Week 2 Blog

 

This week, we reviewed NGSS standards and learned about the characteristics of living things and seed germination. I learned that there are eight characteristics of living things, and those include cellular composition, genetics & heredity, maintaining homeostasis, growth & change, movement, response to stimuli, metabolism, and reproduction. We used these characteristics to determine what things are considered living and what is considered non-living. I found it especially interesting to learn about viruses and the argument if that is considered living or nonliving. We ended the class by learning about seed germination and planting our seeds. I learned that seed germination requires nutrients, water, warmth, and oxygen. 

I can apply this knowledge in my future teaching when designing lesson plans that help students understand the characteristics of living things. Similar to today, I would create a chart that shows the characteristics of living things and then discuss whether certain things are living or non-living. I would ask questions to prompt my students' thinking and deepen their understanding. Additionally, when teaching about plants, I could engage students in interactive experiences like seed germination experiments, allowing them to observe how living things grow and change. This week's knowledge will help me better understand science and create meaningful lessons for my future students. 

After this week, I have been wondering what are some other hands-on activities that could help students explore and understand the needs of living things? 

Comments

  1. Makenna KopfJanuary 29, 2025 at 11:47 AM

    Hi Carly! I enjoyed reading your post this week. To answer your question, I have come up with a few ideas, you could get a class pet such as a gold fish to help students understand and explore the needs of living things, or maybe a field trip to the zoo would be a fun way to show students. Or you could even grow a class garden, there are so many possibilities and ways you could explore this with your future students! Good post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Audrey WardJanuary 29, 2025 at 1:14 PM

    Hi Carly! One activity that I did when I was in elementary school was watching caterpillars develop and mature into butterflies. I think that this is a great activity to learn about living things because you can visually see in front of you the changes that the caterpillars are going through.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katelyn GradyJanuary 30, 2025 at 7:09 AM

    Hello Carly! Like you, I also really enjoy learning about hands on activities students can do to learn about different science concepts. I would also like to create an anchor chart for all the different things the students are learning. I find them really useful myself and always enjoyed having those growing up in the classroom to continually reinforce my learning.

    I found the virus question particularly interesting as well. Usually when I am considering if something is living or nonliving, I usually will only consider it living if it inhabits all the of eight characteristics. This helps me decide, I hope it can help you as well!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 5 Blog

Image
  This week, we had lab on Zoom. We started lab by discussing the 5e model of science instruction. This reinforced my understanding that this model of instruction is composed of 5 phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. We worked in groups to discuss what each phase means and determined the students' and teachers' roles in each phase. I learned that the teacher often acts as the facilitator to guide conversation and student learning. We then also learned about biomes, ecosystems, habitats, and food chains. I learned that biomes are large areas that have similar climate conditions and dominant types of plants and animals. Ecosystems are a community of living and nonliving things that interact with each other in a specific environment. A habitat is a specific place where a particular community of species lives. Lastly, a food chain describes who eats whom.  I was able to relate much of this information to my prior knowledge. I appreciated reviewing the 5e mode...
Read more

Week 6 Blog

Image
  This week, we began by learning about the six different biomes, their climates, and the food chains within the biomes. My group focused on the rainforest biome. We discovered there is lots of rainfall and trees. The temperature is warm or cool depending on the season. Our food chain consisted of a tree, eaten by a deer, eaten by a wolf, that is then eaten by a bear. We then learned what would happen if trees were cut down in the forest. Next, we learned how to pollinate our flowers using bees. Lastly, we learned about turtles and their life cycle through a book and fun class activity. It was interesting to learn about the many ways they are impacted by human and environmental factors, both positively and negatively.  Much of what we learned today I found clear. I think it is clear to understand the six different biomes and the different climates and species among these biomes. I also found it clear learning about a turtle’s life cycle and the different ways they can be harme...
Read more