Review Of Organisms Macro To Micro
This past year, I taught a homeschool science class using the STC/MS curriculum Organisms- from Macro to Micro
. Both the children and I enjoyed the curriculum a great deal and I feel that they learned a considerable amount. While there was room for improvement in the curriculum, it was an overall good experience and I would certainly use it again.
First, some background. Like the other STC/MS curriculums, Organisms- Macro to Micro is intended for use with children in 6th, 7th, or 8th grades. It is a structured, inquiry-based biology program that strongly emphasizes hands-on laboratories. As the title suggests, it introduces students to a wide variety of organisms, including specimens from both the macroscopic and microscopic realms.
There were six students in the class, all girls, in either 6th or 7th grade. As homeschoolers, they had fairly diverse educational backgrounds, but they all come from families that take relatively academics approaches to
homeschooling. That is, all of these children have regular lessons in all of the major subjects (whether they would prefer to or not). Homework and tests were a part of this class, but compared to a class in a top-tier public or private school, I structured the class so that the workload was relatively light.
Perhaps the primary theme of this unit is that life is astoundingly diverse. As someone who has studied science for decades, I had almost forgotten how shocking it can be to learn that some animals can reproduce by breaking in half and there are microscopic critters that do photosynthesis, actively swim, and eat. I am pleased that my students now have a much greater awareness of how varied life is. Organisms- from Macro to Micro achieved this effect by including lessons on tiny wasps (called WOWBugs), California blackworms, yeast, hydra, a variety of protists, mustard plants (specifically Fast Plants), daphnia, and more.
Other important topics were genetics, evolution, cell division, and reproduction. These topics were introduced, but not addressed in great detail. In general, I feel that the level of detail is appropriate for middle school. My primary concern with this curriculum is the speed that it rushes through topics. For example, there in only one lesson on mitosis (with two distinct activities). Mitosis is a challenging topic and almost all students at this level will be learning about it for the first time. For these reasons, I believe that one lesson simply isnt enough for any significant learning to take place. Fortunately, the curriculum is structured in such a way that it is easy to add supplemental lessons.
It is particularly apparent that more lessons are needed for some of the harder topics when the lessons are compared with the assessments included in the curriculum. The assessments are very ambitious, and it is the rare student who would be able to do well on them without additional instruction.
For an experienced teacher (or maybe even a novice teacher who has a strong background in biology) who is looking for a high-quality curriculum to form the backbone of a class, I think Organisms- from Macro to Micro is an excellent choice. For a teacher who needs a curriculum that will stand entirely on its own, without modifications or additions, it probably isnt the best choice.
by: Jessie Mathisen
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