SINGLE SUBJECT CREDENTIAL PROGRAM

EDSC LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE Revised 4.15

For directions on how to complete this form, see EDSC Lesson Plan Directions and Scoring Guide in the SSCP Handbook at www.sscphandbook.org.

Name
Amanda Durant
Class Title
Life Science

CWID
890916695
Lesson Title
Introduction to Scientific Inquiry

Subject Area
Life Science

Unit Title
What do scientists
do?

Grade Levels
7th

Total Minutes
Block - 110

CLASS DESCRIPTION
The class is diverse group of students with various backgrounds, there are about 35 students in each period. There are a fair amount of Asian
students, although other ethnic backgrounds are also present. The skills of the group vary greatly. There are several special needs students who
require one on one assistance. A few of the students are English learners, who require additional help with reading and writing. In this class there
are also students who are identified as GATE and are very advanced. (For the video, a smaller group of students who represent the diverse class
were selected)
STANDARDS AND LESSON OBJECTIVES
CCSS Math, CCSS ELA & Literacy History/Social Studies, Science and
English Language Development Standards (ELD)
Technical Subjects, NGSS, and Content Standards
Part I: Interacting in Meaningful Ways
A. Collaborative
This brief unit is utilized as a precursor to learning about cells. Since
1. Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collabora
students have never had a full/regular class dedicated to science before, tive discussions on a range of social and academic topics
they need to learn about what science is and how it is done. Therefore,
3. Offering and justifying opinions, negotiating with and persuading oth
it doesnt directly relate to a NGSS standard but gives the students
ers in communicative exchange
important background knowledge. This lesson will led into,
B. Interpretive
MS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
5. Listening actively to spoken English in a range of social and academic
contexts
C. Productive
Expressing information and ideas in formal oral presentations on acade
mic topics
Lesson Objective(s)
Evidence
Students will be able to demonstrate scientific thinking, then apply the
At the end of the lesson students should be able to reflect on what they
concepts to construct a lab to answer a question they want to
have learned and write an effective conclusion to their lab, they will
investigate.
share their results with the class.
STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Type
Purpose/Focus of Assessment
Implementation
Feedback Strategy
How Informs Teaching
The purpose is to get students
During the demonstration the
This will tell the teacher what
engaged in understanding how teacher will ask questions and
Immediate verbal feedback is
knowledge students already
EL
scientists observe, ask
have students brainstorm
given by the teacher.
have, and get the students
questions and experiment.
ideas.
thinking about the topic.
The students will be able to
This tells the teacher if
design their own experiment,
Students will be allowed to
Immediate verbal feedback is
students are thinking like a
PM
this will allow them to put the
design an experiment with the
given to individual groups of
scientist and using the
science inquiry method into
materials provided.
students.
concepts introduced.
use.
By having students present
Students will get immediate
Students will give a short
their results, they are able to
The purpose is to insure that
verbal feedback from the
presentation of their
learn from each other. The
students understand how to
teacher during the
S
conclusions to the rest of the
teacher is able to review the
preform science in the
presentations. They will also
class and turn in their written
information and see where the
classroom environment.
get written feedback on their
lab work with a conclusion.
students still may have some
lab form.
confusion.
INSTRUCTION
Instructional Strategies

discrepant event (demonstration)

Class discussion
Small group work
Inquiry
Graphic Organizers
Collect and Compile Data

Drawing Conclusions
Presentations

Lesson Introduction/Anticipatory Set

Time
Teacher Does
The teacher will tell the students that they are going to
participate in an investigation so that they can learn the scientific
process through inquiry. She will access prior knowledge by
asking students to define vocabulary that they learned the
previous day, variables, control, independent, and dependent.
The teacher will show the students the set up for the
demonstration and ask them what they know about the objects
on the table. The students will be asked guided questions to
extend their knowledge. For example, what does fire need? What
happens to air when it heats up? What is in the air around us?

20 min

The teacher will instruct the students to put on safety googles,

and model the behavior. A volunteer will be asked to mix the
food coloring and water, then pour it into the pan. Another
volunteer will be the official timer. The teacher will explain that
she will be lighting the candle, and placing the beaker over the
top of it. She will ask the students to predict what will happen.
The demonstration will then be completed, she will instruct the
students to carefully observe the set up.
After the demonstration, she will ask the students to write down
a few bullet points of what they observed. She will then ask
students what questions they can ask? They will be probed by
saying look at these additional materials, what variable could we
change? The teacher will ask students to develop a hypothesis
and write it down.
The adjusted experiment will be performed and students will be
asked to observe, and then write down what they observed.
Afterwards the teacher will instruct students to write down what
they can conclude.

Student Does

Students will respond to the questions about their vocabulary

words.
Then brainstorm ideas on the KQHL type handout. They will
explain what they know about the materials, water, fire and air.
Students will write important points down on the handout.

Students will place safety googles on and some will volunteer to

the jobs described by the teacher. The students will also predict
what they think may happen. Then observe what happens, by
watching very closely.

Students will write notes down like, the candle went out, and
water went into the beaker. They will discuss with the teacher
and other students what could be changed. Then develop a
hypothesis based on the question they choose to investigate.
Students will observe the second demonstration and write down
their observations and then draw conclusions.
Students will ask questions about what they observed.

The teacher will briefly explain Gay-Lussacs Law and that by

making observations and doing experiments scientists are able to
understand the world around them. She will explain that
throughout the year they will be designing and preforming labs to
further their understanding.
Lesson Body
Time
Teacher Does
The teacher will explain that students are going to use what they
have learned about the scientific method to design their own
experiment. She will instruct the students that they are going to
work with their lab groups. She will give the students each a box
of materials that contain various balls, ruler, stop watch and show
the other supplies that are located throughout the room, ramps,
yard sticks and tape. The teacher will ask students to think what
they already know about the materials and about the world
70 min
around them. Then develop a research question they have. From
their question they will develop a hypothesis, materials list and
procedure. They are to complete this on the handout. Students
have to receive a stamp on their page by the teacher before they
can start their experiment.
The teacher will walk around the room to each group, provide
clarification and answer questions. Once students have
completed the front page of the handout, through procedure, the

Student Does

The students will work within their lab groups to come up with an
experiment. First they will think about what they already know
about the materials. Then they will develop a question that they
want to explore further.
Some of the ideas the students might come up with are, which
ball will spin the longest? Which ball will roll down the ramp the
furthest or fastest? Which ball will bounce the highest?

teacher will evaluate their work. If it is well thought out they will
receive a stamp. If it needs adjustment, she will guide the
students in making corrections. Once they receive a stamp, she
will instruct them that they may start their experiment. She will
remind students to do several trials and make sure they control
the experiment.

The students will work together to develop a testable hypothesis,

materials list, and procedure. Once they have completed this they
will ask for a stamp from the teacher. If students need
clarification they will ask each other or the teacher.

While students are preforming their experiment, the teacher will

observe the students. She will offer assistance as needed and
answer questions that they students may have. If necessary she
will make comments to help guide students.

The students will then preform their experiment and record their
data on the back of the handout, under the Results/Data section.
They have been encouraged to do at least three trails and to
control all the other variables.

After the students have collected their data, the teacher will
instruct students to find averages and evaluate their results. She
will instruct them to write a conclusion that relates back to their
hypothesis, includes data and possible errors that occurred. The
teacher will walk around and work with each group to provide
clarification and guidance.
Lesson Closure
Time
Teacher Does
Once the students have completed their conclusion, she will bring
the class back together. She will explain that each group will be
doing a brief presentation. Since they are in groups of four, they
need to assign each member a part to share with the rest of the
class. The four parts are what was your question, hypothesis,
conclusion and possible errors in your experiment.
She will give the students about 2 minutes to determine, which
member will share which part.
20 min

After that she will randomly call on the groups to share the
information about their experiment with the rest of the class.
While the students are presenting the teacher will ask probing
and clarifying questions to help guide the students. Some things
might be what surprised you about your results? Why did you
have a different person drop the ball each time? How could you
improve your experiment?
When the presentations are done. The teacher will collect the
handout, which will be graded and feedback will be provided.

Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Multimedia

Demonstration
Tin pie pan
Candles
Various beakers
Water
Food Coloring
Lighter
Safety Googles
Stop Watch
KQHL handout
Design Lab
Box for each group with
Tape measure
Various balls (6-8)
Ruler
Tape measure
Stop watch
Exploring scientific method handout
Available in the room to all groups
Wooden ramps
Yard sticks
Tape

Once students are done with collecting the data, they will find
averages and evaluate their data. They will write a conclusion,
which will include if their hypothesis is supported. They will also
be encouraged to think of any errors that they may have had.

Student Does

The students will work within their group to assign a part of the
presentation to each member of the group.
They will then each have a turn to present, and will listen to other
groups present the information. Students may ask and provide
answers to questions during the presentations.

Co-Teaching Strategies

Possibilities are: mirror teaching, tag teaching and team teaching

DIFFERENTIATION
English Learners
Striving Readers
Students with Special Needs
Advanced Students
The groups of students will be
heterozygous, some will be native
Students with special needs will
speakers and some will be English
Advanced students will have the
The striving readers will be
be helped by being strategically
learners. The handout can be
opportunity to take a more active
supported by having information
placed in groups with other
provided in students native
role within their groups. These
presented both orally and
students who will help them. Also,
language. By visually showing
students may volunteer to do
verbally. They will also benefit by
since the teacher will be actively
students the materials it will assist
additional computations. They will
being placed in groups or pairs
walking around during work time,
students understand the word
also have the opportunity and be
with other students who are
she will be able to provide
and the meaning. The teacher
encouraged to develop their own
proficient readers.
additional clarification for
will model behaviors which will
hypothesis at a higher level.
students.
clarify meaning for the English
learners.
REFLECTION: SUMMARY, RATIONALE, AND IMPLEMENTATION
I completed the lesson introduction with a small group of students during their tutorial period of the day, which is the 20 minute video I submitted.
The rest of the lesson was done with all the students during their regular class time with co-teaching between myself and my master teacher.
By utilizing a demonstration students were engaged in what we were doing. They also benefited from the small group experience. I was able to find
out what they already knew. It was interesting that by discussing they were able to add to each others ideas to develop higher concepts. I was
surprised how much they knew, but I think they didnt always know the correct way to communicate it. In doing this lesson, I realized it is hard to
lead the students to discovery. I wanted them to discover and think about what was going to happen, but I think at times I gave away answers to
my questions. Also, if Im able to do this whole lesson again in the future, I would have my demonstration relate more to what lab they are going to
be creating. During the lab they created, many students looked at elements pertaining to physics. Therefore, my demonstration should be some
type of discovery of laws of motion. Overall, this lesson taught students how science inquiry occurs during a lab.