Setting the Tone of Efficiency and Spaced Practice (Cell Part Chart)

Spaced practice shows greater learning gains than mass practice.  For example, studying six times for ten minutes is more likely to lead to success than studying once for an hour. Therefore, I look for opportunities to get my students spaced practiced at the beginning of the school year.

What does this mean in my classroom?  

I give students a chart of cell parts on the first day of school, that I allow them to work on studying and connecting with on the first day of school.  This provides me with a level of relaxedness because this can be used throughout the beginning of the year whenever the plans for the day may go more quickly than anticipated.  Students can always be reviewing the cell parts for ten minutes at a time with zero downtime at the end of class, which can lead to trouble.  Here is a link to the cell part chart I use.  

This chart forces students to make personal connections to the cell parts and determine the limitations of their connections to those cell parts.  Additionally, students can compare their completion of the cell part chart with other students as a variation on simply reviewing cell parts.

Throughout the year, we review at the beginning and end of class the key concepts and terminology from earlier in the year. Students are told the spaced practice is better, and I remind them why we are reviewing. They become accepting of this and appreciate this habit when finals come along.

CELL ORGANELLES: The Cell has many parts that function together to keep the cell alive.

Name: Block: _____________________________

Cell Part	Structure	Function	Reminds me of...	Justification of Analogy	Limitation of Analogy
Plasma Membrane	Phospholipid Membrane	Controls what comes in and out of the cell.
Cell Wall*	Rigid wall	Protects and Supports cell
Mitochondria (Energy)	Double Membrane sac	Transform Energy for the cell. Burn sugar in respiration. Creates ATP.
Chloroplasts* (Energy)	Double membrane sac	Traps energy from sunlight during photosynthesis to make sugar.
Nucleus (Control)	membrane sac	Controls cell function because it contains the DNA
Nucleolus (Control) (Hon)	Dark site inside nucleus	Makes ribosomes which makes proteins.
Chromosomes/ Chromatin (control)	DNA wound with protein	Organizes Genetic material
DNA (Control)	Long molecules	Holds genetic information for the cell. (recipe for protein)-1
Ribosome (Control/Assembly)	Little ball of RNA and Protein	Makes protein-2
Endoplasmic Reticulum	Highly folded membranes	modifies protein with reactions-3
Golgi Apparatus (packages)	Flattened sac of tubular membranes	Packages proteins-4
Vesicle (Transport),	Little Sac, made of membrane	Carries stuff (usually protein) throughout cell to another cell-5
Enzyme	Specially shaped protein	Helps reactions happen faster, less energy (catalyze reactions)
Vacuole*	membrane sac	Storage (water, glucose) for the cell
Lysosome (recycling)	membrane sac	Contain digestive enzymes, digest worn out cell parts, food, and engulfed virus and bacteria
Cytoskeleton (support)	Tiny rods and filaments	Provides a framework for the cell
Centriole**	Protein tubes	Play a role in division
Cilia	protein hairs	Cell Movement
Flagella	Long protein projection	Cell Movement

BIG Picture

The cell needs to maintain__________________________ in order to survive.  Those cells with the best ______________________ are able to survive more and pass on their traits.  This survival and reproduction of those with the best traits is called ___________________________________.  All of those reactions that a cell does while living are referred to as ____________________________.

My first day of school prep and lesson plan...

I still get nervous for the first day, eleven years in.  I reread a bullet summary of “Teaching With Love and Logic,” say the Prayer of St. Francis, and take many deep breaths.  

I start with a thought out seating chart, placing students based on info gathered from IEP paperwork and previous teacher recommendations to try to set up students with positive experiences in their first day.  I have lab tables in pairs, I try to mix gender and play off of typical awkwardness in the first day.  

Students are expected to complete a notecard of information about themselves as a way for me to engage students while there may be confusion in the first couple of minutes.  I use the app InstaEditor to record images, names, and passions of each student, for my studying to learn quickly.  I know all students names and passions by day two of school.

I go over the norms I've stolen and tweaked from Dr. Kloser and the Trustey STEM teacher fellowship.  Norms: we're in this together, no riding the bench (appropriate cell phone use), in the trust tree (it's okay to be wrong, this is how we grow). I show these as images and post in my room.

I am also using a build a boat engineering activity (student sheet) where students are challenged to save as many threatened organisms by building a flotation device for as many pennies as possible. They have a set amount of supplies and then present their strategies and results.  The key idea is that they would build a better boat because they listened to the results of others.  

I go over basic expectations. Being nice and what that means. Materials for class. The use of productive talk moves. Basic procedures.

I rush in a quick cell parts activity to leave students with a little homework and get adjusted to fact of vocabulary as a necessity.  As the finale, I have students work through a list of materials and they work to determine their rule for what makes something alive through productive classroom discourse.  Additionally, each student gets a bean that they must make travel 2 meters with a box fan set to medium on day two.

The second day includes more discussion about what makes something alive, students designing an experiment testing seed germination in various conditions, and continue work on cellular level background information. Students also test their bean devices for first time, laying the ground work for natural selection and the use of models.