Claire Hellendag
34 Followers
Chicago, Illinois, United States
About the store
I have been teaching high school science for the past 17 years in a variety of schools, from Title 1 schools in the US to international schools in Asia and Europe.
While advanced Biology and Environmental Science courses have been my main stay, I have extensive experience working with students with all sorts of learning needs.
Many of my resources have been developed with the IB and AP student in mind, but differentiation is differentiation. These resources can be used by any one for any sort of biology or environmental science class.
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Programs & methods
Building Population Pyramids/Histograms with Lego
This is a fun activity to teach students how to make population pyramids or histograms. It also gets students used to working with databases to gather information. Students will gather population data from the UP Population database and use Lego bricks to build histograms.
Instructions for using the UN database is included, as are examples of the final pyramids and explanations for the three main types of pyramids (expanding, stable, and for a shrinking population).
I’ve used this activity in
9th - 12th
Environment, Geography
Food and Agriculture Scavenger Hunt (great for IB ESS and APES)
This is a Selfie-Scavenger Hunt covering vocabulary and content in the Agriculture and Food Topics in AP Environmental Science and IB Environmental Systems and Societies.
Students work independently or on teams to research the questions listed. They take selfie photographs representing each question. To earn all of the points listed they have to fully research the question as well as take appropriate photographs. To take their photos students will visit a grocery store and a farmer’s market.
11th - 12th
Environment, Geography
Natural Selection Simulation Lab for IB or AP Biology
Students watch natural selection in action in this simulation lab. This is a great practice lab when preparing for the IB Biology Investigation or as a component of a natural selection unit.
Instructions are included for the NetLogo Software, a free, very easy to use software available online. A rubric (aligned with the IB Biology requirements) is included in this modifiable instruction sheet.
I use this at the beginning of my IB DP Biology HL course to introduce evolution and natural selectio
9th - 12th
Biology, General Science
Environmental Worldviews/ Viewpoint Blackout Poems
Blackout Poems are a great idea I got from one of my English teacher brethren. These are a great way to have students practice what they know about Environmental Worldviews or Environmental Value Systems. They will need to interpret a value system in order to black-out parts of a David Suzuki quote. The words left behind make up the “blackout poem”.
Students really have to think about the various value systems in order to do this activity. You can also have other students try to interpret each
9th - 12th
Environment, Geography
Natural Selection Pit Game
This is a great activity for introducing or reviewing the process of Natural Selection along with some examples (Peppered Moths, Vampire Bats, CoHo Salmon, Shore Crabs, Birds of Paradise, and Greyhound dogs).
Pairs of students work through two rounds of “The Pit Game”. During the first round they are given an envelope with mixed-up strips of paper, each with a step of natural selection. They have to figure out which strips they need and which they can trade in the “pit”. Their goal is to have a
8th - 12th
Biology, Environment
Ethology Examples Phone Conversations
The IB HL Biology Option A on Neurobiology requires students to know about several examples of ethology.
In this assignment students write WhatsApp, Messenger, or WeChat conversations for each of these ethology examples. Students have to distill the examples to their simplest forms in order to write these conversations.
My students have found this exercise very useful. They actually remember the examples at the end of the two years, even though we do ethology within the first two weeks of thei
11th - 12th
Biology
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About the store
Experience
I have been teaching high school science for the past 17 years in a variety of schools, from Title 1 schools in the US to international schools in Asia and Europe.
While advanced Biology and Environmental Science courses have been my main stay, I have extensive experience working with students with all sorts of learning needs.
Many of my resources have been developed with the IB and AP student in mind, but differentiation is differentiation. These resources can be used by any one for any sort of biology or environmental science class.
Teaching style
All of my lessons are focused on getting students to do the thinking. I structure each day on the theory that my kids should be working at least as hard as me. They should be problem solving and working together.
I work hard to give them as many opportunities as possible to understand concepts and to synthesize their own ideas.
My own education history
BA Biological Sciences from Mount Holyoke College and
MAT in Secondary Science from Duke University
Additional biographical information
I live in central Switzerland with my dog. I travel all over the world every chance I get.
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