Topic: Features of the organisms. Biology in the past and today

Target group

5th‑grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

Lesson objectives

Students list the features of organisms and the factors they need to live

The criteria for success

• together with your colleagues, you will create a poster that will be legible and contain correctly formed information;

• you will discuss the five features of organisms and the five factors they need to live;

• you will explain what biology deals with;

• you will specify six fields of biology.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• mathematical competence and basis competences in science and technology;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Methods/forms of work

• Talk, poster method and working with text.

• Individual activity and activity in groups.

Teaching aids

• abstract;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• grey paper;

• marker pens;

• sheets with illustration “What are characteristic features of organisms?”;

• A4 sheets with illustration “Without what can't organisms live?”;

• stickers.

lesson phases

Introduction

1. The teacher specifies the topic and objective of the lesson in a language the student understands, and the criteria for success.

Realization

1. The teacher displays an illustration “What are characteristic features of organisms?” and presents its printout on a large sheet of paper.

The teacher writes down the following instructions on the board:

• cross out objects that are not organisms;

• write down the features of organisms around the objects and beings shown in the illustration. Then the teacher divides the students into groups. Each group receives a sheet of paper with an illustration.

The teacher asks the students to name one of the features of organisms and writes it down on the sheet‑poster presented. The teacher makes sure students understand the task and encourages them to work.

2. After the time set by the teacher, the representatives of the groups hang the completed posters and stand next to them. The student from the first group reads out one of the features written on the poster. Representatives of other groups look for it on their sheets and tick it. The representative of the second group reads another feature and it is ticked on the other posters. Students repeat these steps until all the features of organisms written by the students are ticked on the posters.

3. Students check in an abstract (illustration “Vital functions of organisms”), whether they mentioned all features of organisms. The teacher helps students to decide whether they should leave on the poster or remove from it the features that are not mentioned in the abstract.

4. Students complete their posters using an illustration gallery made of three graphics: “Cellular structure”, “Metabolism and energy conversion” and “Horse evolution”.

5. The teacher gives the students the stickers and asks them to stick them on the most readable poster, which also contains the correctly formed information. The teacher reserves that the students cannot assess their own group's poster.

6. Working in groups, the students analyse the illustration “Without what can't organisms live?” and then discuss the factors that are essential for the organisms to live. Together they make a note by paraphrasing the descriptions in the illustration (defining the individual factors in their own words).

7. The teacher asks the students to read the abstract about biology as a science (“Biology as a life science” and “History of biological sciences”). Then, the teacher asks the students to explain what biology deals with and to specify its fields. The teacher asks students which of the biology fields are of most interest to them.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students to explain why a car is not an organism.

2. The teacher displays the success criteria on the screen and suggests that each student assesses his/her performance. The volunteers tell the whole class about it. The teacher asks the students which of the tasks performed during the classes were most difficult for them.

Homework for the interested students

Students do interactive exercise no. 1.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Biology in the past and today

It is difficult to state unequivocally and comprehensively what living beings are. One of the features that makes it easy to distinguish them from inanimate matter is their ability to move around on their own. Most animals do move, but plants, for example, are stationary in the ground, although they are alive. Organisms receive information from the environment and respond to it by changing their behaviour or functioning, however this can be easily observed without detailed studies only in species capable of moving. The organism grows at the beginning of its life, but an adult will generally no longer grow in size. Moreover, a phenomenon similar to growth can be observed in the case of some inanimate objects, e.g. salt crystals. Organisms obtain the energy they need to live by breathing. However, the seeds of some plants can remain in a state where they do not even show signs of respiration for a long time. As can be seen, defining what the organism is is not an easy task.

According to modern biologists, a living being is one that takes necessary substances from the environment and converts them into energy in order to maintain its life functions, that is nourishes, breathes, excretes, moves, reacts to stimuli, grows and develops, as well as it has the ability to reproduce. Organisms have the ability to evolve, which means that their next generations are gradually adapting to changing environmental conditions. All organisms are made up of cells and can take different forms. The simplest ones are unicellular, prokaryotic bacteria, the most complex ones are made of trillions of cells of various types (trees or whales).

The conditions on Earth are ideal for the existence of life. The presence of light, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and the appropriate temperature contribute to the fact that the planet is inhabited by millions of species. Its distance from the Sun provides sufficient light energy and a temperature at which water occurs in three states of matter. The rotary movement causes the Earth to heat up evenly, while the right mass determines the existence of atmosphere around the Earth, which acts as a heat retaining coating. The oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are the two most important gases for life.

Biology is a life science – it studies organisms living on Earth today and those that used to live in old times. Its name comes from Greek words: bios – life and logos – science. This term was introduced by the French naturalist – Jean Baptiste Lamarck at the beginning of the 19th century. Biologists study the structure of organisms and their vital functions, as well as the relationship between organisms and the environment. They are trying to answer the following questions: Where do the organisms come from? How is it they are so different? How do organisms transfer their features to their offspring?

Biology is a science based on observation, experimentation and explanation of facts. Scientists do not limit themselves to working in a laboratory, they also study organisms in their natural environment –-- in all corners of the Earth. Biology is a rapidly developing natural knowledge domain and covers many fields.

The foundations of scientific knowledge of the world were created in antiquity. Already at that time organisms were described and divided into groups.  We owe the description of details of the structure of the human body and the functioning of its organs to researchers from the 16th century. The 17th century was marked by a special invention – the first microscope, thanks to which the world of microorganisms was discovered. The foundations of modern organism systematics was created in the 18th century. In the 19th century it was proved that all organisms are made up of cells, the theory of biological evolution was announced, and the rules of inheritance of features of organisms were discovered. The 20th century was a dynamic development of biochemistry and genetics. The design of the electron microscope allowed for studying the secrets of structure of cells and chemical molecules. Discovering DNA, where the features of each organism are recorded, was one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind. It caused the development of genetic engineering and allowed to read the genome of a human being. The present century – century of biotechnology – gives hope for the use of deliberately transformed organisms, for example in the fight against diseases.

• Organisms are made up of cells.

• Organisms take up body building substances and energy from the environment to sustain their vital functions.

• Environmental factors affect the life and activity of organisms.

• Biology is a science that studies organisms living on the Earth.

• The development of biological sciences made it possible to learn about the world of living beings, including humans.