Module Two
Curriculum Links Year 9 Science Curriculum
(Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2018)
Biological Sciences
Ecosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through these systems (VCSSU121)
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Elaborations: exploring interactions between organisms, for example, predator/prey, parasites, competitors, pollinators and disease vectors”
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Science Inquiry skills
Communicating: Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence-based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations (VCSIS140)
Learning Intentions/Outcomes:
By the end of this lesson students should be able to:
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Distinguish between the different types of parasites and relationships between organisms
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Describe the socio-scientific issues related to scientific research and scientific claims
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Explain the role that maggots play in scientific research
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Justify the advantages of using maggots in medicinal environments
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Appreciate that maggots play a major role in hospitals
“I CAN” STATEMENTS
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I can identify how the news and media can influence and change people’s perceptions
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I can describe the beneficial uses of maggots in medicine
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I can explain the interactions between parasites and other relationships between organisms, and provide examples of each
Learning Activity 1:
Investigating Relationships
Teacher Input
Teacher will direct students to work individually, but they can collaborate with each other throughout the activity. Teacher will direct students to move around the classroom to the different stations. The students’ instructions are to observe the images at each station, and classify them into the appropriate symbiotic relationships; mutualism, commensalism or parasitism, and provide reasons on their worksheets. (Note: You may want to cut out the images and randomly assign them to different workstations)
Student Input
Students will move throughout the stations, and classify the symbiotic relationships into mutualism, commensalism and parasitism, they will describe the relationship and justify why it is that specific type of relationship.
Resources
Images for stations
Worksheet
Assessment FOR and OF Learning
This is formative type of assessment that scaffolds students’ knowledge, as in the previous activity Puzzling Out, where the students encountered the concepts of relationships, and the different type of relationships that can exist between species. Students are being formatively assessed on how they classify the examples into the applicable relationships and their justification.
Investigating Relationships Stations
Download is available by clicking on the PowerPoint icon below. They will need to be printed and distributed randomly around the room.
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Commensalism
Mutualism
Parasitism
Investigating Relationships Worksheet
Download is available by clicking on the docx icon to the right.
(preview of the document is shown to the right)
Learning Activity 2:
Socio Scientific Issue – Student Perceptions and Perception Change
Teacher Input
Teacher will direct students to draw in their books what their current perception of maggots are. Teacher will instruct students to use words and images.
Teacher will then provide students with an article. There are three articles in total, students will randomly be assigned to read one of the articles. They will take notes on how their perceptions may have changed on the role of maggots in society.
Teacher will then get the students to form groups of threes. Within the groups, there needs to be one member that has read each newspaper article, this will help contribute to a variety of ideas and perceptions. Teacher will then direct students to create a video and document how their perceptions have changed of maggots.
Student Input
Resources
Assessment FOR and OF Learning
Students will draw in their books using images and words, what their current perceptions of maggots are. Students will then read an article randomly assigned to them by their teacher, on the role that maggots play in society today, and how they’re being used for medicinal uses. Students will then form into groups of three, so the three members from each group, each read a different article. This will contribute to a diverse range of ideas to be presented in the video. Students will create a short video documenting how their perceptions have changed, and why. These videos will be presented to the whole class.
Student notebooks
Three articles (see below)
Mobile device such as an iPad or mobile for video recording
This is formative type of assessment builds and enhances students' skills in digital literacy and digital learning, to communicate information for a particular purpose (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2018). The teacher will provide constructive feedback to the students after their presentation.