Tackling the Tomatoes

Hello again! So I’ve had something on my mind recently – we’re focusing a lot on younger learners both in class and in this blog, but what about middle school? After we graduate from MSU, we’ll be certified to teach K-8, so it’s important to keep the middle schoolers in mind as well. I know our entire class is in kindergarten and 1^st grade right now (GREAT practice with the younger ones), but teaching middle school is a whole new world. Changing minds, changing bodies, it’s a whole mess of things that we as teachers need to sort out. Here’s a few tips I found for teaching 7^th graders, right in the middle of middle school:

https://www.weareteachers.com/50-tips-tricks-and-ideas-for-teaching-7th-grade/

•          Don’t assume that yes means yes – Avoid the question “Do you understand?” because they WILL answer yes even when they mean no. Ask a few students to relay to you what you’ve said, and give them time to answer. If nobody answers, then you know to change your approach to better help them understand.
•          Don’t assume they remember the directions – This is something that I’ve noticed is common with students of all ages (even college students!). After giving the directions, ask “What are your questions?” and wait a minute or two for students to answer.
•          Keep up the daily read-alouds! Middle schoolers also enjoy being read to, plus they’ll get to explore new genres. Make sure you’re excited about the book, too!
•          Have fun with them – Laughter is the key here. Try to laugh every day and joke around with the students when appropriate. Of course, there is such a thing as too casual (we do have a curriculum to teach, after all!). But avoiding that strict, authoritative teacher persona will help you engage your students and make them excited to be in your classroom.

There’s a lot more tips on the website, so check it out!

Keeping these general tips in mind, let’s get back to science. A lot of what we’re talking about in TE 403 is how we can’t just present students with information and expect them to understand/care. Students get a much deeper understanding of material when they find it on their own. That’s not to say we should just say “Here’s the topic, go off and research it!” because we have to give them some sort of basis to go off of. We as teachers need to guide our students but still give them the opportunity to solve problems on their own. In addition, yesterday’s class focused on the importance of incorporating other subjects into our science lessons (math, social studies, reading, writing, art, languages, physical education, etc.) By aligning our subjects through the same content, students can look at the phenomenon through different lenses, thus gaining a deeper understanding of it!

Coincidentally, I found a middle school lesson plan that fits both of these criteria. This lesson both challenges students to do their own investigation as well as connects science to math. Check it out!

http://lessonplanspage.com/sciencemathcitomatoesbioticpotentialusingexcel69-htm/

Title – Tomatoes Take Over The Earth!

By – Erik Hanchett

Primary Subject – Science

Grade Level – 6-9

Objective:

Determining the biotic potential of a tomato using an excel spreadsheet

Standards:

Technology: TSS6C2PO3

Science: MSS4C3PO3, 4, 5

Description:

Students will determine the biotic potential of a tomato plant by counting the seeds of one tomato and then calculate the number of plants after three generations using an Excel spreadsheet.

Procedure:

1.       Write in your journal the following investigation question: How many descendants can one tomato plant leave behind in just three generations if every seed were to germinate, grow and produce fruit to its capacity?

2.       Record in your journal your guess (prediction) of the number of descendants that one tomato plant can leave behind in just three generations.

3.       Now graph out your prediction on the journal insert sheet.

4.       Now calculate using the journal insert sheet, the number of tomato plants that one tomato can produce in just three generations. NOTE: Students should take this step to count out the number of seeds in one tomato. They will base their calculations off of this number.

5.       Assume that tomato plants can self-pollinate and that each plant makes 100 fruits each season and then dies.

6.       Make a line graph of the population growth of your tomato over three generations on the journal insert sheet.

7.       What kind of growth pattern does the graph show?

8.       What will happen in just a few more generations?

9.       Why doesn’t this happen in real life?

10.   Use the terms exponential growth, limiting factors, and carrying capacity in a short paragraph to describe the results that you have graphed out.

I really like this lesson because it is basically student-led! The students are the ones investigating and calculating the number of tomatoes grown in three generations. One change that I would make, though, would be to ask the students how they can determine the number of tomatoes grown in three generations based off of one tomato. That way, the teacher isn’t just handing students a list of steps to complete – the students actually have to think critically about how they should carry out the investigation. Also, this lesson is heavily based on calculations, but concepts of pollination and germination are still present. The teacher should be sure to emphasize these scientific concepts to remind students understand that this is a scientific investigation. I hope these ideas help you in your own classrooms, feel free to comment with suggestions/ideas of your own! See ya!