TEACHING RESOURCES TEST INFORMATION
NAME AND SURNAME
Nadia Zamboni
AFFILIATION
Comprehensive Institute Cogoleto
ROLE IN THE PROJECT
teacher involved
TITLE OF TEACHING RESOURCE
Biochemistry Unit
Topics related to the resource
Basic organic chemistry contents, with special reference to nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats
Examples of learning objectives
- Recognize the main nutrients found in certain food categories
- Consolidating the understanding of the chemical structure of organic compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats;
- Understand the meaning of monomer and polymer
- Understand the importance of digestive processes in the decomposition of the polymers into monomers, with particular reference to carbohydrates
Practical information regarding the use
of the site/simulation...
- The resource can be used only in part at a lower secondary school, because of the increasing complexity of the contents offered in the various sections.
- The resource is available in English only, so allowing to approach the task with CLIL methodology, which involves pupils working in an interesting exploration of online materials.
- The resource, despite being a downloadable software, was used online for problems linked to the download.
Information about the class
Comprehensive Institute Cogoleto, lower secondary school, second year (12-13 years), 20 students
Suggestion for use
Before starting the work with the resource, the teacher briefly introduced pupils to nutrients.
The resources used are those of section red, orange and yellow and the modality of use can be summarized as follows:
- Autonomous exploration of the resource, by the student, supported by a questionnaire survey on the interest and interactivity of the same
- Use of simulations accompanied by structured sheets provided by the teacher
- Work of review and summary of the activities with task to be carried out in small groups at school or at home
- Implementation of laboratory activities to reply virtual simulations proposed in the resource (i.e to check the solubility of glucose and starch in water)
- Translation from English to Italian of sections of the resource with particular attention to the specific scientific language.
Insights into student
use / thinking
- The students' responses were very positive both in terms of motivation and interest in the approach to a resource that belongs to a school system different from ours.
- The graphics and interactivity, shared by using the whiteboard, increased the involvement of all pupils, even those weaker.
- The distrust in the use of the resource in a foreign language was overcome by the easiness in translating the scientific terms. In addition, the use of the resource in small groups provided a valuable opportunity for cooperative learning activities.
Teacher’s conclusions
The results obtained in the final evaluation of the learning supported by the resource Biochemistry were definitely positive.
Before using interactive sections, a preliminary survey on students' spontaneous conceptions could be done.
