Ag BIO Final Project
One way to truly learn a subject is to teach it to someone who knows nothing about the topic. This first requires you to
closely examine the topic and distill it down to its important concepts and then you need to develop simple ways to
explain those concepts — maybe metaphors, analogies or simple models.
With this in consideration, you are given this year’s Ag Biology Final Project
You and 1 or 2 classmates (3 people max) will develop 5-10 min lessons for a group of First and Second grade children
that demonstrate your understanding of the major themes in Biology. The major themes are:
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Chemistry of Life
Cells
Cellular Energetics
Heredity
Molecular Genetics
Evolutionary Biology
Diversity of Organisms
Structure and Function of Plants & Animals
Ecology
For each theme listed above, you will:
1. Identify the “Big Idea” in each unit, this will be your learning objective for the students
2. Develop an engaging way to present the Big Idea to your students. This will be the lesson.
 This can include, but is not limited to: Story book, Interactive activity, Coloring pages, Song, a skit or play,
etc
 The lesson must not take longer than 5-10 min (you thought your attention span was short )
 The lesson plan should be in a storyboard or “teacher does, student does” format
3. Determine a way to check for understanding. How will you know your students actually learned something?
This will be your assessment.
 This can be in the form of some type of product, question, etc
 Your assessment should be anything other than a paper quiz.
4. List all the materials necessary to carry out the lesson.
 Make sure the materials are things we can actually get to and are safe for young children to use
Timeline:
Wednesday, May 16
Wednesday, May 23
Tuesday, May 29
May 29
May 30
May 31 & June 1
Monday, June 4
All initial brain storming ideas due
First Check in- at least 4 of the 9 lessons should be complete
All lessons complete and turned in as a packet
Choose 1 lesson and develop a full 5-10 min presentation
In-class presentations of lessons
Lesson reflections, Modifications, & Re-teach
Visit to the Elementary School
Grading Rubric
Project
Component
Brainstorming
Instructional
Goals and
Objectives
Instructional
Strategies
Assessment
Materials
Needed
Organization
and
Presentation
Exemplary
Accomplished
Needs Improvement
All “Big Ideas” have been
correctly identified,
matched to appropriate
theme & have been
brainstormed appropriately
to present a lesson
Instructional goals and
objectives clearly stated.
Students have a clear
understanding of what is
expected of them. Students
can determine what they
should know and be able to
do as a result of learning
and instruction.
All” Big Ideas” have been
correctly identified but
some are incorrectly
matched to theme and
not effectively
brainstormed
Instructional goals and
objectives are stated.
Students have an
understanding of what is
expected of them.
Students can determine
what they should know
and be able to do as a
result of learning and
instruction.
Some “Big ideas” have
been correctly identified
and/or ideas have been
incorrectly matched to a
theme
Instructional strategies
appropriate for learning
outcome(s). Strategy based
on a combination of
practical experience,
creativity and research.
Most instructional
strategies are
appropriate for learning
outcome(s). Most
strategies are based on a
combination of practical
experience, creativity
and research.
Method for assessing
student learning and
evaluating instruction is
present. Can be readily
used for teacher and/or
self-evaluation.
Method for assessing
student learning and
evaluating instruction is
clearly delineated and
authentic. Can be readily
used for teacher and/or
self-evaluation.
All materials necessary for
student and teacher to
complete lesson clearly
listed and are age
appropriate.
Complete package
presented in well organized
and professional fashion.
Most materials
necessary for student
and teacher to complete
lesson are listed and are
age appropriate.
Lesson plan is organized
and neatly presented.
Needs Substantial
Improvement
Very few or no big ideas
have been matched to the
themes of biology
Instructional goals and
objectives are stated but
are not easy to understand.
Students are given some
information regarding what
is expected of them.
Students are not given
enough information to
determine what they
should know and be able to
do as a result of learning
and instruction.
Some instructional
strategies are appropriate
for learning outcome(s).
Some strategies are based
on a combination of
practical experience,
creativity and research.
Instructional goals and
objectives are not stated.
Students cannot tell what
is expected of them.
Students cannot
determine what they
should know and be able
to do as a result of
learning and instruction.
Method for assessing
student learning and
evaluating instruction is
vaguely stated. Assessment
is teacher dependent.
Method for assessing
student learning and
evaluating instruction is
missing.
Some materials necessary
for student and teacher to
complete lesson are listed,
but list is incomplete or
materials are not age
appropriate.
Lesson plan is organized,
but not professionally
presented.
Material list is missing.
Score
Instructional strategies
are missing or strategies
used are inappropriate.
Lesson plan is
unorganized and not
presented in a neat
manner.
A few things to keep in mind:
 Children this age learn best with activities that are hands-on. A lecture or powerpoint presentation during any point of the
lesson is inappropriate for this age group
 Make sure you are not teaching an abstract idea. They are not able to process abstract ideas such as space, density, weight
and time. They can only understand something if they can experience it with one or more of their 5 senses. (ex, air/gas
cannot be seen, but they can feel it, observe other objects moving when air is blow on it, and smell it).
 When presenting a concept, try to use something they are already familiar with such as a popular children’s story, song,
character, etc and tweak it. They will do well if you use something like The Three Little Pigs to teach about predator/prey
relationships