Teacher Corps Teaching Team (Ms. Shaffren)

Biology I

4th Period

June 12, 2007

50 minutes

Natural Selection, Day 1

Objective:

The student will define classification. (6a)

The student organize a series of objects in order to discover the concept of classification through direct application.

(6a)

Warm-up: Please write, in your own words, what the word “classification” means. Please think about this carefully, and define as clearly and accurately as you can.

Materials: Paper, pencils, foam shapes or beans of various shapes and colors (enough for at least 10 items per student), typing paper or construction paper, colored pencils or markers, example classification guide.

Set

Split the class into pairs. The first person in the class has to name an item you might buy at a grocery store, the second person has to say where it might be found; what items will be around it, how it will be stored, etc. Ask the kids how they knew this information.

The objects in a grocery store are classified. Biologists classify organisms to help them keep track and study them. What definitions did you come up for “classification”? How do we know how to classify something? We classify based on similarities and differences. Today’s activities will help you understand what it means to classify by making a classification guide of your own.

Our purpose for today is to define and apply classification.

Procedure:

1) Set, Discussion & Collection (today is the only day that the warm-up will not be a quiz, and it will count as one combined with the closure activity)

2) Classification activity

    a. Show an example of a classification guide & explain what it is. Explain that students

    may choose their own categories for classification. Tell students that they will receive

    a grade for their work, and for their short explanation of the classification guide.

    b. Hand out shapes and paper, and make colored pencils or markers available.

    c. Allow students to work on their classification guides for about 20 minutes, or until almost everyone has finished.

    d. Each student will share his or her classification guide in front of the class, explaining

    what categories were used, and running through one example. For example, hold up a

    pink heart and show how a user would run through the categories to decide what exactly

    the object is.

3) Wrap-up

Closure: What is classification. What are some examples of places that things are classified? Have each student write down five examples of places where things are classified. (This will combine with the warm-up to count for an easy first quiz grade.) Also, students must again write the definition of classification. Today we define classification and applied it to make our own classification guide by organizing some simple objects. Tomorrow we will be looking at characteristics of the kingdoms.

Assessment

Informal: The student will participate in an activity on classification(M) and their attentiveness and willingness to focus will be observed (C)

Formal: The student will respond to a set and closure prompt with short written answers (M). These will be graded for accuracy, completion, and thoughtfulness (C), and the grades will be recorded in a software program and the student’s notebook.

    The student will create a classification guide (M) that will be graded for completion and neatness (C), and will share their classification guide (M), explaining clearly and showing understanding of the concept of classification (C). The grade will be recorded.

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