Alex Bonikowske

“The Celery Experiment”

Lesson Plan

The Learner(s)
Discuss your learners’ context.
 What is their general level of development?
The general level of development is that the students are being introduced to how a
plant takes in water. They will make predictions based off of their own prior
knowledge and learn the very basics to this natural science. They will also get a
chance to see the experiment with their own eyes.
 What are their interests (knowledge of strengths, needs, interests) and lived experiences,
(individually and culturally appropriate; knowledge of students & community)?
The interests of the students are included in this lesson because they will get a chance to
visually see the process of how a plant takes in water. They will also write their own thoughts
down on the worksheets provided to them. They will have a chance to activate their own
prior knowledge about the subject based off of any information they have received in the
past. There interests include visually seeing any type of experiment being done.

Prior Learning
Discuss students’ past learning connected or related to this topic (What they know and can do)
 What do the students already know prior to this lesson? Tell prior assessment data (formal
and informal), teacher observations, MAP data, or other sources that will inform you about
students' strengths and areas of growth.
Prior to this lesson, I will give out a small worksheet where they will fill in their
predictions on what will happen if I put a stick of celery in a cup of colored water.
They will use their reasoning to further explain why they think their prediction is
accurate. This will activate their prior knowledge of the topic of how a plant or tree
absorbs the water. Ms. Smith says that they have not done any type of lesson related
to plants, so I concluded that they have not been introduced to the fundamentals of
plants. Checking for prior knowledge will show the students’ strengths because it will
show me their reasoning skills attached to their predictions or thoughts. As far as
areas of growth go, this worksheet will show me exactly what points I will need to
stress on while giving the lesson to the class.

Rationale
Given your answers to the above, describe your rationale for teaching this lesson in this way to
these students. (How does the information you gathered about the preferences, development and past
learning inform the way you plan to teach this lesson)
Students will learn about how a plant absorbs water by use of a stick of celery and colored water.
They will learn the basic parts of a plant and the fundamentals of how a plant absorbs the water. This
lesson will be given to the class and will be molded to the prior knowledge that has been shown from
the worksheets completed before the lesson begins. I will stress on multiple vocabulary words and
points of the plant so that they can retain the information.
Outcomes/ Goals
The outcomes and goals are that the students will be able to explain how a plant takes in
water by writing it out in paragraph form.

Standards
What relevant content and anchor standards connect to this learning experience? (Cite information
from the Early Learning Standards, Common Core Standards or Next Generation Science
Standards.)
Wisconsin Teaching Standard 2: The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can
provide learning opportunities that support their social, intellectual, and personal development.

Next Generation Science Standard 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have
internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and
preproduction.

Learning Objective
What will students be able to do as a result of this learning experience? Frame your response in an
"I can" statement (kid-friendly language – found on Moodle).
As a result of this learning experience, students will be able to understand how a plant takes
in water, as well as know some of the important vocabulary words or parts of the plant that
helps this process. Students can use key vocabulary words to explain how a plant gets its
water.

Assessment
What are the multiple ways you will know whether your students have learned, and how deeply
they have learned? What elements of choice in showing their learning can you provide to students?
Describe formative and summative assessment strategies. Provide examples of how you will keep
track of students' learning (chart, conversational notes, rubric for analyzing student work, etc.)
I will be able to assess their overall understanding and learning through an exit ticket, which
I will provide them after the learning. I will then show my answers up on the smart board
and ask the class as a whole if their answers are similar to mine. If not, I will clarify the
points that were confusing.

Academic Language Demands (see additional handouts on Moodle,week 3 student resources folder)
What are the academic language demands of this lesson? From the edTPA "Making Good
Choices" handbook:
In this lesson, the academic language is: xylem, roots, leaves, photosynthesis, and capillary
action.

Accommodations / Strategies for Differentiation

What are needed supports and/or additional challenges needed for individuals or subgroups to
demonstrate high learning outcomes? Describe connections to IEP goals if known.
One accommodation is the extra adult in the classroom to help some of the challenged
students stay focused. Ms. Smith will also be available to assist with any questions if I am
busy with other students. Another accommodation is that I will be displaying the vocabulary
words on the board for the whole class to see. The smart board is in a spot in the room that
is visible to all students. If any of the students in the back cannot see the board, I will allow
them to sit at the front table, where they will be closer.

Materials/ Resources
What materials and resources will your students and you need for this lesson?
Smart board, two of the same worksheets per student, pencil, clear-plastic cups, celery sticks
with leaves.

Procedures w/Instructional strategies (Task Analysis, Scaffolding, Behavior Reflections, Paraphrase,

Modeling, Effective Praise, Telling, Explaining, Questioning, and Turn &Talk/Pair Share...) (anticipated
duration: 30-35 minutes)

 Introduction
How will you engage the students in the important and essential ideas at the beginning of
the learning experience? What open-ended questions might you ask to activate their
curiosity and wonder? What connections can you make to their interests and strengths?
I will start by asking if anyone knows anything about plants as I hand out the
worksheet. Then I will ask them to think about how a plant absorbs its water and tell
them to write their thoughts in the first box. Then I will ask them to expand on their
thoughts and show their reasoning skills, and write it in the second box. Lastly, I will
talk ask them about what would happen if I dropped a stick of celery in a colored cup
of water. I will ask them to write that prediction in the ‘results’ box at the bottom.
This will all be part of their prior knowledge, which is the first part of the lesson.
__ “Today we will be doing a fun activity involving the different parts of a plant. But
first, I need you to start thinking about what you know about a plant. How many
parts of a plant is there? How does it get its water and other nutrients?” (as I pass out
the worksheets).
__ “Now, I want you to write about how you think a plant gets its water and other
nutrients. Write this in the first box.”
__ “Now in the second box, I want you to write about why you think that. Use your
reasoning skills! I’ll give you a few minutes.”
__ “Good! Now we’re going to look at what happens when I stick a celery stalk in this
cup of colored water. What do you think will happen? Please write this in the last box
on your worksheet. When you are finished, give me a thumbs up.”
__ “Okay, now that you’re done with that part, please talk to the person sitting next
to you about what you wrote on your paper. Include what you wrote down in all
three of the boxes. I’ll walk around the room and will listen in on some of your
conversations.”

 Demonstration / Modeling
How will you provide interactive/ demonstrative examples of the activities and
expectations of the learning experience? (Modeling, scaffolding, questioning, reviewing
norms for group work, co-constructing a rubric for self assessment, other?)
 I will provide interactive/demonstrative examples by displaying my answers on the
board. I will also show the process of the celery stalks on the board for them to see,
too. The food coloring in the water will act as a visual in seeing where the water has
traveled.

 Individual or Group Exploration and Practice

How will your students work individually or collaboratively with the ideas of the lesson?
What will you do to support and probe their thinking as they engage with ideas?
Collaboratively- the students will collaborate with one another in partners as they
share their thoughts and generate other ideas. I will support and probe their thinking
as they make predictions and write their answers on their papers, as I walk around
the room and answer any questions they may have. I will challenge them to use all
five vocabulary words in their reasoning box, and remind them that they can use the
backside of the paper if they run out of room.

 Sharing/ Celebrating Learning

How will students exchange and share their work? How will you select students for
sharing, and how do you anticipate that you will connect their individual or group work
with the learning objectives and assessment methods?
The students will share their predictions with the people sitting near them. At the
end, I will ask some questions that the students should be able to answer. I will call on
the students who were less vocal but may know the answers. Again, I will show them
my answers at the end and ask if anyone has anything different and if they could
share what they wrote. I will clarify the actual answer so that they will know what the
correct answers are.

 Closure/ Transition
How will you adjourn the learning opportunity and make an effective transition, both to the
next time that students will engage with the ideas as well as to the next moment of the day?
As we wrap up the activity, I will tell them what a nice job they all did. I will ask for
any more questions, and tell them that they are now experts on celery.

 Consideration
How can you flexibly adapt your plan if you run out of time or if things go more quickly
than you anticipate?
I can flexibly adapt my lesson plan if I run out of time by only allowing each student
to talk to one partner rather than multiple partners, or skip the class sharing. If we
finish early, Mrs. Adelmeyer already has a planned activity for afterwards, so we will
just move on to the next planned thing.
I will be monitoring the time closely so that we stay within the time limits. I can
flexibly adapt my lesson plan if I run out of time by asking fewer questions at the end.
If we have time left over, I will ask the students who finished (or all of them) to write
what they learned during the lesson, and challenge them to include their vocabulary
words.