Learning by Doing in Biology Education
From a plant field trip to a VR journey inside the heart, from a terrarium to a toy project for dialysis children: the activities of our students who learn biology by living it.
Biology is not a list of topics to be memorised, but a science that is touched, observed and lived. Over the course of a term, our students learned biology by living it, from plant field trips to a virtual-reality journey inside the heart, from the small ecosystems they built themselves to a meaningful social-responsibility project. Here is a selection from those activities.
Grade 12: Getting to Know Plants and Fermentation
After studying plant tissues, students examined ready-made specimens in the laboratory and observed the flowers and cones brought into class. On the field trip they were organised, they had the chance to see, in their natural setting, angiosperm and gymnosperm plants, the life cycle of moss, leaf types, venation patterns, the growth rings of a tree and the structure of a seed. They experienced anaerobic respiration, that is fermentation, by making pizza rather than plain dough; they observed first-hand the formation of carbon dioxide gas in ethyl alcohol fermentation.
Grade 11: A Virtual Journey Inside the Heart
The journey into the digestive and circulatory systems made with virtual-reality goggles was thrilling: the flow of blood within the vessels, the rhythm of the heartbeat and the villi in the small intestine were seen up close. The students then examined a mammalian heart in the laboratory and saw in three dimensions the chambers of the heart, the locations of the atria and ventricles, the muscle structure and the valves. This experience made the topic far easier to understand and ensured lasting learning.
A student who learns a topic by touching, building and observing it never forgets it again.
Grade 10: Terrarium and Vegetative Propagation
With the terrarium activity, students built a small ecosystem and experienced first-hand the living and non-living factors that make it up. This work both developed their manual skills and will remain a keepsake in their homes. In the vegetative propagation activity, they learned by doing how a new plant forms from a plant part, using violet, snake plant and potato. The attempt to propagate from potato peelings was watched with curiosity; as the first leaves emerged, the excitement grew.
Little Hands at Work
An idea born while the topic of dialysis was being taught in class turned into a meaningful social-responsibility project. Thinking of the long, tedious hours that children who have lost kidney function spend hooked up to a dialysis machine, the students decided to make them toys by hand. Over roughly a month of work, they learned to sew and to make felt toys.
In brief
- Biology was experienced in its natural setting through a plant trip, fermentation and a terrarium.
- Virtual reality and laboratory work strengthened lasting learning.
- The Little Hands at Work project turned knowledge into an act of conscience and empathy.
You can explore our hands-on and international education approach on our IB Diploma Program page or get in touch with us.
Gökkuşağı Koleji · Holding knowledge in your hands, learning by doing.