Liceo Parroquial San Antonio English Department March 2020 12th Grade Bio

Handout – 12th grade Bio – Unit 1: Introduction

General Objective 1. Demonstrate comprehension of written texts related to the scientific method

Specific objectives 1.1. Reflect about the way in which the student himself/herself reads 1.2. Identify reading strategies to increase and facilitate comprehension 1.3. Apply reading strategies in a text related to the scientific method 1.4. Expand students’ vocabulary through the use of their vocabulary log

Contents Reading strategies Scientific Method

Teachers 12th grade Bio → Miss Astrid Campos (astrid.campos.i@gmail.com)

❖ General instructions

a) This first unit’s objective is to develop and improve your reading comprehension skills so that you can move forward to the next unit. b) This handout is divided into 4 sections → 1. Metacognition (pre), strategies, reading comp. exercise, metacognition (post) c) Each part has its own instructions and examples (if necessary*) d) If you have any doubts, write a mail to your corresponding teacher. e) Use https://www.wordreference.com/; https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/; https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/ to solve vocabulary doubts. f) Avoid using Google translator for complete sentences. REMEMBER that YOU are the one who should do that mental process.

g) Do your best and take care

I. Reflection – Metacognition: thinking about thinking, about the way you learn.

Instructions → 1) Remember this is a metacognitive exercise. There’s no right or wrong answer. 2) Answer the following questions as honestly as possible.

II. Reading strategies

❖ What is your opinion about reading? ❖ Do you think it is an important skill? Why? Why not?

❖ Do you like reading? Why? Why not? ❖ How much time do you devote to reading? (not only books, it could be posts,

news, magazine articles, etc.) Why? ❖ How easy is to comprehend a text for you?

❖ What do you do when you read? Do you use any strategy for comprehension? ❖ What strategies do you know?

Reading strategies are actions effective readers can take to turn the printed text into meaning and ease its comprehension before, while, and after reading.

There are a lot of and very different strategies you can use. During this unit, we will only cover some of them

Liceo Parroquial San Antonio English Department March 2020 12th Grade Bio

Instructions → In this part, there are 4 reading comprehension strategies. READ through each one of them. LOOK UP every word you don’t know. AVOID TRANSLATING THE WHOLE TEXT.

You get an idea of what the text is about without actually reading the main body. When → Before reading to help you decide whether a book or journal is useful for your purpose; to get a general sense of the article structure, to help you locate relevant information; to help you to identify the sections of the text you may need to read and the sections you can omit. How → start by reading: the title and author details, the abstract (if there is one), read only the main headings and sub headings, examine any illustrations, the first sentence in each paragraph

Brainstorming is a group process for generating questions, ideas, and examples. When → before reading to illustrate, expand, or explore a central idea or topic. How → it involves sharing whatever material comes to mind and recording every idea, without making judgements about the material being generated. It is possible to make a list of ideas or concepts related to the title of the text

It is used to help you organize what you have read by selecting what is important. When → While reading. This strategy teaches you to highlight/underline ONLY the key words, phrases, vocabulary, and ideas that are central to understanding the reading How → Read through the selection first. Reread and begin to highlight main ideas and their supporting details. Highlight only the facts which are important or the key vocabulary not the entire sentence. After, you can create a mind map or a summary.

Previewing and

predicting Brainstorming

Sometimes you won't understand every word in a reading passage. One thing you can do to figure out new words is to use CONTEXT CLUES. When → While reading. The CONTEXT is the words, sentences, and ideas that come before and after a word or phrase. How → When you read a passage, circle any new words that you don't understand. Then, look in the context to find clues--words or phrases that hint at what the new word means. Remember, you don't have to understand every word in a reading! Circle only the new words that are key to understanding the passage

Highlighting and reviewing

Context clues

Liceo Parroquial San Antonio English Department March 2020 12th Grade Bio

III. Reading Comprehension exercise Instructions: Answer the question of the following text applying the strategies previously presented. I. Previewing → Take a look at the text. Just look at it and locate visual information (charts, images, titles,

subtitles) II. Predicting → Make an informed guess of what the text will be about just by taking a look at it. DO NOT

READ the text yet ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ III. Brainstorming → Make a list of ideas that comes to your mind when you read the topic of the text.

Complete the following chart with at least 3 ideas per column

IV. Highlighting → Highlight main ideas / key words of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th , 5th and 6th paragraph (PARAGRAPHS

ARE NUMBERED). REMEMBER: ONLY KEY INFO. After that, on a separate piece of paper or behind the text, create a SIMPLE mind map in which you connect the key words/info highlighted. V. Context clues → In the text, you’ll find words in bold. Define them with YOUR OWN WORDS, use the

context given to guess the meaning. A definition implies an explanation, not a translation or just a synonym. EXAMPLE: Collectively: something done in a joint way, with a group of people working for the same goal or objective. 1. ACCURATE: ___________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. COME UP: ____________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. BIAS: ________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Liceo Parroquial San Antonio English Department March 2020 12th Grade Bio

4. LONG-STANDING: ______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. LEAD: ________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. RULED OUT:___________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. RANGE: ______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ **YOU CAN USE THESE WORDS FOR YOUR VOCABULARY LOG** **REMEMBER TO ADD YOUR OWN SAMPLE SENTENCE**

IV. Reflection – Metacognition (post reading) Instructions → Read and answer the following questions. Be as honest as possible. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________

❖ What do you think about the text? ❖ What was the easiest strategy to apply? Why?

❖ What was the most difficult strategy to apply? Why? ❖ Which strategy do you think is the most useful and why?

❖ What was your strength when doing this handout? (It can be something related to the language itself, for ex. I comprehend most of it; or it can be

something related to an attitude, for ex. I tried my best, etc) ❖ Assess your performance and attitude during this activity with an

“Excellent”, “Good”, or “Need Improvement”. Explain your reasons.

Liceo Parroquial San Antonio English Department March 2020 12th Grade Bio

Introduction to the Scientific Method

1.The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate

(that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of the world.

Recognizing that personal and cultural beliefs influence both our perceptions and our interpretations of natural

phenomena, we aim through the use of standard procedures and criteria to minimize those influences when developing

a theory. As a famous scientist once said, "Smart people (like smart lawyers) can come up with very good explanations

for mistaken points of view." In summary, the scientific method attempts to minimize the influence of bias or prejudice

in the experimenter when testing an hypothesis or a theory.

I. The scientific method has four steps

2. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.

Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomena.

Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict

quantitatively the results of new observations.

Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent

experimenters and properly performed experiments.

3 If the experiments bear out the hypothesis, it may come to be regarded as a theory

or law of nature. If the experiments do not bear out the hypothesis, it must be

rejected or modified. What is key in the description of the scientific method just

given is the predictive power (the ability to get more out of the theory than you

put in) of the hypothesis or theory, as tested by experiment. It is often said in

science that theories can never be proved, only disproved. There is always the

possibility that a new observation or a new experiment will conflict with a long-

standing theory.

II. Testing hypotheses

4.As just stated, experimental tests may lead either to the confirmation of the hypothesis, or to the ruling out of the

hypothesis. The scientific method requires that an hypothesis be ruled out or modified if its predictions are clearly and

repeatedly incompatible with experimental tests. Further, no matter how elegant a theory is, its predictions must agree

with experimental results if we are to believe that it is a valid description of nature. Note that the necessity of experiment

also implies that a theory must be testable. Theories which cannot be tested, because, for instance, they have no

observable ramifications (such as, a particle whose characteristics make it unobservable), do not qualify as scientific

theories.

5. If the predictions of a long-standing theory are found to be in disagreement with new experimental results, the theory

may be discarded as a description of reality, but it may continue to be applicable within a limited range of measurable

parameters.

III. Common Mistakes in Applying the Scientific Method

6. As stated earlier, the scientific method attempts to minimize the influence of the scientist's bias on the outcome of an

experiment. That is, when testing an hypothesis or a theory, the scientist may have a preference for one outcome or

another, and it is important that this preference not bias the results or their interpretation. The most fundamental error is

to mistake the hypothesis for an explanation of a phenomenon, without performing experimental tests. Sometimes

"common sense" and "logic" tempt us into believing that no test is needed. Another common mistake is to ignore or rule

out data which do not support the hypothesis. Ideally, the experimenter is open to the possibility that the hypothesis is

correct or incorrect. Sometimes, however, a scientist may have a strong belief that the hypothesis is true (or false), or

feels internal or external pressure to get a specific result. In that case, there may be a psychological tendency to find

"something wrong", such as systematic effects, with data which do not support the scientist's expectations, while data

which do agree with those expectations may not be checked as carefully. The lesson is that all data must be handled in

the same way.

IV. Hypotheses, Models, Theories and Laws

7. In science disciplines, the words "hypothesis," "model," "theory" and "law" have different connotations.

8. An hypothesis is a limited statement regarding cause and effect in specific situations; it also refers to our state of

knowledge before experimental work has been performed and perhaps even before new phenomena have been predicted.

To take an example from daily life, suppose you discover that your car will not start. You may say, "My car does not

start because the battery is low." This is your first hypothesis. You may then check whether the lights were left on, or if

the engine makes a particular sound when you turn the ignition key. You might actually check the voltage across the

Liceo Parroquial San Antonio English Department March 2020 12th Grade Bio

terminals of the battery. If you discover that the battery is not low, you might attempt another hypothesis ("The starter

is broken"; "This is really not my car.")

9. The word model is reserved for situations when it is known that the hypothesis has at least limited validity. A way to

illustrate this is the example of Hook's Law (which should be called Hook's principle, or Hook's model), which states

that the force exerted by a mass attached to a spring is proportional to the amount the spring is stretched. The "law" fails

when the spring is stretched beyond its elastic limit (it can break). This principle, however, leads to the prediction of

simple harmonic motion, and, as a model of the behavior of a spring, has been versatile in an extremely broad range of

applications.

10. A scientific theory or law represents an hypothesis, or a group of related hypotheses, which has been confirmed

through repeated experimental tests. Theories in physics are often formulated in terms of a few concepts and equations,

which are identified with "laws of nature," suggesting their universal applicability. Accepted scientific theories and laws

become part of our understanding of the universe and the basis for exploring less well-understood areas of knowledge.

VI. Conclusion

11. The scientific method is intricately associated with science, the process of human inquiry that pervades the modern

era on many levels. While the method appears simple and logical in description, there is perhaps no more complex

question than that of knowing how we come to know things. In this introduction, we have emphasized that the scientific

method distinguishes science from other forms of explanation because of its requirement of systematic experimentation.

We have also tried to point out some of the criteria and practices developed by scientists to reduce the influence of

individual or social bias on scientific findings.