Erica Tillotson - Elementary Science Methods Blog

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about natural selection and predators and prey. Natural selection is a process in which individuals with certain inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce offspring. It is the only thing that leads to consistent adaptations.  2.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I had already known about the predator and prey relationship from previous classes. I remember learning about this in middle and high school. I had already knew that predator eats prey. I had known a little about natural selection but did not know it was the only mechanism that leads to adaptation consistently.  3.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I really liked the bean activity we did in class, and would like to use this activity in my future classroom. I think students would find this activity fun and engaging. I liked that it was a hands on way to learn about thi...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about mutations, genotypes, and phenotypes. The genotype of someone is directly inherited from someones parents. The phenotype are traits coming from the expression of genes. Phenotype can also be decided from environmental factors. With mutations, most of them are neutral. All though there can be positive and negative mutations as well.  2.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I already had previous knowledge about genotypes, phenotypes, and mutations from when I had learned about them in high school. However, I had not remembered most of the specifics about them. I had remembered that phenotype was physical, but had forgot that it can also be decided from environmental factors. 3.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I liked the activity we did with mutations and super heros. I think that this activity made it easier for me to understand about i...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about DNA structure and how traits are determined. I learned about how carries genetic information. I also learned that we have 23 pairs of chromosomes, meaning there are 46 chromosomes all together. The DNA is a code for the genetics that we inherit and receive and it is a double helix structure, which I learned from the candy model that we built in class using twizzlers and dots. I also learned about inheriting traits with the baby activity because we inherit one from each parent but there is a dominant and recessive gene for each trait.  2.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I was able to relate what I have learned to what I already know, because I remember learning about genes in middle and high school. I specifically remember doing a lot of punitive squares in high school when learning about DNA structure, traits, genes and alleles. I also remember learning about dominant and recessi...