Cell Anatomy of Animals and Plants

Mr. Tobin is preparing his seventh grade science class for life long learning by engaging them in an independent learning experience. The unit that they are studying is on the structure and function of cells. As part of their independent learning, students will be able to choose how they present their final project.

To begin, he asks the students to use their smartphones and tablets to access iCell, an application that offers 3D views inside animal, plant, and bacteria cells. The students become familiar with organelles by tapping on parts of the cell to select and zoom for more information. This introduces them to basic vocabulary and provides them with strong visual images they can keep in mind as they continue their study.

To help them to get started with their independent learning, students then use their smartphones, tablets, or laptops to access a blog that Mr. Tobin has set up for them. They each respond to the following questions in the blog:

Mr. Tobin knows that this activity with the blog, will reduce possible classroom management issues that might arise if students have difficulty getting started on independent work.

Next, using Moodle, Mr. Tobin provides the students with a number of online resources and asks them to use their laptops to research the cell anatomy of animals and plants and create an online presentation comparing them. The presentation must include pictures, models, or drawings of cells and describe the function of their parts. He tells the students that they can create any kind of presentation as long as it can be published online so that it can be shared with the rest of the class over the Internet.

Mr. Tobin provides the students with rubrics that will be used for evaluating their presentations. He also tells them that they will be taking an online assessment on the cell parts at the end of the unit and they should prepare for this.

Students use their laptops to access the websites that Mr. Tobin has specified. Some of these websites contain photographs, drawings, and animations; others contain text describing the function of cells. Some contain multiple-choice questions that help them build skill in remembering the names of the cell parts and how to spell them. These skill-building sites help students prepare for both their presentations and their end of unit test.

Students in the class develop a variety of very creative presentations. Some create videos and podcasts of themselves explaining the parts of the cell. Others use graphic programs to draw and then label the parts of the cell. They create wikis, web pages, PowerPoint presentations, interactive posters, and even music videos.

In addition to learning about cells, the students learn a great deal about working independently and how to communicate effectively using technology. When the projects are completed, students post them on the Internet and send the web addresses to Mr. Tobin and their classmates via email. Each student (and Mr. Tobin) then use the rubric to evaluate their own projects and those of each of their classmates.

Mr. Tobin has created an account for his class, in an online assessment site, which has tests on many science and math topics. Teachers can also create their own tests and the site keeps records and scores for all the students. Students can even take tests using their smartphones, since the tests can be displayed in a small format suitable for the screen of a phone.

To evaluate his students' learning, Mr. Tobin uses scores from the rubric evaluation of the students' presentations, as well as their scores on the online assessment.

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