Name: Savannah Anderton

Date: 4/17/15

Lesson Details:
Lesson Title: What does it mean to be alive?
Content Area: Biology
Grade Level: 10th Grade Heterogenous: Basic Biology
Timeline: 2 Days
Date of Lesson: Unknown

UbD Stage 1: Identifying Desired Results:

1.
a.
2.
a.
i.
ii.
b.
c.

Students will be able to:

Identify the characteristics of life
Define abiotic and biotic factors
Compare and contrast prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Understand the definitions of:
Prokaryotic
Eukaryotic
Explain how prokaryotes are simpler than eukaryotes
Choose and support with biological evidence which cellular structure (prokaryotic or eukaryotic)
is most successful in terms of organismal complexity.

PA Standards Selected:
1. BIO.A.1.1.1: Describe the characteristics of life shared by all prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.
2.

BIO.A.1.2.1: Compare cellular structures and their functions in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

ISTE Standard Selected:

4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.
Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.

Enduring Understandings:
Students will understand the difference between biotic and abiotic and be able to identify living
and nonliving parts of their environment.
Students will be able to define the differences and similarities between eukaryotic and
prokaryotic cells.
Students will be able to identify which organisms are eukaryotic and which organisms are
prokaryotic
Students will predict which cellular structure is the most successful.
Essential Questions:

What defines life?

What does it mean to be alive?
Are dead things still considered living parts of an ecosystem?

UbD Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence

1.
a.
b.
2.
a.
i.
ii.
iii.
b.
i.
ii.
iii.
c.
i.
1.

Assessment Tasks:
Formal: Worksheets
Students will complete a group worksheet based on essential questions, where afterwards they
will share their answers with the class in order to build group discussions.
Students will complete a worksheet based on the lecture during the lecture. They will fill out the
pertinent parts of the worksheet as the lecture progresses.
Informal: Discussion Groups/Games
After the lecture on abiotic vs. biotic, students will break into small groups and have 5 minutes to
talk about what it means to be alive. In order to answer this, they will:
Discuss the definition of biotic and abiotic
Give examples of each
Conjecture about why some things are living while others are dead
The day following the prokaryotic and eukaryotic lecture, students will break into small groups
and play a short trivia game for 10 minutes. In this game, they will:
Be quizzed on the differences by instructor
Work as a team to answer
The winning team will be awarded a small, fabulous prize (candy or the like)
Students will play a quizlet game based on the lecture from the previous day (abiotic vs. biotic,
eukaryotic vs. prokaryotic)
They will go up to the smart board in pairs and compete against to win the prize for their group
of 2.
For the best time to complete the matching questions on the board, the pair of students will
receive a prize out of the prize purse (candy, etc.)

Rubric and Scoring Criteria:

1. Formal assignments:
a. Group worksheet for essential questions (10 points)
b. Completion of lecture worksheet (10 points)
2. Informal assignments: Points will be awarded for participation
a. 10 points for participation in game
b. 15 points for Quizlet participation

UbD 3: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

1.
2.
a.
b.
3.
4.

Materials and Resources:

Smartboard
Worksheets
Copies of essential questions worksheet
Copies of lecture worksheet
Pens/pencils
iPads-- to be able to share the notes with the students

1.
2.
3.
a.

Procedure and Content:

Day 1: Information Gathering
Teacher: Begin by asking:
What does it mean to be alive?
How do we define life?
Are dead things still considered alive?
Provide worksheets for groups to fill in their answers *See attached
Student: Students break off into small groups (arranged by seating areas) and spend 7 minutes
discussing these essential questions. The group will elect a recorder to write down specific
answers on the worksheet to share with the group.
*Time allotted for discussion: 7 minutes
Teacher: Gathers students attentions and begin to popcorn share findings. Ask students to help
build on eachothers observations
*Time allotted: 10 minutes
Students: Popcorn ideas around the room, building on top of one another.
Teacher: Pass out worksheet and begin lecture about life (ppt and worksheet attached)
Students: Students will be given a worksheet to fill in during the lecture
*Time allotted: 20 minutes
Teacher: Introduce trivia game (questions are attached) and explain rules and procedures (on
powerpoint)
Day 2: Game Time
Teacher: Allow students a few minutes to review their materials from yesterday before
commencing with quiz game.
Students: Review materials (2 minutes)
Teacher: Begin game (15 minutes)
Students: Play game
*Directions included in powerpoint
Teacher: Review answers with students. Then begin by introducing the quizlet game on the
smartboard. (5 minutes)
Students: In pairs, students will go up to the board and work together to match all of the
questions to the correct answers. The pair with the best time will receive a prize. (25 minutes)
Teacher: Collect lecture worksheet for grading based on completion before handing back to
students as a study guide for the test.

Homework:
1. Students will be tasked with reviewing their lecture worksheet and ensuring that they have all of
the answers. If they find that they havent answered all of the questions, they will be able to find
the answers on the google doc. presentation of the notes.
2. Students will review answers to their worksheets to prepare for the games-- where it will be
evident whether they studied or not.
If Time Activity:

If extra time at the end of class, ask students to review their essential questions with
their lab groups. Have them record any extra details/learned experiences.

Lesson Reflection:
I believe that what I did mattered because I engaged students of all levels in a heterogeneous
classroom. I designed the activities to best fulfill the needs required by Blooms Taxonomy while
also incorporating technology, ISTE standards, and the state standards for education. My
activities were designed to keep students engaged and thoughtful-- an unusual position for a
science classroom where rote memorization is common. They learned both facts and fun.