Utilizing Web Resources & Creating meaning - Module 2

During this last week or so of the course, I have visited and explored numerous websites and have found some great applications for the classroom.  For the Module 2 project I would like to use a variety of web resources and media to allow students to supplement unit content and knowledge in order to build a better understanding of concepts while hopefully providing the motivation for students to create products that express this undertanding.   To address the energy and metabolism part of our chemistry of life unit in Biology, I would like students to listen to and read the lyrics of "Don't Change".  This activity adresses changes in matter and laws of conservation of mass and conservation of energy.  Students analyze the lyrics to build content background covered in class. 
http://www.lodgemccammon.com/music/education/handouts/Dont%20Change.pdfStudents. 

To supplement our look at chemical reactions and how they procede, I would supplement with an interactive web-based lesson.   The TEDEd lesson - Chemical reactions - is a fun analogy (high school dating) for understanding the nature of chemical reactions and the conditions necessary for chemical reactions to occur.  I modified or "flipped" the original by incorporating questions that would refer to our Catalase lab and the role of enzymes in biochemical reactions.  http://ed.ted.com/on/hmz1fAST    The intent is to have students complete the first three sections of the activity - Watch, Quiz, and Think - before participating the the Catalase lab.  Our biology Catalase lab looks at the rates of chemical reactions and the factors that influence rates of reactions in biological systems.

Students will complete the Catalase lab, and a visual record (photographs) of the results will be shared via Voice Thread http://voicethread.com/.  Because results among groups typically vary, this format would provide a discussion forum for group members and classmates to share, compare, and evaluate the validity of their results as well as dicuss potential sources of error.  Results, discussion, and research should provide a clear indication of factors influencing chemical enzyme activity.

The final question - "Dig Deeper" from the TEDEd assignment - asks students to create a sequel or next chapter of Harriett's date and dance story as an analogy of how biochemical reactions proceed at faster rates and the factors that affect the rates of chemical reactions.  I think students could come up with some really creative scenarios.  Though latitude would be given regarding presentation format, students would be encouraged to present their final product as a creative parallel to the original TEDEd video using a paper slide video, a music video, http://animoto.com/ , or a comic creation using  http://www.pixton.com/ or http://www.xtranormal.com/.

Here is a quick example of how easy it is to create a cartoon with xtranormal.  This is my first attempt and it was pretty straight forward.  http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13564305/module-2-quick-example