Meghan Tomasi

Grade Level: 4th grade

SCIENCE LESSON PLAN
JMU Elementary Education Program

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON
Supermarket Botany

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The previous knowledge the students are expected to understand includes being familiar with the
different parts of a plant: roots, stems, seeds, leaves, flowers, fruit, and being able to identify these
parts on different types of plants. This lesson will involve looking at plants the students are familiar
with and can relate to, such as everyday fruits and vegetables the students may eat or have access to in
their homes or the school system. This lesson is appropriate for the students because they will be able
to learn more about not only plants, but also more about the plants they are personally involved with,
thereby staying interested and engaged with both the familiar and the unfamiliar. At the time I will be
teaching this lesson, my cooperating teacher will have entered the plant unit of their science
curriculum, so this lesson will fit into what the students are already learning in their classroom. By
taking the basics of plants and advancing the information in a way that is relatable to the students, the
students will be more willing to learn the information. This lesson will act as a scaffold for the
students to improve their knowledge of plants as much as possible.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand Know Do

The students should understand the
six parts of a plant and be able to
identify them on different types of
plants they are shown.
Students will learn more about the
types of food they eat and begin to
understand which parts of different
plants are edible and which are not.
When presented with a new plant or
plant parts, students will be able to
think through the six types of plant
parts to identify them and determine
which parts are edible and which are
not. They will use previous
knowledge or experience with the
plants presented to aid them in their
reasoning.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING

Students will work in groups and have a poster to organize. Pictures of each type of plant or plant part
will be on the left side of the poster, and areas for each of the six plant parts will be on the right side.
Students will work together to sort the pictures on the left into the sections on the right. I will assess
the posters when all groups have finished to determine if the students were able to correctly label each
picture.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS if required)

Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic

4.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the nature of
science by planning and conducting investigations in which
a) distinctions are made among observations, conclusions, inferences, and predictions;
b) objects or events are classified and arranged according to characteristics or properties;
e) predictions and inferences are made, and conclusions are drawn based on data from a variety
of sources;
k) data are communicated with simple graphs, pictures, written statements, and numbers;
l) models are constructed to clarify explanations, demonstrate relationships, and solve needs;
 Meghan Tomasi
Grade Level: 4th grade

Life Processes
4.4 The student will investigate and understand basic plant anatomy and life processes. Key
concepts include
a) the structures of typical plants and the function of each structure;

F. MATERIALS NEEDED

Posters
Pictures of different plants/plant parts
Actual supermarket foods
o Bringing in the real life items that are presented in the pictures, such as carrots, cucumbers, peaches, coffee, tomatoes,
lettuce, nuts, potatoes, peppers, etc
Prizes (optional)

G. PROCEDURE

Preparation of the learning environment (if required)

Laying out posters for each group at their tables
Engage -Introduction of the lesson
I will begin the lesson by discussing the six parts of a plant; when I tell students that there are six parts to a plant, they
will be able to guess what these parts are. I will go up to the board and write the six parts, as students guess them, and
then ask for students to describe to me each part and what its purpose is.
Ex. Can anyone tell me what a seed is and why it is important?
o Answer Ex. A seed is what the plant starts as, and if you plant it in the ground and water it, it will grow into a new
plant.
After discussing and writing what each part is, I will continue by asking for examples of each of the parts. Students
will be able to tell me different plants or plant parts they are familiar with.
Implementation of the lesson (specific procedures and directions for teacher and students)
Teacher
o Students will be broken up into groups. I will ask my CT for any recommendations as to which students should or
should not be grouped together, and if there are no specific groupings my CT suggests then I will either group up
students based on proximity (i.e. pair up students depending on who they are sitting near), or I will allow students to
form their own groups.
o I will explain to students what their poster is and what they will be doing with it. (they will be organizing the pictures
on the left side into the sections on the right)
o I will explain that the posters will be made into a game/contest. For each picture the students correctly identify, they
will earn a point for their team and the winning team will earn first prize, followed by second, third, and so on
depending on the number of groups.
o As students work I will walk around the room and observe, but I will not interfere with or aid any of the groups.
o When I bring in real plants/plant parts, I will pass out an equal amount of each to each group so that they can observe
them and use them in their reasoning as they organize the pictures.
Student
o Students will work in with the classmates in their groups to correctly identify which pictures belong in each plant part
section
Closure
Students will turn their posters into me (to prevent cheating by changing answers as groups present) and as I put each
poster on the board, the group that goes with that poster will present and explain their reasoning to the class as to why
each of their pictures belongs in the sections they put them in.
For each picture they reason out correctly, I will give them a tally (which only I will be able to see). After all groups
have presented and sat back down, I will hand back out the posters and tell students that after seeing all of their
classmates present, they are given a second chance to change anything they think should be changed, so as to allow
groups to fix any mistakes they think they have made.
 Meghan Tomasi
Grade Level: 4th grade
Once changes have been made, the groups will then take turns explaining their changes which will give me a chance to
re-tally each groups points.
I will then put the answers on the board and the class will be open for discussion. Students can raise their hands and
comment on the answers, ask questions about the answers, and I will also explain any answers that students may have
had trouble with while working on their posters.
At the end of all the presentations, the tallies will be added up, and the prizes will be handed out. There can also be
prizes given to the groups that revised their posters and corrected their mistakes, and were able to improve their tally
score the second time around.
Clean-up (if required)
Because I will already have all of the posters, there will be nothing that needs cleaning.
Because I will bring in real plants/plant parts I will collect those from each group.

H. DIFFERENTIATION

There is a large range of levels in my practicum classroom; some of the students are very advanced in
some areas while others need assistance with basic principles, and the rest of the students fall at every
level in between. This will be the biggest challenge when teaching my lesson because I will need to
accommodate and account for every student regardless of level. By having a class discussion at the
beginning of the lesson about the different plant parts and giving examples of each, I believe all
students will be engaged because, if they know the answers, they are able to add input, and if they do
not know the answers, the answers are provided by their peers and written on the board for them to see
and understand. Again, with having students complete the activity in groups, this gives all of the
students a chance to discuss and work together to correctly organize the pictures. Regardless of their
level of understanding, each student should be able to participate because the plants and plant parts
that will be included in the lesson will be ones that are relatable to the students and ones the students
are already familiar with.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

Students may not know what a certain plant or plant type is while working in their groups. If this
happens and students cannot identify what section it belongs in because they are unfamiliar with it, I
will at first try to encourage them to use their logic and reasoning to determine what the plant/plant
part is (for example if students do not know what a radish it, I will ask them what it looks like it could
be, or if I bring in real radishes, I will ask them to use their other senses to try and figure it out). If they
are still unable to come to a conclusion, I will explain to them what the plant/plant part is or used for
and they can use the information I provide to decide which section they think it belongs in.
If I bring in real plants/plant parts, I will ask the teacher beforehand for any allergies students may
have so that I do not bring in something potentially harmful to the class.

J. Sources
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lsps07.sci.life.oate.plantparts/supermarket-botany/
http://doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/science/index.shtml