Abbys Blog

 This week I learned how amino acids affect phenotypes, when the amino acid changes on the chain at all it effects the phenotypes (physical appearance) of the person.  This week I thought it was interesting seeing the plants we are growing because I think they have looked the same for the past three weeks.  I think the super hero lab would be really engaging for young learners especially the ones that are really interested in super heros and those types on movies and things but I think it might confuse young learners that amino acid chain can be altered once a person is also alive so I dont know how you would go back into the lesson after the activity and explain that or if you would do that before but I think that might confuse young learners as to why we would be doing this exercise. 

 

 

 This week I learned about phenotypes and genotypes, I already learned about them when I was younger but the game to build the baby was a good reminder of how that builds genetics.  I love the idea of using the candy model of DNA and I could see it being really engaging for young children but my only worry would be allergies in the classrooms and certain schools not allowing food to be brought in.  I really loved the group project of building the characteristics of a child by flipping a coin and it's definitely an activity Id do with my students because it's something I remember doing in 7th grade because it was so engaging and directly aligns with the NGSS. 

 One thing I learned this week is that sharks eat sea turtles which is a big threat to their survival. One thing I didn't understand is how bees effectively help the growth of a plant even when they are dead. Another thing I learned this week was being reminded that stray and wild animals try and eat the turtle eggs and that the turtles benefit in this case from humans intercepting and helping.

Turtle turtle watch out game Plant growth!  Butterflies in chrisalis