Names: Scholars Benitez and Coston

Three-Dimensional Science Lesson Plan

Lesson/Unit Title: Chemical and Physical Created by: Lydia Benitez
Properties—I-85 Bridge Collapse.

Lesson to Redesign or Plan: Briefly describe a favorite or upcoming lesson that

you would like to redesign or plan.

Students will make observations of a few physical changes and a few chemical
changes. These observations will be used to determine whether the I-85 bridge
collapse was due to chemical or physical properties.

Core Ideas: List the GPS/GSE content standards on which your lesson will focus.

Physical Science S5P1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain the differences between a
physical change and a chemical change.
b. Construct an argument based on observations to support a claim that the physical changes in the state of
water are due to temperature changes, which cause small particles that cannot be seen to move differently.
c. Plan and carry out an investigation to determine if a chemical change occurred based on observable
evidence (color, gas, temperature change, odor, new substance produced).

Authentic Scenario: Describe a real-world scenario that will engage students in making sense of a phenomenon
or designing a solution to a problem that is meaningful to them.

Show a video of the fire/collapse on I-85.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of3K9M_VqW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkFUFbwNWN0

Guiding Question: Craft and open-ended, grade-level appropriate question that will provoke inquiry and
engagement focused on the core idea of the lesson.

Do you think that the collapse of the bridge was due to a chemical or physical change?

Science & Engineering Practices: List the specific Crosscutting Concepts: List the specific elements of
elements of 1-2 practices the lesson will emphasize. 1-2 crosscutting concepts the lesson will emphasize.

-Asking questions -Cause and effect

-Developing and using models
-Planning and carrying out an investigation
-Constructing explanations
How will you support students in developing
understandings about the practice(s)?
I will guide students through relevant facts about the
-Energy and matter
How will you support students in developing
understandings about the crosscutting concept(s)?
Students will learn about cause and effect by seeing
how the input of heat, the combination of certain
chemicals, or pressure can alter the physical or
collapse (inform them about what components played
into effect—a burning couch, burning construction
equipment beneath bridge, concrete, and metal beams
used for support), and then ask them to form a
hypothesis about if the collapse was due to a chemical
or physical change.
I will then guide them through a series of
demonstrations using glass & ice as models.
(1) I will apply heat (from a hairdryer) to a chilled
glass so that it cracks and breaks.
(2) I will demonstrate three versions of ice melting
-naturally, with heat from a hair dryer, and with
salt
(3) I will show them the reaction of baking soda
and vinegar in a clear jar
chemical state of an object.
Energy and matter will be reiterated throughout the
process as the concept of heat in chemical reactions
comes up as well as the conservation of elements
throughout a reaction. If there is time, I would like to
demonstrate this conservation with a demonstration of
cleaning pennies in a solution of vinegar and salt. Once
the pennies have sat in the solution and appear clear,
they are removed. Clean nails/screws are then soaked
in the same solution, and after 10 or so minutes, they
develop a copper coat.
How will you engage students in applying the
crosscutting concept(s) to make sense of phenomena
and/or to design solutions to problems?

Students are to make observations about the

demonstrations on a sheet that they will be given.
Once the demonstrations are complete, we will return
to the bridge collapse and use the information we have
learned along the way (using a model
system/investigation) to decide which one applies more
closely to the bridge collapse.
-Students will engage in cause and effect by verbally
discussing/reasoning through the demonstrations and
what is occurring.
-Students will engage in energy and matter through
discussion and observation of what is happening in the
reactions.

How will you engage students in applying the

practice(s) to make sense of phenomena and/or to
design solutions to problems?

I will use real life examples (like the I-85 bridge

collapse) and have worksheets for them to fill out as
the demonstrations are happening.

Integration: Explain how the three dimensions will work together to support students in making sense of
phenomena and/or in designing solutions to problems.

Students will study the core ideas of physical and chemical changes by using the practices of asking questions
(why did the bridge collapse?), using models (glass, ice, baking soda), and constructing explanations (how does
the information learned from the models pertain to the bridge collapsing) to better understand the cross cutting
concepts of cause and effect as well as energy and matter.

Lesson Sequence:
5E Stage
Engage
How does the lesson capture
student interest, activate prior
knowledge, and connect to a
complex question, global issue,
or real world problem?
Student Activities
How will students engage actively in the
three dimensions throughout the lesson?
Lesson builds off of students’
knowledge on physical and chemical
properties.
They are engaged through the I-85 fire
Teacher Activities
How will the teacher facilitate and monitor
student learning throughout the lesson?
Teacher will guide students through
thinking about the bridge collapse
incident, give them facts about the key
components of the incident, and probe
them to make assessments/connections

Explore
How does the lesson allow
students to develop a common
base of experiences by actively
investigating the phenomenon or
problem?
Explain
How does the lesson allow
students to develop, share,
critique, and revise their own
explanations before connecting
those to accepted scientific
explanations and terminology?
Elaborate
How does the lesson allow
students to extend their
conceptual understanding of the
three dimensions through
opportunities to apply knowledge,
skills, and abilities in new
experiences?
Evaluate
How does the lesson—through
both formative assessments
embedded throughout the lesson
and a summative assessment
that might coincide with the
elaborate phase—make visible
students’ thinking and their ability
to use practices with core ideas
and crosscutting concepts to
make sense of phenomena
and/or to design solutions?
Classroom Reflections (To Be Completed After the Lesson and Provide Feedback to Others):
Based on your experience teaching this lesson, what will you do differently, or what suggestions would you give
to someone else using this lesson plan?
(real world issue).
The demonstrations of physical and
chemical changes will give all the
students the ability to make
observations based off of models.
Students will have to record their
observations in a handout.
Students use their observations of the
demonstrations to develop an
explanation about what happened to
the bridge
Students get to see in person examples
of chemical and physical changes
occurring. They get to use this
information to make an assessment on
the chemical and physical changes
occurring in a real-life event.
Formative: Students will have plenty
opportunities to discuss and verbally
process their conclusions throughout
the process
Summative: Students will have to make
a conclution/determine if the bridge
collapse was due to a physical or
chemical change.
to their prior knowledge in order to
assess what happened.
Teacher will perform demonstration for
students to make observations of.
-Demonstrate with glass
Heat the cold glass with a hair dryer
to watch how it cracks
-Other household demonstration
Ice Melting: naturally, with heat from
a hair dryer, dropping, and with salt
(time each cube melting, have the
students chart observations on how the
ice melts
Baking soda + vinegar
Teacher will help students piece
together the information and point out
which demonstration aligned closely to
different parts of the bridge fire incident
(the chilled glass cracking is like the
concrete cracking).
Teacher will guide students through
their conclusions by probing them with
questions and will serve as the
facilitator of the demonstrations.
Formative: Teacher will guide the
students through discussing their ideas
on the situation by probing them with
directed questions.
Summative: Teacher will ask students
to make a final conclusion and asses if
they deduced correctly (the concrete
collapse was a physical change, the
burning of objects below was a
chemical change).
References:
Achieve, Inc. and NSTA. (2014). EQuIP Rubric for Lessons & Units: Science. Washington, D.C.: Achieve, Inc.

Bybee, R. (2013). Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Chris Embry Mohr. (2015). Personal communication. NGSS Unit Implementation Resources.

3-D Lesson Planning Template Source:

Planning a Three-Dimensional Science Lesson by Jeremy S. Peacock (Northeast Georgia RESA) is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Hypothesis: Was the bridge collapsing a result of a chemical or physical change?

Glass Ice Ice + heat Ice + Salt Vinegar +

Baking Soda

Observations

Chemical
Or
Physical?

Which demonstration do you think most closely resembles the bridge?

Conclusion: Was it physical or chemical?

What evidence do you have to support this conclusion?