Dana Horton

November 16, 2014

Quick Plan Cooperative Learning
Quick Plan: Investigating the Ecological Impact of the Different Foods We Eat General Biology
Section I: Description
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning can be a very successful learning model in the classroom. Students need to leave
school prepared for a lifetime of collaborating and coordinating with other people. Cooperative
learning activities provide students the opportunity to share different perspectives, take on different
roles, and get to know and understand fellow students. While working in groups, students can feel more
comfortable working with complex or unexplored content. It can also help build a sense of community
in the classroom when cooperative lessons are routinely used and the groups are mixed up so students
work with all of their classmates by the end of the year. I see cooperative activities especially beneficial
when material is new to encourage students to interact with new topics and material. It can, however,
also be very useful when reviewing material so that students can help and learn from each other.
Topic and Rationale
In studying how energy moves within an ecosystem, and specifically how agriculture affects and is
affected by natural resources, students are entering a complex topic that involves the cooperation of
many underlying concepts. By working in groups, students can explore these topics and concepts
without feeling the pressure of individual work. Cooperative learning also reflects one of the main
themes of the topic: the interconnectedness of the world around us. Another biology topic that could be
taught using cooperative learning is aerobic and anaerobic fermentation. These concepts can be
illustrated well in labs which students can complete in groups. Evolution also lends well to cooperative
learning in lesson in which students are asked to analyze and interpret evidence of evolution or
speciation. By having multiple perspectives in the group, students may see the evidence differently and
deepen the understanding by the whole group.
Purpose
The purpose of cooperative learning is to engage students in their learning, encourage them to consider
multiple perspectives, and to help them develop important 21 st century skills, such as communicating
well with others, leadership, and delegating. As discussed above, cooperative learning can also provide
a safe environment for students to explore new topics and gain a sense of community. Cooperative
learning works best when groups are small and there are clear expectations for how students work with
each other and how the group and each individual will be accountable for the work being done.
Advantages and Disadvantages
An advantage of cooperative learning is that students can work through their understanding with their
peers. They can gain different perspectives on a single topic which will allow them a deeper
understanding of a topic than their individual perspective may allow. A possible disadvantage is that it
is more difficult in cooperative learning to ensure individual as well as group accountability. Another
possible disadvantage is that some groups will more quickly than others. Thus, the different groups will
likely be at different stages, with some finished while others have a good deal of work remaining.
These disadvantages can be minimized with thoughtful planning and preparation, such as determining
how the individual and group will be assessed and having plans for what groups that finish early can
deepen their understanding.

Section II: Implementation

Learning objective
Students will be able to give examples of how different foods have varying ecological impacts by
working in groups to determine the ecological impacts of their own diet and the traditional diet of
another country.
Materials
Students will be provided with informative materials listing different food items, amounts, approximate
emissions from their production, resources used, and caloric value. One card will be given to each
group containing typical food items eaten in their assigned country/culture. Students will have a
worksheet to fill out including a place for them to record what they found for their own diet as well as
what their group found for their assigned country.
Model of Teaching
A cooperative learning model fits this lesson well because student can learn more by comparing their
own answers to those of their peers. Students are also asked to make conclusions based on their
findings. By working in groups, students will be able to discuss their findings and provide multiple
perspectives to help them construct meaning and understanding. Lastly, a goal in this unit is helping
students see the interconnectedness of our world. Working in groups not only support learning, but
creates an environment that reflects the purpose and meaning of the lesson. Student are experiencing
what they are learning about the world.
Key Concepts
Students will understand that energy and matter move between trophic levels but energy leaves the
system at each level. More resources (matter and energy) are required to create meat than to create an
equal amount of plant foods. These biological concepts are applicable to our daily lives as seen through
the impacts of our agricultural systems.
Background Knowledge
Students will need to be comfortable with how energy and matter move within a ecological system
through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on the completion of their worksheet and by the quality of their responses on
the discussion questions. A quality response will include answers that the student supports with what
they learned about the diets studied. Each group will present their findings on their assigned country to
the class. Each individual will turn in a worksheet with information on it about their own diet as well as
the diet shared by the rest of the group. Students will also complete a reflection on how well they
worked together as a group.