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Bryan Flickinger Photo & Poster Lesson Plan 7th Grade Science. October 10, 2009

Objective: The student will use observation skills to compare and contrast an aerial photo/map of a city with that of a cell poster.

City aerial map [|www.mtdavidson.org/_media/206aerial-city-college.jpg] Cell poster [|www.rkm.com.au/CELL/cellimages/animal-cell-label.jpg]

Learning Activity:
 * 1) I would have one partner look at the city photo using a NARA map to determine the various structures in the photo. They would then, based on what they thought they observed, make inferences about the functions of the structures they saw. In step 3 of the worksheet, I would ask students to determine what they thought would the impact of that structure not exist in the city.
 * 2) I would ask the other partner to observe the cell poster using a SEA worksheet. The student could scan the various parts of a cell. They could then examine the structure of the organelles in the cell to determine their function within the cell. The student would then analyze the organelles in the poster to determine how they fit into the whole and infer what would happen to the cell if this structure did not exist.
 * 3) The individuals would then collaborate using a Venn diagram (the assessment and final product) to compare the various parts of a city and cell that are similar in their function. Students would create a Venn diagram skewed toward a large interconnection to show that cells require a lot of similar functions that exist in a city (ex. mitochondria à power plan – they both provide their respective area the energy to for activities to take place). This process would promote critical / higher level thinking to synthesize these comparisons.

This lesson would work for various aspects of the curriculum. It directly relates to the structure and function of cells in all living things. It also indirectly meets the criteria of systems (including inputs and outputs). This project would do a nice job of connect the concrete (a city) to the abstract (a cell).