The kids loved it, as it is set up more like a game than studying. I like that you can try out your tree and if it doesn't work (if dots fall off of the tree), you can readjust and try again. You can also click on the magnifying glass icon to get more information about the organisms you are trying to compare. This information is helpful for knowing how to put the tree together.
Although I only asked them to complete the first two missions, many students went on to the other missions--even though they covered topics that we haven't seen yet, namely DNA similarities to build trees. One student asked permission if she could complete all of the missions on her own. Of course!
One of the relationships they were surprised about was that a fungus was more closely related to animals than to plants. It led to some discussions about heterotrophs and autotrophs.
I set up a classroom in mypbslearningmedia.org and then could push out the assignment to my students through Google Classroom. The process isn't perfectly smooth, but all of my students found their way into the missions without too much help, and several students helped others to navigate their way in.
As students get further into the trees, they get more complicated. There is certainly some frustration as the trees get more difficult, but one student will figure it out and their celebration of figuring it out tends to encourage others to press on.
There are questions throughout to keep students focused on the learning that's happening. it also gives them an introduction to cladograms that they will have to interpret on the Regents exam in June, so that's another plus for this activity.
No comments:
Post a Comment