you
want to give the pen to someone else? If they said no I knew that they
felt comfortable with the vocabulary and punnet squares. In the first
class we got through about four punnet squares from start to finish. I
allowed the students to pick the letter, the trait and the alleles [BB, Bb
or bb].
Professional responsibilities: What did you learn from your
cooperating teachers feedback on this lesson? How will you apply it to
future lessons?
One main thing that she said was to make sure that the font was
readable from every aspect of the room. I noticed this as I was walking
around and then really made sure to verbally say the sentence and ask
students to repeat what I said- that way I wasnt the only one talking
and student were able to talk. In future power points I am going to
check the font size on the screen beforehand.
Reflection: What did you learn about student learning and assessing
from this lesson? How will it affect your planning for future teaching?
From this lesson I learned that with good notes, examples,
pictures and questions students can grasp information much quicker.
Weeding out the more important information from the rest really made
making the powerpoint simpler. I knew what I wanted them to know
and remember.
After I talked to CT and she said that the more time I have
learning about all there is to know in science I will be able to connect
and add more. She gave me some great advice and said, if there is
something you dont know, just the students that you dont know and
will need to look it up. Or you can have them write and research it for
next time. This was a great relief because there is so much to know
when teaching in any content area! I made sure at the beginning of the
lesson to tell the students that this was my first PowerPoint lesson and
my first lesson ever taught on heredity, so I had to teach myself and
some of it took time to understand. I wanted to connect with the
students, and I think it worked! They expressed how excited they
were to do this unit and compare their looks to their parents. The

advice to admit when you dont know something is important for so

many reasons. One, its honest, which is always good to model for
students, two, it highlights that we are always learning new things
and its impossible to have all the answers.

Cooperating Teacher Feedback

Lesson # 1 Lesson date: 2/19/16
Amanda made modifications to an existing power-point which
was an introduction to heredity and presented it to two classes.
She added slides showing merged faces of father/daughter,
brother/sister, etc....which showed how similar traits can be in
families. She added questions to the power-point which made it
more engaging and additional pictures which sparked
conversation.
Amanda paced the lesson well giving students time to take
notes. She kept the students engaged by asking them questions
and made an effort to call on different students each time.
At one point the students were so overly excited about the
pictures that she used a clapping pattern to get their attention.
In the future, make certain that the font is easy to read from the
back of the room.