TPACK Template

Subject Biology

Grade Level 9th Grade

Learning BIO.7 The student will investigate and understand how populations change through
Objective time. Key concepts include
b) how genetic variation, reproductive strategies, and environmental pressures
impact the survival of populations;
c) how natural selection leads to adaptations;
Content

d) emergence of new species; and

e) scientific evidence and explanations for biological evolution.

The online course I’m teaching in for this activity is asynchronous.

In this online activity, my online students will use a simulation on ExploreLearning.com to have an
Pedagogy Planning

individual experience based upon their unique choices. Each child’s end result will be different,
and I will grade them online by evaluating their responses to prompts within the simulation.

Online Activity In this activity, students will learn about evolution and the processes of
natural selection, artificial selection, heritability, fitness, variation,
alleles, traits, mutations, and selective pressures. This activity not only
enhances their learning but also engages them in critical thinking and
gets them to use the scientific method.

Prior to beginning this activity, the students should have an idea of

what the basics of evolution are. This knowledge will be supplemented
through the use of The Evolution Handbook, which is located within the
simulation and referenced on numerous occasions. This activity is
meant to build upon their prior knowledge of the subject, as well as to
apply that knowledge to solve the simulation.

The activity poses the students as a CDC researcher who is tasked with
investigating the outbreak of a multi-drug resistant bacteria. They are
to study the evolution of the bacteria to determine the source and
cause of the outbreak.

As this course is asynchronous, the teacher will post an introduction

Pedagogy

video, utilizing screencasting, to introduce the students to the

simulation. They can show the brief video located on the website that
gives a summary of the simulation. They can also cover the basics of
 evolution by pulling up the class’s ebook and going over passages that
are pertinent to the lesson. The teacher will close by verbalizing their
expectations and how their work will be evaluated.

After this introduction, students can begin the online simulation. They
begin by analyzing the data of the bacteria samples to include the
percentage that is multi-drug resistant and how that changed over
time. Students then open the Evolution Handbook tab and go through
interactive activities that explore the topics listed above. This gives the
students a better understanding of the many facets of evolution and
how they can apply that knowledge to the current scenario. Once the
students have familiarized themselves with the background
knowledge, they continue their investigation. They are then tasked
with making a hypothesis about which of the three phenomena was
the source of the bacteria’s multi-drug resistance. Was it genetic drift,
gene flow, or natural selection? They then perform three different
experiments designed to either prove or disprove their hypothesis.
There is one experiment per cause. After they’ve conducted their
experiments and the data is collected, they are given the opportunity
to revise their hypothesis. Once all of the data is analyzed, they will
complete a case summary.

Throughout the simulation, students are answering questions and

inputting responses when prompted. The teacher is able to evaluate a
student’s progress through the simulation by accessing this real-time
data on the Explore Learning website. This is a great feature that helps
identify problem areas for individual students as well as the class as a
whole. This gives the teacher feedback on where they can supplement
the class’s learning through the addition of other videos or documents
within their Course Management System.

Technology  “STEM CASE: Evolution” on the Explore Learning website

https://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResourc
Technology

e.dspDetail&InteractiveCaseID=6&ResourceID=3004&ClassID=38
18117
 Computer and required accessories