Unit Description
It’s time to strap on the armor, grab your gear, and go to battle! Genetic diseases have plagued mankind for far too long. With the help of nanotechnology, we can turn the tide of this battle and put a stop to genetic disease once-and-for-all!
This problem based learning unit tackles the problem of genetic disease by having students consider how nanotechnology can improve future research and treatment of a genetic disease of their choice. For this PBL unit, small groups of four students are organized so that there is a heterogeneous mixture of different levels of learners in each group. Also, out of curiosity of which type of group might work best together, there will be one group that is all male, one group that is all female, and the rest of the groups will be a mixture of males and females.
This problem based learning unit focuses on the life sciences, specifically biology, but could easily be adapted for any other life sciences courses, such as Anatomy and Physiology, Genetics, or Honors Biology. This four week unit is set up in three content sections, nanotechnology, transcription and translation, and genetics. Each successive section builds off of the previous section, integrating nanotechnology throughout the entire unit.
Assessment of the unit will come in three forms. The first is a pre-test and post test. The second is an individual portfolio that measures each student’s comprehension of the content and contains checkpoints that each student must master before continuing on to the next section. The third assessment is a final group presentation that is a culmination of each group’s research of their chosen genetic disease and includes their proposal of how nanotechnology can be used to improve current research or treatment of the disease. This final presentation will be given to the school’s sixth grade class. By presenting to the sixth grade class, the students will have to translate everything they have learned from the unit into something a middle school student can understand and find exciting at the same time.
This problem based learning unit tackles the problem of genetic disease by having students consider how nanotechnology can improve future research and treatment of a genetic disease of their choice. For this PBL unit, small groups of four students are organized so that there is a heterogeneous mixture of different levels of learners in each group. Also, out of curiosity of which type of group might work best together, there will be one group that is all male, one group that is all female, and the rest of the groups will be a mixture of males and females.
This problem based learning unit focuses on the life sciences, specifically biology, but could easily be adapted for any other life sciences courses, such as Anatomy and Physiology, Genetics, or Honors Biology. This four week unit is set up in three content sections, nanotechnology, transcription and translation, and genetics. Each successive section builds off of the previous section, integrating nanotechnology throughout the entire unit.
Assessment of the unit will come in three forms. The first is a pre-test and post test. The second is an individual portfolio that measures each student’s comprehension of the content and contains checkpoints that each student must master before continuing on to the next section. The third assessment is a final group presentation that is a culmination of each group’s research of their chosen genetic disease and includes their proposal of how nanotechnology can be used to improve current research or treatment of the disease. This final presentation will be given to the school’s sixth grade class. By presenting to the sixth grade class, the students will have to translate everything they have learned from the unit into something a middle school student can understand and find exciting at the same time.