Final Learning Targets (For now...)

I am fairly happy with my original learning targets, with one exception. I sadly realize that RNA is not actually in the NYS standards. The understanding they promote is that genes encode proteins, but nothing about how (that would be RNA). So, I have changed learning target 5 to focus on the structure and function of DNA instead. This learning target is directly related to Major Understanding 2.1f under Standard 4 of the NYSED Living Environment Core Curriculum. My original learning targets can be found here.

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My unit focuses on Key Idea 2 from Standard 4 of the NYSED Living Environment Core Curriculum: Organisms inherit genetic information in a variety of ways that result in continuity of structure and function between parents and offspring.

1. Students are able to explain how traits are transferred to offspring during sexual reproduction.
-Mastery
Verbs: Describe, outline, give examples, state, illustrate.

2. Students understand where and how genetic information is stored within a cell.
-Developmental
Verbs: Describe, diagram, illustrate, explain, identify.

3. Students are able to explain why cells containing identical genetic information can differ greatly in structure and function within a single organism.
-Mastery
Verbs: give examples, describe, explain, contrast, diagram.

4. Students can construct a pedigree chart for sex-linked, dominant, and recessive traits.
-Mastery
Verbs: Interpret, compose, diagram, distinguish, predict.

5. Students understand the basic structure and properties of DNA and their significance in DNA replication.
-Mastery
Verbs: Explain, diagram, summarize, describe, support.

6. Students are able to construct a Punnet Square based on the laws of Mendelian Genetics.
-Mastery
Verbs: Create, break down, categorize, illustrate, diagram.

7. Students understand how the expression of genes can be modified by interaction with the environment.
-Developmental
Verbs: give examples, explain, predict, appraise, design.

My Fav Alternative Assessment

As a Bio major at a small liberal arts school in Vermont, I had many classes with professors that did not have much of a background in Education. They had undergone very traditional educations and then spent time doing professional research. However, the department chair came up with the idea of doing once a month professional development with the professors in the field of Education, rather than Biology. I'm pretty sure it involved a lot of home-brewed beer and wine, but they picked up the idea of alternative assessments and took it to heart.

There is no one particular assessment that stands out above all the rest, but I can remember a few. I had an Aquatic Biology midterm the involved an overnight class field trip to the southern coast of Maine, where we set up research at low tide in the evening and then collected data at low tide the following morning.

A second memory involved a writing an essay for a Literature class while exploring the abandoned town of Upper Tahawus in the Adirondacks where Theodore Roosevelt was vacationing when President McKinley died. We then traced (by van) the route he took to the North Creek rail station in a milk wagon on his way to being sworn in as President.

I can remember quite a few other "performance based" assessments in the lab, but I think the two examples above are some of the most interesting to hear about. Creating cDNA libraries and analyzing them with a gene chip doesn't mean much to most people.

NYSED Standards linked to my Learning Targets

NYSED Standards mapped to my Learning Targets from NYSED Living Environments Standard 4:

1) 2.1b
2) 2.1a
3) 2.1c
4) 2.1j
5) 2.1g
6) 2.1e
7) 2.1k

Learning Targets Draft

My unit focuses on Key Idea 2 from Standard 4 of the NYSED Living Environment Core Curriculum: Organisms inherit genetic information in a variety of ways that result in continuity of structure and function between parents and offspring.

1. Students are able to explain how traits are transferred to offspring during sexual reproduction.
-Mastery
Verbs: Describe, outline, give examples, state, illustrate.

2. Students understand where and how genetic information is stored within a cell.
-Developmental
Verbs: Describe, diagram, illustrate, explain, identify.

3. Students are able to explain why cells containing identical genetic information can differ greatly in structure and function within a single organism.
-Mastery
Verbs: give examples, describe, explain, contrast, diagram.

4. Students can construct a pedigree chart for sex-linked, dominant, and recessive traits.
-Mastery
Verbs: Interpret, compose, diagram, distinguish, predict.

5. Students are able to describe the role of RNA in protein synthesis.
-Mastery
Verbs: Explain, diagram, summarize, describe, support.

6. Students are able to construct a Punnet Square based on the laws of Mendelian Genetics.
-Mastery
Verbs: Create, break down, categorize, illustrate, diagram.

7. Students understand how the expression of genes can be modified by interaction with the environment.
-Developmental
Verbs: give examples, explain, predict, appraise, design.

Me:

My name is Glen Wallace and I am in my second semester at Brockport. I completed my BS in Biology at Saint Michael's College in Colchester Vemont in 2007 and then came back to the Rochester area. As I began looking for jobs and thinking about furthering my education I realized that while science is great, my real passion is working with children. The bulk of my prior work experience consists of 2 years teaching swimming lessons at a local YMCA near my parent's home in Pittsford, 6 summers as a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Gorham in the Adirondacks, and a few semseters tutoring undergraduates in Chemistry. While considering my interests and experiences in life, the obvious choice was to pursue a career as a science educator.

I am currently employed as a Recreation Therapist in the Emergency Services/Short-Term Residential Program at Hillside Children's Center. This means that I get to plan and run activites for 24 clients who face various social, emotional, and mental challenges. My job continues to provide me with experiences that will greatly benefit my career as an educator each and every day. The most invalueable lesson I have learned is that when it comes down to it, kids are just kids. They have the same basic needs and wants regardless of ability level, race, background, age, gender or any other factor. A second is that there are no inherently "bad" children. Some of them may face challenges that are hard to understand or even identify, but there really is potential in every single child.

My favorite hobbies include canoeing, kayaking, reading, sailing, and biking. I have had the priviledge of teaching canoeing and kayaking at both YMCA Camp Gorham and Hillside's summer camp, Camp Possibilities, and I taught sailing for a year at Gorham as well. Reading is a mandatory, daily part of life as a graduate student, and I'm the guy riding his bike around campus regardless of the weather. My heroes include Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and MacGyver. I drink a lot of green tea and I have three pet goldfish. That is all of the personal information I can think of at this time that I feel like publishing to cyberspace.