GROVE CITY COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Andrew Musacchio/ Academic Biology/ 9-7-2022

 Topic
o Martian and the Car Activity
o Characteristics of Life notes
 What is Biology?
 Characteristics of Life
o Levels of Organization Flipped Lecture Homework
 Objectives
o BIO.A.1.1.1, After instruction TSWBAT describe what biology is and what the
characteristics of life are (Organization and cells, Response to stimuli,
Homeostasis, Metabolism, Growth and development, Reproduction, Change
through time) with 80% accuracy on an end of unit exam.
o BIO.B.4.1.1, BIO.A.1.2.2, After watching the flipped lecture TSWBAT to put the
levels of organization in proper order of complexity along with defining each
level with 80% accuracy on an end of unit exam.
 Teaching Procedures
o Anticipatory Set (20 min)
 Use Martian and Car Activity
 Assign a group of students to be the prosecutors and assign another
group of students to be the defense attorneys
 Have the students come up with a list of items to include in their
case to whether a car is alive or not
o Try to push the students to derive the characteristics of life
 Type 1 Writing
 Have the students on their note packet write what they know about
living things
o Have the students consider…
 Why do we consider them living?
 What do living things have in common?
 What makes something non-living?
o Development 1 (35 min)
 Use Characteristics of Life PowerPoint and have the students fill out the
Characteristics of Life Notes during the presentation
 Biology
o The study of life
o Biologists study questions about how living things work,
interact with their environment, and change over time
 Characteristics of life
o Organization and Cells
o Response to Stimuli
 o Homeostasis
o Metabolism
o Growth and Development
o Reproduction
o Change Through Time
 Organization and Cells
o Organization – the high degree of order within an
organism’s internal and external parts, and in its
interactions with the living world
o Cell - the smallest unit that can perform all of life’s
processes
o Some organisms are made up of one cell.
 Unicellular - an organism that only has one cell.
o Some organisms are made up of multiple cells
 Multicellular – organisms made up of many cells
 Response to Stimuli
o Stimuli - change in the environment
o Organisms respond to changes in their environment
 Homeostasis
o process in which an organism regulates its internal
environment
 Metabolism
o use or production of energy and materials from the
environment (food)
 Growth and Development
o All living organisms grow
o Growth is caused by enlarging and dividing cells
o Cell Division is the formation of two new cells from an
existing cell
o Development – the process by which an organism becomes
a mature adult
 Reproduction
o the process of creating a new organism like oneself
o Unlike the other characteristics of life, reproduction is not
necessary for the survival of an individual, but of the
species
o Two types of reproduction
 Sexual – requires two organisms of the same
species
 Offspring are similar but not identical to
parents
  Asexual – only one organism is needed to produce
offspring
 Offspring are identical to the parent
o During reproduction, genetic information is passed from
parent to child
o Genetic information is encoded in the DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid)
 Change through time
o Although we change in our lifetime, that is not what
“change through time” means
o Species as a whole change genetically, or evolve, over time
o Important for survival in a changing world
o Guided Practice 1 (5 min)
 Use the question in the Characteristics of Life PowerPoint
 Which of the following does evolution help explain?
o How organisms reproduce
o How organisms grow and develop
o How organisms are related to each other
 Correct answer because the genetic similarities give
the idea that all organisms descended from a
common ancestor
o How organisms obtain and metabolize energy
o Development 2 (20 min)
 Use Characteristics of Life PowerPoint and have the students fill out the
Characteristics of Life Notes during the presentation
 Themes in Biology
o Diversity and the Unity of Life
 Diversity of Life
 There are more than 1.5 million species
known with more to be identified
 Unity of Life
 All living things have certain features in
common
o Genetic Code
o Organelles
 Because of genetic similarities, scientists
think that all organisms descended with
modification from a single common ancestor
o Independence of Organisms
 Ecology – a branch of biology that studies how
organisms interact with each other and their
environment
  Organisms depend on each other as well as their
surroundings for survival
o Evolution of Life
 Evolution
 descent with modification
 Process in which inherited characteristics
within populations change over generations
 Genetically distinct new species are
produced
 Evolution explains the unity (similarities) of
organisms
 Evolution explains the diversity of life
 Natural Selection
 Organisms with more favorable traits are
better able to survive and reproduce
successfully than individuals without the
favorable traits
o Closure (8 min)
 Tell the students to watch the Levels of Organization flipped lecture on
EdPuzzle for homework
 Instruct them to answer the questions embedded within the video
 Answer any questions they have about the characteristics of life notes
 Inform the students there will be a test the following Monday on all
sections covered since the beginning of the school year
 Materials
o Martian and the Cat Activity
o Characteristics of Life Note packet
o Characteristics of Life PowerPoint
o EdPuzzle Levels of Organization
 Adaptations
o If there is extra time have students fill out the summary at the bottom of each
note packet
 Evaluation
o Formative
 Review questions within the PowerPoint
 Questions embedded within the Levels of Organization EdPuzzle Video
o Summative
 There will be an end of unit exam where students will demonstrate their
knowledge of the characteristics of life and the levels of organization
found within living organisms
 Reflection
o Did the students participate in watching the levels of organization video for
homework?
 Yes, most of the students were able to finish the “homework” in class
because there was some extra time at the end of the period.
o Did the students enjoy the Martian and the car activity? Did the students
eventually derive the characteristics of life? Do the students need more direction
to get to the conclusion about the characteristics of life?
