Teachers:

Miss Alexis Lupercio

Inquiry Lesson Plan Template

Title & Topic:
Worm Diner
Worms

Grade Level:
3rd

Standard:
NGSS5-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics 5.LS2.1 Develop
a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals,
decomposers, and the environment.
LS4.C: AdaptationFor any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well,
some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural
Systems
Science assumes consistent patterns in natural systems
Objective (Explicit & Measurable):
Students will learn what to feed worms in a compost bin.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):
(formative) Distinguish plant-based foods from animal-based foods. Create a
chart that serves as a menu of foods red worms can eat.
(summative) Students will be able to discuss how composting with worms
benefit our planet, and what kind of thinking relates to worm composting and
why. Fill out exit ticket.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (steps that lead to completion of objective; sequence from
simple to more complex):

Distinguish plant-based foods from animal-based foods

Discuss how composting with worms benefit our planet, and what kind of
thinking relates to worm composting and why.
Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information about what
students are doing. Justification why is this lesson being taught)

Students are going to pretend to open up a Worm Diner or restaurant. They will need
to make a menu that lists foods that worms can eat. This is what will be fed to the
worms living in the worm bin. Students will feed the worms with food scraps. They will
explore how can worms help our class reduce what we throw in the garbage. They will
use futures thinking to explore this question during the lesson.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know to complete this lesson)
Worms live in soil and are capable of eating
Knowing the parts of the worm
Misconception: (what possible misleading thoughts might students have?)
Worms can eat more than just plant-based foods

Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing: ex: observation
reinforcing; prediction - introducing.)
Feeding the worms
Knowing how to feed the worms in the compost bin (organizing the bin in sections to feed
the worms to remove old food so it does not go bad)
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?)
Do not eat the food scraps once theyve gone in the composting bin
Do not overfeed the worms
Only feed the worms plant-based foods
Inquiry Questions: (testable in the here and now.)

1. (to explore) What kinds of food do you think we would feed to worms?
2. (to elaborate) How can red worms help our class reduce what we throw in the

garbage?
Key

vocabulary: (list and define)

Plantbasedfood
Animalbasedfood
Compost
Vegan
Nutrients

Materials: (list item and possible

quantity)

1. Examples of food scraps such as

apple cores, carrot tops, half eaten
toast, beans, pasta, meat, cheese,
etc. Use actual samples of food or
the drawings included in this
lesson plan.
2. Crayons or markers
3. Gram Scale
4. Science notebooks

Engage - In this section you should activate prior knowledge, hook student
attention, pose a question (IQ#1) based on your lesson objective that students
will seek to answer in Explore.
Teacher Will: (hook)
Students Will:
Answer teachers questions
Ask students if they had a pet and what kind fo
foods they feed them.
Ask how often they feed them and why.
Ask what would happen if they dont fed their pets.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes
Teacher will write responses on board in bubble map.
Explore - In this section students should take the lead and actively use materials
to discover information that will help them answer the question posed in
Engage. Teachers may choose to give steps to follow, especially for younger students,
but the goal is for students to discover some or all of the sub-objectives of the lesson.
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #1)
Students Will: (list all steps)
What kinds of food do you think we
Students will give ideas and
would feed to worms?
answer questions
Tell students that today they are
They will put the food item in the
going to learn how to feed their pet
appriate pile.
worms that live in the class worm bin.
They will make a chart with
Just like all living things, red worms
pictures and words that shows
need air, water, and food to live.
what to feed and what not to feed
Tell students they are going to
the worms
pretend to open up a Worm Diner or
They will help brainstorm a list of
restaurant. They will need to make a
items that are common in their
menu that lists foods that worms can
snacks and lunches
eat. This is what will be fed to the
They will pick a scrap piece of
worms living in the worm bin.
paper from the hat
Explain to students, that worms do
They will draw their item and write
not have teeth. Instead, they scoop
its name underneath the drawing
up their food with their mouth and
Students will glue their drawing in
swallow it whole. Explain that
the appriate column
although worms can eat any kind of
food out in nature, that the worms
eating at the Worm Diner are vegans.
A vegan is someone or something
that only eats foods from plants. That

means that worms should only eat

plant-based food like fruits,
vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains
like rice and wheat that get turned
into pasta, bread, cookies and
crackers.
Explain that if you feed animal foods
at the Worm Diner, that the food in
the worm bin will get very smelly and
stinky before the worms can eat it.
The worms that will eat at the Worm
Diner need students to make sure the
food on the menu is only made from
plants.
Begin sorting the foods into two piles
by holding up one of the food
samples. Ask students if the food
comes from an animal or a plant and
then ask them if it should be served
at the Worm Diner.
Place foods that worms can eat in a
pile labeled Worm Diner--Yes, and
the foods that worms cannot eat in an
Worm DinerNo pile. Encourage
active student participation by giving
individual students a food item and
asking them to place it into the
correct pile
Ask students to make a chart with
pictures and words that shows what
to feed and what not to feed the
worms.
Brainstorm a list of items that are
common in students snacks and
lunches; write each item on a
separate scrap piece of paper; place
all the scrap papers in a hat/container
and let students each take one.
Ask students to draw their item and
write its name underneath the
drawing.
Use a chart to draw two columns and
the headings Okay to Feed Worms
and Not Okay to Feed Worms.
Have students glue their drawings in
the appropriate column
Teacher will hang the chart by the
worm bin

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes

Instructions on the board

Ask students to repeat instructions to you

Explain In this section students share what they discovered, teacher connects
student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations, students
articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the lesson sub-objectives
by answering the question from Engage before moving on.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Ask students what foods they will feed
Students will explain that they will
to the worms
feed the worms plant-based foods
Teacher will ask students to explain
Students will talk with their
why with their shoulder partners
shoulder partners
Teacher will walk around the room,
listening to student responses
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes
Teacher will have question posted on the board in front of the class for students to see
Elaborate In this section students take the basic learning gained from Explore and
clarified in Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of
this learning at a deeper level. Students should be using higher order thinking in this
stage. A common practice in this section is to ask a What If? question. IQ #2
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #2)
Students Will:
How can red worms help our class
Will give ideas
reduce what we throw in the garbage?
Will explain that worms poop the
Ask students what happens to the
food out after they eat it. And that
food after the worms eat it
just like all living things, worms
take in nutrients when they eat
Explain that worm poop is called
food, and they excrete or give off
compost and it is full of nutrients.
waste.
Compost is very good for our earth
Students will bring back scrap of
and helps plants grow big and strong.
Compost from a worm bin can be
food
collected and placed in a garden or
Will answer inquiry question
flowerpots.
(Worms can eat our leftover food
Before snack or lunch, divide the class
that comes from plants.)
into four teams. Ask each team to
bring back one scrap of food about
the size of an apple core. These food
scraps will be fed to the worms.
Ask students inquiry question
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes
Will post instructions for lunch item on the board with its requirements
Will ask students to repeat instructions for lunch scraps
Will give students instruction sheet for lunch scrap to bring with them to lunch
Evaluate In this section every student demonstrates mastery of the lesson
objective (though perhaps not mastery of the elaborate content). Because this also
serves as a closing, students should also have a chance to summarize the big
concepts they learned outside of the assessment.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Write numbers 1 to 6 on note cards
Weigh food scraps to feed to worms
or 3x5 scrap papers and tape
Bury them in section 1 of the bin
them on the top of the worm bin lid,
Students will write in their science
so they create a six-section diagram
journals how worm composting

that students can use as a guide for

feeding worms and tracking where
the food was placed.
Gather food scraps collected by
each team; weigh out a halfpound
of scraps; and bury them in section
1 of the worm bin.
Emphasize with students that it is
important not to overfeed the
worms.
Ask students how composting
relates to futures thinking

relates to futures thinking.

They will talk to their shoulder
partners and record responses
(Composting with worms relates to
worms because instead of throwing
away your trash, youre giving it to
worms to reuse and not let it go to
waste.)

Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)

Teacher will give an exit slip to students to fill out before ending the lesson
They exit slip will ask students what kinds of food we feed worms, how composting
with worms benefit our planet, and what kind of thinking relates to worm composting
and why.
Students will answer questions and summarize their answers based off what they
learned.
SOA Make suggested edits to build a better lesson.
Evidence that feedback was used to edit and improve the lesson.
Best Practices List the Best Teaching Practices you will use. List the
section, how the practices will be used and the purpose.
Best Practices Listed along with section (engage, explore etc.)
How the practice will be used and the purpose of.