Jordan de Jong

s3278192
Assignment - Part 1: Year 7 Classification Test

Question 1 – Give 4 of the characteristics that all living things have in common.

Purpose: The purpose was to see if students had an understanding of what made
something living.

Response: The responses could have been any of: reproduce, use energy, require
water, require nutrients or grow. Most students provided the correct answers to this
question but there were some common mistakes that students had derived from other
topics in this unit eg: some students responded with things like “a back bone” or
“warm blood”. This was either the students guessing or a lack of understanding about
what a “living thing” is. A full mark was awarded for each of the 4 correct
characteristics given. Other responses listed 2 or 3 characteristics but left it
incomplete indicating they hadn’t learnt or remembered all of them.

Conclusion: Apart from the few that left the question blank, most students got marks
for 3 or 4 responses with the common errors listed above.

Question 2 – How are dead things different from non-living things?

Purpose: This question was to see if students made the link between what the
characteristics of a living thing are used for (by using them in their response).

Response: The correct answer was anything along the lines of; dead things were once
living but stopped showing the characteristics of a living thing, non-living things were
never alive. This question was often answered simplistically like; dead has died and
non-living was never alive. One mark was awarded for a simple answer like this but
unless they showed an understanding of the characteristics of living things in their
answer a full mark (2 marks) was not given.

Conclusion: Most students didn’t relate the question to the characteristics of living
things however most got the 1 mark for understanding a basic difference between
non-living and dead things. I think the question could have worked better if it
mentioned to include something about the characteristics of a living thing to tell them
apart, without this prompt most students didn’t think that deeply into the question.

Question 3 – What are animals…

a) With backbones called?
b) Without backbones called?

Purpose: The question was to test the students’ knowledge of the key terms learnt in
the unit and prompt students to use scientific language.

Response: The correct responses were vertebrates and invertebrates (respectively).

This was largely either answered correctly or not answered at all. About 30% of
students got the correct answer and were awarded the full 2 marks. Although most
either not answered it or were correct, some students answered with other words from
the unit like exoskeleton/endoskeleton, cold blooded/warm blooded etc. Another
common mistake was swapping the answers around (with backbone called
invertebrate).

Conclusion: The wrong answers indicate students are aware of what the question is
asking for and having a go even if they don’t remember the words or exact
definitions.

Question 4 – What is an:

a) Exoskeleton? Give 2 examples of animals with exoskeletons.
b) Endoskeleton? Give 2 examples of animals with endoskeletons.

Purpose: Once again seeking to determine if students have a sound knowledge of

scientific language and the content that was taught in the unit. However it is different
to the last question as the terms are given to students to define.

Response: The correct answers were along the lines of; exoskeleton is an outer or
external skeleton, with correct examples. 1 mark was awarded for each definition and
example (total 6 marks). Just like question 3 there were many answers that had the
two terms mixed up. It was evident in many responses that students knew the
definitions but didn’t link that with the examples.

Conclusion: Although not by much, more students answered this question correctly
than question 3 indicating having the term provided might help some students. As
mentioned, more work should be spent teaching examples of these terms in class.

Question 5 – Use an animal key to determine the vertebrate group each animal
belongs to: a) mouse b) toad c) echidna d) emu
(Very simple dichotomous key was provided as a table)

Purpose: To use a basic key to identify animals based on their characteristics. This
would demonstrate problem solving skills and the ability to work through
instructions.

Response: The question was worth 1 mark per animal (4 marks). Students weren’t
required to show their working through the key. This question was very poorly
answered with many students leaving it blank.

Conclusion: Students might not have done enough work on dichotomous keys (not
actually doing many in class). It was an easy question so I can only put this down to
unfamiliarity with the keys. A problem with the question was that if students knew an
emu was a bird anyway then it wouldn’t actually be testing what they learnt about
using keys.

Question 6 – Use an arrow to match the clues with the words.

Words: monotreme, vertebrate, placentals, bony fish, reptiles, invertebrates,
endoskeleton, amphibian, cartilaginous, marsupial.
Purpose: Once again testing if students were familiar with key words from the unit
and their meanings. The layout of the question aims for students to do what they know
first so they can increase their chance of correct responses for the remaining words.

Response: Students results were very mixed with this question from higher level
students getting all 10 down to lower level students leaving it blank or guessing. Each
correct link was given 1 mark.

Conclusion: In conclusion I wouldn’t use the “draw a line connecting…” approach

again. I don’t think students performed as well as if it had another layout, I think
many students just rushed through it without too much thought. Responses were also
very messy and a nightmare to correct.

Question 7 – Multiple choice. Eg: Which of the following substances is a product of

photosynthesis? (Options: flour, glucose, glycogen or nutrasweet).

Purpose: This question was part of 10 multiple choice questions worth 1 mark each.
The questions were to tests the students’ knowledge on plant reproduction and
photosynthesis.

Response: Students performed well in the multiple choice questions with most
achieving 40% or higher if the questions were attempted by the student. I noted that
not many students were thrown out by similar terms in the multi-choice questions
(lick glucose and glycogen) which I thought was interesting when looking at the
problems they had in the earlier animal questions.

Conclusion: The class performed reasonably well and multi-choice was a good, fair
way to assess this topic. The success on these questions could be because there was a
bit more time spent on plants than animals.

Question 8 – What is the difference between pollination and fertilization in plants?

Purpose: To see if students can explain the differences between the two and have an
understanding of the different stages of plant reproduction.

Response: The correct response was; pollination is the process of pollen being
deposited on the stigma by an animal or the wind, fertilization is when the pollen is
carried down into the flower to fertilize the egg/s. The question was worth 2 marks in
total. Most students didn’t get the marks. Many students left it blank, others answered
one was wind and the other was animal pollination.

Conclusion: I think this area of plant reproduction was rushed over. The actually
detailed explanation of how the pollen fertilised the flower was brief.

Question 9 – Label the diagram below (a flower with arrows to the different
structures).

Purpose: Students were taught the various structures of a flower and their functions as
a major part of the unit so labelling the diagrams should show how much they learnt.
Response: This question was well answered, there were 8 labels to be added and most
students got full marks.

Conclusion: The parts of a flower were covered using bookwork, a 3D flower model,
and a prac dissecting flowers. Given the different teaching styles used and the amount
of time spent on the flower structures it’s no surprise they performed so well. I think
the visual question might also appear to the students as easier because they don’t have
to read a question with complex terms.

Question 10 – Describe two ways that seeds may be dispersed.

Purpose: To demonstrate knowledge of the purpose of fruit in dispersal and wind with
airborne seeds.

Response: The correct answers were wind and animals. About half the students got
the full 2 marks for this question but many still answered as if it was a pollination
question giving the response “bees”.

Conclusion: More time should be spent separating the pollination, fertilisation and
dispersal stages of plant reproduction. Although it was all covered in good detail some
students weren’t able to separate the process of plant reproduction into these stages.

Part 2
I took a “weighted” year 7 maths class. Students were required to complete a
minimum number of points before they could leave; otherwise it was finished at lunch
time. The class had hands-on maths puzzles, one puzzle per box. Students had to
complete the puzzle and fill out a question sheet about it to have it signed off on by
the teacher before they could get a new box (so there could be no cheating). The
puzzles were divided into numeracy, algebra and geometry, represented by a different
coloured dot on the box. The algebra puzzles being harder were worth the most
points.

I saw a few different approaches from the students. Most of the higher level students
would work on the algebra problems however there were some students that were
capable of the harder puzzles but opted to try and do the easier puzzles because they
were faster. Both strategies worked well but because they still had to write up how
they solved the puzzle, doing lots of easier ones wasn’t necessarily a speed advantage.
Capable students who were opting for the easier option were prompted to try
something a bit harder and most were onto the algebra puzzles by the end of the
lesson.

I found most of the girls were going for the easier puzzles and the boys were
reasonably mixed, but most picked the puzzles that were suitable for their skill level.
This particular class didn’t have many girls and most were low achieving students so I
wouldn’t make any inferences on just this class alone. There were a lot of boys in the
class of more mixed abilities and this was reflected in the puzzles they chose.

The less motivated students chose the easier puzzles but had to be pushed to get the
required number of points. Although they were the ‘easy’ option the more basic
puzzles were still difficult for the lower end students. Although it was a practical,
hands-on lesson they demonstrated a low level of engagement and enthusiasm for the
tasks.