Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

Lesson
Title/Focus

Building a Thermos

Date

December 12, 2014

Subject/Gra
de Level

Grade 2 Science

Time
Duratio
n

60 min + 10 min

Unit

Hot and Cold

Teacher

Chris Hiscott

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
Outcomes:
Specific
Learning
Outcomes:

Recognize the effects of heating and cooling, and identify methods for
heating and cooling.
Design and construct a device to keep something hot or cold.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Design and construct a device to keep something hot or cold.

ASSESSMENTS
Observations:

Key Questions:

Products/Performan
ces:

Are students using their knowledge of insulation to build their thermos?

What kinds of materials are they using?
Did they design it to have a lid?
What thermos saw the smallest change in temperature?
Did students follow the three criteria: Lid, stand on its own, be able to
hold water.
What group built the best thermos(smallest change in
temperature)
Are students using their knowledge about different materials to
form their thermos?
Thermos

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Alberta POS Grade 2 Science

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Styrofoam cup
Role of Tinfoil
Two roles of duct tap
Paper towel
Cellophane
Cotton Balls
Tissue
Paper towel
kettle
Water

PROCEDURE
Prior to lesson
Attention Grabber

Bring Materials into the classroom and organize them on the table
Introduction
Time
Bring class to the SMARTBoard and do a quick review of what
insulation is.
Insulation is used to keep hot things hot and cold things
cold.
It stops the transfer of heat
10 min
Animals have natural insulation
Mankind builds insulating materials.
Students will be exceptionally excited to have a chance to build
a science experiment.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

Assessment of
Prior Knowledge
Expectations for
Learning and
Behaviour
Advance
Organizer/Agenda
Transition to Body

Learning Activity
#1

Through the attention grabber

Students will be on task. This should be easy based on the
nature of the activity. penalty box will be for students who
dont follow the exact rules.
I will demonstrate a couple of ideas for how they can construct
their thermos.
The most important part to making their thermos successful is
to have a lid. Perhaps they could cut the bottom out of another
cup to function as their lid. Perhaps some insulation should be
applied to the empty space of that lid to keep heat from
penetrating the seal.
Students can use any of the materials supplied however, tinfoil
and Styrofoam cups will work the best. The best method would
be to stack four or so cups together with tinfoil between each
cup.
Body
Now is the chance for students, in groups of three to construct
their thermos using the materials provided. They can use any
combination of materials. This is a fairly self-directed task.

8 min

Time

Make this feel like a game, 30 minutes to come up with and

build the best possible design you can make for your thermos.
The thermos which works the best will win a prize for the
creators. Any thermos that beats Mr. Hiscotts will win an extra
special prize that would be brought on monday.
It is important to stress the safety when it comes to using
scissors to cut any of the materials and that myself or Mrs. T
will cut the tinfoil or cling wrap for them as the sharp edges are
too dangerous.

42 min

I will walk around offering help and suggestions for design

improvements where necessary.

(30 min
build)

Students will be on a strict 30 minute timer. I will be

announcing the amount of time left throughout the competition
so students know how much time they have left.

(10 min
clean)

They are allowed to use up to 3 yellow cups and one big

styrofoam cup. All other materials are unlimited.

(2 min for
getting reorganized)

Once completed students will put their cups at the front table
to be evaluated via the hot water test.

Teacher Notes:
Assessments/
Differentiation

Inform students that team work is mandatory for a successful

mission. There are many different jobs when working together.
One person can work on the lid, one person can work on the
cup part. One person can grab materials for the other students
and provide ideas.
If I see someone not being fair to other students, not being
nice, not listening to instructions, or doing anything else that
wouldnt be acceptable. I can send them to the penalty box for
30 seconds to a minute. Then they can join their group again.
I will be listening to hear students use terms like insulating and
how to thinking of ideas to keep the hot water hot.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

Students designing a lid to fit onto their thermos
Students are working together and collaborating

Learning Activity
#2

Teacher Notes:
Assessments/
Differentiation

There is little need for differentiation as students will be

working in groups to build their thermos. I will intentionally pair
some of the stronger students with some of the weaker
students to ensure that the stronger can pull the weaker along
and help in their learning.
Once time is up and students have placed their cups on the
front table AND have cleaned up the classroom. I will measure,
record, the temp and pour the water into all of the cups. The
lesson will end shortly after, I will have my post game meeting
with Kathy and then once Im back I will measure our results
and post the winner of our competition. I will likely have to do
a quick interruption during our final activity of the day.
Ask the winners what they used for materials and make sure
the whole class listening so they can learn from the best
design.

5 minutes

Learning Activity
#3
Teacher Notes:
Assessments/
Differentiation

Consolidation of
Learning:
Feedback From
Students:
Feedback To
Students
Transition To Next
Lesson
Sponge
Activity/Activities
Reflections from the
lesson

Closure
Having the students talk about their materials they used will be
a great was to close up the lesson.
Verbal feedback forms. Did they like the experiment?
What would they do differently next time?
What thermos did the best job of insulating and why.

Time

5 min

Comment on behavior.

Read at desk, doubt there will be any extra time though.

This lesson was just what the students needed to get excited about
learning. They were able to have a hands on experience and engaged in a
competition. The students loved creating and loved to see what they could
do to build a better thermos. Some students started building their own
designs and didnt work as a team. I had to remind them that they were
only allowed to submit one design per group. They teams that werent
working together managed to pull it together last minute to pull a design
together after I helped them come up with a few different strategies. Ideally
I would prefer to have each student make their own thermos so I wouldnt
have to rely on teamwork for such a huge task. However the amount of
supplies I would have to supply made it more feasible to create teams. I
think giving the students five minutes to plan before helped them come up
with a design together instead of having them just start putting things
together. I think the students came together and really learned. I am very
happy with how this lesson turned out. I used the power of silence at one
point in the lesson. It is amazing how well it can work, it takes a long time to
work but it is an easy tactic to use because the students start policing
themselves and I dont have to say a word. I think that is something that Im
going to keep using that technique.
Later in the day we had student led conferences. I had to be at the school

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Lesson Plan Template ED 3501 (Version C)

until 8:30 but I think it was worth it to meet the students parents. I find it
so interesting seeing why some students act like they do. Some parents let
their kids get away with some things that I wouldnt have let them get away
with so it is understandable why they would think it is ok to do some things
in class. If they can act a certain way at home it must be difficult to act a
different way at school.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe