How do you inspire enthusiasm for biology on the first day of class? Here, the challenge is motivation. Teaching is effective only if students are ready to learn. They must be primed to see the subject as interesting or meaningful. Otherwise, nothing gets internalized. Schooling risks becoming a short-term memory game.
So, here is a simple activity to start the year. One that you can also revisit throughout the year. Lead a contest to find "The World's Most Extraordinary Organism."
"This class is about living things. So we are going to find some examples to consider. But not ordinary organisms, like dogs or cats or goldfish or cows or horses or frogs. We already know about them. Let's find some amazing organisms. Something truly exciting. Something worth studying! We are going to have a class contest to find the world's most extraordinary organism. Everybody enters. For your first homework project,...
University of California Press