Goals/Big picture: PlantingScience gives students the opportunity to understand the physiology and chemistry beyond the formula they have memorized. I plan to use the power of sunlight activities to help students understand this. I want students to be able to create models that demonstrate mastery of the concepts of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. I want them to be able to teach others in our community in some of our outreach events. To do that, they need to be able to understand that plant mass does not come from the water and soil but from the CO2 and these chemical reactions. And that chloroplast   is not the where cells get their energy from 24/7. They need to be able to explain that plants actually have mitochondria that process electron transport to provide ATP for use by the cell.

My students need to develop a scientific mindset. Currently they see scientists as old men in lab coat running cookbook labs. I want students to experience inquiry that is students centered and to use science practices to learn. I am hoping to develop a botany course next year as well as a biotech course that will use plant studies in their research. Students will gain insight from your work with them about the nature of science and use this experience in these future courses to design meaningful research in the advanced course the following year.

Courses: There are two courses students will be coming from. The first is my Honors Biology and the second is our college prep biology. The students are all sophomores. They learned very basic information last year and pretesting in my classroom demonstrated they have not retained much more than the formula, cell organelle names and for some the functions.

Prior knowledge: These biology students have been introduced to photosynthesis and cellular respiration in January. They learned the formula for photosynthesis and cellular respiration in marine science and grade 8. Some have retained a basic awareness but not mastery while others remember even less. So this unit is a tool to reinforce for some and a discovery for most.

Important dates and times: Start date is March 6. End date is third week of April.

Access Information: Students have 1:1 chromebooks so they have access in school and out unless they do not have Internet at home. (They will not have their experiments available for observations at home of course.). I will try to post on the calendar any non-school days.

Meeting days and times: 7 groups (4-5 students each) meets 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm. EST. Students will have post access to website m-f to communicate with mentors. I will require they do 3 posts per week minimum.