Picture of me:
Bio:
Kevin is the son of Irish immigrants. He has four siblings and was schooled by brothers, nuns and a marching band director with a bullhorn. Then to college, volunteer work overseas, carpentry and a few misfires at adulthood. He found his way to love, marriage, teaching, kids and a minivan. Kevin currently teaches biology at Kennedy High School in Chicago.
Explanation of amazing teaching moment
This lesson is powerful because it introduces students to variables, relationships and the creativity of experimental design inherent in nature.
I start by taking the class to the park adjacent to the school. Students are grouped in mixed ability teams of four. Materials are a clipboard and a graphic organizer per group. Once outside, I explain that nature is full of measurable stuff and practically infinite variables exist in the park. I give the example of light - there are brighter areas and shadier areas in the park. I explain that this can be measured in units called lumens. I emphasize that it’s okay if they don’t know the name of the units, they just need to look for things that could be measured. Groups then wander the park to identify five variables and propose how they could be measured. I emphasize that they must use all of their senses and be creative.
After about 10-15 minutes, I bring the class back together for the second part of the activity -- looking for relationships between variables. I give one example: that brighter areas will have more varieties of plants than shadier areas. For review, I ask students to identify the two variables in my example and how they might be measured. Groups then work to come up with three possible relationships between variables in the park.
After 10 minutes, I call them back for the final part of the lesson -- experimental design. Now groups choose one of their relationships and then give a brief description of how they could conduct an experiment to test that relationship. For an example, I go back to my previous ideas of light levels and plant diversity and explain how brighter and shadier areas could be identified in the park, and, using a one meter quadrant square, tested for the numbers of different species. Again, I emphasize how this is a creative process and that they need to consider what will need to be measured about both variables. Groups work independently before reconvening and sharing out.
I start by taking the class to the park adjacent to the school. Students are grouped in mixed ability teams of four. Materials are a clipboard and a graphic organizer per group. Once outside, I explain that nature is full of measurable stuff and practically infinite variables exist in the park. I give the example of light - there are brighter areas and shadier areas in the park. I explain that this can be measured in units called lumens. I emphasize that it’s okay if they don’t know the name of the units, they just need to look for things that could be measured. Groups then wander the park to identify five variables and propose how they could be measured. I emphasize that they must use all of their senses and be creative.
After about 10-15 minutes, I bring the class back together for the second part of the activity -- looking for relationships between variables. I give one example: that brighter areas will have more varieties of plants than shadier areas. For review, I ask students to identify the two variables in my example and how they might be measured. Groups then work to come up with three possible relationships between variables in the park.
After 10 minutes, I call them back for the final part of the lesson -- experimental design. Now groups choose one of their relationships and then give a brief description of how they could conduct an experiment to test that relationship. For an example, I go back to my previous ideas of light levels and plant diversity and explain how brighter and shadier areas could be identified in the park, and, using a one meter quadrant square, tested for the numbers of different species. Again, I emphasize how this is a creative process and that they need to consider what will need to be measured about both variables. Groups work independently before reconvening and sharing out.