Networks in Biology
CELL PHONE ACTIVITY, PART 1
ADVANCEPREPARATION
What you should have ready to go for lesson 1:
- Power point on networks and cell phone activity. If you do not have access to a projector, make overheads of the power point slides in advance.
- Clearly identify 7 numbered stations (1-7, make signs) so that students know where to go meet their numbered groups.
- Clearly identify 5 lettered stations (a-e) so students will know where to go to meet their lettered groups.
- Photocopy and cut out cell phone info cards.
- Each student gets one card; you will need one set of 35 cards for each class. If you do not have 35 students in your class, please see methods note below.
- Note: you do not need to complete this step if you have reusable, laminated versions of these cards that are provided in the kit.
- Cut poster-size pieces of butcher paper, and place one piece at each numbered station
- Place pens at each numbered station (thick pens and/or colored pencils are recommended, so the poster will be easier to read.)
- Make 7 copies of “information sheet for A” and 7 copies of “information sheet for B”. You may need these if you have less than 35 students in your class (see methods note below). Suggestion: make copies of these on brightly colored paper, and re-use them for all of your classes
- Make copies of “information collection sheets”. Place 7 of these at each of the lettered stations. This is a template for the students so that they know what information they should be collecting from group members.
- Photocopy student instruction sheet and questions sheet. Be prepared to hand these out to students.
METHODSNOTES
Cell Phone Cards: There are 35 cards in a class set. All the information is needed for this activity. If you have more than 35 students, two students will have to share an information card. If you have less than 35 students, deal with the extra cards as follows:
- 34 students – don’t hand out 7A
- 33 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A
- 32 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A
- 31 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A
- 30 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A
- 29 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A
- 28 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A
- THEN, after the jigsaw portion of the lesson, make sure every group (1-7) has “information sheet for A” (see teacher resources), or make this into an overhead.
- 27 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 7B
- 26 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 7B, 6B
- 25 students – don’t hand out 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 7B, 6B, 5B
- etc… until minimum class size of 14 students
- A class of 14 students will only have cards with D and E (the A, B, and C sets will not be handed out).
- Some teachers have gotten very creative with less than 14 students by having students each have a “home” and “work” phone.
- THEN, after the jigsaw portion of the lesson, make sure every group (1-7) has “information sheet for A” and “information sheet for B” and “information sheet for C” (see teacher resources), or make these into overheads.
Homework Idea: A suggested homework assignment for the end of this lesson is to have each person create a challenge question involving the network they have created in class. Encourage them to use the extra information about roaming, picture phone, carriers, etc… Encourage the students to make these questions tricky! The goal is to come up with questions that would be difficult to answer on paper, but fairly simple to answer using the Cytoscape program. The following day, students will hand in their questions, and you can shuffle them up and pass them out to other groups and have them answer the question using Cytoscape.
Institute for Systems Biology & Bellevue School District