Fold Commons

Class set · lesson plans

LessonBench

Seven ready lessons of 45 minutes, for middle school (ages 9–14) and high school (15–18). Each one names the standard it serves, uses two free Fold Commons tools suited to that age, and ends with the class set's exit ticket. Print the one you need.

MS-LS1-2 · Middle school

Focus: the parts of a cell and how they help the whole cell work.

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · PoreSort. PoreSort: predict which particles pass real membrane channels, then see the structures.
  3. 15 min · FoldLens Junior. FoldLens Junior: turn aquaporin and other cell proteins around in 3D.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: What would happen to the cell if this channel were missing? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

Going further, from our friends at Spark & Anvil (opens sparkanvil.org):

MS-LS1-3 · Middle school

Focus: how the body is a system of interacting subsystems made of cells.

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · WorkerAtlas. WorkerAtlas: find the proteins at work in each part of the body.
  3. 15 min · FoldLens Junior. FoldLens Junior: look at one of those proteins in 3D.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: Pick one protein: which body system needs it, and which cells make it? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

Going further, from our friends at Spark & Anvil (opens sparkanvil.org):

MS-PS1-1 · Middle school

Focus: models of what molecules and extended structures are made of.

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · TwentyFrame. TwentyFrame: see the twenty building blocks and what real proteins are made of.
  3. 15 min · NotMarbles. NotMarbles: see why a space-filling model is not a pile of still marbles.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: What does a model show well, and what does it leave out? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

HS-LS1-1 · High school

Focus: how a protein's sequence and structure carry out its function (structure and confidence).

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · NumberReader. NumberReader: read AlphaFold's real confidence numbers for haemoglobin.
  3. 15 min · DisorderDuty. DisorderDuty: see that low-confidence regions often do real jobs.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: Which parts of this protein's structure can we trust, and what is the evidence? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

Going further, from our friends at Spark & Anvil (opens sparkanvil.org):

HS-LS1-1 · High school

Focus: how a change in sequence can change a protein's structure and function.

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · OneLetterLottery. OneLetterLottery: draw real variants and call their effect.
  3. 15 min · TolerancePaint. TolerancePaint: paint which parts tolerate change, then see the real heatmap.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: Why do most single changes do little, while a few change everything? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

Going further, from our friends at Spark & Anvil (opens sparkanvil.org):

HS-LS1-2 · High school

Focus: how interacting systems give specific functions (oxygen transport and partners).

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · GripChain. GripChain: set haemoglobin's cooperativity to match the real oxygen curve.
  3. 15 min · WhatsMissing. WhatsMissing: spot the partner or cofactor a single chain leaves out.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: What does haemoglobin need besides its own chain to do its job? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

Science practice 7 (arguing from evidence) · High school

Focus: judging a claim built on a predicted structure.

  1. 5 min · warm up. Open today's protein on the board; the class guesses its least-sure part, then reveal.
  2. 15 min · HonestReport. HonestReport: read the card: predicted vs measured, pLDDT, PAE, three questions.
  3. 15 min · Stretched or sound?. Stretched or sound?: call nine headlines, then check the evidence.
  4. 10 min · talk and exit ticket. Ask: Pick one headline: which question from the card catches it? Then the exit ticket from the class set for this band, answered by hand.

Standards: Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations, named by code. Each lesson serves part of its standard, not all of it. Spark & Anvil activities are suggestions, matched by topic and age, not by standard.