What I have learned from this unit:
I think every biology teacher should take this week's module as part of their training. Being both a chemistry and biology teacher, I truly can see how biology is truly an exercise in applied chemistry!! All of the glossary terms this week reflect the need for a sound chemistry background if anyone is to really understand biology. I absolutely love the chemistry associated with this week's glossary terms. We are a school that recently changes their curriculum flow...freshmen take physics, sophomores take chemistry and juniors take biology for the first time. Since this change, many of our teachers who have not taken any science coursework in years are having difficulty building on the chemistry to biology link. This class would truly help any instructor refresh their biology knowledge while at the same time applying the chemistry concepts their students learned the year before. For example, the hydrophobicity example..I plan on using this in for my chemistry students sophomore year and then really hitting them again their junior year in their biology class! I love the integrative nature of this course. Here are some video clips that I would like to share that any chemistry/biology instructor should show their students to help them understand that all sciences are truly interdisciplinary (Or just to get them excited about biology!!)
Another cool thing about this week is that I already showed my students the Angela Belcher video in AP Biology when we talked about Viruses. I feel that I at least am keeping up with current innovations and I am including links to this video clip below for other instructors reading this post who would like to add some excitement to their classroom!!
I think every biology teacher should take this week's module as part of their training. Being both a chemistry and biology teacher, I truly can see how biology is truly an exercise in applied chemistry!! All of the glossary terms this week reflect the need for a sound chemistry background if anyone is to really understand biology. I absolutely love the chemistry associated with this week's glossary terms. We are a school that recently changes their curriculum flow...freshmen take physics, sophomores take chemistry and juniors take biology for the first time. Since this change, many of our teachers who have not taken any science coursework in years are having difficulty building on the chemistry to biology link. This class would truly help any instructor refresh their biology knowledge while at the same time applying the chemistry concepts their students learned the year before. For example, the hydrophobicity example..I plan on using this in for my chemistry students sophomore year and then really hitting them again their junior year in their biology class! I love the integrative nature of this course. Here are some video clips that I would like to share that any chemistry/biology instructor should show their students to help them understand that all sciences are truly interdisciplinary (Or just to get them excited about biology!!)
Another cool thing about this week is that I already showed my students the Angela Belcher video in AP Biology when we talked about Viruses. I feel that I at least am keeping up with current innovations and I am including links to this video clip below for other instructors reading this post who would like to add some excitement to their classroom!!