Lesson Plan

Name: Katherine Hamilton

Lesson Themes: Plants, Ecology, Seed Planting

Target Audience: First Grade

Objectives:

TSWBAT use senses to examine objective or events.

TSWBAT gather and interpret data with instruments.

TSWBAT design invention to support or refute hypothesis.

TSWBAT generate, record, and organize data.

TSWBAT understand variables that effect plant growth.

TSWBAT understand basic issues surrounding environmental ecology.

TSWBAT improve environmental decision skills.

Web Sites:

• Plants and Seeds by Carolyn Sheppard- teacher's mini lesson on planting seeds from fruits. Discusses the difference between berries, drupes, and pomes.

EnviroLink Network: gopher://ericir.syr.edu:70/00/lesson/science/cecsci.104

• Plants from Trash Activity- An activity that demonstrates that plants can be recycled using peas, beans, and lentils.

EnviroLink Network: gopher://ncect.shrc.umich.edu:70/00/.p-r/plants.clres

Software:

• Zurks's Rainforest by Soliel CD
• Sammy's Science House by Edmark
• The Backyard by Broderbund

Type of Classroom Activity:

Group setting:

• The teacher will have students sing songs and finger plays- Two Little Apples, There is Thunder, Rain, and Making Rain.
• The teacher will read the book, Rain Makes Applesauce by Sheer and Bileck.
• The teacher will divide the class into two groups to do mini-lessons.

Small group interaction:

• The teacher will divide the students into cooperative learning groups and have them view and interact with each piece of software.

Pre-requisite Skills:

• Students will be able to work in cooperative learning groups.
• Students will be able to use the mouse.
• The teacher will set up computer learning stations. Each computer station will have one piece of software and activities. The activities will come from each piece of software's prepared curriculum.
• The teacher will have all the necessary materials for the mini lessons. Seeds will be soaked over night in preparation to be planted by students the next day.

Instructional Events:

Anticipatory Set:

The teacher will grab student's attention by singing songs.

Objective and Purpose:

The teacher will tell the students that they will be studying ecology, the life cycle of plants, and environmental issues.

Teaching the lesson and checking comprehension:

The teacher will read Rain Makes Applesauce and will prompt students to ask questions about plant cycles, how plants grow, ecology, and the environment. The teacher will explain any terms or concepts the students do not understand using concrete examples from Rain Makes Applesauce and the various pictures and print rich materials in the classroom.

Guided Practice:

Students will be asked to rotate to each software station. There will be three software stations set up with either Zurk's Rainforest, Sammy's Science House, or The Backyard. The students will view, interact, and do fun activities at each station. The teacher and teacher's aid will circulate the room providing feedback and redirecting students that are not meeting behavioral objectives. This is the time that each student has a chance to explore and learn from each other before independent practice.

Independent Practice:

The class will be divide into two groups and do the activities, Plants From Trash and Plants From Seeds. One group will "dissect" fruits using plastic knifes and look at the differences in the seeds. The other group will plant seeds. Each group will rotate after all group members are finished.

Assessment:

The students will place all activity sheets in the their Ecology Portfolio. The teacher will use classroom observation to see that every student is working. Each student will have two hands on projects: seed sorting/classification and planting a seed.

Time considerations and tips for classroom management:

The ecology unit will be the theme for a week. This may be done during the school's ecology week, during the week of arbor day, or during the week of the first day of Spring. The specific ecology lessons will be done after lunch; however, this theme will be carried out throughout the day in math and language arts. For example, you could use the data in the mini-lessons for math problems and word problems, or have the students make a story or skit using the software, Kid Pix 2. Also, students can make ecology posters using Kid Pix 2. At the end of the week, students can show their skits or stories to the class to celebrate what they have learned and take a field trip to the botanical gardens, a farm, or an apple orchard.