CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT #3
PARADIGMS OR 4 NICKELS WORTH
There is a hierarchy of organization in life that does not exist in non-living entities. Crystals show organization and growth, but they remain primitive and incapable of the most of the processes typically associated with living conditions. One-celled organisms are actually quite complex, when examined microscopically, typically having organelles that all the higher organisms have. Teacher can explain how an organism reflects its' cellular level of organization and how a group of these organisms (i.e. population) reflects the individuals. Each of these levels has specific architecture, characteristics, and processes unique to the species composing that group. There are interactions between cells, just like there are interactions between populations and organisms. Caveat: Some biologists would argue with this paradigm and therefore encourage your students to do the same.
Modeling of cellular processes from human interactions and behavior will help students understand the unseen processes of cellular activities, as follows:
Gross cellular transport highway traffic flow, flowing
mechanism of humans passing each other in hall Agglutinating process clumping together, humans at rock
concert Exclusion not allowing certain types in a
group Inclusion allowing all football lovers to
watch TV on Sunday Reproduction having offspring Manufacturing factory-made products Secretion releasing manufacutred products on
the market Excretion getting rid of waste products,
sending garbage to the landfill Recycling re-using cans, bottles,
newspapers Responding moving your hand away from a hot
surface Signaling communicating on the Internet,
getting an email message Adjusting evolution,
acclimatization Exchange earning money and spending
it Surveillance not letting others enter, play,
interact Program/Control rules for staying alive, playing
the game Death dying, destruction Aging becoming a senior
citizen Growth growing from 20 inches to 6 feet
tall, catabolism Energy transformation filling car with gasoline, using a
flashlight, metabolism Eating feeding body required
nutrients