Danielle Ruff

InTASC Standard 5: Application of Content

The responsibility of the teacher is to not only understand their content, but also
understand how it applies and relates to other disciplines. The teacher also allows for students to
be critical thinkers and challenge them to solve real world problems. The teacher can plan
activities that relate to solving or observing problems that have local and global applications.
Another important aspect of this standard is fostering for creativity within the content area. In
science, this standard correlates well with the inquiry approach for teaching science. In inquiry
lessons, students are guided to solve problems by their own questions. Students will design and
create their own experiments based off of their questions, and then implement those experiments.
In inquiry, students are engaged because they are driving their own learning and using their
creativity to solve problems. The other aspect of this standard is to find opportunities to relate
their own content to other disciplines. To apply this, teachers can work with teachers of other
disciplines or their team members in trying to design lessons or units that relate to one another
across the disciplines. This strategy will help reinforce the concept being taught and help
students apply their knowledge.
What is this artifact?
This artifact is my lesson that I planned and delivered at Magnolia Middle School to a 7th grade
life science class in spring 2015. This lesson was designed for the unit of ecology, and focuses on
the topic of the different types of Abiotic and Bioctic factors in ecosystems. In this lesson,
students looked at different types of abiotic and biotic factirs that are found in nature today.
How does this artifact demonstrate mastery of the InTASC or COE standard?
The lesson demonstrates mastery of the InTASC standard by showing my ability to design an
lesson that has applications to local world and global problems. For example, students looked at

a video on the relationship of sea, otters, sea urchins, and kelp forests, and our climate. The
importance of sea otters in kelp forest is a relative issue today where the presence of sea otters in
a kelp forest ecosystem, has global effects on our climate. Students observed this relationship
and identified the specific abiotic and biotic factors that contribute to the stability of the
ecosystem. This artifact also highlights a vocabulary tool that students can use across content
areas. Students completed a vocabulary graphic organizer where they had to define the terms
abiotic and biotic. In this graphic organizer, students wrote the terms abiotic and biotic in their
own words, a formal definition of the terms, examples of the terms, and finally, students drew an
illustration to help them visualize and remember the terms. Although the content of abiotic and
biotic is only relative to biology, students used a vocabulary tool that can be used across
disciplines.
In what way does this artifact contribute to/relate to a positive effect on student learning?
This artifact contributes to a positive effect on learning because students had the opportunity to
view an ecosystem that is relevant in nature today. Many students were familiar with sea otters,
sea urchins, and how sea otters feed on sea urchins. Since students had some background
knowledge on the topic and knew that their relationship is relevant in nature, many students were
engaged in the activity of identifying and analyzing the abiotic and biotic factors of this
particular ecosystem.
How does this artifact demonstrate the Planning-Teaching-Learning cycle (judging prior
learning, planning instruction, teaching, assessing, analyzing, and reflecting)?
The lesson demonstrates the judging prior to learning, planning instruction, and teaching,
of the Planning-Teaching Learning cycle because I used my own judgment of students
knowledge of abiotic and biotic factors and planned instruction appropriate for a lesson to be

taught. I was aware that students may not have been introduced to the terms abiotic and
biotic, factors, so I ensured that in the lesson, we spent time learning the terms and practicing
vocabulary, before applying the knowledge to global applications in nature.