Many years ago, we noticed that our students performed low on the standard which asks students to compare and contrast the characteristics of viruses and organisms. Therefore, we analyzed our data and determined that our students understood that viruses weren’t classified as living things, but they didn’t understand why. We rethought our way of teaching this learning target, and now students get it! So, when your students ask, “Are viruses nonliving or living?” follow these steps and the 5E model to teach them the answer to that question.
Engage with the Characteristics of Living Things
First, let students explore something living (like the class pet) and nonliving (like a rock). Or do a card sort of living and nonliving things. After observing or sorting, ask students to derive characteristics of living things based on their observations. Allow student groups share their characteristics and develop the list of characteristics of living things as a class or small groups.
Explore with an Article
Next, have students explore the question "Are viruses non living or living?" with an article that answers the question by discussing the characteristics of viruses and living things. Your students read the article and complete a task to obtain information about the characteristics of living things. For the task, they can answer questions to gather the information or highlight answers in the article. Bottom line, your students uncover the answer to the question rather than you, as the science teacher, telling them the information about the characteristics of viruses and living things.
Explain with the Student Work
After completing the task while reading the article, your students will have a handout with questions and answers and/or an article with highlights of important information about viruses and organisms. Next, you simply make sure they gathered the correct information. In other words, you "explain" the concept by discussing the answers to the questions. If your students keep a notebook, they can use the questions and/or the highlighted article as their notes page about the viruses learning target.
Elaborate with Practice
At this point, your students should know the answer to the questions "Are viruses non living or living?" and why. Next, practice with the information to master it. They can share their thoughts on a platform such as Edpuzzle or Parlay. They could also do a research assignment and create a presentation on a viral outbreak such as Ebola or Covid-19. Differentiate this assignment by allowing students to choose their virus and type of presentation such as a slideshow, brochure, poster, or essay. Once you feel that students have a basic understanding of the concept, formatively assess their knowledge with the Virus Cloze Worksheet. You can check their work or have them self-assess or peer review with the answer key.
Evaluate Student Understanding of Are Viruses Non Living or Living with Argumentative Writing
Finally, allow your students to share their understanding with a Viruses Argumentative Writing assignment. You can make the assignment a sustained silent writing activity where students write for a given amount of time without picking up their pencil. Or, use the assignment as a ticket out the door. Add rigor to the activity by allowing students time to write then peer review. After their peers review their work, give them time to edit. A sample response is provided in the Viruses Argumentative Writing assignment but, of course, answers will vary.
How do you teach the answer to the question "are viruses non-living or living?"?
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