Iowa Department of Education


Institution: Iowa Department of Education Course Title: General Biology Submitted by: Gail Wortmann Gail Wortman

Course Description

General Biology (GenBio) is an online course designed for high school students who are interested in or required to take Biology, need help with reading and study skills, and may require pacing adjustments. The course is based on the National Science Education Standards; the units in the course align with those standards. In order to apply biological concepts, authentic situations are used so students have the opportunity to solve real world problems. The course is inquiry-based, so students are expected to gather data at their school that will be shared with and talked about by the class. For hands-on work with appropriate equipment and materials, students do labs at their local school sites with the help of adult Student Coaches.

...From the Author

"After searching the Web for courses written specifically for struggling learners, developers at Iowa Learning Online had to concede we were unable to find quality offerings. As a result, GenBio was created as a course designed for at-risk and special needs high school biology students. The Greenhouse Exemplary Course award is a huge affirmation of the work we did. We hope receiving this award spurs development of other such courses designed for this underserved virtual learning group."

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Iowa Department of Education

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