Lesson Plan Project

Ryan R. Smith
Kennesaw State University- ITEC7430

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Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Grade
Level(s)

7th Grade

Content Area

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math)

Time line

Full School Year (9 months)

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and
strategies do you expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject
area benchmarks? )
Students should show they are able to:
1. Distinguish between different forms of energy and identify examples of them in the real world.
2. Identify when an energy transformation has taken place.
3. Provide evidence that energy is never created or destroyed, but conserved.
4. Explain where the energy used in everyday activities came from.
5. Collect data on energy consumption both at home and within the school.
6. Analyze energy transformations and identify inefficiencies in systems.
7. Prepare recommendations for reducing energy consumption by either changing behaviors,
reducing inefficiencies, or both.
8. Interpret changes in energy consumption and evaluate effectiveness of recommendations.
9. Express a basic understanding of middle school chemistry including: identifying the parts of an
atom, differentiating between atoms and molecules, and explaining the factors that affect phase
changes.
10. Provide evidence that mass is never created or destroyed, but conserved.
11. Collect and analyze data that may affect the health of plants in our garden including: soil nutrient
mix, moisture, and pH.
12. Identify and document physical and chemical changes in the garden.
13. Document examples of symbiotic relationships in the garden.
14. Collect solid waste (food, plastic, and paper), weigh it, recycle or reuse it, and document results.
15. Develop a website where results from research and data collection and analysis can be presented.
16. Reflect on effectiveness of choices and clearly communicate recommendations for future
projects.
17. Leverage technology to involve school and community member participation in green
activities.
Students will utilize content learned in the STEM course as well as information covered in their science
and math classes to take an active role in Polo Park Middle Schools efforts to become a Green School
of Excellence. In addition to math and science content, students will be required to use techniques
learned in their language arts classes to communicate their ideas and results clearly, concisely, and
persuasively. The ISTE Student Standards will be used as a guide for responsibly integrating technology
in a manner that enriches their projects.
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Science, Math, & English Language Arts Standards

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Science Standards

SC.7.P.11.2 Investigate and describe the transformation of energy from one form to another

SC.7.P.11.3 Cite evidence to explain that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only changed
from one form to another

SC.7.P.11.4 Observe and describe that heat flows in predictable ways, moving from warmer
objects to cooler ones until they reach the same temperature

SC.7.P.11.1 Recognize that adding heat to or removing heat from a system may result in a
temperature change and possibly a change of state

Mathematics Florida Standards

MAFS.7.SP.1.1 Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by
examining a sample of the population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid
only if the sample is representative of that population. Understand that random sampling tends to
produce representative samples and support valid inferences.
MAFS.K12.MP.1.1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
MAFS.K12.MP.2.1 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MAFS.K12.MP.3.1 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
MAFS.K12.MP.4.1 Model with mathematics.
MAFS.K12.MP.5.1 Use appropriate tools strategically. Mathematically proficient students
consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem.
MAFS.K12.MP.6.1 Attend to precision.
MAFS.K12.MP.7.1 Look for and make use of structure.
MAFS.K12.MP.8.1 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Language Arts Florida Standards

LAFS.7.W.1.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
o a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons
and evidence logically.
o b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible
sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
o c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among
claim(s), reasons, and evidence.
o d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
o e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument
presented.
LAFS.7.W.2.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to
and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing
sources.

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ITSE Standards (Student)

Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making- Students use critical thinking skills to
plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using
appropriate digital tools and resources.
o

a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation

b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project

c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions

d. Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions

Technology operations and concepts- Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology

concepts, systems, and operations.
o

a. Understand and use technology systems

b. Select and use applications effectively and productively

c. Troubleshoot systems and applications

d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

Creativity and innovation- Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and
develop innovative products and processes using technology.
o

a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes

b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues

d. Identify trends and forecast possibilities

Communication and collaboration- Students use digital media and environments to communicate
and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to
the learning of others.
o

a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of
digital environments and media

b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety

of media and formats

c. Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of

other cultures

d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems

Research and information fluency- Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use
information.
o

a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry

b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a
variety of sources and media

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c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness
to specific tasks

d. Process data and report results

Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)
This is a Project Based Learning lesson in which STEM students have been selected to join the elite
Polo Park Middle School Energy Audit Team. Their mission as a PPMS EAT member will be to find a
way to reduce the negative impact our school has on the environment and then use the knowledge
theyve gained to spread their impact into the community. There will be four departments within our
team (solid waste reduction, energy and water auditing, garden/aquaponics monitoring, and
technology/communications), and students will cycle through the departments throughout the year. It
will be critically important that students are able to communicate both within their departments and
across departments. In situations where the whole group is participating in an activity that falls under
one of these departments, students in that department will be responsible for taking a leadership role.
The results of the PPMS Energy Audit Teams work will be documented on a specially designed
website. Products will include pictures and videos of departmental activities and displays and analysis
of data collected.
Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care
or want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or
generate interest about the topic? What questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring to this topic
and build on?)
1. How do humans impact the Earth?
2. Where does the energy we use come from?
3. What does it mean when people say clean or green energy?
4. Where does our garbage go after the truck picks it up?
5. Whats the actual process of recycling look like?
6. How much energy and water does our school use?
7. How much solid waste are we recycling and what does that mean for the environment?
8. Can we calculate how much food gets thrown away each day at our school?
9. Can we reduce or reuse some of the food waste generated at our school?
10. What is compost and how is it related to the biomass pyramid?
11. What nutrients do plants need to grow?
12. What is the right amount of water for our plants?
13. What is photosynthesis and how is it related to the energy pyramid?
14. How can we use technology to make better choices about energy and water use, solid waste, and
food systems?
15. How can we effectively communicate the results of our research and analysis using blogs, podcasts,
videos, infographics, and other forms of digital media?
16. How do you build a website to display your work and tell your story?
17. How can we leverage technology to move our green efforts beyond our school and into our
community?

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Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to
generate new knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)?
How will you assess what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?)
Students will produce a Green Team website using Google Sites. Google Sites will be used because we
are a GAFE district and students will be using Google Forms to collect their data. The data that they
have collected will be shared on each departments sub-page along with graphs (from Google Sheets),
photos documenting their work, and blogs on sustainability (using Blogger). Students will spend a full
quarter in each department and will produce an infographic (using Canva) and a video (choice of editing
software) that summarizes their experiences and data.

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline
student tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etc.help
elucidate or explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology
skills should students have to complete this project?)
The technology used supports student learning by giving them the tools to take ownership of the choices
that affect our schools environmental impact. It will also give them a platform to showcase their work
and to share their message of sustainability with others beyond our school.
Digital Tools: Google Sites, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Windows Movie Maker, Canva, Blogger,
LetterPop (newsletter maker), Parrot Flower Powers (garden sensors), Acer Tablets (data tracking and
photos), and Dell Laptops.
Resources: Quarterly Project Rubric, Checklist of Departmental Responsibilities, List of Suggested
Departmental Roles.
Previous Skills Needed: Students should read and write on grade level and be comfortable navigating
websites. It would be helpful if students had prior experience with Google Apps for Education (GAFE),
but its not necessary.

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Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson?
How can you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)
The STEM course is an elective course that students have chosen to participate in. The majority of
the students participating in the project will have strong science and technology backgrounds, but
most of the technology in this course is fairly user friendly. I have created a tutorial on setting up and
making changes to a Google Sites page, since it is the central technology in this project and probably
the most complicated. Anytime I introduce a new technology concept, like embedding a graph or
video into their website, I will do a quick lesson for them. After observing how well students handle
simple computer tasks over the first couple weeks of the year, I will have a better understanding of
what types of skills need to be remediated. Generally, the difficulties that students face are in
navigating new software. I give them some guidance in this process, but I believe that students tend
to feel more positive and take stronger ownership of their projects when they have invested some
struggle into their work.
Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and
the use of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (small groups, whole
group, individuals, classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the
Internet while completing this lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet
lesson and explain how you will resolve or troubleshoot them?
At the beginning of this project we will work as both a whole group and in small groups. Within the
first week of the school year, each of the STEM classes will have identified our overarching group goals
and the more specific departmental goals. Once the goals for the project are established, students will be
broken up into their teams and each team will make suggestions for their data selection schedule. We
will then come back together to make sure that we have a coherent schedule that will allow each team to
perform the tasks and collect the data that are relevant to their group, while still being able to move
forward with other projects. Most tasks will only take 15-30 minutes one time per week (checking
garden data, collecting recycling, transporting food waste to the composters, performing energy audits).
Each group will create a Google Form at that they will use to input data from their tasks. They will use
a class tablet to take with them and input their data, and each student must input data at least once during
the nine week marking period. The only major technology issue I foresee is an occasional loss of WiFi.
In this case, students will need to record data offline, then transfer it once the internet connection is
restored. All projects for the STEM course are done in class so that there is not a concern about access to
technology and digital equity. We have access to multiple computer labs and are in the process of trying
to acquire a class set of laptops and iPad minis.

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Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies
you will use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your
role? What are the students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the
analysis, evaluation, or creativity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your
teaching? What authentic, relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students
complete? How will they build knowledge and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources
to communicate and collaborate with each other and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?
This project will rely heavily on Google Apps for Education products and all instructions, resources, and
rubrics will be posted in a shared Drive folder on Google Classrooms. Additionally, students will
complete Google Forms surveys posted on their class page throughout the project giving their feedback
on the types of challenges they are facing and suggestions for how we can improve our work. We will
use a Google Calendar within Classroom to organize our task schedule and keep track of important
deadlines like when to post data and documentation to their Sites page, due dates for quarterly
infographics and videos, and departmental transition dates.
Dates
8/15-8/26

Task

Introduce students to Google Classroom and tour other GAFE products.

Discuss project goals and explain overall tasks for each department. Share driving
questions.
Break students up into small groups for each department and allow them to
identify more specific goals for their department.
Have students research the relevance of their department to our school, our
community, and the world. Students will begin developing their departments
sub-page and will communicate the results of their research. Each student will
write an introductory blog related to their departments theme.
Each group will identify the tasks that will help them reach their departmental
goals and they will organize a schedule using a shared Google Calendar.

8/29-9/2

Groups will work together and spend the entire week making initial preparations
for each department. Tasks will include:
o Clear out garden and plant new crops.
o Set up irrigation system and set timer.
o Set up plant monitoring devices.
o Set up composter.
o Set up aquaponics system.
o Take inventory of recycling containers.
o Create data trackers using Google Forms.
o Create first newsletter

9/5-10/7

Continue performing the following weekly tasks:

o Garden Department- collect soil moisture data, plant growth, pH, and
provide brief report to technology/communications department.
o Energy/Water Department- perform audits looking for lights left on, leaky
water fixtures, take thermal images looking for building inefficiencies,
and provide brief report to technology/communications department.
o Solid Waste Department- collect and weigh recycling, collect and weigh
food waste, provide brief report to technology/communications
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o
10/10-10/14

2nd Quarter

department.
Technology/Communications- create weekly newsletter using reports
from other departments that will be emailed to teachers and parents.

Departments will create videos and infographics as groups, summarizing their

results. Individually, each student will go back and review their beginning of the
quarter blog and write a new blog reflecting on what they have learned since then.
The infographics, videos, and blogs will then be posted to their department pages.
Students will submit feedback surveys suggesting any changes and expressing
any concerns.
Beginning
o Review prior quarters progress.
o Rotate groups to new departments.
o Have students discuss new department responsibilities with the students
who led that department last 9 weeks.
o Review Schedule and make changes.
o Write a blog post about new department responsibilities and post it to
department page.
Middle
o Continue performing weekly tasks.
End
o Departments will create videos and infographics as groups, summarizing
their results. Individually, each student will go back and review their
beginning of the quarter blog and write a new blog reflecting on what
they have learned since then. The infographics, videos, and blogs will
then be posted to their department pages.
o Submit feedback surveys suggesting any changes and expressing any
concerns.

3rd Quarter

Repeat 2nd quarter activities.

4th Quarter

Repeat 2nd & 3rd quarter activities.

Last two weeks:
o Make final revisions to team site.
o Write final reflections (individually) on project and make
recommendations to students for next year.
Students will present their final products to the adult members of our schools
Green Team. This includes our principal, cafeteria manager, and several teachers.

I. Students Responsibilities
a. Each student in the group is responsible for understanding the relevance of their department to
our goal of becoming a more environmentally friendly school. This will be demonstrated in:
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II.

III.

IV.
V.

i. Their beginning of quarter blog.

ii. Their reflective end of quarter blog.
iii. Their end of year blog.
iv. Their contributions to each end of quarter infographic and/or video.
b. Each student will be responsible for contributing to all group efforts. This will be
demonstrated in:
i. Their participation in data collection and analysis.
ii. Communication of their results in department webpage updates, reports to
Technology/Communications.
iii. Checking group work for grammatical and factual accuracy.
Setting up Groups & Group Responsibilities
a. Students will work in groups of 4-5. Groups will be randomly selected.
b. Each group will be responsible for collecting and reporting data from their department,
with the exception of the Technology/Communications Department, who will be
responsible for collecting the data from the other groups and reporting it in a coherent
manner.
c. Each group will be responsible for creating the following quarterly products:
i. An infographic summarizing their data.
ii. A video presenting the importance of their work.
iii. Updating the department webpage with graphs of their data, photos of their
activities, etc.
Students will show they are able to
a. Distinguish between different forms of energy and identify examples of them in the real world.
b. Identify when an energy transformation has taken place.
c. Provide evidence that energy is never created or destroyed, but conserved.
d. Explain where the energy used in everyday activities came from.
e. Collect data on energy consumption both at home and within the school.
f. Analyze energy transformations and identify inefficiencies in systems.
g. Prepare recommendations for reducing energy consumption by either changing behaviors,
reducing inefficiencies, or both.
h. Interpret changes in energy consumption and evaluate effectiveness of recommendations.
i. Express a basic understanding of middle school chemistry including: identifying the parts of an
atom, differentiating between atoms and molecules, and explaining the factors that affect phase
changes.
j. Provide evidence that mass is never created or destroyed, but conserved.
k. Collect and analyze data that may affect the health of plants in our garden including: soil
nutrient mix, moisture, and pH.
l. Identify and document physical and chemical changes in the garden.
m. Document examples of symbiotic relationships in the garden.
n. Collect solid waste (food, plastic, and paper), weigh it, recycle or reuse it, and document
results.
o. Develop a website where results from research and data collection and analysis can be
presented.
p. Reflect on effectiveness of choices and clearly communicate recommendations for future
projects.
q. Leverage technology to involve school and community member participation in green
activities.
Rubric- http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=JX5ABXA&sp=yes
Resources
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a.
b.

c.
d.
e.
f.

Example of Website: https://sites.google.com/a/palmbeachschools.org/ppms-energyaudit-p3/

Google Sites Tutorial:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bym0lVW8cKojSUVOd1FPMnBsSW8/view?
usp=sharing
Tips for Creating Effective Infographics: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karlgude/seven-design-tips-for-mak_b_2152724.html
Windows Movie Maker Tutorial: https://youtu.be/7GREeD2icUo
Google Forms Tutorial: https://youtu.be/2IxFeVXBwaQ
Blogging Tips: http://www.techlearning.com/default.aspx?tabid=100&entryid=479

Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles
and abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide
extensions and opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)
Differentiation is built in throughout the project, but considerations should be made to accommodate
students with specific learning needs. If a student has difficulty translating their thoughts into written
words, for example, maybe they try Google Docs speech-to-text feature. If their thoughts are still not
coming across clearly maybe they can create a podcast instead of a written blog. If a Windows Movie
Maker project is beyond a students technical ability, maybe they use a simpler video making site like
Animoto. There are a number of ways that the tasks within this project can be differentiated, but
ultimately it is up to the teacher to be flexible and modify assignment requirements based on student
needs and abilities.
Extension Activities
The most important extension activity is the literal extension of our project beyond our school. Can
students find a way to get other schools to participate in the project? What about members of the
community? Can they bring in experts to help inform their work? How can they stay involved in the
project after leaving the class or school? Could they lead a high school green team? There are a
number of ways this project can be extended, but it would be up to the students to help identify those
that are the best fit for them.

Adaptive/Assistive Technology
As mentioned previously there are a number of ways that these assignments can be modified based on
student needs. Students will have access to assistive technology features such as speech-to-text and will
be able to complete alternative assignments that are best suited to their abilities. For almost every task
we will complete I have either located or created a tutorial to help students get started. We also
generally have at least a few high performing students that enjoy helping others. An effort will be made
to group students of varying abilities so that they can offer each other peer tutoring.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will
students be asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering
the following questions?
Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
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In what ways was this lesson effective?

What went well and why?
What did not go well and why?
How would you teach this lesson differently?)

Because this is a full year project, we were not able to complete it in its entirety. Instead of having a
four department team like we will next year, for now we had everyone participate as part of the
energy/water audit team. Next year we will be able to add the other departments as the STEM students
take over the recycling program and we begin collecting data on the success of the garden.
This was an effective lesson, and those students who will be returning to the STEM class are excited to
expand it and take on greater responsibility. The most effective piece of this lesson was that it allowed
students to take ownership of the impact our school has on the environment. They did research and
discovered the amount of CO2 that is released per hour of classroom lights being left on and they played
a role in encouraging teachers to take advantage of the outdoor classroom that they built.
The only thing that did not go well in this project was that we have not been able to do a full analysis of
the impact of their decisions since we have not been doing the project for the full year. We really need a
longer time period to be able to evaluate our efforts and modify our actions based on those results.
On a final note, the website the students created looks great and they have already taken the initiative to
spread their work beyond our school by creating a Home Energy & Water Audit using Google Forms.
This audit was sent to all of the science teachers to give to their students and any other community
members. We are excited to see what type of response we get from those.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience
with implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson?

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Recommendations:
Contact someone from the school districts operations team prior to starting the project to get
your schools energy and water consumption from the previous year.
Be flexible in allowing students to express their results in a manner that they see fit. As the
project unfolds they may have a better way of communicating their data.
Schedule computer labs in advance or secure laptops for the class.
Secure tablets that can be used during data collection.
Reach out to ELA teachers for blogging collaboration.
Reach out to math teachers for data analysis collaboration.
Reach out to science teachers to allow students to present results to other students at the school.
Be prepared to collect data by hand if the internet goes down or if computers are unavailable.
Be flexible in grouping students. Students should participate in all groups, but keep an eye out
for conflicts within groups.

References

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(2016). Fldoe.org. Retrieved 28 April 2016, from

http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/12087/urlt/G7_LanguageArts_Florida_Standards.pdf
(2016). Fldoe.org. Retrieved 28 April 2016, from
http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5390/urlt/0081015-mathfs.pdf
(2016). Iste.org. Retrieved 28 April 2016, from https://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_StandardsS_PDF.pdf
SC.7.P.10 - Forms of Energy. (2016).Cpalms.org. Retrieved 28 April 2016, from
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewIdea/Preview/561

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