biologist's+thoughts+12

It is my intention that I will keep a record of my thoughts after each lesson. Feel free to repsond to anything I have written. Hopefully my thoughts will inspire, motivate and allow you to improve your understanding of biology as well as get the most out of our classes. Link back to inside the mind of the biol guru Link to biologist's thoughts 10 biologist's thoughts 11 biologist's thoughts 13 biologist's thoughts 14 biologist's thoughts 15

**Lesson 61 (Monday 27th July 2009)** An interesting lesson today. I set up the IWB software so that they had to explore the idea of transgenic organisms on their own. The first question I will always ask is "How effective was it as a learning experience?" I know that it simulated some fantastic discussion of concepts and ideas. I was able to sit at the back of the room and totally focus on what they were saying, not having to worry about running the lesson or anything else. It was great that a couple of them immediately took control, such as taking on the role as the IWB controller (well done LB) and getting the class focused on getting straight into the task (well done JA). The class is very good at probing into the information, questioning everything that doesn't sit with them. All this was good. But not everyone was involved. There would have been half a dozen of them that didn't say anything and I have to question how they felt about this lesson. Obviously, this is where I, as a "teacher" conducts thins in a way which is not part of their thinking. I refer to individuals specifically to get their input, trying to ensure that non-one is being left out. An unexpected insight occurred to me, though. I could see clearly there was in depth analysis of the information but it also showed me that they weren't looking at the big picture. Through their discussion I could tell they weren't thinking necessarily about what were the key points they needed to understand. Anyway, for this reason, when it was my turn to be involved in the lesson I covered some of these things. They had a handout which I gave them that was intended on helping them extract the necessary information. I think this worked well because they did use this to guide them in the exploration of the different sections that were provided for them. The second question I have to ask is "How did they feel about this approach to the lesson?" Did they find it engaging? I wish they would respond to these questions that I raise here. I know many of them read my thoughts, so I can only encourage them to contribute or at least tell me in person. The last thing I will mention and acknowledge is the great song written and sung by Jimi and LA on gene expression. Cool!

Well, the lesson started 20min late today. I will not say any more. They all know where I stand on the importance of using every moment of scheduled class time. Anyway, I was quite keen to see how the class would react to the use of "Harry Potter" to introduce and to a large extent recap some of the basics of genetics (from Year10). To my surprise it seemed to enthuse them and I just had to occasionally remind them it was important that they remained focussed on the presentation itself, rather than digressing on the films. Like last lesson I decided that I would let them run the lesson for the first 30min. The presentation was self guiding and the use of a worksheet worked well. It was great to yet again see them discuss ideas and the presentation also posed some problems for them to think about before revealing the answers. I think this worked well as they like to challenge themselves and see if they get things right. When it was my turn, I could spend time on clarifying a few misconceptions and highlighting some important terms. The rest of the lesson was about practising answering a variety of questions. I think this about the only area of the biology course where doing examples (and many of them) in class is worthwhile. It raised questions but I tried to limit my assistance as they now had the course notes to refer to as well. Most importantly they were all active in this class, and there was no lecturing on my behalf. If only I had brought something that resembled a wand, the lesson would have been perfect!
 * Lesson 62 (Tuesday 28th July 2009) **

**Lesson 63 (Friday 31st July 2009)** Today's lesson was about recaping the basics of single gene inheirtance. The most notable aspect of this lesson was my total ff$#%&! up of the question I set up for them at the beginning of the lesson. I planned a quick activity where I would give them some data to analyse and then determine which characteristic was dominant or recessive. It would have worked better had I not totally stuffed up the diagrams that went with the data. I just couldn't believe I could make such a blunder. Anyway, as the lesson progressed it seemed that the class had sort of misinterpreted the diagrams anyway, they thought they represented the offspring, I was intending them to represent the parents. I had few more of them had recently mentioned to me they like the group activities where they have to solve the questions, so the last 20min was spent doing this. Although, for something different I decided to organise the groups. There was no issue here, they got straight into it which was great. I can't speak highly enough of this class when it comes to working together and discussing ideas. Off course I wanted them to benefit from listening to others in the class that they normally wouldn't be working with. The next lesson on two gene inheritance is a crucial one. This is the area where their understanding of meiosis needs to be clear. Every year I consider which way I should cover this concept in class. This year will be no different. I have prepared them by going over meiosis already but this was over a month ago. At this stage, I think I will take it slow, step by step, with hopefully clear and ACCURATE diagrams.

I was pretty happy with this lesson. It is always difficult to try and cover the notion of two gene inheritance. So, the lesson was pretty much spent going over what happens in successive generations. Now, I didn't mention the notion of linked genes and no one brought it up which was good but in a way I was expecting at least one of them to pose the question "What if the two genes are on the same chromosome?" This eventually came up after much prompting from me but that's ok. It occurred to me during the lesson that a way to reinforce what I had explained was to get them to draw what is happening at the cellular level in relation to meisosis. Drawing diagrams of the different processes we cover is so important. I really hope they are utlising this strategy as part of their revision of the work. Anyway, I was quite content that this occurred to me, as I feel this would really benefit them and hopefully make a strong link with inheritance and production of gametes. I think this happened as there were some excellent questions raised as they carried this out. It was also going to reinforce and clarify where they were at with their understanding of meiosis. Tomorrow's lesson will be the real challenge-linked genes.
 * Lesson 64 (Monday 3rd August 2009) **

Hmmm... linked genes. I had consiously decided to start the lesson off by posing a problem involving data. The intention was to quickly get them to think about the last lesson but also to get them to be faced with an unexpected situation, one which they could not understand or explain with their present knowledge. As it turned out, I could then refer back to the the posed question as we covered more "new" theory. I think it also provides a bit of curiousity for the lesson. Did it work? Not sure but I feel by doing this, it at least sort of holds the lesson together. I chose to adopt the same procedure as yesterday's lesson-step by step go through what happens in successive generations, utilising diagrams and symbols. It was so obvious to me from the expressions on some of their faces that they were uncertain of what I was saying. So why weren't there any questions. They must not let things slide. But on the other hand I think they were also just trying to concentrate on what I was saying which is fine. Although, the focus was on me, I tried to make sure that they were part of the journey that I was taking them on. I think that quite a few of them grasped the idea first time around which is fantastic as this concept does take time to sink in. I just love it when I can see the "light bulb go off" as it did for one of them when they linked crossing over in meiosis (which up until now wouldn't have had any real meaning) to the notion of linked genes and the production of recombinant gametes. So, now that the lesson is over, I do wonder how many of them are confident or are lacking certainty or are totally lost in relation to linked genes. And what are they going to do about it? I gave another handout with plenty of questions for them to do. Will they pose questions on this wiki? I am concerned a little that their use of the wiki is waning. The year has so gone quickly and they will undoubtedly be immersed in all their other subjects too. Do they just feel like they don't have the time any more? Hmmm....
 * Lesson 65 (Tuesday 4th August 2009) **


 * Lesson 66 (Friday 7th August 2009) **

The lesson really went well. The technology (computers) didn't fail me and the class was able to refamiliarise themselves with the drosophila software. This is a neat package that allows them to study inheritance. There really wasn't much for me to do which is great. And they actually found using the software fun. Next lesson I will be giving them 3 more complex experiments to do which will be the basis then for doing the inheritance SAC a week later.