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Teaching Using Story
««« By Seonaid Davis
Seonaid Davis is Co-ordinator, Programs for Highly Able Students at Havergal
College in Toronto.
Curriculum Connection: Grade 7 Biology –
Interaction with Ecosystems Unit; Grade 11
University Biology, Diversity of Living Things.
Teaching for understanding is a way of planning and
teaching curriculum with a focus on the big ideas. In this
framework, teachers determine the understanding goal
for the unit, plan the appropriate assessment and then
plan how to teach so that students uncover the main ideas
important to that unit. This is a method of planning that
has proved to be very successful in science at Havergal
College. Our work in teaching for understanding has led
us to the work of Kieran Egan at Simon Fraser University.
In his work with the Imaginative Education Research
Group, Egan has identified five forms of understanding.
These include, somatic understanding, instincts and intentions, mythic understanding, sounds and speech, romantic
understanding, facts and fictions, philosophic understanding, concepts and convictions, and ironic understanding,
contexts and incongruities.1 In working with Egan’s mythic
format, it is important to structure organizing content into
a developing story format.2 It was while working with
Egan’s ideas of understanding that I began to appreciate
the power of using story to organize the activities in a unit.
I have used story lines before but never to prepare the
1
2
entire unit. Below are two examples of how a story line
can be used to integrate Egan’s ideas about the importance of using story to organize with the teaching for
understanding emphasis on big ideas that guide a unit.
Grade 7 Interactions within Ecosystems Unit
Plan
(Page references are to Nelson 7 Science Textbook)
Enduring Understanding
All parts of an ecosystem (biotic and abiotic) depend on
each other and ecosystems are not static.
Essential Question (EQ)
How does life survive in ecosystems?
Day 1
Introduce the unit and the questions. Ask students to write
an answer to your EQ based on what they already know
and think. Then have them share their answers with each
other. Each group could give one idea.
Introduce the scenario and the species at risk assignment.
(See next page)
Egan, Kieran, The Educated Mind: How Cognitive Tools Shape our Understanding. Chicago UP, 1997.
http://www.ierg.net
Teaching Using Story
Volume 38 • 5 June 2007
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Student Activity
You are a wildlife biologist working for Environment Canada. As part of your job, you need to assess the status of
species in your area of responsibility. Since all the biologists in your department have to do the same task, a
standard form has been developed so that each review contains the same information. This information will be
posted on the Environment Canada web site at the end of the week. You are hoping to be promoted and you know
that your superiors will carefully scrutinize your report. You have six days to complete your review and being a
responsible and capable biologist, you plan your time wisely and work on it every day. You want this to be your
best work.
To get started, you choose a species to study: Lakeside daisy, barn owl (eastern Ontario), Atlantic salmon, swift
fox, cougar, lynx, grizzly, polar bear, osprey, bald eagle, pacific sockeye salmon. You also go to the following link
to help you: http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/search/default_e.cfm
Environment Canada Species at Risk Fact Sheet
Common name of Species: __________________________________________________________________
Natural History
Scientific Name: __________________________________________________________________________
Taxonomic Group:
________________________________________________________________________
Habitat:__________________________________________________________________________________
Range: __________________________________________________________________________________
Food: __________________________________________________________________________________
Illustrate the food chain (at least three links) for your species
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Statistics: ________________________________________________________________________________
Current population numbers: ________________________________________________________________
Are these numbers expected to increase or decrease? Explain why. __________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
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Student Activity
Making Connections
What are the reasons for your species being at risk? What does it need protection from? __________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Should your species be protected? Why or why not? What impact would your decision have on the ecosystem?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
As the Environment Canada Biologist, how would you persuade the general public to be stewards of the species
at risk? __________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Ecology Word Detective Assignment
What words do ecologists use?
The director of Environment Canada has assigned a new trainee to your department. You suspect that the
trainee doesn’t have quite enough knowledge to make it through the probationary period and being a nice
person, you decide to be the mentor for that trainee. That is going to mean some work for you. The first thing
you notice is that the trainee doesn’t have any biology vocabulary. You know that using proper vocabulary is
essential to understanding the ideas of ecology. Your first job is to teach the trainee the proper language. You do
this by creating a word wall. Since this is a big job, you get the other members of your department to help you.
With your group, complete the following chart.
Word
Definition
Example
Ecology
Ecological niche
Abiotic factors
Biotic factors
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biome
Biosphere
Decomposer
Producer
Consumer
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Student Activity
Word
Definition
Example
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Food chain
Food web
Herbivore
Carnivore
Succession
Day 2
How does matter and energy move in ecosystems?
Your trainee doesn’t understand how ecosystems work. With a sigh, you pull out the Environment Canada
resource book and flip to pages 266-267, 290-291 and try to help the trainee understand how matter and energy
move in ecosystems.
You decide to start by asking the trainee for her favourite food. Then you trace that food backwards to its source.
Where does the food come from? What produces that food? What is the ultimate source of energy and matter?
To help your trainee further, explain the answers to the Understanding Concepts questions #1, 3,4 and Making
Connections question #5.
To test how well your trainee understands the concepts you are trying to develop, have her complete the
analysis of a terrestrial food web. Your trainee should be using the vocabulary you developed.
Ask your trainee to explain the role of plants and animals in ecosystems. What would happen if one of them
disappeared?
Finally, have the trainee answer the day’s question and give it to you for your input.
Day 3
How is energy transferred and how do we represent that transfer visually?
Now that your trainee has some understanding of food webs and food chains, you can do more with her. She
doesn’t really understand the law of conservation of energy (Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it just
changes form) and so you are going to have to explain how this affects ecosystems. You turn to page 274-275 and
read about energy transfers. As you ponder how to help your trainee understand, you decide to have her create
an ecological pyramid for herself. You use the data on the bottom of page 275 and ask her to complete the
pyramid. Then you use the answers to the Understanding concepts and making connections questions on page
275 to fully explain the concept to her.
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Student Activity
The trainee is pretty smart and catches on right away. You assign her the case study to see if she can figure out
how our use of poisons affects ecosystems. Assign the case study on pages 276-275 and see what she can
answer.
Before the trainee leaves for the day, have her reflect on your main question for the day and hand it to you for
your input.
Day 4
What is the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems?
Now that your trainee has an understanding of how energy moves in ecosystems, it is time to look at how biotic
and abiotic factors interact. You read pages 278-279 and reread pages 290-291, then you roll up your sleeves
and explain how the water and carbon cycles work. You get some other people to help you explain by filling out
the following fact sheet for each cycle.
Name of the Cycle: ________________________________________________________________________
What abiotic factor is involved?
______________________________________________________________
How does it cycle? (Draw a labeled picture)
How does this factor affect ecosystems? ________________________________________________________
How do human activities affect this cycle? ______________________________________________________
How do decomposers affect this cycle? What is the importance of decomposers to ecosystems? ____________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Once you have explained both cycles to the trainee, test her knowledge by asking her to reflect on the question
of the day. What does she tell you?
Day 5
How do humans affect ecosystems?
Your trainee has now mastered abiotic and biotic factors and can explain how matter and energy are
transferred. Now she needs to understand how humans affect ecosystems. First your trainee watches the Lorax
video and takes notes about how humans affect ecosystems. Then your trainee flips through the reference text
and adds to her notes.
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Student Activity
Ask your trainee to pay particular attention to pages 296-299 and explain to you the difference between primary
and secondary succession. To check her understanding, ask her to consider the effect of logging old growth
forests (pages 300-301). What type of succession would take place under these conditions? What would be the
effect of this type of human activity?
Record what notes your trainee took during this time. Include her reflection to your daily question.
Day 6 Sharing the Reports
Finally your trainee is ready to stand on her own and work on her own species at risk report. To help her, share
your report with her so that she knows what she has to do.
Day 7 Field Work
Today, you and your trainee are going to do some fieldwork outside of the city. You are very excited because you
love being outside. In fact, that was why you became an ecologist in the first place. When you get to the Kilco
site, you are going to do a quadrant observation. When you do this, list all the biotic and abiotic factors you can
find. Propose a food chain or web for the organisms you have managed to identify.
Another fun thing you can do at the Kilco site is play a predator prey game to help your trainee better
understand how organisms affect each other.
Grade 11 Diversity Unit
In this unit, we are introducing the concept of evolution as well as introducing the concepts of classification. Our
enduring understandings in the unit are, “Classifications both reflect and direct our thinking. The way we order
represents the way we think.” (Steven Jay Gould, 1983) and “Biodiversity is essential for survival.”
The important question that threads through the unit is, “Are you essentially the same or different from bacteria
and viruses?
In this unit, students are presented with the following scenario:
Preparing for your field trip to the Amazon
You are a first year biology student at the University of Acadia and you have been picked by Professor Bumblebee
to take part in a field trip to an undiscovered area of the Amazon. You are really excited because finally you get to
use your biology to chart the biodiversity of a new part of the forest. Professor Bumblebee has asked you to do
some preparatory work in advance of visiting the research site so that you will be an asset to the team.
Step 1: What do you know about diversity?
1. Write down the names of all the organisms you know.
2. Organize your list in some logical way and justify your organizational system.
3. Share your system with Professor B’s other students. Do you have the same system or not? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of your systems?
4. Reflect on Steven Jay Gould’s statement, “Classifications both reflect and direct our thinking. The way we
order, represents the way we think.” – Stephen Jay Gould (1983) What does this statement mean to you
based on the activity you have just completed?
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Student Activity
5. What do you think about diversity – is it bewildering or beautiful? Justify your comments.
Step 2: Looking at a classification system
Since Professor Bumblebee is working on cataloguing the biodiversity of the rainforest, he needs you to have
some idea about the kinds of organisms that exist already and that we know something about. He sends you to
the University of Arizona’s Tree of Life website (http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html) and asks you do to some
investigations on your own. He also wants you to do some research on an organism of your choice so he can
decide whether or not you are suitable to be part of his team in the Amazon. These are his instructions.
1. Visit the Tree of Life website. Click on the main images on the first page as
shown in the diagram at the right (Tree of Life image © 2005 Tree of Life Web Project.
Image of rose © 1999 Nick Kurzenko. Image of annelid worm © 2001 Greg W. Rouse.)
2. Where does each of these images take you? __________________________
3. List the names of two organisms you find under each picture. ____________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
4. Tour the Tree of Life website. What is the purpose of this website and what
information can you find on it? You might want to go to the following page on the site:
http://tolweb.org/tree/learn/TourdeToL/TourdeTol.html
Things you should investigate on the website:
•
•
•
The ToL, its contributors and their work
Scientist Contributors: branch, leaf and note pages
Teacher and Learner Contributors: treehouses
5. How does the Tree of Life organize the diversity of life? How does the classification system used on this site
reflect and direct their (the site’s creators’) thinking? Is it similar to your system or not?
______________
____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Whose system is “better” and what does that mean?
__________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
The work with Professor Bumblebee continues throughout the unit with the professor setting specific tasks for
the student to complete, similar to what was done in the grade 7 ecology unit. In this way, students assume the
role of a beginning biology researcher with an experienced mentor in Professor Bumblebee. All of the activities
that are part of the unit are done in this context and the storyline continues. This gives students an emotional
hook to their work and keeps them engaged as they try to determine what Professor Bumblebee will have them
do next.
Teaching Using Story – Page 7
Volume 38 • 5 June 2007