Part Two: Activities

The activities in each lesson are designed to help students deepen their base of knowledge and test their understanding of the main concepts mandated in the curriculum. You can decide which (and how many) activities you’d like students to complete. There is one recommended activity per chapter that helps link the lessons forward, giving students the opportunity to build towards their final project, which is revealed in Chapter Six.

Skills Quiz:

Summary: In this activity, students will explore their interests and skills, and see how they relate to this class.

Objective: Students excel when they’re interested in the material and the lessons feel relevant to their lives. The objective of this activity is to help students identify their passions and skills in order to do just that. Part One asks students to complete a skills quiz to determine what they do well. Part Two asks students to analyze their skills and reflect on how they might master new ones. Part Three explores student passions and interests. Part Four helps students understand what kind of person they are – how they might link their skills and interests. By the end of the activity, students will better understand what they bring to this class and how to focus their work around what they like and what they’re good at.

Skills:

• Self-awareness
• Goal setting
• Problem solving
• Research skills
• Creativity
• Critical thinking

Instructions:

1. Begin the activity by explaining the importance of skill-building and why skill development can help students achieve success in life and work. Briefly go over the three types of skills – transferable, personal and knowledge-based – using the information provided in the activity.
2. Direct students to Part One of the activity – the online skills quiz – and give them time to complete it. After they finish, encourage students to reflect on their results and identify their top skills.
3. Ask students to answer the questions provided in Part Two of the activity, either individually or in small groups. Encourage them to reflect on their own strengths and seek feedback from others to gain a better understanding of their skills.
4. In Part Three of the activity, have students reflect on their passions and interests, and encourage them to use this information, along with their skills, to inform or focus their work in the class.
5. In Part Four, have students identify their personality type and determine what careers might best fit with it. Having done that, ask students to then reflect on how this class fits with their personality type and how skills built in this class might help them in the future.
6. After completing the activity, facilitate a group discussion on the importance of identifying and building skills, and why linking skills with interests in this class will help students find meaning and success. Encourage students to share their reflections and any insights gained from the activity.

Assessment: This activity doesn’t lend itself easily to formal assessment, but teachers can evaluate student engagement and participation in the activity.

Solving the Riddle:

Summary: In this activity, students will focus on their curiosities in order to expand their knowledge base.

Objective: The objective of this activity is to help students better understand what they don’t know they don’t know by encouraging them to explore concepts and ideas that previously weren’t on their radar. They will build on the brainstorming activity they completed in Chapter Two and use various tools such as linked resources, the Curated Library, virtual field trips and other information hubs to enhance their understanding of confusing or complex topics.

Skills:

• Critical thinking
• Research skills
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Curiosity

Instructions:

1. Begin the activity by reminding students of the brainstorming activity they completed in the previous chapter. Instruct them to review the questions they generated and ask students to think more deeply and critically about what they may have missed.
2. Provide students with a list of activities to further explore topics they know little about, or that feel overwhelming or impenetrable. These activities might include:
   • Browsing the Curated Library
   • Doing more research on their questions and ideas at a physical library
   • Listening to podcasts
   • Going on a virtual field trip to find inspiration
   • Listening to and learning from traditional knowledge
3. Remind students to take notes on what they learn. Ask them to write down any new questions or ideas that surface and require further exploration, adding these points to their brainstorming boards.
4. After completing the activity, encourage students to share what they learned and what new questions they uncovered. Underscore the importance of asking questions, and the impact it can have on understanding and learning.

Assessment: Assess student participation in the activity, and evaluate their ability to think critically and use various resources to enhance their understanding of what they don’t know.

Bridge the Gap: *Recommended*

Summary: In this activity, students will collaborate to research the answers to questions they generated in the previous chapter.

Objectives: The objective of this activity is to help students understand the importance of filling gaps in their knowledge while working to answer the burning questions they generated in the previous chapter. Students will learn to collaborate with their peers, managing time and working more effectively. By the end of this activity, students will use their research to broaden their knowledge base in this course, while also creating a foundation to build their final project.

Skills:

• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Research
• Problem solving
• Collaboration
• Self-reflection

Instructions:

1. Remind students of the brainstorming activity they completed last chapter and possibly expanded on this chapter (as part of an earlier activity). Inform them that this activity will focus on answering their questions in order to fill their gaps in knowledge, while creating a foundation of information students will use to inform their final project.
2. Before starting the activity, explain to students why it’s important to bridge the gaps in their knowledge and what tools exist to help them. Use the information provided in the activity to help you make the point.
3. Group students together who brainstormed questions focused on similar themes (economics, reconciliation, ecosystems, endangered species, etc).
4. Instruct students to pool all of their questions (combining or deleting questions that are repetitive) and then group the questions into categories (scientific findings, media coverage, community perspectives, laws and policies, etc).
5. Have the groups assign question categories to each member, making sure that everyone is responsible for answering roughly the same number of questions.
6. Instruct students to research the answers to their assigned category of questions, compiling what they learn into organized bullet points, properly sourced. Tell students whether this activity will be completed in-class or as part of a homework assignment.
7. When the research process is complete, have the groups gather in class to share their information and pool their knowledge. Encourage students to review the sourced material that their peers collected, asking for clarifications or requesting more information if the group feels an answer is incomplete.

Assessment: Assess student engagement and participation in the activity, and how well they collaborated with their peers. Additionally, evaluate students based on the quality of their research and how well they fill their gaps in knowledge.

Go Deeper:

Summary: Students will work to deepen their understanding of genetics and reproduction.

Objective: The objective of this activity is to review and reinforce the understanding of key concepts, including genetics and reproduction. In this activity, students will gather information about an animal’s dominant and recessive traits, mutations, adaptations to the environment, mating process and reproductive cycle in order to test their comprehension of the core concepts.

Skills:

• Research
• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Comprehension

Instructions:

1. Present or have students review the core concept slideshow presentation on reproduction and genetics.
2. Next, ask students to select an animal that exists in their community, or one that interests them. Have them research and answer the questions listed in the activity (including the one group question) in order to test if they understand the core concepts.
3. Gather as a class and discuss the student answers to the group question in the activity, facilitating a dialogue about subspecies and whether they matter.

Assessment: Students can be assessed based on the quality and completeness of their responses to the research questions and their participation in the group discussion.

Asexual Reproduction Lab:

• Developed by educator and biologist Verne Lehmberg and donated for use in Nature Labs

Summary: This lab will help students understand how seeds have evolved and allow for dispersal.

Objective: Plants have evolved many techniques to spread their seeds. Studying these methods will give students insight into evolutionary processes. The purpose of this exercise is to study the efficiency of selected trees to spread their seeds using wind and water distribution, and the use of animals as seed dispersing agents.

Instructions: Students can follow the self-guiding instructions to conduct and complete the lab.

Plant & Flower Anatomy Lab:

• Developed by educator and biologist Verne Lehmberg and donated for use in Nature Labs

Summary: This lab explores plant structure and how environmental factors cause plants to adapt differently.

Objective: The objective of this lab is to help students learn more about plant structure and evolution. Students will also learn about the nomenclature needed to identify plants and will be be able to recognize how environmental conditions cause plants to evolve to meet specialized conditions.

Instructions: Students can follow the self-guiding instructions to conduct and complete the lab.

Students also have access to ‘The Curated Library‘ and additional resources to help them with the above activities and to understand the lesson media further.