Yes and no. Scientists do a lot of writing; think academic journals, blogs, textbooks, press releases, and more. Furthermore, you will do a lot of writing in your life, like emails, FB posts, blogs, and more! Green/Blue book activities give you the opportunity to express what you know in writing. During lectures, I will present you with a question or statement about a concept that you will write about in your Green/Blue book. I will mark your response with either a GREEN check mark or RED check mark, and give it back to you. What do these mean?
GREEN: Great work! Your response was well supported with biological evidence and totally or mostly correct. This is worth 5 points.
RED: Thanks for sharing your ideas! Your response was incomplete, a little off topic, or lacked biological evidence. This is worth 1 point. You can revise your answer! Talk to your classmates or me then turn in your original ideas with your new ones, and you can increase your score up to 4 points.
What’s the point?
- A low stakes way to share what you know
- Allow you a chance to think through your ideas,
- Provide me with an idea of your understanding of the concepts we cover in class,
- You get points for learning if you were not 100% correct the first time through a concept! The revisions allow you to think through your own misconceptions, talk to your classmates, and get direct feedback from me.
- Serve as practical study tools for your exams.
