Zunal WebQuest: Snurfle Meiosis!

My WebQuest Link
Built around and supporting BIOMAN's animated game @ www.biomanbio.com (link provided within WebQuest to specific game: Snurfle Genetics)

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=233110

Copyright Law

What's the purpose of copyright law?
Only the owner has the right to use their work- protects them
What can be copyrighted?
Original work that can be seen or heard
Books Plays Music Dance Movies & Pictures- not ideas, just the form one takes
How long can something be copyrighted for nowadays?
A lifetime + 70 years
Company over 100 yrs- like forever
How long could you copyright something for a long time ago?
14 yrs
What's the public domain?
Where anyone can use the work once the copyright has expired and is now free for anyone to use
What is fair use?
Borrowing a small amount of a copyrighted work to make a point...
What reasons can you borrow something that's been copyrighted?
You can borrow a small amount of a copyrighted work- parody, critical comment...
Certain rules
What's the guidelines of fair use?
-The nature of the work borrowed
-The amount you borrowed
-Can't change the original work's value in the marketplace
Or a legal defensible position

Digital Natives

  The line from the Part I article that resonated with me most was "Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach." What good is a system that doesn't meet the needs of its target population? I believe this singularity has been perpetuated because we are in a unique, short-lived window of time where the student were born into technology but the teachers were not. In this way, students are ahead of teachers in the technology curve- and in how they experience the world around them. I don't know a single teenager today who goes out of his/her way to read a print newspaper, but I know plenty of adults who insist upon obtaining their news in this way. 50 years from now, all teachers will also have been born into technology, and will thereby be instilled with the same technological upbringing- even if they are behind the latest app trend-- they will at least be on the same mental page. So we are in a interesting, but finite, period of time where we must push ourselves as Digital Immigrant educators to meet our Digital Native students on their level.  This does not mean that since this time will run out that we can simple do nothing and wait for it to end- we have an obligation to our students, no matter our differences.
  The parts that I disagree with is that as a general rule someone who is a Digital Immigrant is not failing to reach his/her students. I know many Digital Immigrant teachers who are more into technology like Spotify or Twitter than I am. It is about being aware of the differences between us and our Digital Native students and doing something about it that makes all the difference. 
  With regards to the second, Part II, article. I absolutely believe that brains are continuously molded and rewired by our experiences- from Depression to TV to drug use to being raised as an only child. All these things shape the way we look at the world. Therefore, no two students are alike, or have ever been alike. What has changed is the rate at which students' minds are affected- we are bombarded with media and more experiences earlier in our lives than we used to be. This can only serve to make understanding and continuing to meet the needs of a developing young adult harder and harder.

WebQuest Project

• The subject area and topic covered (please include grade level here)
  9th grade Biology: Unit on genetics (Meiosis)
  
• The key standards covered, including at least 1 common core and 1 technology standard

Genetics:

2. Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population. As a 

basis for understanding this concept: 

a. Students know meiosis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the pairs 

of chromosomes separate and segregate randomly during cell division to pro­

duce gametes containing one chromosome of each type. 

b. Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis. 

c. Students know how random chromosome segregation explains the probability 

that a particular allele will be in a gamete. 

• The final product (what will the students be doing in the end)
  Student partners will be individually drawing a labeled diagram on butcher paper of the stages of meiosis including the polody (n or 2n) at each stage.  These will be posted on the walls once graded.
  Student partners will then write a half-page minimum paper about what they learned on Meiosis which they will turn in for a collaborative grade done by the teacher.  The grading will follow a rubric provided to the students within the webquest.

Scoring Powerpoints

• What are your thoughts on this article?
  I enjoyed that this article not only tells us what not to have students do but also provides examples, alternatives, and images/tables that clarify their point.  I have not asked any students to make powerpoints but I imagine that they would prefer to copy and paste paragraphs or complete sentences from their paper onto slides- which is boring to have them read to us and prevents them from really exploring the presentation aspect of a powerpoint- it's not just a reading!
• What parts do you agree with?
  I agreed that rubrics are great for students so they know the expectations (reading & writing learners).  I also agree that some examples- on another topic- are good for students to see (visual learners).
• What parts do you disagree with?
  I think many students have a hard time presenting, even when they have what they are supposed to say right in front of them and it is probably (at least for my first-time freshmen) too much to expect them to be able to extrapolate from their own bullet points what they meant to say and needed to cover on each of their slides.  They get too nervous, even with the words right in front of them.  I would have to implement some sort of gradual process towards a real presentation, where students first have to make a presentation with large font and no more than 6 sentences per slide, with 1-5 pictures within their whole presentation, then progress later in the term to having more specific instructions that have the students create a product with less support and more preparation on their part in order to accomplish an engaging and informative presentation.  My grading criteria would initially not count eye contact but later in the year include these finer skills (that many adults never master on a public scale).  But I think that this idea is a great place to strive to end up- and reminds us what skills we should be modeling in our own powerpoints.

1. Who you are at home: I have a husky mix dog and live with my mother while my husband is off working Army contracts (yay!).  I just completed my student teaching and am now looking for a job... and I am tutoring to keep me sane!
2. Who you are at school:  I have been described as a quiet person until you get me in the classroom; I love talking about science and technology- specifically Biology and genetics!  I am passionate about my subject and really enjoy it when my students are too- which is my goal!  I also am very interested in the busy lives my students lead- they are fascinating!
3. Who you are when you are out and about: I am about being outside and sharing my life with friends and family.  From skiing to spelunking to shopping to swing dancing to walking the dog, I am at my best when with a small group of close friends or family.
4. Tell me something unique that happened to you or that you do: My parents are both Navy doctors and my mom was deployed to Iraq 10 years ago while I was in high school. My husband is in the Army National Guard and is a bomb disposal technician.  I have my motorcycle's license and I went to Cal Poly SLO for my undergraduate degree in Biology- and found my husband.  Go mustangs!
5.