INTEGRATIVE

SCIENCE LESSON PLAN

TITLE: Circuits

CONTEXT OF LESSON AND UNWRAPPING OF THE STANDARD

This activity is appropriate for the students at this time because they have been studying electricity
and magnetism, particularly electricity. They are ready to start investigating what makes a good
conductor.

My interest inventory is a good starting point for pre-assessment, as it shows me each of my students
interests and preferred learning styles. I can see that some of my students prefer experimenting, while
others prefer researching, etc. This will help me to make sure that all aspects of the activity are
interesting and meaningful to my students and help me to come up with a discrepant event that will
pull the class together to solve the circuit problem.

While we have been studying conductors and insulators, I have also been monitoring students
understanding of the content. It is important that they understand that metals are the best conductors,
as we will be using wires for the circuits, which have metal (a good conductor) encased in rubber (a
poor conductor). Before we start our circuit sequence, I will have the students complete a K-W-L chart
in small groups to demonstrate what they already know about circuits and we will discuss our findings
as a whole group to give the students an opportunity to ask questions and provide input.

UNWRAPPING THE VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING AND THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE
STANDARDS

Virginia Standard of Learning 4.3 (Electricity and Magnetism): The student will investigate and
understand the characteristics of electricity. Key concepts include:
a. Conductors and insulators;
b. Basic circuits;
c. Static electricity;
d. The ability of electrical energy to be transformed into light and motion, and to produce heat;
e. Simple electromagnets and magnetism; and
f. Historical contributions in understanding electricity

Next Generation Science Standard 4-PS3-4: Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device
that converts energy from one form to another.






Unwrapped Concept
Unwrapped Skill
Taxonomy Level
(nouns)
(verbs)
(Blooms, SOLO, DOK)

History:
Contributions of:
Ben Franklin,
Michael Faraday
Thomas Edison

Describe

Remember

Apply

Apply

Create
Diagram
Apply
Describe
Differentiate between
Use
Create
Diagram

Remember
Analyze
Apply
Create

Diagram
Compare and Contrast
Explain
Construct
Design
Perform
Determine
Explain
Design (an
investigation)
Describe

Remember
Analyze
Remember
Create
Evaluate
Understand
Create
Remember

Materials:
Materials:
Conductors
Insulators
Parts and Structures:
Parts of a circuit:
Dry cell [(+) and (-)]
Wires
Switches
Bulbs
Bulb holders
Open circuits
Closed circuits
Series circuits
Parallel circuits
Magnetism, Electricity, &
Energy:
Magnet
Permanent magnet
Electro-magnet
o Strength
Magnetic Field
o Relation to
generation of
electricity
Static Electricity
Creation
Occurrence
Energy
Light
Motion
Thermal
Big Ideas
Various people contributed to the
understanding and harnessing of
electricity.

Essential Questions
How did Ben Franklin, Michael Faraday,
and Thomas Edison contribute our
understanding and harnessing of
electricity?

Some types of materials conduct energy

better than other materials.
Circuits have different parts and
structures, which affect how energy flows.
There are different types of energy and
electricity

How does energy flow through conductors

and insulators?
What are the parts of a circuit and how
does circuit structure influence the flow of
energy?
How are the different types of energies
transferred and how do magnetism and
static generate electricity.

LEARNING INTENTIONS

Understand
Students will understand
some types of materials
conduct energy better than
other materials.

Know
Students will know that energy
moves easily through materials
that are conductors, and
insulators do not conduct
energy well.

Do
Students will be able to apply
the terms insulator and
conductor in describing
electrical circuits.

ASSESSING LEARNING

Objective
Students will understand
some types of materials
conduct energy better than
other materials.

Assessment
Anticipation Guide Their

responses on the anticipation
guide after their experiments
will demonstrate that they
know that some materials
conduct energy better than
other materials.

Discussion I will be looking
for language in the small and
whole group discussion that
demonstrates understanding
that some materials do not
conduct energy as well as
others.

Exit Ticket (Letter to the
Governor) In their responses,
the students will be listing
materials that are better
conductors.
Student will know that energy Exit Ticket (Letter to the

movies easily through materials Governor) In their responses,
that are conductors, and
the students will indicate which
insulators do not conduct
of the two types of materials
energy well.

Data Collected

Student will be able to apply

the terms insulator and
conductor in describing
electrical circuits.

conduct energy, conductors or

insulators.
Exit Ticket (Letter to the
Governor) The students will
use the terms insulator and
conductor when they are
writing to the governor about
which types of materials work
to make electrical circuits
complete and effective.

MATERIALS

Batteries
Battery holders
Bulbs
Bulb holders
Paper clips
Aluminum foil
Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
Golf tees
Plastic straws
Glass marbles
Chalk
Rocks
Masking tape

MISCONCEPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS

Responses, Misconceptions, Alternative Conceptions, and Difficulties:
Perhaps some students will switch between the definitions of conductors and insulators and start
talking more about how they hold or transfer heat, which is not an incorrect observation, but it does
not particularly address the idea of energy transfer. Conductors do heat up when connected to a
power source (the battery), but students should be talking about why they heat up (electrons are
moving) and what it means when a material is heating up and creating a change in the bulb or buzzer
(energy moves well through them).

Questions and Changes:
Why did you put this material in this category?
What do you mean by conductor/insulator?
What makes this material different from the materials in the other category? What makes it the
same?
What do you mean by?
Can you say more about?
How are these two materials different or the same?
Why do you think this material did/did not cause the light bulb to illuminate/buzzer to sound?

PROCEDURE


Preparation of the Learning Environment before Activity (when I arrive in the morning)
Arrange tables into groups
Put out red, orange, green, blue, and purple placards on each table to indicate table groups
Place necessary materials on group tables
Pass out enough anticipation guides/exit tickets for each group member

Engagement
Introduction:
o Emotional Engagement: I will emotionally engage students by placing them in groups to work
together and participate in group investigation or discussion. I will also make the lesson
meaningful, by applying it to their lives through hurricane season.
o Cognitive Engagement: Students will be participating in a hands-on, minds-on activity by using
various materials in a circuit to determine whether they are effective or poor conductors, which
will lead us into a conversation about conductors and insulators and which materials work,
which materials do not work, and why they do or do not work.
o Behavioral Engagement: Since students will be working in small groups to solve a problem
using a hands-on, minds-on approach to solve a relevant problem, they will be behaviorally
engaged. They will be making predictions, conducting investigations, and participating in small
and whole group discussion.

Introduction (2:00 2:05 || 2:30 2:35)
Welcome, Fourth Grade Scientists! You have an exciting task to complete today, but before we
start, here is the purpose of this activity. Take a moment to read it in your head or to yourself
quietly. (I will change the screen to the Learning Intention and give the students time to read
it.)
By the end of the activity, you will be able to show me that you understand by demonstrating this
success criteria. Take another moment to read it in your head or to yourself quietly. (I will change
the screen to the Success Criteria and give the students time to read it.)
Now that you know what you need to be able to do, I can tell you your challenge. Right now, we are
in the middle of hurricane season. Recently, a hurricane hit the coast of North and South Carolina.
There was flooding and a tremendous amount of damage along the coast and power outages across
the affected regions of the states. Terry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia, is worried that
something similar might happen here in Virginia before the end of the hurricane season on
November 30th, so he has enlisted our help! He has all the materials he needs to create a circuit in
case of a power outageexcept wires. He cannot find wires anywhere, so he needs to find some
other materials that Virginians can use instead. On your tables you will find a container of
materials and various parts to create a circuit. (I will hold up the container and introduce the
various materials that each table has to use.) You will create a circuit and use the various
materials to see if they allow energy to flow or not. If the light bulb shines or the buzzer goes off,
then you have found a material that Virginians can use to create circuits in power outages. Before
you begin, you will fill out an anticipation guide (I will hold up the anticipation guide.) so I know
what you thought would happen with each material before you started and what you found out
after you used the material in the circuit. Just so you know what I mean, we will do the first one
together. Write down what you think will happen when I put the paper clip in the circuit. (I will
put the paper clip in the circuit to show that the light bulb turns on.) Obviously, the paper
worked to complete the circuit or to allow the energy to flow to create light energy. Now you can
write down what happenedthat the paper clip worked. You can also write down some other
things you notice about the paper clip. You will do the same thing with the other materials in your

container. Please begin with the materials that are the color of your group name tags. Does
everyone know what materials they should start with? Make sure that everyone in your group gets
to try putting a few materials in the circuit. In five seconds, when the music starts to play you can
start experimenting with the various materials in your container until you hear the music stop. (I
will start the music.)

Implementation (2:06 2:20 || 2:36 2:50)

Students will spend 15 minutes filling out the anticipation guide and investigating the various
materials in their containers. I will ask questions throughout the activity and identify materials
that were categorized in a way that is different than I anticipated.
(I will stop the investigation at 2:50 by stopping the music.)
Now that you have had some time to investigate the materials and fill out your anticipation guide,
we will fill out a graphic organizer as a class. (I will project the graphic organizer on the
document camera. We will sort the materials into materials that made the circuit work and
materials that did not make the circuit work.)
We categorized the materials by things that work and things that do not work, but these categories
actually have names. The materials that made the circuit work are called conductors. Electrical
energy moves through conductors easily, so that is why they made the light bulb shine and the
buzzer go off. Metals are conductors, as you pointed out. The materials that did not make the
circuit work are called insulators. Electrical energy does not move through insulators easily.
Closure (2:20 2:25 || 2:50 2:55)
Now that we have solved the governors problem, we need to let him know our solution. On the
backside of your anticipation guide, you will find an exit ticket that says, Letter to the Governor at
the top. (I will hold up an exit ticket.)
Take a minute to read the directions at the top. (I will give the students a moment to read the
directions.)
As the directions said, you are going to write a letter to Governor Terry McAuliffe. In the letter, you
need to tell him which materials or types of materials (insulators or conductors) worked to
complete the circuit, which types of materials (insulators or conductors) did not work, and why
those materials either worked or did not work. Think of materials that he might be able to use or
that he should not bother trying to include that in the letter. On your way out, you can hand me
your anticipation guide and your letter as your exit ticket.

Clean-Up (3:00 3:15)

I will collect the circuit materials
I will return desks to original positions

WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

We have less than thirty minutes to complete this lesson. Science instructional time starts at 2:30
after the students get back from Social Studies in Ms. Taylors class. School is over at 3:00, so the
students have to start packing up to catch their busses. I will make sure that students are aware of
their seating at the when they arrive in the morning, and that is where they will sit throughout the
day. When they enter the classroom upon their return from Ms. Taylors class, I will instruct them to
find their seats right away and wait for my next instruction. I will use the 1-2-3-4 strategy for
giving directions and I will stick to the time arrangement. In case we start to run out of time, I will
have natural exit points so that we can transition to the next part of the activity. I will also have each
group start with certain materials to make sure at least one group has tried all of them.

 The students might be using the circuits improperly. If that happens, I will ask questions about the
structure of their circuit that will lead them to recognize the faulty structure so that they can fix it.
Some students might finish early. In that case, I will have extension questions on hand for them to
further investigate conductors and insulators.
The SMART Board might not work. In that case, I should have enough papers with the Learning
Intentions, Success Criteria, and Challenge written on them.