LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Shannon Donegan
Denise Ford, Stuarts Draft Elementary School
April 13, 2015 10:30-11:10am

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON Butterfly Pollination

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students are studying Life Cycles. They are completing a unit on Butterflies. The students
are learning that living organisms are interdependent with their living and nonliving
surroundings. The lesson focuses heavily on play, which is a major part of my teaching
philosophy. Play is an extremely important part of a childs development. From my experience in
this classroom I have observed how much the students enjoy and learn from hands on
experiences.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand Students will investigate Know Know how pollination works. Do Through their understand of
and understand that animals undergo a The process and its impact on the
pollination design and construct their
series of orderly changes as they
environment. Know that butterflies have own hand pollination device.
mature and grow, life cycles. Living an important part in this process.
things are part of a system. Living
organisms are interdependent with their
living and nonliving surroundings

D. ASSESSINGLEARNING

Assessmentchartmonitoringstudentsbehaviorduringdiscussionandthroughout
theactivity
Collectstudentsdesignbrieffollowingtheactivity

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS if required)

2.4 The student will investigate and understand that plants and animals undergo a series of orderly
changes as they mature and grow. Key concepts include
1.

a) animal life cycles; and

2.5 The student will investigate and understand that living things are part of a system. Key concepts
include
1.

a) living organisms are interdependent with their living and nonliving surroundings;

2.

b) an animals habitat includes adequate food, water, shelter or cover, and space;

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Paper Plates
Construction paper
Paper Towels
Baking soda

Cotton balls
Aluminum Foil
Popsicle sticks
Tape
Glue
Felt
Straws
Book: Glasswings: AButterflyStory

G. PROCEDURE
Will start by reading the children a story called Glasswings: A butterfly story
o Throughout the book pause to reiterate key vocabulary words such as nectar and
pollen
o Also read from the authors notes which discusses pollination as well as facts about
Glasswing butterflies
After reading the story discuss with students exactly how pollination works, drawing
information from the story
o Point out what happened when Claire the butterfly started to drink nectar from all of
the flowers in the garden
o Show the students illustration of a flower and describe how the butterfly rubs onto
flowers when they are drinking nectar. That butterflies do not even realize that they
are helping flowers.
o Tell the students that butterflies are not the only things that help with pollination.
Ask them to think of what else could help butterflies to spread their pollen
Tell them about how bees, humans, bats, and even the wind can be helpful
with pollination
Instruct the students that now they are going to have a chance to make their own hand
pollinators so that they can act like butterflies and help to spread flowers pollen
Go over the design brief with the students, read it out loud and list the materials.
o They will be allowed to use a limited number of materials.

I will hand out the design brief to them where they will draw their design and list the
materials that they will need. They will get to test there design when completed
o They will test it on the flower The flower is a paper plate that has construction
paper cute out in the shape of a flower. Baking soda will act as pollen for the activity
and will be placed in a thin layer over the construction paper flower. There will be a
second plate, which will act as the second flower they will be pollenating. This plate
will not have a flower but a black piece of construction paper. The black
construction paper is used so that the students can see if baking soda does fall off od
their pollinator. This is hard to distinguish on other colors of construction paper.
o To test it they will dip their pollinator in the baking soda, see if the pollen sticks and
then tap it to be sure that some of the pollen falls off.
They will then be given the opportunity to modify their pollinators if there is time remaining

They will share their designs with the class.

H. DIFFERENTIATION

I.

Thislessonappealstoauditory,kinesthetic,andvisuallearners.Theintroductioninformation
maybedifficultformylowerlevelstudentsbutIwillreachthemthroughtheinteractiveactivity.
Thisactivitygivesstudentsofalllevelstobeabletoexcelbecausethecorrespondingactivityis
aboutcreativityanddesign.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG

Students could have difficulty coming up with a design or be unsure of what materials will work
to pick up the pollen
o I will walk around the room to make sure that the students have a chance to feel the
pollen
o I will also have the materials on the desks already so that they can feel them, which will
be helpful in their design process.
The students may have trouble using the design brief because this is not something they are use
to doing
o I will make sure to go over step by step what to do with it and reiterate to them that this
is a time for them to get creative. Telling them that there is not one correct way to make
a pollinator.