Viruses are so fun to teach! I absolutely love it and wish they could have their own unit all to themselves.
What unit do you teach viruses in? We used to teach them with cells, but found that the amount of content with that unit was already overwhelming. We now teach them in our intro unit. We discuss characteristics of life and then students learn about viruses. At the end of the unit, they have to write a CER and answer the essential question, are viruses alive? This takes about 5 days to cover. Below you will find a breakdown of the lessons and activities that we complete.
Day 1: Virus Morphology (GOOGLE SLIDE PRESENTATION)
The first day is spent learning about the morphology of viruses. Viruses have such unique and interesting structures and it is used to classify types of viruses.
On the Google Slides presentation, there is a chart that students will fill out as we discuss morphology. Make a copy and distribute or have students copy this chart before beginning. (Slide 2)
Students are split up into 5 groups. If you need more groups, you can add more viruses to the rotations or have some groups looking at the same viruses. I usually try to stay pretty flexible.
One of the following: polio, HIV, Ebola, bacteriophage, and hepatitis plushies are placed with each group.
I give each group about a minute to look at their virus and make initial observations, then we pass the viruses to another group. (Slide 3)
When we are done we discuss capsids and different shapes viruses have. They look at their notes and try to classify each of the viruses. We discuss answers. (Slide 4-5)
On the back of the chart or on the next page in their notebook, I then have them label a bacteriophage. (Slide 6)
Next we discuss nucleic acids and how they are vary from virus to virus (slide 7). Students fill out the chart with type of nucleic acid found in each virus.
Lastly, we discuss envelopes and students fill out the chart. Next to the bacteriophage drawing, I usually have the jot down a few notes about how envelopes are formed.
Day 2 or Homework: Bacteriophage Character Drawings
I LOVE this assignment. It is probably one of my favorites. I use this because it helps me get to know the kids and they can get some practice learning the parts of the bacteriophage. Basically, students draw a bacteriophage with major parts, find the function of each part, and then give their virus some character! They pick something that depicts their greatness and they turn the virus into that. Here are some examples.
Day 3: Virus Reproduction
Today we discuss how viruses reproduce and the differences between the lytic and lysogenic cycles.
I like to begin with a quick retrieval practice exercise. If you haven't heard of retrieval practice, give it a google or check out Cult of Pedagogy article. It's just a short little quiz, no grade, no notes allowed. Below is what it looks like with the answers. I would normally put this up with A, B, C, and D blank.
This year I created a card sort with pictures and definitions from the lytic and lysogenic cycles. The lytic cycle cards were labeled with an A and the lysogenic cards were labeled with a B. Before we started, the kids sorted them into two groups.
Then I had them take pile A and match the descriptions with the pictures and then put it in what they thought would be a logical order. I walked around and checked work and answered questions. After everyone had their answers, we watch just the LYTICS portion of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwQdfFJAZfs and students can make any changes to their cards.
Then I have them match the descriptions and pictures of the B cards. Once they have that, they try and figure out how they fit into the cycle they just made. They usually have a harder time with this. Again, I walk around and answer questions and give feedback. Then we watch the rest of the video and they can make edits to their sequence.
Next, they use the cards to fill out the cycle notes you see below.
Day 4: Evolution of Viruses
Lastly, we discuss viruses ability to evolve.
Here are a couple of my favorite videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X31g5TB-MRo .
You could watch these as a class, make video questions, or put into Edpuzzle.
Day 5: Are viruses alive? Reasoning Chart and CER
This is our wrap up day. Students take all the information we have worked on the last 4 days and use this reasoning chart to decide whether or not they want to claim: Viruses are alive or viruses are not alive. (We discuss characteristics of life before we begin viruses).
Students can work in groups or by themselves to first fill out their reasoning chart. I will walk around, answer questions, and guide those who are struggling in the right direction. Once they chart is filled out, they will use this to write a CER. I have at this point, discussed what CERs are and how to the write them. This would be hard to do without teaching that first.
Here are the documents:
I hope this helps you plan for the next time you teach viruses!
Happy teaching!
Mrs. Townsend
Peep my cute bacteriophage! It's my 2nd passion besides teaching, crocheting.
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