Lesson Plan #1 Title: Introduction to Plants

Performance Objective: When given a graphic organizer, students will be able to correctly

identify at least three facts about plants from material covered in Third Grade Science Lab.

Resources or Materials Needed: SmartBoard, white board, chart paper for anchor chart, twelve

graphic organizers (Appendix A)., “Bill Nye the Science Guy” video (“Plants” season 3, episode

3), pencils for all students

Time: 80 minutes

Step 1: Pre-Instructional Activities: (10-15 minutes)

• Students will sit at their assigned seats upon entering the Science Lab. Each student will

have a graphic organizer at their place that will have two headings: “What do you know

about plants?” and “What would you like to learn about plants?” Students will have ten to

fifteen minutes to complete this task.

• Once the students are finished with their graphic organizers, instruct them to keep their

papers at their desks and turn their attention to the SmartBoard.

Step 2: Content Presentation: (30 minutes)

• “Bill Nye the Science Guy” season 3, episode 3, “Plants”

o This activity will gain the students’ attention because they thoroughly enjoy

watching Bill Nye. The episode has a run time of thirty minutes.

• Once the video is completed, introduce this unit’s essential question: “How do plants

grow and reproduce?”

Step 3: Learner Participation: (35 minutes)

• Complete a “KWL” Chart. Each section of the anchor chart will be a full page (a “K”

page, a “W” page and a “L” page) and the three pages will be hung together in the

Science Lab to make one large chart.

o Using the information from the graphic organizers they completed earlier in

class and information from the video, students will share their answers with the

entire class, section by section.

o Begin with the “What do you know about plants?” also known as the “K”

section. Call on students with their hands raised and record their correct

responses in the “K” section of the anchor chart.

o Once the students have provided enough answers for the “K” chart by filling the

space provided, move onto the “W” chart, “What do you want to learn about

plants?” Record the students’ answers on the chart. This information will be

useful later in the unit because answering what the students want to know will

help to keep their attention and hold onto their interest.

Step 4: Assessment: (0 minutes)

• The assessment for this lesson will be the graphic organizers that the students completed

in the beginning of class. It will serve as a test of prior knowledge.

• Graphic organizers will be collected as the students leave the Science Lab.

o Instruct students to place the papers on the teacher’s desk as they leave.

• Student responses from the “What do you know about plants?” section will be compared

to the third grade Science standards to see if students have retained the information from

third grade Science Lab.

 o Students should provide a minimum of three facts.

Step 5: Follow-Through Activities:

• Ask students to find a plant at their home or in their neighborhood and observe it.

• Students will be asked to share their observations at the start of the next class.

Lesson Plan Summary: The main learning theory that is shown in this lesson plan is

Cognitivism. Students are asked questions to recall prior knowledge on plants. Students’

attention is maintained with a fun, yet informative video. These follow Gagne’s third and first

Events of Instruction, respectively (Khalil & Elkhider 2016). This lesson plan also follows

Cognitivism because it includes a discussion of prior knowledge, as well as knowledge learned

in the video.