At its core, the Stem Ed website is intended for use as a two-week, ten-day lesson plan to be incorporated into the school year. The order of the lesson plans in the “Lessons” menu indicates the suggested order, with the lessons progressing from familiar cell biology and stem cell basics all the way to real-life applications of stem cells. Because we understand that teachers are busy and schedules hectic, each section or lesson plan was created to be presented either within the context of the other lessons or as a standalone lesson (with a few additional sources when necessary in order to “catch up” on any required background knowledge).

 

Although we recommend that a few lessons be grouped together (you’ll find a “suggested schedules” list below), the power to mix and match is entirely up to you! Because you know your students more than we ever could, the freedom to pick and choose will hopefully allow for a tailored lesson plan guaranteed to keep your students interested in the topics and excited to learn each day.

 

Each lesson is presented in a similar layout, and each subsection is intended to guide you through a different step in the learning process. The subsections, along with their descriptions, are listed here to help you better navigate the website. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at stemedcmu@gmail.com.

 

Happy Learning!

 

 

LESSONS

The Stem Ed lesson plan is composed of ten individual lessons, each focused on one specific element of stem cell engineering identified as crucial to a student’s understanding of the field. Every lesson contains a Learn, Practice, & Explore section, and both teacher and general resources are listed at the end for easy access to the knowledge base used to inform the lessons. Taken together, these sections are meant to keep students engaged in the material in a variety of ways, allowing for successful understanding and review of the information at hand. Because we understand that students learn differently, we did our best to include both text-based and multimedia presentations of the content, with pictures and videos scattered throughout each page and activities which allow for hands-on exposure to the subject matter. The lessons are meant to take approximately one class period to complete, with some of the work being done either before or after class for a select number of lessons. The core content should take no more than thirty or forty minutes to complete if taught directly from the Learn text, although more time should be allotted for watching videos. The length of the activities varies greatly, and teachers should use their discretion when deciding how to tackle the allocation of time. For some lessons, we recommend a flipped-classroom experience, with students reading the content before coming to class to complete the activity. For others, it will be far more useful to the students for the teachers to present the material in class, with activities sent home as homework. Still, others can be accomplished in their entirety in one class period.

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LEARN

This section contains all of the content to be taught for the lesson and houses all the information required in order to successfully complete the lesson’s related activity. In order to allow for a flipped-classroom experience, the content is written with a middle school student in mind, although teachers should also feel free to present the material to their students in class utilizing whichever format allows for the most accessibility of content (we’ve found that PowerPoints and drawings help cement tricky concepts). Pictures, illustrations, and videos are provided throughout the text when possible to “give a face to a name,” and their original sources can be found in the “Sources” section (see below). The main goal of this section is to expose students to important material for the first time within the context of the proposed “Master Lesson Plan.” For this reason, we suggest that teachers read through the Learn section for the specific lesson and all previous lessons in order to gain the background knowledge crucial to properly teaching the content. We’ve done our best to keep the crossover between lessons to a bare minimum, but this is the easiest way to ensure that you can answer any questions in class.

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PRACTICE

The Practice section is all about solidifying the material presented in the Learn section. In order to keep the lessons engaging, each and every lesson has a different style of activity associated with it. Whether you’re looking for a hands-on, play doh-based approach to stem cell basics or an online Buzzfeed quiz which will tell you exactly which type of Adult Stem Cell you are, you can find it in this section. Because the formatting of this sections varies widely from one lesson to the next, we suggest that you browse through each option to find what might work best for your classroom. Answer keys and a list of necessary materials are provided where applicable.

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EXPLORE

Intended for the curious and the click-happy, the Explore section provides extra opportunities to learn about the specific content. This section is a bit of a grab bag, with content ranging from supplemental videos to scholarly journals to newspaper articles. Depending on the individual, different Explore sections will be interesting or useful, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to look through every single option in order to fully master the material. This section provides even more of an opportunity to spend time with the content, allowing for further solidification of content while also potentially inspiring new interest in the subject matter. All Explore options link to outside sources, and although each has been thoroughly checked by Stem Ed Team Members to be trustworthy, caution should be taken when appropriate.

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TEACHER RESOURCES

Within this section can be found sources which discuss the lesson content at a higher level; in many cases, these sources are the same ones used by the Stem Ed Team Members to create the content. These resources are presented to provide a more in-depth discussion of the material and can be a lifesaver for teachers with a classroom full of curious students with more questions than ever thought possible. Although not intended for middle school students, the resources found here should be accessible to anyone with a moderate exposure to human anatomy and biology when Google or another search engine is open to allow for looking up the occasional (or more than occasional) unfamiliar word.

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SOURCES

This section contains links for each of the embedded multimedia components of the lessons. Clicking on the links will take you to the original source of the material.

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SUGGESTED SCHEDULES

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Plan 1. The Basics

Sections: Basic Cell Biology, What is a Stem Cell?, Embryonic Stem Cells & Development, Adult Stem Cells, iPS Cells.

Description: Just like the title says, this lesson plan covers the basics of stem cells. Starting with basic cell biology intended to give students some context of what cells are made of and how they function, this plan then dives into explaining what stem cells are. The plan finishes by laying out the three main types of stem cells: Adult, Embryonic, and iPS.

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Plan 2. Background & Applications

Sections: Basic Cell Biology, What is a Stem Cell?, Disease Modeling

Description: For classes more interested in real-world applications, this plan starts by providing context about cells both generally and with a focus on stem cells. Once the basic characteristics of a stem cell are laid out, the plan moves into the direct application of stem cells to disease modeling, providing an actual example of how these cells are utilized in a laboratory setting.​

 

Plan 3. Basics & Applications

Sections: What is a Stem Cell?, Embryonic Stem Cells & Development, Adult Stem Cells, iPS Cells, Tissue Regeneration

Description: This plan covers stem cell basics first, foregoing basic cell biology (something that a number of middle schoolers might have already learned about). Following stem cell basics, the main characteristics for embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and iPS cells are covered. Through the Tissue Regeneration lesson, students are encouraged to apply what they learned in solving a unique, real-world problem which they have the opportunity to select.

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Plan 4. Stem Cells in the Lab

Sections: Basic Cell Biology, What is a Stem Cell?, Working With Cells in the Lab

Description: Intended for classes who are just embarking on experimental learning, this plan covers the basics of both general and stem cell characteristics and functioning. Once students have a working knowledge of stem cells, they are introduced to basic instruments and methods utilized in stem cell laboratories.

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Plan 5. Basics, Ethics & Applications

Sections: What is a Stem Cell?, Stem Cell Types & Stem Cell Ethics, Disease Modeling (OR Tissue Regeneration)

Description: In addition to cell basics, this lesson plan introduces the different types of stem cells by comparing and contrasting each, as well as the ethics surrounding the use of stem cells. After grasping the context surrounding and considerations made when applying stem cells, students will be given an opportunity to complete one or both stem cell application activities. It should be noted that this lesson plan dives into the ethics surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells.

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Plan 6. Bare Bones

Sections: What is a Stem Cell?, Stem Cell Types & Stem Cell Ethics

Description: Meant for short weeks or classes where a new topic is introduced every day, this plan covers stem cell basics, including their characteristics and properties, before moving onto a general overview of the types of stem cells available and their optimal applications. In addition, controversy surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells is addressed, giving a broad overview of stem cells and what is most often talked about when stem cells are mentioned.

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Plan 7. The Whole Shebang

Sections: All sections

Description: This lesson plan is meant for truly dedicated classes passionate about STEM, as it provides an extensive overview of stem cells and some of their applications. Based off of a graduate level class at Carnegie Mellon University and boiled down to be understood by a middle school audience, this lesson plan is guaranteed to leave students walking away with a better understanding of stem cells than most adults. Although it might sound intimidating, we really recommend this option (and not just because we took time to write all of the content)!

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COMPREHENSIVE LESSON PLAN BOOKLET