Understanding by Design Template: Lesson Planning Block III

Teacher:

Jenna DeForte

Subject:

Science

Grade: 6
Date: 11/19/2015
Desired Results

CCSS and/or NYS Learning Standards (Rubric Line 35 and 39):

Mathematical Practice
2. Reason Abstractly and Quantitatively
NYS Intermediate Level Science Core Curriculum Grades 5-8
Standard 1 Inquiry Key idea 1
S1.2 - Construct explanations independently for natural phenomena, especially by proposing
preliminary visual models of phenomena.
Standard 4 The Living Environment Key idea 3
Matter is made up of particles whose properties determine the observable characteristics of matter
and its reactivity.
NYS Mathematics Common Core
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
6.RP. 3a use tables to compare ratios and plot the pairs on coordinate planes.
NYS Health and Physical Education Standards
Intermediate Level
2. They will recognize threats to the environment and offer appropriate strategies to minimize
them.
Essential Questions (Rubric Line 36):
What is the best way to use scientific method?
Why does water boil?
Enduring Understandings(Rubric Line 36):
Water occurs on Earth in three basic states: liquid, solid, and gas. Water can transition or change
between each state at any given time, with the right conditions of temperature and humidity.
Objectives (Rubric Line 31):
Students will be able to convert observed data in a table into a graph.
Students will be able to define what happens to water as it heated.
Students will be able to describe what happens to water as it begins to change from liquid to gas.

Assessment Evidence (Rubric Line 32)

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Performance Assessment Tasks:

Following the scientific method, as scientist, we must share our research and conclusions with other
people. Write a letter to the newspaper describing what our class discovered. Make sure to be specific
about what is happening to the water as it is being heated. Where is it going? Why do you think this
happens? Also, make sure to include the data that you recorded in your graph. Be sure to describe what
the graph means and what conclusions can be drawn from the graph and data. You must essentially
describe what the observable and unobservable changes are to water and why you think this is
happening based on your data and knowledge on the subject. (Application level Blooms Taxonomy).

Points
Can accurately
describe what is
happening to water as
it boils.
Can define what is
happening to water as
it boils.
Can correctly convert
data from table to
graph.

10

10

10

Not Yet Acceptable

Student does not give an
accurate account of water as it
boils.
Student does not define water to
be changing states.
Student does not correctly
convert data from table to a
graph.

Acceptable
Student is able to give
an accurate account
of what happens to
water as it boils.
Student can define
water as changing
states as it boils.
The student correctly
converts the data
from the table to the
graph.

Other Evidence:
Lab Report, graphed data, and table of data
Areas of Child Development (Rubric Line 28)
Social development students work together to make observations and come to an understanding of the
problem at hand.
Cognitive development students are challenged to really think about what happens as water boils.
Linguistic development students are explaining to their peers and the teacher about their thinking and
what they are examining.

Learning Plan
Classroom Arrangement:
Two hot plates are set with a cup of water on it in the back of the room. A thermometer is placed in
the water.
There should be enough room between the two hot plates for students to gather around them and make
observations.

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Materials:
Hot plates (2)
Measuring cups (2)
Thermometers (2)
Stand to hold thermometer (2)
Water
Cooking pot

Learning/Instructional Activities (Rubric Lines 29, 33, 34, 39):

Anticipatory Set (Rubric Line 38):
The students will be presented with the teacher watching a pot with water in it intensely. The teacher
will ask the students they think she is waiting for the water to do. The teacher will then say after their
answers, a watched pot never boils. She will then ask them if they think this is true or not? They
will have to explain why or why not.
Procedure
Story Problem (Rubric Line 40):
I was making pasta one night and needed to boil the water before I could put the pasta in to cook. As I
waited rather impatiently for the water to boil, I started to notice some things happening to the water.
After a while most of the water had disappeared! I am unsure of what happened to the water, where
did it go? If I recreate the situation maybe we can figure it out from understanding how water reacts
to being heated.
Discrepant Event
The event presented is for the students to figure out what happens to water as it boils. As water is
heated what happens to it? What are the observable changes? Does some of the water disappear? Why
does the water disappear?
Students will be asked to come up with a hypothesis of what they think happens to the water when it
is boiling. (Comprehension-level Blooms Taxonomy). Students will fill out a lab report before and
after completing the investigation.
Investigation
Before students are allowed to investigate their hypotheses the teacher will go over the safety rules
and ask the students to provide their own strategies and understandings of how they should be dealing
with the hot plate and other fragile material. It will be addressed how hot the hot plates are and should
not be touched. (Health Standards)
The students will be asked to make predictions about what they think will happen to the water as the
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water moves toward boiling. They will create a table or some form of table that makes sense to them
in making observations, recording time, and temperature of the water.
Once they have their predictions and table ready they will be split into two groups that will gather
around the hot plates. The students will be given about 20 minutes to make observations of the
temperature and what is happening to the water as it is heated. The teacher will keep a close eye on
how students are using their time wisely to gather their answers.
After they have made observations and recorded the data for twenty minutes, the students will fill out
the rest of the lab report including their results and if their hypothesis is correct or not. The students
will be asked to convert the data from their data tables into an appropriate graphed model with title,
labeled axiss, and correctly placed points.
Resolve the Discrepant
Comparing the time and the temperature what is the relationship between the two? (As time is
increasing, the temperature is increasing. This continues until the water has been boiling for a while.
Once the water has come to a boiling point, the temperature will become constant.)
What were the observable changes to the water as it was being heated? Why do these things happen?
(There are bubbles forming on the bottom, steam is rising out of the cup, there is steam on the inside
of the cup, etc. These things are happening because the water is transitioning from a liquid state to a
gas state).
At what temperature did the water boil? (At about ten minutes give or take a couple minutes)
Why do the bubbles start at the bottom of the cup? (This is where the water is being heated. As the
water molecules are turning into gas ones, from the heat, they need a place to go. The water
molecules that turn into gas molecules must rise up until they can be released into the air as steam.
The bubbles are essential steam or water vapors, not air pockets.)
What happens to the water as it boils? It seems that there is less of it at the end than when we started,
where does it all go, does it truly disappear? Is there a name for this? (Evaporation and phase
change. The water is turning into a gas, which means that it is leaving the container of the cup and
being released into the air as water vapor or steam. The idea of showing how the water does not truly
disappear is to touch on how condensation works. Having a cold glass of water or soda can represent
this. Have it sitting in the classroom till it looks like it is sweating; this is known as condensation. It is
really the water vapor that was the steam from the cup in the air that cools enough to become tiny
water droplets again.)
Misconceptions that could appear during this lesson is students understanding of temperature in

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relation to the boiling water, their understanding of what happens to water as it boils (evaporation and
phase change), and the understanding of how water turns into a gas.
Students may believe that the water will still be rising in temperature after it is boiling. This is
not true. To help students understand that the temperature will become constant at the boiling
point, a thermometer can be placed in a boiling cup of water and monitored for an extended
amount of time to see that the temperature does not change. (Stephenson).
Students may believe that evaporation is when water is changing into air. Evaporation is
instead the liquid turning into a gas and become water vapor in the air. (Fries-Gaither).
Students may believe that when a liquid turns to gas it is turning into air. Having students
explain what they think is in the bubbles will reveal misconceptions about water changing
states of matter. It must be explained that the bubbles are really water vapor or steam. This
water vapor is often invisible, but can be seen when it condenses. Students can breathe onto a
mirror to see the water droplets from their mouth. (Fries-Gaither).

Differentiation: All the students should be able to come to some understanding of how water boils,
what are the observable changes to the water, and what are the unobservable changes to water. If
students cannot write out their responses, they may verbally or act out their explanation.
Also, if they need it, students may receive extra time to work on the investigation part of the lab. Or
they may receive information in a different way that can make better sense to them.
Assessment (Rubric Line 32): Following the scientific method, as scientist, we must share our
research and conclusions with other people. Write a letter to the newspaper describing what our class
discovered. Make sure to be specific about what is happening to the water as it is being heated. Where
is it going? Why do you think this happens? Also, make sure to include the data that you recorded in
your graph. Be sure to describe what the graph means and what conclusions can be drawn from the
graph and data. You must essentially describe what the observable and unobservable changes are to
water and why you think this is happening based on your data and knowledge on the subject.
(Application level Blooms Taxonomy).
Closing Activity:
Reading of The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story by Neil Waldman
Evaluation of Teaching *done after the lesson is taught*:
I was able to teach this lesson twice since Mr. Burgo has two different classes for science. The first class
did not go so well since the one of the hot plates was not even on for a portion of the time that the class
was working with them. Yet, the second time through, things seemed to go much more smoothly. The
students seemed to be engaged and intrigued to try and figure out the problem that was presented to
them. I think that the second class went a little better since I have built a relationship with these students
more so than the other students that Mr. Burgo teaches.
The students were overall responsive to the question and seemed really excited to try and discover the

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answers. They were thoughtful when responding to the questions that I asked them. They often thought
through the problem together, going off what each other was suggesting or saying. I could see some
students had misconceptions and I tried to redirect students throughout the process to try and right these
misconceptions.
The lab section ended up taking a lot more time than I thought and there was not enough time for the
students to do the letter portion of the lesson. I think they would have enjoyed being able to carry that
out since they have been heavily focused on the scientific method so far this year in science. I will
definitely have to work on timing my lessons so that they do not need to be separated into multiple days
to teach things.
References
Fries-Gaither, Jessica. (2008). Common Misconceptions About States and Changes of Mater
and the Water Cycle. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. Retrieved
From https://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/
The Common Core State Standards Initiative (2010) New york state p-12 common core learning
standards for mathematics. Retrieved from nysp12cclsmath.pdf
The State of Education Department. (1990). Intermediate level of science core curriculum
grades 5-8. Retrieved from http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/pub/intersci.pdf
The State of Education Department. (revised1998) Health, physical education, and family and
consumer science Standards. Retrieved from
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/schoolhealth/schoolhealtheducation/healthPEFACSLearni
ngStandards.pdf
Stephenson, Marc. (2000). Students Misconceptions About the Boiling Process. California
State University.

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