General Lesson Plan Required Components
General Lesson Plan
Teacher: Ms. Mrs. Mr. Dr. Tonya Ahearn Date:
(Circle one above)
Grade: 6 Subject: Science/LA - Falling Leaves Time: 45 mins
(minutes, hours, days, weeks)
1. Materials/Technology:
(Attach copies of worksheets, lecture notes, rubrics, etc.)
· Spinach Leaves (4-5/group)
· Drinking glasses (1/group)
· Spoons
· Nail Polish Remover
· Coffee Filters
· Scissors
· Tape
· Pencils
· Science Journals
· Colored Pencils/Crayons
· Experiment Worksheets – created by Tonya Ahearn
2. Illinois Goals, Learning Standards and Benchmark(s) (Include Benchmark Number):
· State Goal 11: Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems.
o A. Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry.
· 11.A.3c Collect and record data accurately using consistent measuring and recording techniques and media.
· 11.A.3g Report and display the process and results of a scientific investigation.
· State Goal 12: Understand the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections of the life, physical and earth/space sciences.
o A. Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt and change.
· 12.A.2a Describe simple life cycles of plants and animals and the similaritites and differences in their offspring.
· State Goal 2: Read and understand literature representative of various societies, eras and ideas.
o B. Read and interpret a variety of literary works.
· 2.B.2a Respond to literary material by making inferences, drawing conclusions and comparing it to their own experience, prior knowledge and other texts.
· State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
o A. Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure.
· 3.A.3 Write compositions that contain complete sentences and effective paragraphs using English conventions.
3. Performance Objective(s) – Students will be able to…
(List Lower-Order Knowledge, Higher-Order Knowledge, Skill, and Affect as appropriate)
· Students will be able to identify the different colors leaves change to during the fall season. (LO)
· Students will be able to know where leaves get their color from. (HO)
· Students will be able to know why leaves change color in the fall. (HO)
4. Introduction/Anticipatory Set/Advanced Organizer/Focusing Event:
Motivation: Read the book Why do leaves change color? By Betsy Maestro.
Bridge: Go over what the inside of a leaf looks like (page 9 in book) and why leaves change color (why does this happen in the fall). Introduce leaf activity.
5. Procedures:
(Provide a description of the sequence of the instructional activities. Indicate both teacher and student activities.)
The teacher will… / The students will…Read the book on why the leaves change color. / Listen attentively.
Have the students get out their science journals.
Go over what makes a leaf change colors as well as vocab words that are important for our activity:
Chlorophyll: the chemical in plants that makes their leaves green.
Photosynthesis: the process by which plants turn sunlight and water into chlorophyll.
Also have them draw a picture of the inside of a leaf, similar to the one we saw in the book. / Write the definitions of the vocab words and draw picture of the inside of a leaf in their journals.
Go over the leaf activity that is planned. Ask the students, “Where do leaves get their color?” / Raise hand to answer the question
Explain to the students where leaves get there colors from and go over what is going to happen during the activity.
· During the spring and summer, photosynthesis produces so much chlorophyll you can see only the green color in the leaves. As the days get shorter, less chlorophyll is produced and the green fades away so that you can finally see the other colors. When the green is gone, the leaf is not far from falling to the ground.
· You should see many colors work their way up the coffee filter.
· The green comes from the chemical that makes leaves green – chlorophyll.
· You should also see colors like red, yellow and orange. These colors come from different chemicals that are also found in green leaves.
Retrieved from The Everything Kids’ Science Experiment Book.
Ask if there are any questions. / Ask questions/comments.
Go through procedures to set up activity.
1. Tear the leaves into small pieces.
2. Place the pieces into the bottom of the glass and mash them together with a spoon.
3. Add several teaspoons of nail polish remover to the leaf mush. Wait until the leaves settle at the bottom of the nail polish remover. If the remover does not cover all the leaves, add enough so that they are totally covered.
4. Cut a rectangle from the coffee filter. It should be slightly narrower than the glass.
5. Tape the rectangle to the pencil and, when the leaves are settled, place the pencil across the top of the glass so that the coffee filter rests in the nail polish remover without touching the leaves.
6. Let the glass sit for several hours and observe.
Have the students get into groups of 3 and one of them come to the front to get the materials. Have the students start doing steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 while walking around and helping pour the nail polish. / Listen to all directions. Get into groups of 3. One person in the group goes to the front and gathers materials. Begin steps 1, 2, 4, and 5 and wait for the teacher to come around with the nail polish remover.
Once all the activities are set up have the students start filling out the worksheet provided while keeping an eye on the changes in their experiments. Have them fill out Observation 1 after 10 minutes and Observation 2 will be filled out at the end of the day. Let them know that the drawings on the worksheet can just be of the different colors on the coffee filter. They do not need to include the cup or the pencil. / Fill out worksheet and create their drawings while observing their experiment.
6. Closure (set of key questions for comprehension or processing):
· In your own words, write why leaves change colors in the fall in your science journal.
7. Assessment:
· The teacher will assess the students’ ability to identify the different colors leaves change to during the fall season by asking them to verbally state the different colors of leaves.
· The teacher will assess the students’ ability to know where leaves get their color from by checking the worksheet for accuracy.
· The teacher will assess the students’ ability to know why leaves change color in the fall by checking their science journal question for accuracy.
8. Accommodations for Individual Needs:
· Damarion Williams – Let Damarion reference the book Why do Leaves Change Colors? if he needs additional help drawing the inside of a leaf in his science journal.
· Jasmine Cornelius – Since Jasmine excels in science put Marco in her group since she is very helpful at explaining to those who may have difficulties understanding.
· Marco Gonzalez – Put in Jasmine’s group.
9. Homework/Announcements:
10. Reflections on the Strengths and/or Weaknesses of your Lesson and Teaching Performance:
v Maestro, Betsy (1994). Why Do Leaves Change Color? New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
v Robinson, Tom (2001). The Everything Kids’ Science Experiment Book. Avon, MA: F+W Publications Company.