Amber Hartford

Edsel Ford High School

9th Grade
Biology
Four Corner Compare and Contrast
Requires 55 minutes
1. Learners and Learning Environment
a. Engaging and Supporting Diverse Learners
The majority of this class is male. The ratio is approximately 2:1.
Even though the sex ratio of the class is so skewed both girls and
boys have equal voices in the class, because the majority of
females in the class are opinionated and vocal.
I have students from many different cultures and races in this
classroom. This class is predominantly Middle Eastern, with a few
African American students, one Asian student, and a few Caucasian
students. One student in particular is very unique, she is a
Caucasian girl who converted to Islam. This brings its own
challenges, because every other student is adjusting to her
changed religion, and the customs that come with it. While many
students are supportive there are still a few who treat her badly. I
always make sure to have her sitting next to supportive individuals.
These differences in the classroom can either help or hurt the
learning environment, depending on how I lead the class. Generally
speaking it is easy to get the students to work together and build
on each others knowledge by making sure all students understand
that my classroom is a safe place where everyone has equal right to
talk, and is given equal respect.
The levels of participation and achievement in this class are varied.
There are many students who go above and beyond what is asked
of them, some that meet expectations, and unfortunately a good
number that do not meet expectations. With this achievement gap
it is easy for the lower achieving students to rely on the higher
achieving. To combat this having a strategic seating chart is key. I
try to pair both high achieving and low achieving students with
those in the middle of the spectrum. That way all students have to
actively participate to get work completed.
There is a group of boys (very high achieving) that talk frequently
throughout the class. While they have been placed on opposite
sides of the classroom from each other they still manage to get
each others attention. I cant blame the students, because they
already know most of the material. I use these students to help
improve the class by giving them roles in the classroom, as helpers
and motivators. In this way their chatty behavior is actually helpful
to others, instead of distracting.
Two students in this class have an especially hard time staying
focused and motivated. Both get easily frustrated, and each feel
that the class is pointless. Each of these students require extra
 attention, but in different ways. One student is female, and she
usually responds well to humor and flattery. Once I get her on my
side it is much easier to get her to stay on task. The other student
is male, and harder to engage. I have to bring what we are learning
into the real world as much as possible to have him realize that the
material does matter and relate to his life.
Overall the students in this class complement each other, and get
along. The general comradery leads to a peaceful (sometimes
chatty) classroom. The biggest challenge is distributing the work
evenly, so the high achievers arent carrying the entire class.
b. Materials and Digital Tools Needed
Projector and white board already found in the classroom.
White boards for each group, located on each lab table.
Dry erase markers (one per group) found at the front of the
classroom.
Posters labeled Mitosis, Meiosis, Both, and Neither. These posters
will be hanging up in the classroom before students arrive.
Pieces of paper with facts to be matched to different corners. These
will be provided by me during the lesson, and a copy is also saved
on my computer.
Biology textbooks found on either side of the classroom.
One large piece of paper for students to complete a concept map.
This will be found at the back of the classroom.
Highlighters and crayons for completing the concept map. These
supplies will be set next to the large piece of paper in the back of
the classroom.
2. Outcomes and Assessment
a. State Standards and Outcomes:
B4.3A- Compare and contrast the processes of cell division (mitosis
and meiosis), especially as they relate to the production of new
cells and passing genetic information. Outcome: Students will
group individual facts of cell division based on which processes they
apply to.
B4.3B- Explain why only mutations occurring in gametes can be
passed to offspring. Outcome: Students will write statements of
inheritance based on a provided karyotype.
B4.3E- Explain crossing over, jumping genes, and deletion of DNA
causes genetic variation. Outcome: Students will draw, or describe
in words, a crossing over event and label the phase of meiosis it
occurs in.
Many students in this class have already mastered this material,
since it has been seen before. Their outcomes include connecting
what they are learning to the real world. The outcomes are as
follows:
o B4.3A- Students will connect facts about mitosis and meiosis,
and will use these facts to build their knowledge of how
organisms grow and reproduce.
 o B4.3B- Students will describe the results of an abnormal
karyotype, and explain what would happen to an individual
with the expressed errors.
o B4.3E- Students will connect crossing over to genetic
variance and explain how that shapes the organisms around
us.
b. Assessment and Evaluation:
Assessments:
Assessment of student understanding of the processes of cell
division and how they relate will be completed by completing
a four corner compare and contrast game. I will be able to
see which students can accurately identify what a fact
pertains to, and which cannot.
Assessment of student understanding of the inheritance
patterns of mutations will be completed by reading the white
boards of each table during the bell work.
Assessment of student knowledge of the factors that lead to
genetic variation will be completed by examining student exit
tickets. Each student will be asked questions about the
drawing or written description they complete.
One student, Noah, has trouble working with a group to
complete tasks on a whiteboard. Assessment of his
understanding will come from an oral description, because
this is his strong suit.
Evaluation:
Evaluation of the bell work will be completed informally by
reviewing students white boards, and having them read their
answers to the class. The answer sheet to the bell work is
provided with the questions in the introduction portion of this
lesson plan.
Evaluations of the students ability to compare and contrast
mitosis and meiosis will be completed during the four corners
activity. The answer sheet for this activity is listed below in
the Appendix.
Evaluation of the exit ticket will be completed by discussing
the answers the students provide on their white boards.
Students will be asked the following questions:
What is crossing over?
Why did you decide to portray it like this on your white
board?
What does crossing over achieve for the gametes
produced?
Why is crossing over important to a species?
3. Instructional Practice
a. Introduction: Students will complete bell work that has been displayed
on the white board at the front of the classroom. The questions and
answers for the bell work are listed in the appendix as Appendix B, but
 generally speaking the bell work will be testing students knowledge about
the names of different errors in cell division, and how they happen.
Students will be given ten to fifteen minutes to discuss and write
their answers on the white boards found on their tables.
Once students have completed writing their answers, I will ask two
students to give me one each of the errors found in the karyotype. I
will also ask them what the errors are called.
I will go through and have every table answer the next question, to
evaluate their understanding of how errors occur in cell division.
b. Instructional Procedure:
Students will watch a five minute video to refresh their knowledge
of mitosis and meiosis. (The video URL is
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/cellular-molecular-
biology/meiosis/v/comparing-mitosis-and-meiosis )
Once the video is complete each student will pick a random fact to
complete the four corner activity. The students will not be able to
see what fact they receive. Any remaining facts will be kept by me
until every student presents their information, then students will
organize the remaining information as a whole.
The students will be allowed to take time to read their fact, and
recall their prior knowledge. At this points students will not be able
to use books.
Students will be instructed to silently go to whatever corner they
think their fact belongs in. The corners will already be labeled with
posters for mitosis, meiosis, both, and neither.
Once students are at their corners they will have five to ten minutes
to discuss their facts. If other students at the corner feel one of the
facts do not belong there they can instruct the incorrect students
and direct them where to go.
After the groups have time to discuss each student will read their
fact.
The class will evaluate the correctness of the placement and if they
are satisfied one student from that corner will write the fact on the
large piece of paper at the back of the classroom. This piece of
paper will have a compare and contrast concept map for students
to complete.
When the activity is over the class compare and contrast concept
map will be completed and displayed for the students. Volunteers
will be able to decorate the map if they want.
c. Technology as a Tool for Effective Teaching and Learning
I will be using a video from the Khan Academy as a small refresher
at the beginning of class. I enjoy these videos because it illustrates
what the students need to know through explanation and visual
aids that I cannot provide.
 The whiteboard at the front of the class is critical for an effective
classroom because I can use it to display the bell work, instructions
for the activity, and the exit ticket.
Personal white boards are always a part of my lesson as well,
because students prefer to write on them instead of paper. Even
though they are doing the same work they do a better job and are
more involved when it is on a white board.
d. Closure
As a closure students will be required to complete and exit ticket
and show it to myself or my mentor teacher before they will be
allowed to leave. The exact exit ticket questions and answers can
be found below in the appendix. (Appendix C).
The students will be back at their table working with their group to
either draw or write a description of crossing over.
When the students indicate they are done I will evaluate their work.
If they have completed the work, and can answer my analysis
questions, they will have a green zone in the class to relax before
their next class. The analysis questions I will ask include:
o Why do you think crossing over happens in this phase?
o What would happen if there was no crossing over?
o Why is there no crossing over during mitosis?
4. References and Resources
Macpherson, Michael. Mitosis and Meiosis Compare and Contrast.
High School Content Expectations. State of Michigan,
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Essential_Science_204486_
7.pdf.
Otto, J. H., Towle, A., & Bradley, J. V. (2009). Modern biology. Toronto:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Khan Academy. Comparing Mitosis and Meiosis.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/cellular-molecular-
biology/meiosis/v/comparing-mitosis-and-meiosis
Via Pinterest.com: Teachingmadepractical.com, no author. Using Four
Corners to Compare and Contrast.
5. Professional Responsibility: Teacher Reflection
I enjoyed myself in this lesson, and feel it helped my students engage
in the class more than a traditional lesson would. The bell work went
extremely well, I think having an actual picture of the karyotype helped
students a lot. The students spotted the errors very quickly, but did have
some trouble with the analysis afterwards. Working with a group they did
start to understand that to get mutations like the ones in the karyotype the
parental gametes would have needed to have a nondisjunction. This bell work
was specifically assessing student knowledge of the standard B4.3B. Based
on student work on white boards alone this standard was not met, but with
additional student discussion I felt that all students were able to understand
the concept.
The four corners activity had pros and cons, like all lessons. One pro I
took from the activity was that all students were willing to talk and help each
 other. When discussing facts students could make their own connection and
decisions about the material, and where in the classroom they should have
been. With the addition of the group work students could get instant
feedback on their decisions before I even got to them. One problem that did
arise during this activity was that the higher achieving students took over,
and just told the other students where they should go. While the students still
got the material, a lot of them didnt understand why they were moving. In
the future I would have the students who needed to move explain to the class
why they moved.
Based on the outcome of the activity I do not believe students met the
standard B4.3A. After students chose their positions in the classroom and
spoke as a group they came back together to read their facts as a class. A
large portion of the students were in the wrong spots, and no one in the
entire group realized that. Even when discussing with the whole class the
students had a hard time with all of the information. Based on this outcome
students will be given another review day before the test, so we will be able
to look at each step of mitosis and meiosis again to allow them to have a
better understanding. I feel the extra day before the test will bring students
up to speed, because the students were mostly on the cusp of understanding.
The exit ticket completed by the students went well. Most students
could draw a picture of crossing over, but many did not know when this even
happened. This evidence correlated with what was seen in the four corners
activity, each student was on the edge of understanding. These results just
confirmed the fact that the students needed more time to review the
material.
I do plan to use this lesson in the future. I think that it got students
physically engaged in the material, and encouraged collaboration. It was easy
for me to see in real time what students were having trouble with, and I was
able to discuss the problems with the whole class to resolve any
misconceptions. Having a lesson that engaged students while allowing me to
discuss answers with the whole class is extremely helpful for both me and the
students and will be used in the future.

Appendix

Appendix A: Four Corners Answer Sheet

Facts of Mitosis Only
1. Produces exact copies of parent cells.
2. The end result is two cells.
3. Produces diploid cells.
4. Undergoes one episode of cytokinesis.
5. Used to produce body cells that can build new tissue, or repair any damaged
tissues.
6. Undergoes one round of prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
7. Chromosomes line up in a straight line near the equator of the cell during
metaphase.
8. Errors in division cannot be passed to offspring of the organism.

Facts of Meiosis Only

1. Produces gametes.
2. The cells produced are genetically different than the parent cells.
3. The end result is four cells.
4. Produces haploid cells.
5. Undergoes two separate episodes of cytokinesis.
6. Used for reproduction only.
7. Undergoes two rounds of prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
8. Homologous chromosomes pair together.
9. Crossing over occurs.
10. Errors in division can be passed to offspring of the organism.

Facts of Both Mitosis and Meiosis

1. Undergoes interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and
cytokinesis.
2. Is a form of cell division.
3. Uses division to multiply.
4. Requires and interphase beforehand to grow the cell that will divide.
5. Splits duplicated DNA evenly.
6. Used in both plants and animals.
7. Nondisjunction can occur.

Facts Not Correct for Either Mitosis or Meiosis

1. Does not require an interphase to be completed.
2. Continuously occurs in a cell.
3. Randomly splits DNA into cells, not monitoring amount of genetic material
each new cell receives.
4. Makes three daughter cells.
5. Requires two interphase stages.

Appendix B: Bell Work Questions and Answers

1. There are two errors in this karyotype. What are they? What type of errors are
they? (Monosomy, trisomy?)
The two errors in this karyotype are a monosomy of the seventh
chromosome, and a monosomy of the sex chromosomes.
2. How could this person get the errors in this karyotype?
The person with this karyotype would have been produced by two gametes
that had two nondisjunction events. The events could have both been in one
gamete, or could have been in each.

Appendix C: Exit Ticket and Answers

Please work with your group to draw or write a description of a crossing over event.
Before you leave make sure either Ms. Hartford or Mr. Macpherson see your work.
Be sure to indicate what stage of meiosis this occurs in, and if any chromosomes or
homologous pairs are involved.

Possible Answer: Crossing over is an event that occurs in Prophase I of

meiosis. During this event two homologous chromosomes exchange (or
share) their genetic information to new unique chromosomes.
Possible Answer: (Drawing)