ISTE STANDARDS: FACILITATOR
OVERVIEW LEARNING GOAL
Educators facilitate learning with
technology to support student
achievement of the ISTE Standards for
Students.
NARRATIVE
I presented this assignment during my 4th-6th hour
Biology classes in my Student Teaching experience.
Before the lesson, I gave a lesson and notes on a new
topic to the students: RNA and Protein Synthesis. I taught
the students the importance of RNA and some
similarities and differences that it had with DNA. The
students then worked in groups to complete a Venn
Diagram to compare DNA and RNA. I then went on to
explain Protein Synthesis, with it two main parts:
transcription and translation. I also went into describing
the main differences between these processes:
transcription is DNA to RNA and translation is RNA to
amino acids. When it came to translation, I gave the
students their own codon chart. With the chart, I taught
them how to read it to determine an amino acid or an
amino acid sequence based on the RNA that they have
transcribed. I also introduced the “special” codons, start
and stop codons, and their functions. After I had
introduced RNA and Protein Synthesis and finished the
notes for the day, I instructed the students to work
through an interactive, online simulation showing them
how RNA is transcribed and translated inside of the cell.
Students were to work through and watch the simulation
as the DNA was transcribed into RNA inside of the
nucleus, and then taken to the cytoplasm to be
translated, and finally taken into the ribosomes to be
turned into proteins. These proteins are what cause
basic chemical reactions to occur inside of our bodies.
If the students were unable to finish the simulation during
class, they were asked to take it home and complete it
for homework. They were given a grade on the sim.
Below are sample pictures of the assignment:
Students were to understand RNA and
Protein Synthesis by first completing
notes on the two topics, and the
completing an interactive, online
simulation. The sim went through the
two processes of transcription and
translation by helping the students
visualize the real processes inside of
the cell. This helped the students
better understand the processes
instead of only memorizing them.
REFLECTION
I believe the interactive, online
simulation was really beneficial for
the students because it showed them
what was really occurring inside of
the cell, and didn’t just involve them
memorizing the processes. I believe
that it helped the students better
understand Protein Synthesis
altogether. Transcription and
Translation can be confusing for
students because the process names
are so similar. However, I believe the
sim helped because each time a
student would click on the link, it
would give them a whole new set of
DNA, RNA, and amino acids. This
insured that students couldn’t just
cheat off their friends, but that they
were actually working through the
different steps and learning how to do
it on their own. This was an
application that the students needed
to know and be able to work through
on their test, so I believe that the more
practice they had, the better off they
would be at the end of the unit.