Chapter Structure

The LSET curriculum is divided into Chapters that focus on a specific topic in life science. Each Chapter is organized into “Activities.” Each Activity will take approximately 2-hours to complete. You will notice that each Activity has a similar structure, consisting of several sections with slightly different aims.

Purpose: This short introduction describes the aims of the activity and how it ties in to the topic we are studying. It also poses the key question(s) for the activity.

Initial Ideas: These questions give students a chance to express their initial ideas on the topic of the activity, before doing any experiments. These initial ideas are important, as they will form the basis on which students build further understanding.

Collecting and Interpreting Evidence: Here’s where students do experiments and record predictions, observations and data that provide the evidence to support or refute their developing ideas.

Summarizing Questions: Working together in small groups and as a class, students will summarize what was learned in the activity by answering a few questions.

Homework: Most activities have a homework portion that students complete at outside of class.

Learning about Learning:  In this section students directly engage in metacognitive activities that allow them to explore how they as students learn science.
 
The lab book serves as their textbook.  Throughout the lab book, students will be recording their initial ideas, recording observations and data, writing answers to summarizing questions, and noting ideas of their classmates that may be different than their own.