Subject taught
- Biology
- Chemistry

Link
https://www.philpoteducation.com/mod/book/view.php?id=793&chapterid=1058#/

Type of Product
- Web Site/Portal

Language Skills Developed
- Reading

Transferable/Scientific Skills Developed
• To observe, analyze and describe phenomena belonging to natural reality and to the aspects of daily life • To formulate hypothesis and verify them • To use simple schematizations and modelling • To acquire and understand information and know how to connect it • To face problematic situations.

Description
General aims
This resource aims to highlight the basic role of carbon for living matter. Life is based on it and all organisms are dependent on it. It is present on our planet in thousands of billions of tons and the set of
processes describing how this large amount of matter passes through the entire ecosystem in a continuous cycle is called the carbon cycle. Students must become aware that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is the result of a very delicate balance between the gains and losses that occur in the transfer of C between the various terrestrial spheres, that human activities also influence this balance and that its rupture could have devastating consequences for the life of the entire planet.
Linguistic aims
• To improve language skills in L2
• To enrich scientific vocabulary
• To know how to move from one linguistic register to another
• To produce clear and coherent texts in L2
• To summarize written texts

Subject specific aims
• To know the various types of interactions between organisms with
particular reference to food chains and networks.
• To know that in ecosystems matter is recycled and energy flows.
• To identify in human activities a danger for ecological balance.
• To understand that the biosphere is a global system made up of all the ecosystems on Earth.

Target group age
14-15 age

Level of competence in English (CEFR) B1

Time required to use the resource with the students
3 h : 1h presentation and analysis of the 1st activity
1h presentation and analysis of the 2nd activity
1h comparison and discussion

How to use it
After presenting the resource, the teacher divides the class into small groups, each of which must analyze, study it independently and integrate it with personal research. They must work mainly on schemes and carry out both activities present in the resource
At the end, each group must build its own work concerning what has been studied and learned. All the work will then be included in the final one which will cover the entire learning unit. The work can be produced in Power Point, through videos, audio interviews, animations. This further enhances digital skills.
The work will be presented to different classes

Possible difficulties for the students
The resource does not present particular issues for students

Comments
Strength/Weakness The resource is clear, the scheme is effective and the two activities present complement and further strengthen the understanding of the topic Scientific reliability From the site: “Philpot Education started in 2008 as the freelance work of Brad Philpot, who, besides teaching at an international school in Amsterdam, tutored IB students, organized workshops and wrote educational resources. Together with his partner Aafje van de Hulsbeek, they developed Philpot Education into the organization it is today. Between 2013-2018 we trained over 3000 international teachers on behalf of the International Baccalaureate Philpot Education aims to: • spread international mindedness in education, • inspire teachers to teach with enthusiasm and creativity, • help students build skills and confidence to succeed in their exams.” Pedagogical value (e.g. collaborative learning, self–directed learning, peer assisted learning, etc) The methodologies used for this resource are: Cooperative Learning and Flipped classroom. Learning by the Cooperative Learning takes place working together, through mutual help which also promotes socialization. The linguistic competence of everyone is a valid mutual support for all students. Researches show this methodology is very effective, allowing students to achieve prefixed goals, stimulating their potentialities and critical capacities, leading them to better self-confidence and helping them to overcome stress and anxiety. The Flipped classroom has the advantage of saving a lot of time in the classroom because the students can study at home before taking lessons. The teacher must "guide", encourage, support students in personal research, collaboration, sharing and comparison of knowledge, but he must pay the highest attention to the personal resources selected by the students. Therefore, different videos and e-learning resources are widely used at home, while in the classroom students experiment, collaborate, carry out laboratory activities and start discussions with each other to clarify and discuss the concepts learned independently. In this way, the student "learns to learn" and becomes an "active" person in his learning process.

Related Video Lessons

The Biogeochemical Cycle of Carbon