2.
Do students have maximum information about the roll? Is there
anything they do not know about the bread roll from just looking
at it?
Student responses will vary from, “Is it tasty?” and “Where does it
come from?” to “What is inside?” Some students may realize that
although they might have made an assumption about the roll’s inte-
rior (for example, it is just plain bread), they actually know noth-
ing about what is under the crust.
3.
Focus discussion on what is inside the bread roll. Ask students
how they would get that information.
Students will suggest cutting
or tearing the roll.
4.
Slice the roll to reveal the
presence of dye in one of
the two dye locations. Hold
the roll so the class can see
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the two cut edges. Do the students now feel they have complete
information about this object? If not, what questions do they have?
Even though they know there is a dyed region inside the roll, stu-
dents should realize that they do not know what this region looks
like. What is the shape of the dyed region and how far does it
extend in any given direction? Is there only a single dyed region, or
are there multiple regions? If there is more than one dyed region, is
it the same color as the region they can see?
Tip from the field test: Some students suggested cutting the roll as
one would if making a sandwich. The second bread roll is helpful if
this possibility is raised.
5.
Ask students how they could obtain information to answer these
questions.
A simple approach would be to make additional slices in the roll.
Students may suggest more exotic means (for example, use a fiber
optic light source connected to a minivideo device to view the roll’s
interior on a remote screen). If suggestions fall in the latter cat-
egory, congratulate students for their ingenuity. Ask them to think
about how to gain the information required quickly and using
simple, available technology. In the end, focus student attention on
increasing the number of slices. This requires only a knife and can
be done quickly.
6.
Ask the students how many slices would be required to define
the dyed region(s) in the roll’s interior. What are their consider-
ations in providing an answer to this question?
The actual number of slices that the students believe is correct is
not the important issue. If students do provide a specific answer,
ask them to justify it. It is important for them to understand the
following. First, multiple slices are required to define the object’s
properties. The size of the slices will determine the resolution used
to define the object’s properties. Thicker slices will provide less res-
olution, just as the 3 × 3 probes provided low resolution in Activity
1. Thinner slices will provide greater resolution, just as the 1 × 1
probes did in Activity 1.
7.
Ask students to have their group’s Master 2.3 to 2.8 available.
Explain that the “level” designation below the grid (Level 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, or 6) on the master indicates the location of a slice through
an object.
Level 1 is the top slice, followed by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (at the bot-
tom).
64
8.
Ask students to visualize their pattern in three dimensions by
imagining that their shaded pattern represents the top of a stack
of gray blocks. Their level is a slice two blocks thick.
9.
Ask the groups to share their data (that is, the location of the
shaded regions) and try to reconstruct the three-dimensional
object that has been cut into six slices.
Do not provide additional guidance. Give students about five min-
utes to do this. Students may or may not be able to reconstruct the
object in this time.
For those using the Web version of this activity, proceed as
follows:
10. Were students able to arrive at a solution? What might
have made the task of reconstructing the object in three dimen-
sions easier?
Content Standard E:
Identify a problem or
Students might suggest that a computer could provide the technol-
design an opportunity.
ogy to make reconstruction easier.
Content Standard E:
11. Have students proceed to the URL http://science.education.nih.gov/
Implement a proposed
supplements/technology/student. Students should then click on the solution.
link to “Lesson 2—Solution to Probing for Answers.” This brings
up the unit’s desktop, from which students can access this activity. Content Standard A: 12. Students can enter their data by first selecting a level (1 to 6) and Scientists rely on tech-then clicking on the squares they determined to be shaded. The
nology to enhance
reconstructed object will appear as data are entered.
gathering and manipu-
lating data.
It may be easier and less time consuming for the teacher to enter
the data provided by the students.
For those using the print version of this activity, proceed as
follows:
10. Show students a transparency of Master 2.9, Solution
to Probing for Answers. Were they able to arrive at this
Content Standard E:
solution? What might have made their task easier?
Identify a problem or
design an opportunity.
Some students do well thinking in three dimensions, and others do
not. Many may recognize the need for additional technology, such
as a computer and appropriate software, to make the job of recon-
struction easier. Even a simple technology, such as wooden blocks
or Legos, could have been used to construct a three-dimensional
model of the intact object.
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Discussion Question
1.
As a follow-up, ask students, “Have these activities expanded
your understanding of technology? If they have, how?”
Assessment:
Activity 1 demonstrates the use of multiple probes to achieve dif-
This question allows
ferent levels of resolution. It also demonstrates that the right tool,
students to integrate
in this case a probe of appropriate size, must be selected to solve a
the information they
problem (resolving the structure of an unknown object). Therefore,
have learned in the
students should realize that there is an appropriate technology for
first two lessons and
a given problem (that is, the right tool for the job). Activity 2 dem-
refine their under-
onstrates that solutions to a problem may involve more than one
standing of what tech-
technology (the use of slices to determine the structure of a three-
nology is.
dimensional object and technologies to collect and analyze the data).
66
Lesson 2 Organizer: Web Version
Activity 1: Probing for Answers
What the Teacher Does
Procedure Reference
State or write on the board, “Technology is a means of extend-
Pages 57–58
ing human potential or of extending human senses.”
Steps 1–3
• Ask students if they agree with this statement.
• Ask students to provide justification for their responses.
Can they relate specific technologies to the extension of
specific human attributes or senses?
• Ask students to consider technologies that have
increased our understanding of living systems.
o Do they extend any human attributes?
o If they do, which attributes are extended?
Ask students to focus on technologies (the eye, microscopes,
Page 58
X-ray techniques) that allow us to see biological objects. Ask,
Steps 4–6
• “What technologies would you use to study a whole
organism and why?”
• “What technologies would you use to study cells and
why?”
• “What techniques would you use to study molecules and
why?”
• “Why can’t a single technology provide information at all
levels of organization of biological organisms?”
Introduce the concept of resolution. Ask students what resolu-
tion means.
Tell students that they will investigate resolution. Organize the
Pages 59–60
class into groups of two and then pair two groups.
Steps 7–11
• Arrange seating so that one group sits opposite the
other.
• Explain that the activity resembles the game Battleship.
• Each group’s task is to locate and define the shape of
an object or objects on the master held by the opposing
group.
• Give each group a copy of Master 2.1, Probing for
Answers Score Sheet.
• Use a transparency of this master to demonstrate how
the activity is done.
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Begin the activity.
Pages 60–62
• Give each group one master selected from Masters 2.3
Steps 12–20
to 2.8, Probing for Answers—Levels 1–6.
• Give each group a 3 × 3 probe from Master 2.2, Probes.
Instruct students to use this probe to locate areas 3
squares by 3 squares that contain the opposing group’s
shaded object(s).
• After five minutes, ask students if they have enough
information to specify the exact shape(s) and location(s)
of the opposing group’s shaded object(s).
• Ask students what would help them define the shape
and location of the opposing group’s shaded object(s).
• Give each group a 2 × 2 probe and ask them to refine
their search with this probe.
• After several minutes, ask students if they believe they
now have enough information to specify the exact
shape(s) and location(s) of the opposing group’s shaded
object(s).
• Give each group a 1 × 1 probe and ask them to refine
their search with this probe.
• After several minutes, ask students if they believe they
now have enough information to specify the exact
shape(s) and location(s) of the opposing group’s shaded
object(s). Do they need another probe to complete their
task?
• Have opposing groups confirm that after using the series
of three probes, they were able to determine the correct
pattern on one another’s master. Proceed to discussion
questions.
Activity 2: More Than Meets the Eye
What the Teacher Does
Procedure Reference
Hold a bread roll into which you have inserted food dye up to
Pages 63–64
the class.
Steps 1–6
• Ask students to describe what they see.
• Is there anything about the roll they do not know from
just looking at it?
• Focus discussion on what is inside the roll and ask stu-
dents how they would get that information.
• Slice the roll to reveal the dye.
• Ask students if they feel that they now have complete
information about the object.
• What additional questions do they have and how could
they get the answers?
• How many slices are required to define the dyed
region(s) in the roll’s interior? Focus discussion on
resolution.
68
Ask students to have their Master 2.3 to 2.8 available.
Pages 64–65
• Explain that the “level” designation on the master indi-
Steps 7–10
cates the location of a slice through an object (1 at the
top to 6 at the bottom).
• Ask students to visualize their pattern in three dimen-
sions by imagining that their shaded pattern represents
the top of a stack of grey blocks. Their level is a slice two
blocks thick.
• Ask the groups to share their data (that is, the location
of the shaded regions) and try to reconstruct the three-
dimensional object that has been cut into six slices.
• Ask if students were able to arrive at a solution. What
might have made their task easier?
Have students click on “Lesson 2—Solution to Probing for
Page 65
Answers” and then click on the link to “Solution to Probing
Steps 11–12
for Answers.” Have students enter their data to reconstruct the
object.
= Involves copying a master.
= Involves using the Internet.
= Involves using a transparency.
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Lesson 2 Organizer: Print Version
Activity 1: Probing for Answers
What the Teacher Does
Procedure Reference
State or write on the board, “Technology is a means of extend-
Pages 57–58
ing human potential or of extending human senses.”
Steps 1–3
• Ask students if they agree with this statement.
• Ask students to provide justification for their responses.
Can they relate specific technologies to the extension of
specific human attributes or senses?
• Ask students to consider technologies that have
increased our understanding of living systems.
o Do they extend any human attributes?
o If they do, which attributes are extended?
Ask students to focus on technologies (the eye, microscopes,
Page 58
X-ray techniques) that allow us to see biological objects. Ask,
Steps 4–6
• “What technologies would you use to study a whole
organism and why?”
• “What technologies would you use to study cells and
why?”
• “What techniques would you use to study molecules and
why?”
• “Why can’t a single technology provide information at all
levels of organization of biological organisms?”
Introduce the concept of resolution, Ask students what resolu-
tion means.
Tell students that they will investigate resolution. Organize the
Pages 59–60
class into groups of two and then pair two groups.
Steps 7–11
• Arrange seating so that one group sits opposite the
other.
• Explain that the activity resembles the game Battleship.
• Each group’s task is to locate and define the shape of
an object or objects on the master held by the opposing
group.
• Give each group a copy of Master 2.1, Probing for
Answers Score Sheet.
• Use a transparency of this master to demonstrate how
the activity is done.
70
Begin the activity.
Pages 60–62
• Give each group one master selected from Masters 2.3
Steps 12–20
to 2.8, Probing for Answers—Levels 1–6.
• Give each group a 3 × 3 probe from Master 2.2, Probes.
Instruct students to use this probe to locate areas 3
squares by 3 squares that contain the opposing group’s
shaded object(s).
• After five minutes, ask students if they have enough
information to specify the exact shape(s) and location(s)
of the opposing group’s shaded object(s).
• Ask students what would help them define the shape
and location of the opposing group’s shaded object(s).
• Give each group a 2 × 2 probe and ask them to refine
their search with this probe.
• After several minutes, ask students if they believe they
now have enough information to specify the exact
shape(s) and location(s) of the opposing group’s shaded
object(s).
• Give each group a 1 × 1 probe and ask them to refine
their search with this probe.
• After several minutes, ask students if they believe they
now have enough information to specify the exact
shape(s) and location(s) of the opposing group’s shaded
object(s). Do they need another probe to complete their
task?
• Have opposing groups confirm that after using the series
of three probes, they were able to determine the correct
pattern on one another’s master. Proceed to discussion
questions.
Activity 2: More Than Meets the Eye
What the Teacher Does
Procedure Reference
Hold a bread roll into which you have inserted food dye up to
Pages 63–64
the class.
Steps 1–6
• Ask students to describe what they see.
• Is there anything about the roll they do not know from
just looking at it?
• Focus discussion on what is inside the roll and ask stu-
dents how they would get that information.
• Slice the roll to reveal the dye.
• Ask students if they feel that they now have complete
information about the object.
• What additional questions do they have and how could
they get the answers?
• How many slices are required to define the dyed
region(s) in the roll’s interior? Focus discussion on
resolution.
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Molecular Biology
Ask students to have their Master 2.3 to 2.8 available.
Pages 64–65
• Explain that the “level” designation on the master indi-
Steps 7–10
cates the location of a slice through an object (1 at the
top to 6 at the bottom).
• Ask students to visualize their pattern in three dimen-
sions by imagining that their shaded pattern represents
the top of a stack of grey blocks. Their level is a slice two
blocks thick.
• Ask the groups to share their data (that is, the location
of the shaded regions) and try to reconstruct the three-
dimensional object that has been cut into six slices.
• Show students a transparency of Master 2.9, Solution to
Probing for Answers.
• Ask if students were able to arrive at this solution. What
might have made their task easier?
= Involves copying a master.
= Involves using a transparency.
72
Lesson 3
Explore
Explain
Putting Technology
Elaborate
to Work
Overview
At a Glance
This lesson consists of a single activity with three parts in the Web ver