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Plant Biology Context: Program Particulars and Student Characteristics
Plant Biology Context: Program Particulars and Student Characteristics
Plant Biology Context: Program Particulars and Student Characteristics
Kyle Sommers
March 23, 2010
PLANT BIOLOGY
Context:
Park Center Senior High School is an International Baccalaureate school and a Global Studies
Magnet School. The class this unit is designed for is called ELL Biology Prep. It consists of 7 Liberian
students, 2 Mexican, 1 Somali, 1 Ghanan, 2 Hmong and 1 Chinese student. This is a level 3 class, out
of a school wide total of 5 levels. They are all between 16 and 20 years old and are in grades 10-12.
Students are adept at writing full sentences in English about the content being studied. They
can look up information in textbooks, answer content questions and make predictions and inferences
based on scientific fundamentals. They need time to read texts though, and the more repetition there is,
the better, both in terms of information presentation and in giving instructions. This class moves
'slowly' meaning it might take a couple of days for one lesson to be introduced and processed. There is
Rationale:
My cooperating teacher teaches an ELL biology prep course that newer students to PCSHS
usually take before mainstream biology. They must pass this course to continue on with other sciences.
I chose this topic because I could not deviate from the sequence of prescribed lessons; plants were
simply next on the agenda. The school has other ESL content teachers (one for Social Studies and
possible one for Chemistry soon). My cooperating teacher also teaches biology collaboratively with a
mainstream teacher, doing mainly language support with some classroom teaching. The tasks for these
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Kyle Sommers
March 23, 2010
lessons incorporate all modalities at different points and they align closely with CAPRII tenets. How
they do will be explained in the reflection. I think that the activities I developed for this unit will be
engaging because plants relate directly to human life. I think that my motivation to teach it will be
palpable to the students, making it all the more interesting. It turns out I love teaching ELL biology.
Who knew?
Desired Results
Unit Theme and Big Idea: Types of Life on Earth. How are plants different than another other living
things? How are they the same? What do they do for the environment and how do they fit into the
larger world?
Key Content Concepts: Plant Biology, Physiology, Life Cycles, Reproduction, Types of Plants, Plant
Structures and functions.
The student will understand that F1. The student will know that This standard links to day 6
organisms have basic needs. animals need air, water and food and is specific to student
and that plants require air, water,learning about photosynthesis.
nutrients and light It also links to the lesson about
leaves.
The student will recognize that B1. The student will describe This links to the flower lesson.
plants and animals have life life cycles of plants and animals. Students will be describing the
cycles. reproductive parts of plants.
These include stamens, pistils,
ovaries and seeds.
The student will recognize that B1. The student will describe the These standards also link to
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Kyle Sommers
March 23, 2010
plants and animals have structures that serve different the flower lesson, and to the
different structures that serve functions in growth, survival and leaves lesson (lessons 2,3,4,5
various functions reproduction for plants and and 7)
animals.
B2. The student will know that
plants have different structures
from animals that serve the same
necessary functions in growth,
survival and reproduction.
The student will understand how F1. The student will know that Lesson 6 Photosynthesis
the flow of energy and the plants use the energy in light to
recycling of matter contribute to make sugars out of carbon
a stable ecosystem. dioxide and water.
MN ELP Standards:
Standard 1.2: The student will -understand main idea and All lessons incorporate this
understand spoken English to supporting details of academic standard. The students will be
participate in academic (formal) content doing a lot of content reading
contexts. Student will be able to: -perform most uncomplicated with their partners and it will
(Advanced Strand) classroom tasks when prompted be important for them to
-understand many questions and understand the vocabulary
commands and to make inferences.
-infer some implied meanings
-understand target vocabulary in
extended discourse
Standard 2.2: The student will -give simple oral reports The students will be speaking
produce spoken English to -produce strings of sentences throughout their readings to
participate in academic (formal) speak with sufficient accuracy discuss comprehension
contexts. Student will be able to: -errors rarely impede questions in their textbooks.
(Advanced Strand) comprehension for listeners They will also have to explain
accustomed to language learners their Venn diagrams, their
-use sufficient vocabulary to get plant drawings and their final
ideas across presentations.
-use general and some specific
target vocabulary in classroom
activities
Standard 3.2: The student will - understand simplified content- The students will have to be
understand written English to area texts able to read their cloze
participate in academic (formal) - identify topic and main idea of exercises and be able to
contexts. Student will be able to: simplified content-area texts comprehend the huge amount
(Advanced Strand) -list main points from simplified of vocabulary thrown at them.
content-area texts They will also have to
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Standard 4.2: The student will -write about familiar content- The students will have to
produce written English area topics in guided tasks produce written and oral
appropriately to participate in -edit own work for grammar, presentations to the class.
academic (formal) contexts. mechanics, and spelling, with These will have to be edited
Student will be able to: guidance and revised and pertain to a
(Advanced Strand) -convey a main idea specific section of the textbook.
-organize ideas logically All words must be spelled
-write sentences in standard correctly and all target
word order vocabulary from their
-use target/specific vocabulary assigned section needs to be
included.
Unit-Level Goals:
Students will understand that plants are essential part of an ecosystem and that their evolution
Students will produce an oral and visual presentation in groups about plant related topics. This
Students will make comparisons between how plants get food and how humans get food.
Students will be able to label parts of various types of plants from diagram hand outs or hand
Evidence:
Students will create Power Point presentations (in groups) to present to class from an approved list of
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topics that I will give them towards the end of the unit. They will study and create these presentations
on the final days of the unit. They must include all key terms from their text book, 3 informational
sentences (not bold face key terms) and at least 3 pictures that directly relate to their topic. They will
be graded on grammar, spelling, and use of technical vocabulary and pronunciation. Groups will have
three students but there will be a group with 2 members. There will be a great amount of scaffolding
for the project. There will be an emphasis in the lessons on not just focusing on key terms, but taking
something away from the reading other than vocabulary. All lessons last fifty minutes unless otherwise
noted.
There will be a journal question (sometimes referred to as ‘bell work’ in this overview) at the
start of every class lesson. This journal question generally focuses the students on the task at hand for
the day and is a good review of the previous day's lesson. These journals will be collected at the end of
the unit and assessed for completion and thought (i.e. you cannot just write down what we say when we
talk about our answer for the journal question). They must include original thoughts.
Much of the student's information comes from their Life Sciences textbook and they will be
using it daily with supplemental activities designed by me, the teacher. Some days will focus on
reading, writing and speaking about the information directly from the textbook. The new vocabulary
are called ‘key terms’ throughout the unit.The content and language objectives are projected on the
board after the journal is completed. All objectives here will be read by the actual class. For closure at
the end of the lesson, the objectives are projected again and summarized by the whole class.
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petals) to complete and describe the Venn diagram (A monocot has 1 cotelydon and a dicot has 2
cotelydons)
Journal question: When and why would a student use a Venn diagram?
Activities
The bell work question is posed to inform the teacher as to how much the student know about Venn
diagrams. If it is a goodly amount, then less explanation will be needed when the formative assessment
comes at the end of class. If the teacher needs to address what it is in more detail, there will be time for
that, too. The key terms are worked through, with the teacher modeling how each is pronounced and
how to write their definitions, with students repeating each word after it is written on the blackboard.
Students begin again reading with their partners (self selected) After student get through the section, the
teacher models what they are looking for in the assessment. A Venn diagram is drawn on the
blackboard with two subjects selected by the students (teacher/student, fish/pig,etc.) The teacher goes
through the process of filling in the diagram. Then the students are handed a sheet and informed they
must fill this one out for monocots and dicots. Students will be assessed on the completion of their
Venn diagram.
Day 4 Plant structure overview: roots and stems (hands on experiment with vascular system)
Detailed lesson plan
Desired Results:
Objectives: Students will
Content: Know the structures and functions of roots and stems
Perform an experiment using celery stalks about the vascular system
Understand the differences between contrasting plant systems
Language: read and discuss the new vocabulary of this section (fibrous, taproot, root hair, root cap,
herbaceous stem, woody stem, xylem, phloem.)
Compare and contrast different plant systems using comparative language (The xylem is
different than the phloem because_______, Herbaceous and woody stems are similar because_______)
Using their knowledge of plant function vocabulary make predictions about what happens when
you put a celery stalk in colored water. (I predict _____will happen when you put celery in colored
water because______)
Learning Experiences/Instruction
Materials Needed
Textbook, paper, pencil, computer, projector, celery stalks, food coloring, glasses filled with water,
black board, chalk
Time Frame
Class time is 50 minutes
Learning Activites/Tasks
Preview Phase
There is no journal question today, as we have a lot to cover. Students will just jump right in
with their writing and pronunciation of key terms. The teacher models this on the board (writing the
word and its definition and saying it as a complete sentence) and asks a student to do it for the next
word until all words are defined. The teacher, during the writing, will make informal checks to see that
all students are trying for correct pronunciation. The teacher will have the students repeat the words if
they are not even close to trying to pronounce them adequately. 10 minutes
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and clearly through the text. The teacher makes sure everyone is following along, as someone will be
called on next to read the next paragraph. The teacher stops at all the bold words in the text, making
sure each student can pronounce them without great difficulty. When the teacher comes to a
meaningful passage that has no bold faced words in it, they stop and consider what this means. The
sentence in question is ‘Veins and stalks also support the leaf blade.’ The teacher asks ‘Why is this
important? It gives us a better picture of what the functions of plant parts ARE. If we know how all of
these things fit together, it is easier for us to describe and define the parts of plants. This is something I
want you to work on for your project, which is due at the end of the unit. I do not want you to just list
words and their definitions, but to look at the other information in the book and see how it all fits
together. Is there anything else in this paragraph you think is important to know? Let’s have someone
else read the next paragraph and see if we can find more important information than just the key terms.
Who would like to read next?’ The reading continues with a new student reading each sub-section and
the whole class giving their opinions as to why they think it is important to know. By modeling this
way, the teacher builds the students background knowledge for reading and learning strategies. The
lesson ends with a review of learning strategies
Beyond Phase
When the exercise is completed and the answers are talked about, the teacher will go up to the
blackboard and draw two circles (a Venn diagram) as a class, the students and the teacher will
brainstorm the similarities and the differences in plant energy production and human energy
production. The teacher writes within each circle the students’ ideas and talks through each one,
making comprehension checks to make sure all students are on the same page. The teacher explains
that plants are ‘Autotrophs,’ and writes this on the board. Autotrophs make their own food. That is
what photosynthesis is for plants; food production. The teacher then explains that humans are
‘Heterotrophs’ and writes this word on the board. Heterotrophs are organisms that need to ingest food
from other sources (i.e. they cannot make food within themselves). After this is completed, the teacher
brings the students back to the learning goals of the day and asks if we have completed the learning
goals we set out to achieve. 15 minutes
Evidence
Students are assessed on their successful completion of the exercise and the effort it took for them to
finish it (i.e. they did not just copy from another student if they did not hear the answer). This will be
done with observations by the teacher during the video presentation. The students hand in the exercise
at the end of the video for proper recording of grades.
Day 7 Flowers (includes time for drawing and labeling flower diagrams)
Objectives: Students will
Content: learn about the reproductive parts of plants.
Draw a representation of a flower and label its parts.
Language: describe their drawings of flowers using relational prepositions (‘the stamen is
between the pistils’ ‘the petals are on the outside of the flower’)
Discuss why they think parts of flowers aid in plant reproduction using botanic terminology (I
think the petals do this for plant reproduction because________)
Activities:
Journal question: What is the ‘equation’ for photosynthesis?
Students will be presented with an open flower (supplied by the teacher). This flower will include
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noticeable and quantifiable plant reproductive organs (Lilies, alstroemerias, tulips, etc) The students
will be given the task of drawing what they see in the flowers. They will be provided with colored
pencils and blank sheets of paper. After this drawing is complete, the students will read in their
textbooks with partners, answering comprehension questions. While they are reading aloud, they will
label the parts of the flower on their drawing. This drawing then becomes a diagram the students have
for a visual representation of flowers they produced themselves. At the end of the diagram session, the
teacher and students discuss what parts of the plant do what in aiding reproduction. The students
summarize their findings about plant reproduction by forming the sentence listed in the objectives. At
the close of class, the objectives for the day are read out loud and summarized for closure. The
assessment is the successful completion of their flower drawings, with all key terms from the section
included on their diagram, and also on their participation in the conversation at the end of class.
Rubric in Appendix
Meta-reflection
The main issue I encountered was this: how, with such a vocabulary rich content area, does one
write language objectives that are not just vocabulary related? How do you incorporate language
functions and forms when you have such a complicated set of terms and concepts? I think I’ve handled
it pretty well, though. I have incorporated language forms that use the vocabulary in authentic ways.
Comparing and contrasting are used in a variety of content areas. Speaking your mind and making
opinions are used as well, and making guesses as to the outcome of events will never go out of style.
By using these strategies as well as the vocabulary, I think I could set up these students pretty well for
other sorts of content-area explorations. Science, in particular, lends itself greatly to the combination
of language and content. “Science provides many opportunities for higher-level thinking through the
use of context-embedded oral language…creating ideal opportunities for both language and content
learning (Peregoy and Boyle, p.135).” I think nothing could be truer. Students are not only getting a
very specific set of concepts, but are getting the skills needed to express those concepts.
I envision a number of difficulties. Firstly, I know that some of my students will progress more
slowly than others for the duration of this unit. Though my school differentiates greatly, having five
levels of ELL instruction, it is clear that not all students are moving at the same speed or are motivated
by the same things. Some students just need more help than others. I experienced great joy at watching
these students construct their presentations. I could not believe how excited they were to be doing
something creative. It settled down the rowdiest student, and brought the quiet students out of their
silence.
CAPRII Integration
Contextualization: The students are learning the language of scientific inquiry. This is evident through
the comparisons they were making between monocots and dicots (day 3) and learning of plant energy
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March 23, 2010
production through the cloze exercise on day 6. By connecting the way plants make food with how
humans get food, they are putting the language they are learning into a very specific context
Authenticity: The video used on day 6 was quite authentic; it was not for language learners, just
biology students. Its communicative intent was to illuminate a little bit of the history of scientific
thought and a little bit of the science behind plant survival. The students also produced works with a
communicative intent when they made their own presentations for the class.
Process: There was a great focus on form for this unit. It was so content rich that I knew I had to make
sure everyone was on the same page, whether it was to get a concept down or to ensure that every
student had was at least trying for correct pronunciation. I was trying to be aware of what they knew,
what they were acquiring, and what was very much new to them, and I think I gave them the time they
Reflection: The students engaged in reflective practice almost every day through their journals. I love
this concept. It engages background knowledge and focuses the students for the class at hand. It is also
a good way to measure how and what they are learning as we go through the unit. If I see a student has
totally missed the boat on where we were going with a subject, I can back track and get everyone on
Interaction: I think my language goals, my use of the comprehension checks in the textbooks and my
desire for student-centered work make it clear that I think interaction is paramount. Students are using
these new concepts and language forms. It is meaningful in that I try to connect it to the real world as
much as possible, through experiments, hands-on activities and prior experiences. I think if it had been
nicer outside, I would have liked to have something done outside, which would have been great.
Integration: All language modalities are represented in this Unit. Students talk and write with one
another, and they listen and read with one another at various points. Language and content are
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intertwined very intricately when it comes to biology CBI lessons. You cannot get the content if you are
WHERETO
Where are we going? I think I designed this lesson such that, by the end, students really understood the
importance of plants on the world around them. I had a good sense of where we were headed.
Hook and hold: How could you not enjoy learning about plants? I feel that I am intrinsically motivated
to teach this stuff. I love the content. That comes through in my planning of the assignments and
lessons. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think I can be a pretty good hook for students. Teachers
should be enthusiastic about what they are presenting, and I hope that came through for me.
Reflective Practice: Students did this with their journals. I cannot stress enough how much I want to
incorporate this into my ESL content classroom. Journals, bell work, do nows, jump start, whatever
you want to call it. I love the reflection on previous work, and focus for today’s work it provides.
Tailoring: I think there was enough variety in the implementation of the lessons that all sorts of learners
got to feel creative and involved in the class. Kinesthetic, audio, visual, there was something for
everyone.
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Professional Resources
Bernstein, Leonard. (2003). Concepts and challenges of life science. Globe Fearon Co.
Peregoy, Suzanne, & Boyle, Owen. (2008). Reading, writing and learning in esl. Allyn & Bacon.