Substitute Lesson Plan: Life Science Workbook — Chapter 1, "Studying Life"

Objective

Students will use the Life Science Workbook to review the foundational topics of life science study: scientific thinking, what life science is, the scientific method, using microscopes, and lab safety. By the end of class, students will have worked through key worksheet sections in Chapter 1 ("MS Studying Life Worksheets") and be able to identify the main topic of each section.

Materials

• Copies of the Life Science Workbook (Chapter 1: MS Studying Life Worksheets, pages 1–19), one per student
• Pencils
• Notebook paper or an exit ticket handout (can be plain paper)

Warm-up (~5 min)

• Have students take out their copy of the Life Science Workbook and turn to the Table of Contents.
• Ask students to locate Chapter 1: "MS Studying Life Worksheets" and read aloud the five section titles listed:
• Scientific Ways of Thinking
• What is Life Science?
• The Scientific Method
• The Microscope
• Safety in Life Science Research
• Ask students to predict, in one sentence each, what they think one of these sections might cover, based only on its title.

Main Activity (~25 min)

• Direct students to turn to Section 1.1, "Scientific Ways of Thinking" (page 2), and complete the worksheet independently or in pairs.
• When finished, have students move to Section 1.2, "What is Life Science?" (page 5), and complete that worksheet.
• Continue in order through:
• Section 1.3, "The Scientific Method" (page 8)
• Section 1.4, "The Microscope" (page 11)
• Section 1.5, "Safety in Life Science Research" (page 14)
• Students should work at their own pace, completing as many sections as possible in the time given. If students finish early, they may check their own answers using the Answer Keys located in Chapter 26 at the back of the workbook.
• Circulate the room (or have a student helper circulate) to make sure everyone is on task and moving through the sections in order.

Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

• Have students stop working and take out a blank sheet of paper.
• Ask students to write down the titles of the sections they completed today from Chapter 1.
• Exit ticket prompt: "List the five section titles from Chapter 1 of the Life Science Workbook, in order, and put a checkmark next to each one you completed today."
• Collect the exit tickets as students leave or place them in a designated bin.

If Time Remains

• Have students turn to Chapter 26, "Middle School Life Science Workbook Answer Keys," and check their own work on any completed sections from today, marking corrections in a different color pencil or pen.