Artifact Title: DNA Replication Lesson Plan

Date Completed: February 2014

Artifact Description:
The following artifact is a lesson plan I developed for a high school biology class during my student
teaching placement at Mineral Point High School. This lesson was part of a unit on DNA and focused
on the process of DNA replication. It was completed in one class period of 45 minutes for each of
the three sections of biology taught at the high school. Class sizes consisted of 13, 23, and 24
students in grades 10-11.

ALIGNMENT
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment
This experience best aligns with standard four of the Wisconsin Teacher Development and
Licensure Standards which states: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional
strategies to encourage students development of critical thinking, problem solving, and
performance skills.
This experience aligns with standard four because the lesson plan was designed to address multiple
instructional strategies. I began my lesson by presenting a diagram of a process the students had
learned previously and asked the students to recall and discuss this information. After the
discussion was complete, I proceeded to use lecturing to present the process of DNA replication.
During the lecture, I related parts of the process to everyday items familiar to the students. For
example, I related DNA unzipping to the zippers on backpacks focusing on the ability to unzip in
both directions. Students had time to take notes if they desired, but note taking was not required.
Throughout the lecture, I asked students to summarize what had happened in the process thus far.
To end the lecture portion of the lesson, I asked students if they had any questions about the
process and, if there were questions, I revisited specific steps and explained them in slightly
different way. The second half of the lesson was a hands-on, cooperative learning activity. I handed
out the activity packet and went over the instructions as a group. Students then paired up and
moved to lab tables in the room. Each group received a bag of colored paperclips, each color
corresponding to a specific nitrogen-containing base. As the students worked through the activity
in small groups, I walked around the lab area. I made frequent stops at each station, asking student
what part of DNA replication they were modeling, what might happen if the sequence was changed,
or why the process is important to life. Once students completed the activity, they returned to their
desks and completed the remaining questions in the packet. As a class, we then discussed the
questions in the packet.
Students were asked to think critically, problem solve, and perform modeling skills through
questions and steps in the activity packet. Questions were asked throughout the packet to engage
students in thinking outside of the basic content learned in the lecture portion of the lesson. For
example, students were asked to predict what would happen if the genetic sequence changed, or
had a mutation, and how this might affect the gene or organism associated with this DNA strand.
Students were given a mutated gene sequence and were asked to solve the new strands genetic
code.



UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill, and Disposition Statement Alignment
I believe this experience best aligns with KS3.b. of the UW-Platteville School of Education
Knowledge, Skill, and Disposition Statements which states: The candidate's questioning techniques
and instructional strategies are of uniformly high quality with special attention given to available
time for student response, varied levels of questions, and adequate student involvement in the
discussion/instructional process.
I believe this experience best aligns with KS3.b. because I was able to use questioning techniques
throughout the entire lesson. I began the lesson with questioning to elicit prior knowledge from all
students. If, after a wait-time of ten seconds, students were unable to answer my questions, I posed
the question in a different way. If students were still unable to answer, I called upon students to
discuss anything they could recall about this topic and then build on this knowledge to get to the
information necessary to move on. During the hands-on activity, I asked each group questions
about what stage they were modeling several times throughout the class period. If students were
confused, I began with low level questions to make sure the group was on the same page, then
asked higher level questions until the students understood the material and could move on with the
activity. While going over the activity through a class discussion, I called on a variety of students to
participate to encourage more student involvement.

Secondary Alignment:
KS1.d: Demonstrates Knowledge of Resources

REFLECTION
What I learned about teaching/learning:
I learned that varied instruction can be very useful in a classroom. In a classroom, there is a wide
variety of learning styles and it is important to incorporate a variety of teaching instruction in
lessons. Questioning is also very important in teaching and learning. As a teacher, you need to know
if the students are learning the content you are teaching, if you wait until the end to find this out,
you may have to go back and reteach the entire lesson. If questioning is used throughout the lesson,
you may have a better idea of student learning to make adjustments immediately and revisit
material sooner rather than later. I also learned that some students are more likely to ask questions
in a smaller group setting rather than a large class discussion. Using a variety of strategies makes it
possible to give these students that opportunity.

What I learned about myself as a prospective educator:
I learned that I have the ability to create diverse lessons. During my education course I was exposed
to many teaching strategies and this experience showed me that I can apply that knowledge to help
students learn. There are numerous teaching strategies that I would like to use in future lessons
and incorporate more critical thinking and problem solving opportunities for students. I also
learned that developing better questioning techniques will not only help my students learn, but will
also help me learn and understand my students progress. I feel that I have basic questioning skills,
but would like to expand those skills in the future.