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Interview Sixth Grade Life Science Students On The Topic Of Cell Division

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I chose to interview seventh grade life science students on the topic of cell division. Because I teach at a magnet junior high/ high school within Toledo Public students, the students I teach in the seventh grade are coming from a variety of different elementary schools both in and out of the district. This results in a wide variety of prior content knowledge in science. Based on the Ohio New Learning Standards for Science, in the sixth grade, students are introduced to the idea of mitosis and that cells come from pre-existing cells. However, based on my past two years of experience teaching seventh grade life science, this is often not the case. Most students have a basic understanding of cells, but have not been introduced to mitosis, nor the major component of cell theory that all cells come from pre-existing cells. It may also be important to note that my seventh grade class incorporates both seventh and eighth grade life science standards from the Ohio New Learning Standards for Science.
Interviews began as students were shown a model of a cell which is shown in Image 1. Students were first asked the stem question, “What is this a model of?” From there students were asked, “Where do cells come from?” The probing questions asked to students were dependent on their responses, but were asked in order to reveal their knowledge of cell division. Three student responses are described in this paper, as they revealed a variety of prior content knowledge. Three

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