SETON HILL UNIVERSITY

Lesson Plan Template

TOPIC DETAILS CK

Name Emily Montefour

Subject Science

Grade Level 1st Grade

Date/Duration Spring/40 minutes

RATIONALE This lesson is going to be the first lab in a series completed throughout the unit to
demonstrate the life cycle of a plant.
Standards:
Standard 3.1.1.A2 Investigate the dependence of living things on the suns energy,
water, food/nutrients, air, living space, and shelter.
Standard 3.1.1.B1 Grow plants from seed and describe how they grow and change.
Compare to adult plants.

INTRODUCTION Activating Prior Knowledge

Review the information the class has learned so far about the life cycle of a plant. This
review will be in the form of students compiling a chart on the board, where every
student comes up one at a time to write something they have learned on the board.
After all of the students have written their fact, the class will go over the chart together.

Hook/Lead-In/Anticipatory Set
Read aloud of How Does My Garden Grow?, written by Gerda Muller and translated by
Polly Lawson.

EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION Big Idea Statement

Plants grow from seeds, and as they grow they begin to develop many different parts to
help the organism survive and reproduce.
Planting your own garden and documenting their growth is a great way to learn about
how they grow and function.

Essential Question Statement

How much sunlight do plants need to grow?
How much water do plants need to grow?
How will these factors affect how they grow?
How do the plant parts work together to help the plant grow?

Objective Statement (Audience, Behavior, Condition, Degree)

The student will be able to orally describe the process they are completing in the lab
with 95% accuracy.
The student will complete and document the lab procedures in their lab notebook with
98% accuracy.

Vocabulary
Seed- a tiny plant that is protected by a hard outer shell.
Soil- the top layer of dirt on the Earths surface.
Spade- a tool with a long handle and rectangle-shaped blade that is used for digging.
 Transition
The class will begin transition from class discussion and introduction to the lab by
counting off by two to form pairs. After students have their lab partner, groups will be
dismissed based on number and hair color (i.e. If you were a number one and your
partner has blonde hair, go get your lab notebooks and supplies for lab). Grayson and
his partner will be dismissed with the first group so he has more time to transition
(offer assistance to him as needed), so make sure whatever hair color he or his partner
has gets called first.

LESSON PROCEDURE Pre-Assessment of Students

The teacher will lead a brief review of all content learned up until this point in the unit
(regarding the life cycle of a plant), as documented in all earlier lesson plans. This
review will be in the form of students compiling a chart on the board, where every
student comes up one at a time to write something they have learned on the board.
After all of the students have written their fact, the class will go over the chart together.
Based on the accuracy of this assessment, the instructor will be able to gauge where
their students are as well as well as how to proceed with the lab in terms of instruction
methods.

Modeling of the Concept

The teacher will produce three plantseach at different points in the lifecycle (one is a
sprout, another is half grown, the third is fully mature). Students will have the
opportunity to walk up in their pairs and inspect the plants; afterwards they will
document in their notebooks how they think their plant will go based off of this
observation. The steps of the lab will be gone over, and the teacher will demonstrate
before students are set free to complete their own. First, students will put some soil
into a pail and carry it over to their lab station. Next, students will take a plastic cup and
fill it of the way full with soil before depositing the seed into the soil. The students
will then cover the seed up with the last of soil that can fit in the cup. Finally,
students will take one of the three watering cans and gently water their seed. After this
is complete, students will label their plant and place it on the window sill. Upon
completing the lab, students will finish any remaining documentation in their lab
notebooks and then make predictions about what will happen at different time check-
ins of the lab (1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks).

Guiding the Practice

During the lab, the teacher will go around and ask questions to the pairs of students to
prompt deeper thinking and understanding of the activity. An example of such
questions might be: Why do you think we have to put this amount of soil in the cup
before we put the seed it? How will it affect how the seed grows?.

Providing Independent Practice

Students will be given the opportunity to work in their pairs on the lab for the majority
of the class period. Students will be asked to document their process in their lab
notebooks, as well as to make predictions about what will happen at different time
check-ins of the lab (1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks).

Transition
The class will begin transition from class discussion and introduction to the lab by
counting off by two to form pairs. After students have their lab partner, groups will be
dismissed based on number and hair color (i.e. If you were a number one and your
partner has blonde hair, go get your lab notebooks and supplies for lab). Grayson and
his partner will be dismissed with the first group so he has more time to transition
(offer assistance to him as needed), so make sure whatever hair color he or his partner
has gets called first.
READING MATERIALS, Lab notebooks 3 Child-sized watering cans
TECHNOLOGY, AND Soil Newspaper
SUPPLIES Clear plastic cups Plastic pails (about 10)
Spades Snap pea seeds
How Does My Garden Grow?, written by Gerda Muller and translated by Polly Lawson

EVALUATION OF THE Formal Evaluation

LEARNING/MASTERY The teacher will collect the students lab notebooks at the end of class to be graded
OF THE CONCEPT according to the grading rubric.

Informal Evaluation
The instructor will walk around during the lab and informally assess each lab pairing.
This will be completed when the instructor asks the students to explain what they are
doing in the lab, and why. The students should be able to explain the lab and how it
relates to their current studies with 95% accuracy.

CLOSURE Summary and Review of the Learning

At the end of class, students will submit their lab notebooks for grading. After this, the
class will have a brief review of what they just did (the lab, generally step by step) and
how it applies to what they have learned so far. The class will end with a discussion of
what everyone thinks their plant will look like when it is grown. This brief discussion
(2-3 minutes) will serve as a transition into the assigning of that nights homework.

Homework/Assignments
The homework for this lab will be to go home and draw a picture of what you think
your plant is going to look like when it is fully grown. Then students will bring it into
school the following day to share and turn in for a completion grade.