Lesson Plan Design

Subject: Life Science

Candidates name: Rachel Martin
Site Supervisor: Connie Bjornstad
1. Introduction: (Identify Grade Level K12 Academic Content Standard(s), rationale, focus learner, create bridges
from past learning, behavior expectations).
This lesson is for seventh grade life science and addresses
the five scientific skills scientists use to learn about the
world. Students prior knowledge will be activated by
bridging real life observations, such as noticing the
different shapes of clouds to the new information. Focus
learners include students on the middle to lower 1/3 of the
class who may need modifications to the lesson activities.
Students are expected to participate in the cooperative
learning activity according to their assigned job roles (lab
technician, proficiency supervisor, lab facilitator and
communicator).

Rationale: Scientists use different skills such as observing,

classifying, inferring, and predicting. Students already
participate in these activities in their daily lives without
knowing their terms. The new information will be bridged
to what they already do and provide an avenue for students
to be able to relate to the material on a personal level.

2. Learner Outcome(s)/Objective(s): (What will students learn from this lesson? How will you measure mastery of
the outcome?)
By the end of the lesson students will be able to identify
skills that scientists use to learn about the world through
different forms of activities and experiments.

Rationale: Scientists utilize different skills to gather data

about the world. Students must learn and understand how to
apply these skills so they are able to use them during
activities to learn about the different subjects in life
science.

3. Pre-assessment Activity: (Determine students abilities to achieve the learner Outcome and prescribe instruction
accordingly. Consider: linguistic background, academic language abilities, content knowledge, cultural and health
considerations, interests and aspirations, physical development, social development, emotional development).
To assess students knowledge base, they will participate in
Think-Pair-Share and turn to their shoulder partner to
give an example of something they observed that day, the
day prior or any other time. Selected students will share
their examples with the class.

Rationale: Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative learning

strategy that appeals to students all levels of ability by
providing a smaller setting in which to share information.
Students will be sharing their current knowledge about
observations, which will be used as a pre-assessment to
gather information about what they know and dont know.
Their examples will also be used to relate the new material
to what they already know and do in their daily lives.

4. Differentiation, Adaptation & Accommodation Strategies: (Based on the pre-assessments, modify Learning
Activities based on learner characteristics to meet the needs of ELL and special needs students, highly achieving
students and low achieving students).

Learning activities will be modified based upon students

needs and results from the pre-assessment. Differentiation
strategies include modeling, organizational walk-throughs
of activities prior to independent instruction, graphic
organizers, peer support during cooperative learning groups
and additional teacher support while observing guided and
independent instruction.

Rationale: Modeling activities prior to student

participation increases student understanding of the work to
be done. Additionally, organizational walkthroughs show
students exactly how to conduct an activity and provide an
example as a reference throughout the remainder of the
lesson. Graphic organizers aid student understanding and
application of the concepts as students work to organize
their thoughts regarding the topic. Cooperative learning
groups provide additional support through peers and a
comfortable learning environment in a smaller group
setting. Due to the heterogeneous and homogenous
organization of the groups, students are able to support each
others needs as the upper, middle and lower 1/3 of the
class. Students job roles require all students to work
together t the same pace and ensure all students understand
the activity and the concepts.

5. Resources: (Identify materials needed for this lesson accounting for varying degrees of skill level.
Materials include students science notebooks (SNBs),
pens, pencils, colored markers, colored pencils, butcher
paper, highlighters, computer, whiteboard and projector.

Rationale: Students keep all work in their SNBs for a

reference, study guide and for a grade. The activity will be
modeled using the computer, white board and projector.
Students will utilize their materials to complete all written
activities and assignments.

6. Learning activities: Explicit Teacher Instruction (Explain, Model, Demonstrate, Check for Understanding)
Students will be instructed to have their SNBs out and
prepare to begin the days lesson. Paperwork related to the
activity will be handed out and all students paste the paper
into their SNBs. Students are then instructed to create a
diagram in their SNBs for Essential Questions and Cornell
Notes regarding the scientific skills. The teachers SNB
will be projected onto the screen as a reference as the
teacher does an organizational walkthrough of the notebook
organization process. The teacher also walks around the
classroom to observe and ensure students understand what
to do.
Students are then directed in a Think-Pair-Share to share
with their shoulder partner a time they observed
something and what they observed. Selected students will
share their examples with the class. The teacher will then
explain the 5 different scientific skills, provide an example
for each and select students to provide their own examples
for each skill.

Rationale: SNB organization is a key piece to the science

course. All student work is place inside the notebook to
keep all work in one place but also teach students
organizational skills and provide additional support to
ensure their success in class. By working as a class to set up
the pages, each student has access to the same information
and starting their work at the same place. Walking around
class to observe ensures students are organizing their books
correctly and addresses student needs who work at a slower
pace.
Think-Pair-Share as a pre-assessment demonstrates
students current understanding of observations and elicits
examples of their understanding. Additionally, students are
engaged while discussing and recalling their examples with
their partners and with the class.
When explaining the scientific skills, selecting students to
provide examples demonstrates their understanding of the
initial concepts and ensures their readiness to continue to
the lesson. Student involvement also provides more
engagement in the lesson which enhances learning and the

ability to relate the material to their daily lives.

7. Learning Activities: (Guided Practice/Collaborative Practice (Check for understanding and provide feedback
and re-teaching).
The teacher will use a piece of paper and the projector to
model how to draw a graphic organizer and use the
organizer to identify and categorize the different scientific
skills. Each skill is distinguished by creating an
illustration, writing a sentence or both to describe the
skill. Students will help the teacher identify the skills and
provide examples of what to illustrate or write in the
appropriate area. Student participation ensures
understanding of the concepts and for the following
activity. Students who are unable to assist the teacher or if
students are unable to answer questions of how to fill in
the graphic organizer will be re-taught information before
the independent practice begins.

Rationale: Modeling activities with student participation

prior to independent activities ensures student
understanding of the concepts and their ability to apply
the information.

8. Independent Practice: (Provide practice that supports the learning outcome. Note: Independent activities are
assigned assuming that students understand the concept well enough to work on their own.
A large piece of butcher paper is given to each student
group. Students will work together to construct a graphic
organizer and formulate examples and/or illustrations of
each of the 5 scientific skills, as demonstrated during
guided instruction. The teacher will walk the class and
observe to check for understanding and provide assistance
as necessary.

Rationale: Students will work in their cooperative

learning groups to construct the organizer, analyze each
others input and create the illustrations and/or written
examples. This activity provides an avenue for students to
directly apply the information they have learned in an
organized manner and improve social and communication
skills by working together as a group. The teacher is able
to provide assistance as necessary to each group and
spend additional time working with students in the lower
and middle 1/3 to ensure understanding and application of
the concepts.

9. Assessment and Evaluation: (Describe how you will assess and/or evaluate the students learning. Describe
different assessment strategies you will use for your ELL, special needs students, highly achieving students and low
achieving students).
At the conclusion of the activity, students use their SNBs
to complete their Cornell notes and answer questions to
review what they have learned; for example: What are the
5 scientific skills scientists use to learn about the world?
Students write their answer as well as notes and lastly, a
summary about the information. ELL and students with
disabilities are able to illustrate their answers as well as or
instead of written form to demonstrate their
understanding. Highly achieve students will write their
answers in paragraph form and low achieving students

Rationale: Assessment of student learning is key to

evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies and
whether students understood the information and were
able to apply it appropriately. Differentiation strategies are
used during assessment to ensure students are being
evaluated correctly and at the level appropriate for their
learning.

will write one to three sentences describing their answers.

10. Closure: (Describe how students will reflect on what they have learned.)
The teacher will provide examples as a review before
students begin their work. This assignment will be
homework if not completed in class and will be used for
students to reflect on what they learned in class.

Rationale: This assignment is an extension of the lesson

and bridges students daily lives to the new concepts.
Students will be able to see how they use the scientific
skills in their daily lives as well as how to apply them in
science. This assignment also evaluates student
understanding and provides information on whether the
material needs to be retaught.

11. Lesson Reflection/Assessment: Collect student learning data to determine: What went well? What needs to be
changed? Were the learning outcomes met? What activities will you add, change, modify in the future? What can
be done to follow up on the learning from this lesson?
Data will be collected on student understanding and
application of the concepts via student graphic organizers,
answers to the questions and Cornell notes. This
information will demonstrate whether students applied the
information correctly and understood the new material.
The information will also determine if students worked
will in their cooperative learning groups, if students need
additional assistance due to ELL, special needs or learning
ability of upper, middle and lower 1/3 of the class. The
graphic organizers and the Cornell notes will also
determine if students met the learning objective for the
lesson and if activities need to be changed or modified and
information retaught. As a follow up, the class will review
the student homework and summary of their Cornell
notes.

Rationale: Reflection upon any lesson is imperative to

repair and improve upon lesson format, activities, which
students need additional assistance and if information
needs to be retaught. The variety of activities and
assignments provides multiple opportunities to check for
student understanding, application of the material and
their ability to support each other in their learning.