Middle/High School Science: Microorganisms, Bacteria, Protists, and More!

👋 INTRODUCTION 👋

I'm so excited to offer this class! This is a course I've been wanting to develop for a while, because microorganisms interest me so much! I remember when I was first introduced to them. I was in my freshman cell biology class completing a lab. The lab was about taking pictures of protists under a microscope. I was amazed to see all those little creatures moving around on there! I thought instantly that students of this age group would love to learn about microorganisms. 

This course will take students through the 6 different types of microorganisms, including:
 
1. Bacteria
2. Viruses
3. Fungi
4. Protozoa
5. Algae
6. Archaea

🧠 REQUIREMENTS 🧠

Microorganisms is a topic that most students won't know a lot about! Consequently, students do not need any prior Biology knowledge to join this course. (Really! None at all!)

On the flip side, this course may be TOO EASY for your learner if they already understand 3 or more of these concepts: 

1. The parts of prokaryotic cells.
2. How prokaryotic cells are different from eukaryotic cells.
3. The parts of bacteria, including the shapes that bacteria can come in. 
4. The parts of a virus, including how it enters a host cell.
5. Why viruses are not considered alive. 
6. Specifics of the bacteriophage lytic and lysogenic cycles.
7. The parts of the fungi group. 
8. How fungi reproduce using spores and other mechanisms.
9. How mold grows and propagates on rotten food.
10. The general structure of algae.
11. The difference between red and green algae. 
12. General parts of protozoa and their properties. 
13. How protozoa feed and move using cilia and other structures.
14. General parts of archaea.
15. Why archaea can survive in extreme environments.
16. Chemosynthesis.

🥼 WHAT CAN I EXPECT? 🥼

This class has a live session every week. These live sessions are interactive, but the level of interactivity mostly depends on student initiative. I do not "cold-call" or force students to participate. This is a great fit if your student is nervous or anxious about speaking in class! For interactive students, they can participate in 2 ways: 

- Using our open chat box (as long as class rules are maintained)
- Raising their virtual hand on Zoom and waiting for me to call on them before unmuting

I do my best to maintain an open, loving, and positive space for students of all backgrounds to grow. I view each section of mine as a community that feeds off of each other. Because of this, I have 3 class rules that I expect all students to follow: 

1. Be a good "Zoom citizen." This means that students are expected to...
- avoid spamming the chat box with emoticons or words.
- wait their turn to speak and avoid interrupting their classmates.
- keep their microphone muted when they are not speaking to prevent background noise.
- avoid disrupting the class by drawing on the screen or trying to sabotage the Zoom call.

2. Be kind to everyone. This means that students are expected to...
- speak to other students with respect and kindness.
- avoid teasing or bullying other students. 

3. Be a supportive classmate and enhance the learning environment. This means that students are expected to...
- keep the class relatively on-topic and not try to distract classmates.
- use the chat box responsibly and help to keep the class on track.
- in general, come to class with a positive attitude and the willingness to be a part of our community.

If there is an issue with these rules or if your student violates one of these guidelines, I will usually give them a subtle warning during class time. If it continues beyond this, I will remove them from the session.

Students could bring their workbooks to class every time to complete the homework assignments early, take notes, or go over homework from a previous week. I will never require students to take notes, but they are welcome to do so and I'll be happy to accommodate that! 

When students come into the live session, there is usually a "Welcome" slide to greet them and relaxing music playing in the background. Students are free to interact with each other using the chat box as long as they maintain a positive space. 

My teaching style is fun, engaging and upbeat! I often compare scientific topics to real-life situations, and use doodles and drawings to explain concepts. There will be a 5-minute break halfway through the session for students to use the bathroom or grab a snack.

After each session, students can expect to receive all the notes and materials I used during class in the Outschool classroom. All recordings are posted on the Outschool classroom. I do not use outside resources such as Google Classroom or a separate website; everything is on the classroom.

For a schedule, read on!

 🔬FULL SCHEDULE🔬

SESSIONS 1-3: Intro to the Course and Bacteria
- Introduction to the course: rules, icebreakers, and building relationships!
- Intro to microorganisms and how they're different from other organisms
- Prokaryotic cells: bacteria
- Specific species of bacteria

SESSIONS 3-5: Viruses
- Viruses: living or not living? And why? 
- Bacteriophages 
- Specific types of retrovirses

SESSIONS 5-6: Algae
- Algae: life and components 
- Photosynthesis
- Specific species of algae

SESSIONS 6-8: Fungi
- Fungi's reproduction
- Types of fungi 
- Specific fungi species

SESSIONS 8-9: Archaea
- Extreme environments! 
- Archaea and chemosynthesis
- Specific archaea

SESSIONS 9-12: Protozoa
- Protozoa and micro-animals: intro
- Types of protozoa
- Specific species of protozoa 

🚪 REASONS WHY PEOPLE DISENROLL EARLY 🚪

I am very fortunate on Outschool to be blessed with great ratings and good experiences with students. Just like all teachers do, I rarely encounter situations where some parents pull their students out of my classes early because there is a misunderstanding or a conflict. To avoid this, here are some of the most popular reasons why this occurs:

1. My classes are on the larger side and they are not meant to be "hands-on." 

I do not mention any "hands-on" activities in my descriptions, but sometimes parents are disappointed when they find that my classes are not one-on-one and they don't include experiments of any kind. I understand that some students need one-on-one attention, but I urge you to look elsewhere on Outschool for some great private lessons from other great teachers. My classes are an interactive lecture-style and they are very much a group setting where a student's participation is dependent on their own initiative. I do provide one-on-one help with the use of Outschool messenger if students need help outside of class time.

2. I do not discipline students' behavior and expect them to know how to conduct themselves.

In general, I treat all my students like young adults. I expect that students know how to behave in an online classroom and that students are in my classes to learn and be productive classroom members. If your learner needs extra help or assistance with paying attention, being disruptive, or acting out, I will not spend lesson time teaching them how to behave and instead probably remove them from the class. Parents tend to love the amount of freedom I give to my students and it typically works out great. If your learner cannot maturely handle this freedom, there are many great teachers on Outschool who maintain a stricter environment!

3. I do not censor or silence students of specific backgrounds, identities, cultures, or orientations.

My main focus as a teacher is to create an environment where students feel accepted, strong, and loved. My zero-tolerance bullying policy and other classroom guidelines reflect this. I also think it is extremely important for students to interact with each other in the online classroom because many of my students are homeschooled and they struggle to make friends. To help with these goals, during certain periods of the class I allow my students to chat freely with one another and get to know each other as humans. This might mean that some students share their pronouns or identities. I do not and will not censor specific orientations or identities from being discussed as every type of student is welcome in my classroom and deserves to be supported. I do censor speech that violates our classroom guidelines; anything that is hateful, harmful, disturbing, or vulgar does warrant action.