One of the fundamental ways that humans and other animals learn is by making connections.
New knowledge is connected with prior knowledge (and experiences) to make sense of the world. As teachers, we need to help students connect concepts we want them to learn with knowledge they have from previous educational and world experience.
Reading, video, labs, lectures and other forms of teaching expose students to new concepts.
Encourage students to make connections by posing questions during your introduction of new material, during class/group discussions and with written assignments. Doing so actively and purposefully will help them acquire a deeper understanding.
These connections can be:
Within the core concepts of a subject area
Between subject areas
With things that happen in the world
Personal experiences
What does that look like in a biology classroom?
Examples of the types of questions that could be used are shown below.
What are cells? How are prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells similar? How are they different? Are viruses cells? Why or why not?
How is competition important in natural selection? How is competition important in ecology?
What have you learned about the process of science (aka Scientific Method)? Apply this process to an “everyday” life problem. (e.g. Which nail polish lasts the longest?)
How are cancer and the cell cycle related?
How did the immunology unit remind you of the COVID pandemic?
These questions can be integrated into class discussions and into powerful written lessons.
These lessons could be used to give students the opportunity to see the “big picture” after a series of interrelated units. They could also be used as a review for the end of the year exams.
An example of a connections lesson, that I have on TPT consists of a PowerPoint presentation and a lesson on making connections in cell biology, molecular genetics, genetics and evolution. Both are called Journey of a Gene. They may be used separately or together. The PowerPoint is lecture oriented and lesson is student application. This lesson makes connections within the biology curriculum across different units. Check them out in my TPT store by clicking below.
Use this powerful learning strategy whenever you can. Here is a useful link to learn more about making connections from Let’s Talk Science: https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/learning-strategies/making-connections
Thanks for reading and happy teaching!
-Jane
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