Visual Biology Beginnings: Draw Your Way Through Middle School Life Science

Visual Biology Beginnings is designed for on-level middle schoolers and advanced elementary learners. Vivid animations keep learners engaged while my conversational question and answer style provide many inroads to engage with this class. It's also great for leaners that want to learn how to draw on Procreate or practice their drawing skills. Learners are encouraged to draw their own set of sketch notes with me. 

Each class is based around current research in the field of biology, featuring recently published articles in popular science magazines, such as the Smithsonian, Scientific America, or Science News. I try to find innovative ways to teach the standards, for example I use sea sponge anatomy to teach cell theory.

I believe a good class is centered around good questions. I build my classes around leading questions and I engage students by asking them to share what they already know or to invent their own hypothesis. This approach creates a conversational atmosphere where students feel encouraged to speak up and ask questions. Parents say that my classes leave their students feeling smart and empowered. 

In this class, we often dip our toes into advanced topics that aren't normally covered in middles school biology classes. For example, we discussed the carbonate-silicate cycle which explains how sea cucumbers are affecting coral reefs. We discovered that carbonate and calcium that weathers from mountains ends up in the ocean where sea cucumbers help process it into a form that corals can use for their skeletons. This class challenges students with high level material. I use animations and metaphor to make college level concepts comprehensible for a younger audience. 

I celebrate neurodiversity and encourage neurodiverse learners to give this class a try. I myself am dyslexic and have always understood things better through graphics rather than words. This class is also a great fit for learners with ADHD or Auditory Processing Disorder. 

Each week we will explore one of four categories of life sciences. 
In Learning Standard 1 (LS1 - Cells) we explore the inner workings of cells and talk about tissues and organs. For examples, in MS.LS.1.3 we explored the organs of sleeping glass frogs who hide their red blood cells inside their liver to become completely transparent! We discussed the role of the liver in our bodies and how hexagon shaped chambers and the hepatocytes within them filter blood and store nutrients. 

In Learning Standard 2 (LS2 - Ecosystems) we explore animals relationships to each other, plants, and the earth systems around them. For example, in MS.LS.2.4 we investigated why there are so many Mosasaur fossils on the west coast of Africa - answer: because ocean upwelling provided many nutrients for sea creatures in that region. I love Marine Biology and often weave Marine Biology topics into my classes. 

In Learning Standard 3 (LS3 - Genetics) we explore how different versions of genes create different organisms and how genes are inherited. In MS.LS.3.1, we explored how mutations in two zebra fish genes can create fins that have extra bones and could have led to the evolution of arms and legs in four legged animals! 

In Learning Standard 4 (LS4 - Evolution) we explore how the incredible variety of life forms on earth have proliferated through the process of evolution. In MS.LS.4.1, we delved into the fossil record to make a comprehensive history of all 5 mass extinction events that have shaped life as we know it, including the asteroid that ended the reign of the dinosaurs.

However each time we cycle through the 21 topics laid out by the Next Generation Science Standards, we will use a different subtopic to bring them to life. For example, while studying MS.LS.1.7  -  ("Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.")  -  one cycle we may talk about the molecular mechanisms of muscles, and on another cycle, we might talk about how caffein affects energy production in the brain. Learners can stay enrolled in VBB indefinitely, and many have, to continuously deepen their passion for and knowledge of science. 

Here is the weekly schedule of topics:

Summer 2025 

April 21-25	        MS.LS1.2: Organelles’ Functions in Cells
April 28-May 2	MS.LS2.2: Types of Symbiosis
May 5-9	                MS.LS3.2: Genetic Inheritance 
May 12-16        	MS.LS4.2: Convergent and Divergent Evolution 
May 19-23	        MS.LS1.3: Organ Systems
May 26-30	        MS.LS2.3: Matter Cycles and Energy Flows 
Jun 2-6	                MS.LS4.3: Similarities in Embryos
Jun 9-13	                MS.LS1.4: Reproductive Success 
Jun 16-20	        MS.LS2.4: Population Dynamics 
Jun 23-27	        MS.LS4.4: Adaptations and the Environment
Jun 30-Jul 4	        MS.LS1.5: Genotypes and Phenotypes 
Jul 7-11	                MS.LS2.5: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 
Jul 14-18	                MS.LS4.5: Gene Editing Technology
Jul 21-25	                MS.LS1.6: Photosynthesis
Jul 28-Aug 1      	Vacation
Aug 4-8	                Vacation
Aug 11-15          	Vacation
Aug 18-22          	MS.LS4.6: Useful Traits become more Common
Aug 25-29        	MS.LS1.7: Cellular Respiration
Sep 1-5             	MS.LS1.8: The Nervous System
Sep 8-12         	MS.LS1.1: Cells are the Basic Unit of Life
Sep 15-19         	MS.LS2.1: Populations and Resources in Ecosystems
Sep 22-26          	MS.LS3.1: Changes to our DNA cause changes to our bodies
Sep 29-Oct 3 	MS.LS4.1: Fossils show the history of evolution

MS = Middle School
LS = Life Science

LS1 - Cells
LS2 - Ecosystems
LS3 - Genetics
LS4 - Evolution

For more details about the Next Generation Science Standards click here: 
https://my.nsta.org/ngss/AccessStandardsByDCI.aspx#tab-middle