Connect students directly to the concept in a personal way. Capture students' attention by initiating a group problem-solving activity before delivery of instruction. Begin with a situation that is familiar to students and builds on what they already know. Construct a learning experience that allows diverse and personal student responses. Facilitate the work of cooperative teams of students.
Announce to the class that they have just been selected as winners in Intergalactic Airline’s 1st annual Sweepstakes.
Objective: The students will be able to explore their personal definition of what it means to be alive, analyze differences between necessities for survival and extra comforts and compose a basic scientific premise from which a definition can be used and consistently applied to distinguish living from non-living things..
Activity: Announce to the class that they have just been selected as winners in Intergalactic Airline’s 1st annual Sweepstakes. They each have received a complementary round trip with full accommodations for two weeks to any planet of their choice. As a condition of the contest, however, the students must assemble a traveler’s journal providing an overview of their destination to encourage other tourists to visit the selected planet.
Items to be included in the Traveler’s Journal are, photos and illustrations of the region and interesting sights like landscapes, cityscapes, etc., a description of the climate, unique customs, and cuisine, and finally, a list of fun things to do and see while visiting.
