Develop students’ abilities to use the major concepts of the subject area (science, technology, engineering, or math) that you selected for the unit.
Integrate concepts from the remaining three content areas to help students successfully apply their developing skills.
Incorporate effective strategies in which students engage in the equitable and appropriate use of digital tools and resources
Differentiate the instruction based on the needs of the students in the class (as outlined on the “Class Profile”), using developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate teaching and learning strategies
The subject area I have selected for this unit is Science. Students’ abilities to use the major concepts of science require a multifaceted approach. Integrating concepts from Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) will allow students to successfully apply their developing skills and gain a better understanding of the application of scientific principles across all content areas. By incorporating effective strategies which engage students in the equitable and appropriate use of digital tools and resources within STEM fields, they can become more proficient at using their knowledge base when seeking solutions to real-world problems.
For instance, through classroom activities such as coding or robotics simulations, technology can be used to teach engineering principles by having students create models or prototypes that demonstrate an understanding of foundational chemistry or physics (West et al., 2020). Moreover, mathematics can be utilized in order for students to understand how data collection and analysis play a role in scientific inquiry (Biggers et al., 2018). Thus, this project-based learning approach emphasizes not only problem solving but also collaboration between disciplines as well as using critical thinking whilst navigating issues with multiple potential solutions. This type of instruction requires an integrated framework where all aspects are reflective of one another while signaling out individual areas that need further exploration
Additionally, working with digital tools enables them to understand the process behind problem identification and algorithmic approaches necessary for successful outcomes (González & Englebienne 2016). By being able to identify patterns in data sets then analyze them via different platforms such as Google Sheets allows them access information which helps inform their decisions based on evidence rather than guesswork alone (Kerby & Rousu 2017). Furthermore, making sure they understand ethical considerations like proper attribution practices when it comes copyright laws shows that even if utilizing online resources there are still rules meant protect both those who produce works as well users accessing them (Rieh et al., 2019).
NAc can be sub-divided into two regions: the core and the shell. Both regions have different input and output projections (Zahm, 2000) and thought to play different roles in reward pathway (Ito et al., 2004). Recent studies have also reported on different dendritic compartments specifically the proximal and distal (Spruston, 2008). Cocaine regulation of dendritic spines can only be observed in thin, highly motile spine (Kasai et al., 2010) which were thought to be relevant to learning (Moser et al., 1994; Dumitriu et al., 2010) and addiction (Shen et al., 2009; LaPlant et al., 2010). Cocaine exposure caused an increase in spine density in the shell region but a decrease in proximal MSNs in the core region which is seen to be far more enduring (Dumitriu et al., 2012). This enduring change in core reciprocates the idea that shell is involved in addiction development while core in the learning of the addiction or long-term potentiation (Di Chiara, 2002; Ito et al., 2004; Meredith et al., 2008). In a study done by Kourrich and Thomas (2009), however, showed an increase in core MSNs and a decrease in shell MSNs raising the possibility that spine regulation may be compensating the changes in MSNs or spine regulation may be causing a homeostatic tuning of MSNs excitability. Few studies showed homeostatic increase in MSNs excitability following spine downregulation (Azdad et al., 2009; Ishikawa et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2011) supporting the latter but the clear association between both processes is still unknown. A possible mechanism behind the selective downregulation of core MSNs could be dopamine since cocaine withdrawal decreases dopamine levels (Parsons et al., 1991; Baker et al., 2003). Further support to this could be from the higher convergence of the dual glutamatergic and dopaminergic pathways in the core (Zahm and Brog, 1992).
Other than that, a study has found that there is also structural plasticity in input regions to the nucleus accumbens. These inputs include the ventral tegmental area (VTA) which is thoug