Betzy Lopez

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Labrador-Rodriguez, Sonia

Area of Concentration

Humanities, Biology

Abstract

With the increase in the Hispanic population, there has also been an increase in Hispanic students enrolled in school. Within this population of enrolled Hispanic students, some are considered English Language Learners (ELLs). Hispanic and ELL students in high school in Manatee County, Florida, United States, have low results in their science assessments, including the Biology 1 End of Course exams required to take to graduate high school in Florida. To help students engage and connect during their biology courses, this thesis provides four lesson plans with grading rubrics about infectious diseases and the immune system. In these lesson plans, humanities are integrated into the biology curriculum to take part in Spanish-speaking/ELL students' learning to have them interact with the biology content and retain the information in a way that is more culturally, emotionally, and personally relatable. The high school student focus is Southeast High School's biology course students, in which their Hispanic and ELL student populations are high. While these lesson plans were not taught to the students during the time of the thesis and the Pathways to Teaching Internship in Spring 2025, this thesis provides an example of how humanities and biology can integrate to aid students who do not have many resources by first starting in the classroom.

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