Lesson Plan Template

Subject(s): Science
What subject area are you
teaching?

Content Standards:
What content standards
does this lesson address?
ELA/Literacy -
SL.8.5 Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify
information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.(MS-ESS1-1)

MS-ESS1-1. Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to

describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon,
and seasons.

Objectives: Students will be able to:

What are the specific 1. use models of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon to discover why moon phases occur.
learning objectives you 2. understand and describe the order of the moon phases from one full moon to the
want students to be able next.
to do or learn?
“At the end of the lesson
students will be able to…”

Technology Standards:
What technology
Standards are you
incorporating?
W 6, SL 5 Use painting and drawing tools/ applications to create and edit work
W6, W 10, SL 2, SL 5, SMP 3
Demonstrate how the use of various techniques and
effect (e.g., editing, music, color, rhetorical devices) can
Be used to convey meaning in media.

W 6, W 10, SL 5, SMP 5, RI 7
Use a variety of media to present information for
specific purposes (e.g., reports,research papers,
presentations, newsletters, Web sites, podcasts, blogs),
citing sources.

Materials: MATERIALS For every student:

List of resources, articles
or manipulatives you
need. This helps you
organize everything prior
​ Moon Journals Instructions​ Science Notebook ​ “Earth or Moon Shadow” probe
to the lesson.
 For every group of 3-4 students: ​ 1 pencil ​ 1 orange ​ 1 white balloon ​ 1 inflatable
globe ​ 1 flashlight

For the class: ​ Post-it notes ​ 4 large posters or wall space

Introduction: 1. Pass out a copy of the “Earth or Moon Shadow” probe to each student.
How will you introduce 2. Instruct students to select the answer with which they most agree, and to explain
the content or engage their reasoning in writing. Put them at ease by saying this exercise is just a chance to
students in inquiry? elicit their current ideas. They’ll have a chance to come back to this question and
How will you engage revise their answer later. All ideas are welcome!
students in the lesson? 3. Give students a chance to share their initial ideas with one or two other students.
4. Have students paste the probes with their current thinking into their notebooks, so
that they can return to them later.

Activity: 1. Introduce the Month Long homework assignment of creating a digital

What will students be
doing?
How will the technology
be incorporated into the
lesson?
How do you think the
technology enhances the
lesson or transforms the
lesson? Why?
moon phase journal using either Canva, Powertoons, Google slides, or
weebly. Guide them through their first moon journal entry. Make sure they
record the date and time, make a sketch of the moon, and add labels of
all details they observe about the sky at this time. They should also
annotate their entry with any questions that come to mind as they
observe the sky, using the stem “I wonder..”. Students can take pictures
of the moon or sketch it on one of the digital platforms given.
2. Distribute “Moon Journal Instructions” and tell students they will be
observing the moon every day/night for the next month. If they go outside
and can’t see the moon, that’s okay! They should still record what they
notice about the sky, and any questions they have.
3. After 1 week of keeping moon journals, have students bring their
journals to class and have a day where students can get their journal
entries ready for a gallery walk. Conduct a gallery walk so that students
can see how their classmates are choosing to record their observations.
Have students pull up the post-it notes app on their computer so students
can leave post-it notes feedback to allow them to comment on each
other’s journals using the stems, “I value…” and “Another scientist might
want to know…” Encourage students to incorporate this feedback into
their next entries.
4. After 2 weeks of keeping moon journals, conduct a second gallery
walk. Afterwards, have students reflect in their notebooks, listing two
techniques they saw that they’d like to incorporate into their own moon
journal.
5. Introduce the Essential Question for the unit: Why does the moon look
different on different days?
Wrap-Up: 1. Introduce any scientific terms you’d like students to learn, such as gibbous,
How will you wrap-up the crescent, waxing, waning.
lesson and summarize 2. Ask students to reflect on their learning in their notebooks, guided by the prompt:
student learning and “How have the activities we’ve done helped you to understand the phases of the
major student takeaways?
moon?”