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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think a year 7 project should be just that

59 replies

Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:07

DD has come home from school in tears today as she thinks her project that she did over the school holidays is wrong.

She was told to do a 3D model of a plant cell. Which she has done - to a year 7 level.

It's due in tomorrow and I just caught her up trying to add more to it- she says most of her friends have added things that she doesn't know what they are .

From the sound of it they have just googled plant cell and then copied A level type details onto it.

Should DD have done this too? I've told her that hers is fine - the teacher hasn't taught her that much detail so she doesn't need it!

AIBU?

OP posts:
Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:09

What's DD has done (in 3D)

To think a year 7 project should be just that
OP posts:
Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:10

What she says others have done

To think a year 7 project should be just that
OP posts:
PlayOnWurtz · 07/11/2016 22:11

Thats fine!

Bless her heart

HallowedMimic · 07/11/2016 22:13

Well...a plant cell is a plant cell.

What sort of things is she adding? I'd have expected the usual KS3/GCSE type things either from Google or a textbook.

Brokenbiscuit · 07/11/2016 22:14

My year 7 dd had the same homework a few weeks ago. What she did was very similar to what your dd did originally.

Brokenbiscuit · 07/11/2016 22:15

Teacher seemed happy with it btw - she got a housepoint!

HallowedMimic · 07/11/2016 22:15

Oh yes, hers will be fine, but the others will be fine too, as long as they've done the reading and understand what they are including.

Going beyond what you've been taught is a good thing.

Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:16

She just used the diagram they had drawn in class to base her model on - so the first picture.

Others have done the second one (from google it's above what it's expected for GCSE more A level- she's a new year 7!)

OP posts:
Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:17

Buts that's the thing Hallowed I don't think they do understand the rest of it or done the reading .

OP posts:
Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:19

Or have done the reading

OP posts:
Chemicalrainbow · 07/11/2016 22:24

I'd expect the first one. Has she been given success criteria or a level ladder? The normal next step is to write what each part of the cell does, not name more parts.

thatsn0tmyname · 07/11/2016 22:26

Her version is fine, no need for the other bits at KS3.

steppemum · 07/11/2016 22:27

ds ia at grammar school and had this on year 7. they expected the same detail as your dd has done.

They were also very laid back about the finished results.

ds made his in cake (he got a bit of a reputation in year 7 as they also made volcanos, and mosaic etc, and he did them all in cake. The whole class shared it, and he got his house points.

DearMrDilkington · 07/11/2016 22:28

Oh the teacher will be thrilled with your dds model, they'll be really happy she stuck with what she knew and didn't just copy.The teacher will know the others have just copied one of google and have no idea what most of the words mean.

AChickenCalledKorma · 07/11/2016 22:29

Mine made a cake that is precisely the same as your DD's original version.

We googled "plant cell models" and found ones like the more complicated ones. But since she didn't understand what they meant, she ignored them.

I'm in two minds. I think doing it at year 7 level is fine. But my older daughter would have quite enjoyed finding out some extra stuff and adding it. DD2 is much more interested in a quiet life!!

Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:34

She has done the model then a key explaining what each part is and what it is for.

She was in tears because of all these extra bits people had put on theirs and she had no idea what they were or what they did .

I have reassured her again that hers is fine and just what the teacher has asked for and she's finally gone to bed bless her.

She is at a private school and I know they sometimes push for a bit more but what DD was trying to do seemed a bit extreme to me!

I blame google - in my day it was your text book or what the teacher taught you- nowadays it's so easy to stumble across something that is at a far more detailed level than you need far too easily - which is fair enough but she wouldn't need to know that much until A-level!

OP posts:
Original poster
Babyiwantabump · 07/11/2016 22:51

By the way - doing it in cake form is a brilliant idea!!

OP posts:
olivesnutsandcheese · 07/11/2016 22:57

I'm impressed your DD wanted to add to it. DSS had this homework last year and it was a struggle to get him to even label it. Needless to say the threat of removal of screen time helped him to produce a passable attempt Wink

RockinHippy · 07/11/2016 23:25

Its fine, if a recent pece of homework my own DD did recently is anything to go by, it is better than her classmates as she has stuck to what she has learnt & teacher can accurately assess her on it.

My own raging anxious perfectionist DD went hell for leather on a recent language project. Spent ages on the internet googling stuff & totally overdid her homework

Teacher asked her to redo it, but based on what she really knew from class, as he needed to assess her on it & couldn't accurately do that on the work she had handed in as it was way above A level, level.

Your DD has done well, she shouldn't worry Smile

OzzieFem · 08/11/2016 06:53

Looks like the other students have just copied an illustration from a book, without having any understanding of what it means. Your Dd should be fine, she has done what the teacher requested.

SquirmOfEels · 08/11/2016 07:02

DD had this homework, and expressed it in the form of cake.

Your DD's version is fine.

But it's also fine to research your homework further and add extra detail. Effective use of Google (how to search, how to assess if the sites you find are reliable, accurate and reliable). Some preps cover this and some don't.

So although the first thing is to dry her tears and foster back into existence her positive attitudes, the next is to talk to her about the nature of study and independent research.

You see on MN sometimes the phrase bandied around that private schools just 'spoon feed' pupils, but like all stick phrases it isn't necessarily true and it seems your DD has the good luck to be in one where it isn't.

Trifleorbust · 08/11/2016 08:11

Your daughter's work is fine. But I think you are being a bit unreasonable to argue that other kids should have kept their homework to a less advanced level for some arbitrary reason Hmm

If they can find the information, what's the harm?

ego147 · 08/11/2016 09:13

I think the teacher should ask those pupils who did the more complex one to explain what each part does.

And then when they merely regurtitate the Wiki information, ask them WHY the plant needs it.

Anyone can draw a complex diagram. They've learnt to copy a complex diagram. They haven't learnt any biology apart from the names of organelles.

Anyone can copy a really good picture of something. That's not learning though if they don't understand WHY.

GreatFuckability · 08/11/2016 09:20

I think they teacher won't give a shit as long as they've done the homework. It doesn't make the kids who did the more detailed one more advanced or your dd less advanced. its copying a picture. mountains and molehills.

Peaceandconnection · 08/11/2016 09:24

"She was in tears because of all these extra bits people had put on theirs and she had no idea what they were or what they did ."

Great opportunity to reassure her to trust her own judgement and instincts rather than comparing herself with her peers. Your dd's work looks good and she worked on it independently which is so important.