Lesson Planning Form for Accessible Instruction — Calvin College Education Program
Teacher Esther Schuurman
Date April 15Subject/ Topic/ Theme Inside a SeedGrade2
I. ObjectivesHow does this lesson connect to the unit plan?
This is the first lesson in the Plant unit, starting with the first portion of the life cycle: seed growing.
Learners will be able to: / cognitive-
R U Ap An E C* / physical development / socio-emotional
- Dissect a seed
- Record their observations
- Distinguish the parts of a seed and their uses
- Make connections to human and animal uses for seeds
- Know the first step of a plant life cycle
Ap
R
Common Core standards(or GLCEs if not available in Common Core) addressed:
L.OL.02.22 Describe the life cycle of familiar flowering plants including the following stages: seed, plant, flower, and fruit.
S.IP.02.11 Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the appropriate senses.
S.IP.02.12 Generate questions based on observations.
S.IP.02.13 Plan and conduct simple investigations.
S.IP.02.15 Make accurate measurements with appropriate units (meter, centimeter) for the measurement tool.
S.IA.02.12 Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation.
S.IA.02.13 Communicate and present findings of observations.
S.RS.02.15 Use evidence when communicating scientific ideas.
(Note: Write as many as needed. Indicate taxonomy levels and connections to applicable national or state standards. If an objective applies to particular learners write the name(s) of the learner(s) to whom it applies.)
*remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create
II. Before you start
Identify prerequisite knowledge and skills. / Basic drawing skills, plants begin as seeds, how to measure with a ruler.
Outline assessment activities
(applicable to this lesson) / Pre-assessment (for learning):
Discussion about drawing exactly what you see, recording like a scientist. Questions about what seeds do?
Formative (for learning):
Dissecting the seed and recording what they see.
Formative (as learning):
Answering questions on the last page of the notebook.
Summative (of learning):
Whole group discussion, going over the last page of questions in the notebook, drawing seed in final plant life cycle bubble.
What barriers might this lesson present?
What will it take – neurodevelopmentally, experientially, emotionally, etc., for your students to do this lesson? / Provide Multiple Means of Representation / Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression / Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
Provide options for perception- making information perceptible
Information available through group discussion, teacher modeling and hands on explanation. / Provide options for physical action- increase options for interaction
Students will dissect and examine a seed. / Provide options for recruiting interest- choice, relevance, value, authenticity, minimize threats
Challenging the students to become scientist and study their seeds.
Provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols- clarify & connect language
Students will measure the seed using a ruler. Scientist words will be posted on cards with pictures on the white board. / Provide options for expression and communication- increase medium of expression
Writing, drawing, hands on approach, group discussion. / Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence- optimize challenge, collaboration, mastery-oriented feedback
New challenge of hands on learning, finally answering a question that they wondered about in their pre-assessment
Provide options for comprehension- activate, apply & highlight / Provide options for executive functions- coordinate short & long term goals, monitor progress, and modify strategies
Students will be able to work independently or with their table groups to dissect their seeds. / Provide options for self-regulation- expectations, personal skills and strategies, self-assessment & reflection
Discussion about acting like scientists, being responsible.
Materials-what materials (books, handouts, etc) do you need for this lesson and are they ready to use? / 1 Dry bean seeds, 2 soaked been seeds, paper plate, inside a seed handout, ruler, magnifying glass (for each student), toothpicks
How will your classroom be set up for this lesson? / Desks in groups of four
III. The Plan
Time
/Components
/ Describe teacher activities AND student activitiesfor each component of the lesson. Include important higher order thinking questions and/or prompts.
00:00 / Motivation
(opening/
introduction/
engagement) / Today we are going to be scientists. What do scientists do? When scientists want to know the answer to something, what do they do?
Today we are going to be talking about seeds. Talk to you partner about what you know about seeds. Think back to when we read about the life cycle of a pumpkin in our textbook. What is a seed? What does a seed grow into? What do you think is inside a seed? What is the best way to find out what is inside a seed? Let’s see if you are right about what is inside!
Today we are going to take apart a seed to find out what is inside. You are going to be the scientists!
I have recording notebooks that we are going to use to help us draw and write about what we observe and see.
What does record mean? What does observation mean? Those are scientist words. Hang up scientist words. Discuss drawing EXACTLY what you see (like taking a picture)
I’m going to hand out your recording notebooks. Please write your name on the front, and then turn to the first page. It will say “Inside a Seed” on the top. / Respond to teacher’s questions.
Scientists ask questions about the world around them. They conduct experiments to answer their questions. They look at things carefully to see what the answer is. They look and search to find out.
A seed is the beginning of a plant. The best way to find out what is inside is to look inside!
Answer questions. Record means write down. Observe means look carefully.
Help handing out notebooks. Write name. Turn to page 2.
00:02
00:05
00:07 / Development
(the largest component or main body of the lesson) / On the first page of the notebook, there are instructions. Read through instructions together. When you examine (look carefully at) your seed, follow the instructions in your notebook and RECORD your OBSERVATIONS.
One person from each table is going to come up and get the materials you need (2 from middle group). You will need to SHARE the materials at your tables. Each table will get a ruler, magnifying classes and plates and two cups of beans. Can someone remind me how to use a ruler to measure again?
Before you explore and find the answers like scientists, I have 3 instructions. First, follow the instructions on the first page and RECORD information about your bean. Measure it, draw it, open it up, draw the inside, look at it with the microscope. Second, there is a diagram on the next page of the inside of your seed. Using your seed and what you OBSERVED, fill in the boxes of the diagram. Can you find the diagrams parts on your seed? Third, when you are finished, answer on the questions on the last page. You can work the people sitting around you and share what you find with them. Are the instructions clear? What are we doing first? Second? Third? I trust you all to work responsibly and quietly like scientists. If you show me that you can work well like scientists, we can do more experiments.
Let students work independently until everyone seems to be finished or stuck. If the students are having trouble working independently or in groups, guide and model using questions.
While walking around, ask the students what they see inside the seed, what they think each part does, why each part is necessary. / Hand out materials. Put beans on plates.
Split beans in half. Use magnifying glass to see inside. Record and answer questions in notebook.
Fill in the diagram. Find parts of the seed in real life.
Write answers to questions on the last page. Work with group to answer the questions.
00:08
00:12
00:15
00:22
00:26
00:35 / Closure
(conclusion, culmination, wrap-up) / Class discussion: take up page of questions together.
- What was inside the seed? How would you describe it?
- Could you find the little plant inside the seed? What does it look like? Can you see the shape of the future leaves?
- What part protects the plant?
- What does the food storage area of the seeds look like? This part of the seed has lots of energy in it.
- Why does the seed need all that energy/food for?
- Did you know that humans eat seeds? What kind of seeds do humans eat? Corn, almonds, nuts, peanuts, beans, wheat, peas, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds.
- Clip pictures of these up on the board, or project on screen.
- Why do we eat seeds? The food storage in seeds can be energy and food for us too!
- Do you have any questions about seeds that we didn’t answer yet?
- Isn’t it cool that the seed has everything it needs to grow?
Fill in the first bubble of the life cycle by drawing a seed.
00:45
Your reflection about the lesson, including evidence(s) of student learning and engagement, as well as ideas for improvement for next time. (Write this after teaching the lesson, if you had a chance to teach it. If you did not teach this lesson, focus on the process of preparing the lesson.)
The seed lesson went fairly well. The students were so excited to learn about seeds and did a great job sharing their observations and thinking critically. I had one student from each group get the materials for the rest of their group and the clean up went very quickly and quietly as well. They have not done as much measuring as I thought, so measuring the seed took more time than I thought. They had lots of good ideas about what scientists do (“writing and drawing what they see”, “finding answers to questions by experiments”). The students had some great observations about the parts of the seed.
“I know this part is the seed coat because it goes all around the seed and I thought about coats that people wear and they go on the outside and keep you warm, so the seed coat goes on the outside of the seed too.”
“The little plant is this part because it is going to get bigger and stronger and pop out and grow up and the other parts of the seed can’t do that.”
“The seed needs food storage because it is under the ground and it can’t get food from the sun yet for growing.”
“How does the little plant get out of the seed? Does the seed crack open?” This last question was a great lead for the next lesson!
I did not lay out the instructions as clearly as I should have for the seed exploration. Two of my students ate their bean seeds, claiming they tasted like apples. I had to pull them into the hallway to talk about the actions of a scientist and why they could not eat the experiment. The students also had trouble working with their group to find the answers and to determine what activity to do next. Next time, I will lay out the instructions more clearly or model what we will be doing before releasing them.
1-19-13