Today I had Year 10 in Period 6. I will admit that I have been feeling pretty average lately and had ordered the equipment required for the DNA extraction investigation, but that was about it... so bring in the driving question - 'Can we extract DNA from kiwi fruit using everyday items?'... I simply wrote that on the board, left the equipment at the front of the room and off they went.

The amazing thing was - this was the first time that I had 100% success rate in all groups extracting decent amounts of DNA!!!! Each group found their own method online and carried it out on their own. There were lots of questions asked about why we used certain items and how it all worked, but it was so good to see the WHOLE class engaged in the last period of the day. 

It's really amazing how something like this can turn your pretty average mood around so quickly :) 

Here are some photos from today's lesson.

We are currently looking at Genetics & Evolution with Year 10. This week we have been looking at the process of meiosis and yesterday we explored what happens when it all goes wrong. The students had lots of questions to ask about the process of creating sex cells as well as what happens during fertilisation (not just the sex bit - actually none of that! That's one thing I've noticed between girls schools and co-ed schools... definitely not as open with the questions in that domain with the other gender in the room!!).

Today we created karyotypes using gummy worms to explore how geneticists work to try to determine genetic disorders in individuals. Each group was given a ziplock back that contained a range of 'gummy worm chromosome pairs' that represented the autosomes and a selection of gummy bears that represented the sex chromosomes. They then had to pair them up, arrange them in order of descending size, work out how many pairs of chromosomes the individual has and determine whether they were a normal male/female or if they had a genetic disorder relating to their sex chromosomes. 

All they wanted to do was eat the lollies... so once they had followed all of they were asked to go to the link on their instructions to an interactive karyotyping activity that was basically the same activity, but using technology! 

Overall, the students had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the lesson. If I was to do it again I would try to make each group different in terms of some having an autosomal disorder and others having a disorder linked to the sex chromosomes. 

You can find a link to the 'Gummy Worm Karyotypes' instructions by clicking on the link :) 

Welcome to Term 2! We are only 4 days in and it feels like we the holidays were months ago... but that's the joy of teaching isn't it? When you're on, you're on... 

This week I have started new topics with all of my stage 4 and 5 classes. Year 7 have just started 'Cells & Classification', Year 8 'Elements & Compounds', Year 9 'Being Connected' and in Year 10 we are doing 'Genes & Evolution'. In order to try to boost engagement and interest in these topics, this week I have introduced a few new ideas in order to try to 'catch' them.

With my Year 8s, we started off the topic by looking at the structure of the atom and the history behind our current understanding of the different parts and where they are located. In order to try to make this history part a little bit more exciting, I created an Instagram template using Google Drawings that the students then used to create a post as if they were one of the scientists involved in the development of the atomic structure. They had to find an image that was appropriate as well as write a caption and add some clever hashtags. They submitted them today and the results were great!! 

​Here are a few examples of them... 

Here is the link to the Google Drawing template if you would like to use it with your classes: Instagram template

I am really keen to give some PBL a try this year, so I decided to try to it out with my Year 10s this term. They are a pretty good class with some very strong students but the best part is that a good chunk of them have a real interest in Science. This is also the first time I've taught boys in a while, so I wanted something that was going to appeal to them as some of them aren't as 'into it' as the girls. So... enter our superheroes project.  

Here is the project introduction that I created for them...

To say that they were excited was an understatement... even the girls were excited about creating their superhero. They spent their first lesson researching a male and female superhero to find out a range of different traits. As we move through the unit they will use the traits of their original superheroes to carry out Punnett squares to see what traits their offspring will have. They will then create a model of their superhero's DNA and mutate it to represent the factor that causes most superhero's super powers! At the end of the project they will present their superhero in anyway that they wish - some ideas I have floated with them include a 'toy box', a set of trading cards or a trailer for a movie that their superhero may star in. 

I'm really excited to see how this project unfolds and will definitely be sharing more about it as we progress.

I'm still working on jazzing up 7 and 9 as we need to meet some outcomes that are on the next assessment task fairly quickly, but I have a few ideas that I'd like to try - I just need to tweak them a little. 

Lastly... Year 11... they completed their first formal assessment task in the last week of Term 1, so our first lesson this term involved us going through it. I also asked them to complete a reflection on their preparation, how they feel about their performance and what we could do in the future to improve. Most students took the reflection seriously, however, not all of them which was a bit disappointing. Since that lesson though, I have seen a huge increase in their involvement in class discussions and the effort they are putting in to their work. It is early days, but hopefully it continues!!

It was also nice to read an answer to the question 'How can I help prepare you for the next assessment task' from one student that said 'The way you prepared us for the task was great. I just didn't use it to my advantage and realise this now.' It's always nice to see that the students value the work that you put in and can see that it's a two-way street!

The biggest thing that we noticed about the task was that the students are struggling with meeting the Board of Studies verbs. In order to try to combat this I have created some memes that I'll be printing and displaying in our room to try to get them thinking about them differently. I love creating memes and it really can sometimes be difficult to get the wording right to make sure that the meme you create still follows the same line as the many millions of other memes that are similar online!

So here they are... I used www.memegenerator.net to create these and it is SUPER easy!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this term goes :) and I will definitely be updating and sharing the process via this blog! 

Last week I had a look through my Professional Development log for 2014. After calculating the hours I have spent on a range of professional development experiences this year, I was surprised to see I have completed more hours of PD in just the 2 and a bit terms of this year than I have in years gone by (the number of hours is over 120 for those who are interested). The reason why I was surprised was that I have just moved into my 10th year of teaching, a time when people might usually think that they don't need anymore PD, that they know everything that they need to know and they just keep going on the way they've been going on.

The thing I love about looking at my PD Log is that the events that I have taken part in are so diverse and innovative. I have been fortunate enough to attend major events like the Google Apps for Education (aka GAFE) Summit and slide2learn as well as ICT workshops, HSC Biology collaboration days and the Sydney CEO eLearning Co-ordinators day. These big events have been amazing, but what I also love about my PD experiences this year is the smaller, slightly less formal forms of PD in the shape of Techie Brekkie, Lunch'n'Learn, TeachMeets, #pdinthepub and Twitter chats.

Earlier this year I presented at the DigTech TeachMeet at the Google Headquarters in Sydney. Afterwards, a group of presenters went out for dinner (a TeachEat) and I was lucky enough to meet an amazing group of primary teachers from the Sydney CEO. As of that night, we have been working together to build one of Australia's biggest educational chats - #aussieED. 

Every Sunday night at 8.30pm AEST, teachers from around Australia and the world come together over Twitter to share their ideas and resources around a common theme. Last night was my first opportunity to moderate a chat and the theme was 'Building Your PLN'. It was great to be able to help people to use Twitter to find like-minded people to connect with and help them 'be more dog'. 

It was at the CEO eLearning Day that George Couros showed us this video that has inspired me to take more risks in my teaching and learning and it was great to be able to share it with the rest of the Twitter-verse. 

So my challenge for you for this week is... how can you be more dog?! :)

- Kelly

Why 'The Independent Variable'? As a Science teacher, one thing we teach our students is that in an experiment, you should always have an independent variable - this is the thing that we change in an experiment. In coming up with a name for my blog, I wanted something that was going to tie in with my love of Science as well as my passion for instigating change within the Science curriculum... and from that the name was born!

We teach our students that there should only be one independent variable in an experiment for it to be a fair test. I believe that if we, as teachers, can try to change one thing about our teaching we are making the move towards overall change and creating a better education system for all.

This blog and the associated 'Resources' page will be a place for me to share the things that I am working towards 'changing' in my teaching. I look forward to having you join me in my journey of change.