Activity 5 – Developing Questions to Teach a Mini Lesson
Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
Joanne Wong
Brief description
Most bacteria contain a single chromosome that carries the cell's genetic information. In addition, bacteria often contain small
circular, double-stranded DNA molecules called plasmids. Plasmids are not connected to the main bacterial chromosomes and
replicate independently. Plasmids usually contain genes, such as those coding for antibiotic resistance and the production of toxins,
that are not crucial to the survival of the bacterium under normal environmental conditions.
Plasmids can be passed on from one bacterium to the other in a process called conjugation. Conjugation is one of the mechanisms
by which bacteria can acquire new genetic material and, as a result, new traits. (
I plan to use a condensed approach to teach the key aspects of bacterial conjugation. It will be difficult to teach this process in detail
when limited to questioning. Therefore, I have broken down the process into four main concepts:
1- Donor cell produces pilus. 2- Pilus attaches to recipient cell and brings the two cells together. 3- The mobile plasmid is nicked
and a single strand of DNA is then transferred to the recipient cell – F-factor. 4- Once the F-factor is expressed in the recipient
genome, the bacterium expresses resistance to more than one factor.
Summary of previous knowledge
The first four questions encourage the student to reflect on personal experiences and ideas to answer the questions. A general
discussion about the kinds of information being shared between people fosters critical thinking about the information being
exchanged today and how they are exchanged. This ties in with how different types of information use different exchange methods.
For example: pictures, music and emails use an electronic route while genetics, disease and germs are exchanged by physical touch.
Supporting documents
1. Bump app video
Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwIJbrmNAAc&feature=player_embedded
2. Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
Activity 5 – Developing Questions to Teach a Mini Lesson
Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
Joanne Wong
3. Biointeractive : The Bacterial Conjugation Animation
Click: http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/animations/conjugation/conj_frames.htm
Activity 5 – Developing Questions to Teach a Mini Lesson
Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
Joanne Wong
Reflection
I felt very confident in this assignment because I found a very good analogy that is relatable to current students. I noticed that my student
appreciated the personal link between bacterial conjugation and the ‘bump app’ because it helped her to understand the main concepts better.
It was a challenge to try and design questions that didn’t focus on the ‘bump’ app. Therefore, I had to incorporate some close-ended questions
to ensure the students recognized the key components of bacterial conjugation. For example, I asked specific questions that had the students
simply identify terms in the video. The video had to be replayed, as the student didn’t pay close attention to the video the first time. This taught
me that you need to ensure your students pay attention to detail or they will miss certain information. In my future classroom, I would still
incorporate media into my lesson plan as long as I remember to ensure the students know what is going on and provide more time for
answering questions.
The flow of the lesson went fairly well, but it was difficult when the student did not interpret my question the way I intended it to be. Since this
was a pure questioning lesson, it was a challenge to try and explain what I meant to ask without explicitly explaining what I meant. For example,
the student would ask to clarify what the question meant and I could not tell her what the question was asking. I had to either re-phrase the
question or ask a new question that prompted additional thinking. It made me realize that having several questions to deal with a variety of
responses is essential to help the lesson flow. Also, I should be prepared as best as possible because being caught off guard with an intuitive
question would reflect poorly on me.
Overall, I felt the sequence of my questions helped my student understand the main concepts. I was able to trigger prior knowledge and have
the students apply the new material to a concept that is current with today’s culture. Having the student apply the material to something
meaningful definitely helps with the learning process. The one thing I would like to improve on is trying to teach the whole mechanism. I know
that my lesson did not go into detail and I’m afraid that if this was a real life scenario, my student would know nothing about bacterial
conjugation except for that it relates to the ‘bump’ app.
Activity 5 – Developing Questions to Teach a Mini Lesson
Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
#
1
Cognitive
level (C/O)
O
2
C
3
C
4
O
Question
What kinds of information
can people transfer or
share with one another?
Joanne Wong
Expected Answer
-phone #s
-emails
-assignments
-pictures
-addresses
-music
-personal info
Show ‘BUMP’ app video
What did the video
-phone #s
suggest that could be
-facebook requests
shared between people?
-contact info
-pictures
-calendar
-invitations
How did the people in the -Bump application on
video share that
each person’s phone
information with each
-bump the two phones
other?
together to establish a
connection to share
information
Thinking outside of
-genes
technology, what sorts of -traits
other information can
-STIs
people share between
-lice
each other?
-disease
-ideas
-letters
-personal info
(clothes, books,
money)
Actual Answer
-phone numbers
-contact info
-emails
-texts
-
-phone numbers
-date invitations
-pictures
-contact info
-facebook
-they bumped their phones
together
-birthdays
-personal info
-letters
-chromosomes
-genes
-germs
Activity 5 – Developing Questions to Teach a Mini Lesson
Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
4
O
5
O
6
C
7
C
8
C
9
C
10 O
How may the items you
listed be exchanged
between people?
Joanne Wong
-physical contact
-talking
-sexual activity
-mail
-test tube baby
-sexual intercourse
-science
-touching
-mail
-presents
Show Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
Looking at the picture of
-cellular
-proteins
bacterial conjugation,
-genetic material
-genes
predict which type of
-proteins
information bacteria
-non technological
would exchange with
information
each other.
(biological)
How could the method of -need to be in contact -need to bump each other to
‘bump’ be applied to
to exchange
transfer material
bacterial conjugation?
information
Show Bacterial Conjugation Animation
Which labeled part of the Pilus
-F-factor
bacteria allowed the
(after re-watching the video)
bacteria to ‘bump’ or
-Pilus
come into contact with
the other?
In the bacteria video,
F-Factor
-F-factor
what was actually
transferred between the
bacteria via the pilus?
What does the F-factor
Resistance
-Resistance to Y and X
provide for the receiving
bacteria?
What are some reasons
-benefits
-resistance
bacteria would want to
-resistance to
-make more
exchange the F-factor?
antibiotics
Activity 5 – Developing Questions to Teach a Mini Lesson
Figure 2: Bacterial Conjugation
11 O
In your own words, with
all the ideas we just
discussed, explain the
process of bacterial
conjugation.
12 O
If you were trying to
describe bacterial
conjugation to a friend
who did not know what
‘bump’ was. What
analogy would you use to
help explain bacteria
conjugation?
-increases survival
-bacteria needs to
exchange genetic
material
-pilus connects the
two allowing the Ffactor to be
transferred
-the recipient now has
the new resistant gene
-able to transfer to
others
-Cargo ship transfer
-need to be connect
via a bridge, etc to
transport cargo from
one ship to the next
-Any analogy that
encompasses the idea
of sharing information
so both donor &
recipient have the
same info
Joanne Wong
-one bacteria uses a pilus to
connect with the other
bacteria to pass on the Ffactor
-the second bacteria now has
resistance to help itself
-Usb into a computer
-you connect the usb into the
computer and drag the file
you want to transfer
-both have a copy of the file