Unit 2.2 Research Model: Model organisms, C. elegans, neurotransmitters/hormones, scientific literature, research poster.
What to do if absent- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning — make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure — the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Research Model: model organisms, C. elegans, and reading the literature
Plan an investigation using a model organism, identifying your variables, control, and sample size, and ground it in a piece of scientific literature.
- 1Define model organism, assay, variable, control, and sample size in your notebook.
- 2Read a short, teacher-provided summary about C. elegans and note why it is useful for studying neurotransmitters and hormones.
- 3Find one claim in a provided literature excerpt and write down how the authors tested it.
- 4Draft a research question your team could investigate with a model organism assay.
- 5Identify your independent variable, dependent variable, control group, and a reasonable sample size.
- 6Outline your research poster sections so your plan is ready to communicate.
- • You will be able to explain why scientists use model organisms like C. elegans.
- • You will be able to identify the variable, control, and sample size in a study plan.
- • You will be able to connect your research question to a source in the literature.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Written personal stance on using C. elegans in research, citing one justification and acknowledging one genuine ethical concern.
Labeled sample experiment with independent, dependent, and controlled variables identified, plus a written confounding-variable example.
Team research design plan: testable question, defined variables, target sample size, poster section outline, and assigned member roles.
Literature comparison summary: one credible source cited, one strength and one weakness of the team design identified, one concrete revision documented.
Completed weekly progress tracker showing submission status for the design plan, variable definitions, poster outline, and literature summary, plus a written reflection naming one strength and one next step.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: a one-millimeter worm has helped win Nobel Prizes, and this week you plan research the same way real labs do.
- Today's goal: turn a curiosity into a testable plan with a clear variable, control, and sample size.
- This week's Monday bioethics debate: when is it acceptable to use living organisms in research?
- Reminder: your graded research plan and poster outline live in the PLTW course shell, not on loose paper.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance the PLTW Research Model benchmark by completing the online evidence on model organisms and research design in the course shell.
- • Model organisms like C. elegans let scientists study processes that are shared across animals.
- • A controlled investigation isolates one variable while holding others constant.
- • Scientific literature is the record researchers build on and cite.
- • Identify the independent variable, control, and sample size in a study plan.
- • Use a source from the literature to justify a research question.
📋 PLTW evidence due: model-organism research plan naming variable, control, and sample size with a poster outline, submitted in the course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Wed, Oct 28 | Animal research ethics debate | Written personal stance on using C. elegans in research, citing one justification and acknowledging one genuine ethical concern. |
| Tuesday | Thu, Oct 29 | Variables and controls | Labeled sample experiment with independent, dependent, and controlled variables identified, plus a written confounding-variable example. |
| Wednesday | Fri, Oct 30 | Research design and poster plan | Team research design plan: testable question, defined variables, target sample size, poster section outline, and assigned member roles. |
| Thursday | Wed, Nov 4 | Literature and design analysis | Literature comparison summary: one credible source cited, one strength and one weakness of the team design identified, one concrete revision documented. |
| Friday | Thu, Nov 5 | Submit tracker and evidence | Completed weekly progress tracker showing submission status for the design plan, variable definitions, poster outline, and literature summary, plus a written reflection naming one strength and one next step. |
- First class day: bioethical debate (Monday is a closure)
- T: teacher background notes + PLTW launch task
- W: lab / data or model work
- Th: analysis / CER or design revision
- F: submit tracker + weekly evidence
Due by week's end: Model organism research plan.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Teacher-posted data/model packet, same objective. Supplemental: Khan: experimental design; NIH model organism background.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: The science of biology (experimental design)Vocabulary
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 10 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project