Worthwhile Tasks

Some things that I think make a task worthwhile:

1. Tasks connect to concepts or themes (though maybe not obviously at first)

2. Tasks are interactive

3. Tasks foster positive attitudes

4. Tasks deepen comprehension of concepts/themes

Tasks Within Biology:

An example of a task that I can think of would be based off a lesson I had in high school biology. For this task, I would have a different color or patterned cloth spread over each of the tables in my classroom (assuming that each table seats 4 students). The table groups would all be given a bag of multi-colored candy, such as jellybeans or skittles, which they would count the number of each color. I would have them spread the jellybeans on the cloth, and each person would get a chance to be blindfolded or spun around before trying to pick up as many jellybeans as they could individually pick up in a 10 second period. In theory, the students will pick a higher number of jellybeans that are a different color than the cloth (e.g. if the cloth is mostly red, they will pick green and blue jellybeans more and not see/pick up the ones that are red). Students would not be allowed to eat the jellybeans that everybody touched, but I would hopefully provide them with some individually packaged jellybeans for consumption after class.

This will be related to our concepts of camouflage, natural selection, and population change. We would discuss how the population will change over time when the environment favors certain traits. We could even use the number of jellybeans students' picked up to calculate averages or calculate population change, and to discuss other factors other than predation which would affect a population.

I would consider this task to be worthwhile because it meets all of the criteria that I set forth earlier at the beginning of the post. It is interactive, fun, and hopefully will deepen comprehension on the concepts better than simply listening to a lecture would. It is also a simple, practical way to demonstrate abstract concepts that would take too long to be observed in nature by the students.