DIXIE STATE COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Semesters 1& 2

Teacher Candidate Nicolie Ionel Content Science -Kindergarten
Step 1 DESIRED RESULTS
A. Utah State Core Curriculum Standard
Standard 4
Life Science. Students will gain an understanding of Life Science through the study of
changes in organisms over time and the nature of living things.
Objective 2
Living things change and depend upon their environment to satisfy their basic needs.
a. Make observations about living things and their environment using the five
senses.
b. Identify how natural earth materials (e.g., food, water, air, light, and space), help
to sustain plant and animal life.
c. Describe and model life cycles of living things.


B. Enduring Understanding/Big Idea

Living things are affected by the life cycle and environmental changes.

C. Concepts

Students will understand that living things receive their basic needs through their environment.
Students will understand the life cycle of living things.
Students will know how to use their 5 senses to observe living things.
Students will know what living things are.


D. Skills
Describe how to use your 5 senses.
Draw a picture of the life cycle.
Explain how living things receive their basic needs from the environment.
Plant a seed and watch them grow.
Separate living things from non-living things.



E. Essential Questions/Guiding Questions

What does a living plant look like?
How do animals and plants receive their basic needs?
What happens during the life cycle?
What is a good environment for a plant?
What are the different habitats that animals live in?



Step 2 ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Diagnostic:
Pre-test
Students will categorize animals, plants and non living things.
Students will number the order of the life cycle.

2. Students will draw how they think a plant grows and how animals receive their basic needs.

Formative:
1. Students will plant their own individual plant and discuss the plants needs as it grows.
2. Students will examine fossils and determine if its a plant or an animal.

Summative:
1. Students will draw the life cycle and the steps of how to grow their plant.
2. Post-test
Students will categorize animals, plants and non living things.
Students will number the order of the life cycle.


Step 3 INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES & LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Show the clip about living things to students.http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/show/livingthings.html .
After viewing the clip, students will name things that are non-living.
Read The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds : A Book About How Living Things Grow to students.
Have students discuss the characteristics of living things. Record their responses on the board.
Students will make a graphic organizer to compare living and non living things.
Set up and display a goldfish habitat in a fishbowl. Place a large river rock beside the fishbowl.
Students will observe the rock and the goldfish throughout the day drawing pictures of what they
are observing.
Students will observe a living plant. Students will draw what they observed.





























DIXIE STATE COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Semesters 1& 2
PLANNING TEMPLATE

Step 1 DESIRED RESULTS
A. Utah State Core Curriculum Standard
Provide the core standard as written by USOE

B. Enduring Understanding/Big Idea
Aligned with the Utah State core standard.
Is written in student-friendly language (can the students understand it?).
The key generalization or enduring understanding students will take with them.
Identifies the larger concepts you want students to wrestle with and understand at a deep level across
time and cultures.
Is brief (5-10 words is best).
Is conceptual.


C. Concepts
Based upon the Utah State Core standard, what do students need to know?



D. Skills
Based upon the Utah State Core standard, what will students be able to do?



E. Essential Questions/Guiding Questions
Are used to guide assessments and instruction.
Invite students into the learning process.
Are open-ended, yet focus inquiry into a specific topic.
Non-judgmental, but answering them requires high-level cognitive work.
Succinct a few words that demand a lot.
Contain emotive force and intellectual bite (e.g., Whose America is it? When are laws fair?)




Step 2 ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE
Are listed according to concepts and skills.
Focus on assessments that require students to demonstrate their understanding.
Must align with enduring understanding/big idea.
Include scoring guides/rubrics for performance assessments.
Utilize the Six Facets of Understanding (explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy,
& self-knowledge).
Utilize expository/persuasive writing and oral communication (speech, debate, presentation, etc.)
Are developmentally/age appropriate.






Step 3 INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES & LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Using each concept and skill, list the instructional strategies and learning activities that will provide
students with the information and activities that will allow them to proficiently understand the enduring
understanding/big idea and are aligned with the standards-based assessments.
Are developmentally appropriate for the age and grade-level.
Utilize research-based strategies that produce high-yield results.
Utilize the Six Facets of Understanding (explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy,
& self-knowledge).
Utilize expository and persuasive writing.
Focus on strategies and learning activities that have the students do the content



















Adapted from: McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2005). Understanding by design, 2
nd
ed. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.;
Ainsworth, L. (2003). Unwrapping the standards: A simple process to make standards manageable. Denver, CO:
Advanced Learning Press.