JCullen

Jennifer Cullen February 29th, 2008 EDC 448 Annotated Text Set Introduction: This text set is meant to be used in a ninth or tenth grade high school biology class. The class would be just entering a new unit on the topics of Human Evolution and Natural Selection. These texts would be used to build an overview of knowledge for the students on these topics so they can be better equipped for the rest of the unit. The students in this class are of varying abilities, although the majority are without disabilities and are close to or at grade level for reading.

When I actually use these materials in a classroom I would not make every student use every text. The texts I use in front of the whole class, like the picture book, or documentary would be required for each student to use, and I would probably have each student at least look at the Modern Biology textbook, but I would not force the students to read everything. I would use the activities like the Web Quest and the Polar Bear lesson plan, but the other texts would give the students more options. For example if one student doesn’t feel that the textbook was enough, I would encourage them to look to the other books I have found, and to explore some of the websites. I would make each student responsible for using at least two texts that I don’t use as part of my lesson, that way each student is adequately prepared for what texts we do use in class. That also gives students to choose the texts that appeal to their reading level and interests.
 * **Print Resources:**
 * **Text 1**: Modern Biology
 * i. Citation: Towle,Albert. __Modern Biology__. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1999. 318-330.
 * ii. Text Summary: This text is a well written textbook that is geared towards high school level students. It offers an entire chapter on the subject of human evolution, complete with diagrams and pictures that help to give students visual representations of concepts. There are a few difficult words throughout the chapter, other than vocabulary words, but otherwise the text would be very readable to most levels of readers. The chapter gives light on how fossils and bones are gathered, where humans fit with regards to their ape ancestors, and the process that took place to get from apes to men.
 * iii. Rational: I chose this text because I think that the readability would be very suitable for a ninth or tenth grade level classroom, even with a few struggling readers. I also think that this book is useful because it has visual explanations for several concepts. This book would give students a good understanding of evolution.
 * iv. Use of Text: In the classroom setting I would have students skim over the chapter, noticing headings and noting bold words, and than ask them to read through the chapter. I would ask them to look for connections between modern man and the descriptions of ancient man given by the text.
 * v. Attachment: This is a twelve page excerpt from a 1138 page textbook.
 * Text 2: The Fossil Factory: A Kid’s Guide to Digging Up Dinosaurs, Exploring Evolution, and Finding Fossils.
 * i. Citation: Eldredge, Niles, Gregory & Douglas__. The Fossil Factory: A Kid’s Guide to Digging Up Dinosaurs, Exploring Evolution, and Finding Fossils.__ Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1989. 52-53, 84-87.
 * ii. Text Summary: This is a book that encompasses many topics like evolution, dinosaurs, and paleontology. The excerpt I found appropriate to include in this unit focus on Natural Selection, Fossils, and Man’s journey of evolution. The book is aimed for a young audience, maybe fourth or fifth grade reading level. The pictures in this book provide some visual representations of things like an evolutionary family tree.
 * iii. Rational: I chose this text because of the reading level it appeals to. In conjunction with providing interesting pictures, this book makes a topic like evolution more approachable to the students who are below reading level. It would be able to get across some good information to students who wouldn’t be able to understand the harder textbooks.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would have the students use the selected pages of this text to get an overview of evolution. I would have them write down any words they don’t recognize as well as any questions this general text may cause to arise.
 * v. Attachment: This was taken from a 111 page children’s book
 * **Text 3**: The Great Apes
 * i. Citation: Gray, Robert__. The Great Apes.__ New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1969. 1-29.
 * ii. Text Summary: This text is a very detailed description of the story of evolution. It is very detailed and provides lots of examples to go along with its’ explanations of harder to grasp terms and concepts. There are several pictures, mainly one of the hands of different primates, which show the similarities between man and apes. There are connections made between the behaviors of chimps and apes and those of humans, making evolution appear more feasible.
 * iii. Rational: I chose this text because I found this was an interesting alternative to the textbook. It has some interesting pictures, and the reading level is slightly lower than high school level, which may appeal to struggling readers. This provides students with a very in depth look at evolution and makes good use of vocabulary, while explaining harder words at the same time.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would ask my students to read through this chapter and try to come up with reasons that they think evolution could have happened based on the information given in this text.
 * v. Attachment: This is a chapter in a 144 page chapter book.
 * **Text 4**: Koko’s Story
 * i. Citation: Patterson, Francine__. Koko’s Story__. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1987.
 * ii. Text Summary: This is a picture book about a gorilla’s life. It tells the true story of the things that she is capable of doing, and how she is just like her human companions in many ways. It shows how she is capable of emotions and thoughts like humans. This story shows how much apes and humans are alike, and how easily it can be thought that humans come from the same ancestors as them.
 * iii. Rational: This book would be a great tool in showing students how much they have in common with apes. It would kind of make it hard for them to not see how connected we are and make understanding evolution simpler.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would probably read parts of this book with my class aloud and show the pictures. I would want the students to try to come up with all of the different ways that they can see connections between human and ape behavior and thought.
 * v. Attachment: This is a Picture Book.
 * **Text 5**: The Mother of Man
 * i. Citation: Mother of Man. Retrieved on February 28th, 2008 from the British Broadcasting Corporation Database. Web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/
 * ii. Text Summary: This text is an article about the discovery of the remains of Lucy, an early hominid. The article talks about the skeletal remains of Lucy, and how they suggest she walked upright like a human. This is sort of evidence of a missing link, or at least more proof that there is evolution taking place, and one of the pictures in the article shows how the evolution of the legs has proceeded.
 * iii. Rational: I included this text because I think it is a really good article to spark student interest. It shows a recent discovery, and relates that to why humans today stand upright, which is a bit more interesting than a text book.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would have students read this article maybe in class, or for homework, optionally. I would ask those who do decide to read it to figure out why humans would want to walk upright, and why they think Lucy could.
 * v. Attachment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/mother_of_man1.shtml
 * **Media Resources**:
 * **Text 6**: Becoming Human
 * i. Citation: Johanson, L and Marable, B.( 2006). Becoming Human. Retrieved February 26th 2008, from The Institute of Human Origins. Website: http://www.becominghuman.org/
 * ii. Text Summary: This is a documentary/movie clip that gives a really good, in-depth analysis of evolution. It has interactive parts that you can go off and explore to answer questions maybe the movie didn’t answer. The origins of man are discussed in an interesting slideshow and the areas early hominid fossils were found in are discussed. The evidence of early hominids is shown with fossils, the changing anatomy of man is discussed, and the lineage of man is broken down. It even goes into the culture and inner working of the human, and how we have made our place in the world.
 * iii. Rational: I have included this text because I feel it is a really interesting and accurate account of evolution. The narrator uses terms that students should know from the textbook, and is one of the people who have made discoveries. The quality of the documentary is wonderful, and would hold student attention.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would show this in class, and have students try to make connections to the other texts. I would make sure that this is not the first text students look at because they may need to learn the vocabulary from the other texts.
 * v. Attachment: http://www.becominghuman.org/
 * **Text 7:** Evolving Ideas
 * i. Citation: (2001). For Students:Videos(Evolving Ideas). Retrieved from WGBH Education Foundation and Clear Blue Sky Productions, Inc. Website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/teachstuds/svideos.html
 * ii. Text Summary: This is a collection of videos on the PBS website that are all related to evolution. They each look at different aspects such as the controversy of the topic, Charles Darwin, and the Proof of evolution. The clip “How Does Evolution Really Work?” deals with the concept of natural selection, which has a huge impact, and essentially drives evolution.
 * iii. Rational: I added these clips because I think that they are very useful and do a nice job of concisely exploring the topics I’m discussing. I would have only put up one, but I feel that there are several clips on this site (Videos, 2, 5,4, and 7) that would really be useful in the classroom.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would probably show one or several of these clips in the classroom, and try to get the students to start discussions about the topics brought up in the clips. The students could also watch additional clips on their own and discuss them in groups, or in a log.
 * v. Attachment: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/teachstuds/svideos.html
 * **Online Interactive Resources**
 * **Text 8**: Evolution Web quest
 * i. Citation: Muskopf, Shannan. Evolution Webquest. Retrieved February 27th, 2008, from The Biology Corner. Web Site: http://www.biologycorner.com/quests/evolquest/index.html
 * ii. Text Summary: This web quest is asking students to create a web site about evolution. It provides students with many online resources to websites where they can find specific facts about evolution to put into their web site. It gives students goals to meet and a rubric to follow.
 * iii. Rational: I chose this piece because I think that one of the best ways to learn about a topic is to answer your own questions about it. I feel this quest does that, because it gives the students the freedom to research their own questions about evolution and then find those answers and share them. I also like that it is helping students become better with technology, through creating a web page.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would generally have my students do what the web quest is describing, though I may give them a few base questions that they have to research in addition to their own questions. That will make sure they cover the material that I am intending to teach.
 * v. Attachment: http://www.biologycorner.com/quests/evolquest/index.html
 * **Text 9:** Human Evolution: The fossil Evidence in 3D.
 * i. Citation: Walker, P and Hagen, E. Human Evolution: the fossil evidence in 3D. Retrieved February 28th, 2008, from The Department of Anthropology, University of California. Website: http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/projects/human/#.
 * ii. Text Summary: This is an online interactive tool that lets students get a kind of “hands on” experience with the different crania of hominids throughout their various evolutionary stages. It shows a branch diagram so the path of evolution is easily visible. Students get to change different views of the crania of the different hominids, and they also get to move them in 3D.
 * iii. Rational: I chose to use this text because it shows the gradual change in the human form. The tool is also simple to use which will make working with it easier for the students.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would have students use this tool if they want another visual to follow the track of gradual human evolution. I would ask them to notice the different changes and maybe they could come up with reasons why they think these changes could be occurring.
 * v. Attachment: http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/projects/human/#
 * **Instructional Resources:**
 * **Text 10**: Darwin’s Darling: Celebrating the Evolution of the Polar Bear
 * i. Citation: Anderson, B. and Scurletis, G. (January 27, 2004). Darwins Darling, Celebrating the Evolution of the Polar Bear. New York Times on the Web. Retrieved February 27th 2008 from Teacher Connections database.
 * i i. Text Summary: This text, although not focusing on human evolution, still deals with the process of evolution. It deals with the evolution of the polar bear, and gives several options for activities to do with a class dealing with evolution. This shows the students how to look at evolution more as a process than some event unique to human kind. It also touches on the idea that evolution is controversial, and the students may discover they take one side over the other.
 * iii. Rational: I chose this text because I think that it would be useful to use when trying to explain that humans are not the only creatures going through evolution. It allows students to work together, and also helps students to understand why evolution happens- to make life easier for the species involved.
 * iv. Use of Text: I would use the main activity described in the lesson plan, but I think I would only use some of the many questions discussed and try to replace them with questions that can lead to discussion on how this relates to human evolution.
 * v. Attachment: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20040127tuesday.html
 * Using these Texts together in the classroom**:
 * Using these Texts together in the classroom**:

__Content Area Learning Objective:__ i. Students will demonstrate an understanding of Evolutionary Theory and Natural Selection through identifying patterns in evolutionary evidence (Fossils) to give an explanation for how Natural selection influences species to evolve. __Reading Strategy Objective: __ i.  Students Identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by__: R–10–2.1a__ Using strategies to unlock meaning (e.g., knowledge of word structure including prefixes/suffixes, common roots, or word origins; or context clues; or resources including dictionaries, glossaries, or thesauruses __to determine definition, pronunciation, etymology, or usage of words__; or prior knowledge) (State)
 * Learning Objectives:**

Jen,

Your diverse text set would be great for a lesson focusing on evolution. I like how you included examples of dinosaurs and gorillas with texts that students may find interesting. The text about fossils will definitely gain the interest of your students and will hopefully keep their attention when they are working with the textbook. Students may already have an interest in the topic because it really is studying their own history as humans, but I think incorporating the different types of texts and information about polar bears from Darwin and the story of Koko will bring students further into the topic rather than just making sure that they know basics about evolution. Using different examples of evolution, ex. the polar bear also teaches students that humans were not the only animals to evolve and shows them that the world is always changing and evolving. The multimedia clips that you discussed in your text set also sound interesting and the webquest sounds like a great assignment to incorporate technology into your classroom.

Nicole Pelletier