Mrs Mamenko

Everyone knows about the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  However, this picture could spark a discussion about Pseudomonas putida, a bacteria that can eat oil.  It would be easy to say, “lets just dump a load on the oil spill.”  But, we are talking about a gram-negative bacteria – something that antibiotics can’t (or can hardly) treat.  If it infected the water supply, it could decimate the world’s population of all species, excluding Pseudomonas putida.

Meiosis and Variation

As we discussed last class, there are some topics that work best when approached in the “generic” PowerPoint standard.  However, the presentation above does a great job with trying to engage the students with activities and shock value (think SEX!) during the lesson. While there are **cringe** many font and color changes throughout, it presents all of the necessary information and vocabulary without it being text-overload. In addition, the teacher breaks up the lesson with two different activities so that the students have a chance to exercise their brains using the new information.

Every human being is captured by the element of surprise.  By overloading the senses with a white background, black font, and bullet points, students will start daydreaming about a more colorful world, which most likely will have nothing to do with the current lesson.  To bring their minds back into the classroom, adding color, animation or other multi-media to your presentations is a start.  In addition, giving the students a break every 10-20 minutes will help ensure that their eyes won’t glaze over.  This break is not just a chance for them to get to catch up on the latest gossip, but a way to re-enforce what was taught – maybe by Carousel activities or Trivia Baseball.