Advance Organizer Lesson Plan

Your Name: Coco Boothby, Jana Matthes and Katie Peterson

Grade Level: 2nd Grade
Subject: Science
Unit: Gardens
Lesson Title: Similarities and Differences in the Garden
Content Standards: Next Generation Science Standards, 2-LS4-1 Make observations of
plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
Materials Needed:
Watermelon bowl

Popsicle sticks with students names on them

Two worksheets, or exploration sheets, per student (attached)
Pencils
Crayons / Colored Pencils
4-8 Magnifying Glasses
4-8 Tweezers
Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds Corn Kernels

Tomato Seeds Mustard Seeds Green Bean Seeds

Sunflower Seeds
Soil

Rocky Soil

Sandy Soil

Potting Soil

Clay-Like Soil

Vegetables

Green Pepper

Corn

Pumpkin

Green Beans

Tomato

Carrots

Pea Pods

Turnips

Flowers

Sunflowers
Tulips
Rose
Gardenia
Daisy
Setup:
Four different centers will be set up throughout the room, one for flowers, seeds, soils and
vegetables. Each station will have multiple varieties as well as colored pencils and crayons.
Magnifying glasses and tweezers will be available to encourage exploration.
Prerequisite Skills:
1. Work within a group of peers
2. Spell basic words
3. Write with a pencil
Lesson Objective:
After the lesson, second grade students will be able to name and write with 100% accuracy at
least three similarities and at least three differences between various garden seeds, several
types of soils, a number of different vegetables, and different kinds of flowers.
1. Present objectives:
Second graders, today we are going to continue working on our garden unit and learn about

some similarities and differences between items from the garden. We are going to talk about
what similarities and differences are and why it is important to know them. We are going to do
that by working in groups and investigating actual seeds, soil, vegetables, and flowers from a
garden. When we are finished with our work you will be able to talk about and write down at
least three similarities and three differences between all of the garden items that you
investigated.
2. Present advance organizer Time: 5 minutes
Before we talk about similarities and differences we need to learn what they are, dont we? Who
can tell me what the word similarity means? Yes, it means something that is the same as
something else, or kind of the same. Who knows what the word difference means? Thats right,
it means things that are different from each other, or not the same. Before we investigate the
similarities and differences between garden items, we are going to use EACH OTHER to learn
about similarities and differences! I drew three of your names out of this watermelon-shaped
bowl. Katie, Michael, and Sonia would you like to be my volunteers and come to the front of the
room and stand so that we can find similarities and differences between you? Thank you! [Three
students stand in front of the room] First, lets find similarities, or something that is the same or
mostly the same between Katie, Michael, and Sonia. Please raise your hands if you know one
similarity. [Picks a student] Thats right Landon, they each have hair. So having hair is
something that is similar, or a similarity between all three of them. [Continue with two more
examples] Now, raise your hands if you can find something different about each one of them.
[Pick a student] Yep, thats a good one, Calvin. Katie has brown eyes, Michael has green eyes,
and Sonia has blue eyes. They each have something different about their eyes, their different
eye color, so those are differences between them. [Continue with two more examples] Just like
people have similarities and differences, things in the garden, or in nature, have similarities and
differences, too. Thank you Katie, Michael, and Sonia. You may go back to your seats.
3. Demonstrate knowledge or skill: (Input/Modeling by the teacher) Time: 5 minutes
The teacher will model the activity by choosing three vegetables, for example green pepper,
pumpkin, and peapod. He/she will then think aloud, sharing their thought process as they come
up with three similarities and three differences. A larger version of the worksheet should be
drawn on the whiteboard so that all the students can see how the teacher would fill it out. For
example,
First Im going to draw these vegetables on my paper [draw the vegetables in the three
sections]. Well, if I open each of these up, they all have seeds on the inside [write seeds under
the similarities section]. That is something that is similar. And look, when I look at their labels,
all three of them have two ps in them [write two ps in each name]. They each feel pretty
waxy on the outside too [write feels waxy on the outside].
They are each very different, I can see that. They are very different sizes - the pumpkin is big,
the green pepper is medium, and the peapod is small [write different sizes under the

differences section].
Now its your turn! Each of you will get two exploration sheets and then I will call off your
names to partner you up. You will get some time at each station to explore the variety of
vegetables, seeds, soils and flowers. Choose three of each and draw and label them in the
boxes. Next, study them with your partner and the two of you can find three similarities and
three differences. These you will record on your exploration sheets. Lets go investigate!
Students will be paired up (teacher decide the pairing ahead of time based on ability levels) and
given five minutes at each station. While at the station, they will fill out their worksheet by
drawing three of the varieties and then listing three similarities and three differences between
them.
4. Check for understanding and provide student feedback: (How will you know students
understand the skill or concept? How will they know they get it?)
Time: 20 minutes
(done concurrently with centers)
While students are at their centers working on forming observations and critically thinking about
the similarities and differences the teacher will clipboard cruise. Teachers will observe students
and stop by their centers to discuss students observations of similarities and differences.
Teacher will ask simple scaffolding/guiding questions to check students understanding of
similarities and differences. If needed teacher may provide examples of similarities and
differences in the seeds, soil, flowers, etc.
Example:
What are some things that you have been observing?
What characteristics about this seeds(soils, flowers,etc.) are similar(alike/the same)?
What are some things you observed that where different about the seeds (soil, flowers,etc.)?
How are these characteristics similar or different?
5. Assessment / Closure: (How do you evaluate student progress or provide closure to this
lesson?)
Time: 5 minutes
Closing:
Teacher will collect all of the partner worksheets. Then they will have students meet on the
group space. Teacher will facilitate a closing discussion to wrap up the lesson on observing
similarities and differences.
I want you think about all of the centers you went to today. Now I want you to think about one
similarity and one difference you found when observing, or looking at all of your materials today.
Dont blurt them out. We are going to whip around the room I want you to share one similarity.
(Whip around) Now we are going to whip around the room and I want you share one difference

you observed today (Whip around) When you were at your centers was is harder to find
similarities or differences? Dont blurt think about it. Okay turn to your discussion partner
and tell them what is harder to find. Now I want you to tell them why this is harder. (Have a few
partners share) I am very impressed with how well you did with observing similarities and
differences. This is a skill that we will get a lot of practice using this year. We will do a lot of
activities with finding similarities and differences throughout the year.
Assessment:
For this lesson the teacher will use the clipboard cruising document, observations made, and
the worksheets handed in by students to assess. The teacher is looking for mastery of the skill
or if students need more practice with the skill. Teacher is using this lesson to find out if more
explicit instruction is needed to learn the skill of observing similarities and differences.
6. Adaptation for students who need extra help, time, or attention
As the teacher clipboard cruises, he/she will be listening carefully to student thoughts and
responses. For those who are struggling to think of similarities and differences, the teacher can
provide certain prompts to engage the senses, such as What do they feel like?, What does it
smell like? Such questions are to prompt the students individual thoughts more than guide
them to certain answers. As the students are at each station, the teacher must be aware of
students that are needing help staying on task or those that are struggling. The teacher may
need to spend more time with them, but be sure not to ignore the students that are not
struggling or that are at a higher ability level.
ELL students may be encouraged to write their similarities and differences in their native
language. Because the goal of the lesson is to work on comparison skills, it is more important
that they grow this skill, rather than be confined to the little vocabulary they may know. After the
lesson, the teacher and student can meet one-on-one to translate the words into English
together.

Extension for students of high ability?

Before the lesson, the teacher will decide on the pairing for this flexible grouping activity.
Students will be paired with someone at a similar ability level to ensure that the workload is
shared equally, they challenge each other and can both provide insight to the activity. Students
of higher ability will be challenged to come up with similarities and differences that are less
obvious. Creativity will be encouraged here!
TOTAL LESSON TIME: 35 minutes
7. References Consulted: (Curriculum books in Drake SOE curriculum lab, teacher resources,
websites, etc):
Our noggins :)

Picture Sources:
http://www.brownbagonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/pumpkin-seeds.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ab_food_06.jpg
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2009/08/saving-tomato-seeds/
http://floridaherbhouse.com/kitchen_spice_blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/mustardseed.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HcW_QK7WCrY/TOQQLrm0TaI/AAAAAAAANq4/85I76ewPGLU/s160
0/beans+for+seed.JPG
http://www.onlyfoods.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Sunflower-Seed-Pictures.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/0myU9DffkJg/UdrZbN10KjI/AAAAAAAAAgA/ZzplvvmC5xM/s1600/DSC08046.JPG
http://photos.worldisround.com/photos/29/219/570_o.jpg
http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080516004460/recipes/images/5/59/GreenBellPepper.gif
http://www.longfellow.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Corn.jpg
http://www.elanaspantry.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/dsc_6136.jpg
http://www.bigoven.com/uploads/Turnip.jpg
http://www.ishs.org/sites/default/files/news-images/tomato.jpg
http://www.glutenfreecat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/IMG_5920.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/pQE5fYS7YvA/Tw8E9Fyv5aI/AAAAAAAAA4g/CLBHMBc6GnQ/s1600/green-beans-1.jpg
http://imgsrv.gardening.ktsa.com/image/ktsag/UserFiles/Image/P_Images/peas.jpg

Beisser, 2000