lesson plan TEKS 4-8

TEXAS TEACHERS LESSON PLAN PROJECT FORMAT
INSTRUCTIONS: Fill out all portions of the lesson plan. Within the plan note the following items as
indicated below to facilitate identification of the required elements.
Use of Groups Blue or Aqua
Critical Thinking or Problem Solving Pink or Magenta
Learning Modalities Underline
NAME: New Teacher SUBJECT: Environmental Systems
CERTIFICATION AREA: __Science 7-12_________________________________________
TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
Environmental Systems (4) Science concepts. The student knows the relationships of biotic and abiotic
factors within habitats, ecosystems, and biomes. The student is expected to:
(G) predict how species extinction may alter the food chain and affect existing populations in an
ecosystem.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE(S):
The student will predict how species extinction may alter the food chain and affect existing populations
in an ecosystem by making predictions and explaining the effects of extinction on populations given a
sample food chain and extinction scenarios.
ASSESSMENT/PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
Informal Assessment: In the “We Do” portion of the class, I will walk around and check off whether their
group dry erase predictions were correct or not. If they were incorrect, I will guide them into explaining
the question until they find the correct answer.
Formal Assessment: This will be a short quiz at the end of class. Students will be given a sample food
chain and possible extinction scenarios. Students must be able to predict whether the other species in
the food chains will have increasing or decreasing populations, as well as explain why this would occur
using the relationships that food chains describe. Their performance will be scored with a rubric where
the criteria will include a correct prediction based on the scenario and a correct explanation of the
student’s prediction.
MATERIALS and SETTING
What materials do you need for this
lesson? What is the setting? Are
students in pairs, groups, stations,
floor, library, science lab?
Setting: Classroom
Materials: Dry Erase Pockets with different food chain
pictures, dry erase markers
Students will start as a whole class for “I do”, will move into
partners for “we do”, and will go as individuals for “you do”
KEY VOCABULARY and ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE
What vocabulary terms must students
know to understand the concept being
taught?
Vocabulary: Extinction, food chain, producer, primary
consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer
Academic Language: Sentence stems to help guide them in
their responses.
Based on the food chain, if the population of (organism)
went extinct, the populations of (XYZ) would increase and
the populations of (ZYX) would decrease. I know this
because (explain their answer through the relationships of
organisms in a food chain).
FOCUS ACTIVITY/ANTICIPATORY SET
What activity will students engage in
that will pique their interest about the
upcoming lesson? Think of this like a
preview for an upcoming movie –
something that ignites curiosity
I will start the lesson talking about things that have gone
extinct (dinosaurs, mammoths, dodo birds) and have a fun
discussion about what that means. When they correctly
answer a group dry erase question later in the lesson, I will
have a new one ready for them to answer after. We will
form it as a competition to see who can answer the most in
the time. Winners will get some sort of prize.
CONNECTION TO PRIOR LEARNING OR
REAL WORLD
This is what you say to students about
what they have already learned and
how it prepares them for what they
are about to learn; review what they
have learned to prepare them for the
upcoming lesson.
This will help you understand why the ecosystems around
the world are changing because of the impact species
extinction has on all the other organism in its ecosystem,
and how that affects us as humans. As we move through the
semester and talk about how animals have changed over
time, this will be important to understand how those
changes happen!
OBJECTIVE STATEMENT (be sure to
include the performance measure)
This is what you say to students about
what students will learn today, and
how they will show they have learned
the content (that is the performance
measure)
Today we will be learning to predict how species becoming
extinct could alter the food chain and affect the other
existing populations in an ecosystem. We will do this by
evaluating food chains and given a sample extinction
scenario, predict the effect the extinction of one population
would have on the others and explain this using the
relationships between organisms. After we do a few
examples together, you will complete a similar activity on
your own and will be scored using a rubric based on your
ability to correctly predict and explain the effects of
extinction on populations in a food chain.
PURPOSE OF LEARNING
Why do students need to learn this
today? This should be written in what
you will say to students and should
include both why it is important to the
content and why it is relevant in their
lives.
We are learning this to understand the importance of
relationships between organisms within an ecosystem and
the impacts that changes in these relationships is important.
This will also help you understand why the ecosystems
around the world are changing because of the impact
species extinction has on all the other organism in its
ecosystem, and how that effects us.
INSTRUCTIONAL STEPS
Include:
1. I will start the lesson talking about things that have gone
extinct (dinosaurs, mammoths, dodo birds) and have a fun
discussion about what that means.
Step by Step Instructions
Key Points
Directions to give
2. We will then quickly move into the objective statement:
Today we will be learning to predict how species becoming
extinct could alter the food chain and affect the other
existing populations in an ecosystem. We will do this by
evaluating food chains and given a sample extinction
scenario, predict the effect the extinction of one population
would have on the others and explain this using the
relationships between organisms. After we do a few
examples together, you will complete a similar activity on
your own and will be scored using a rubric based on your
ability to correctly predict and explain the effects of
extinction on populations in a food chain.
3. I will then go through the “I do, you do, we do” method of
modeling. With a food chain up on the board, I will explain
the effects of species extinction on the entire food chain,
and explain my findings using relationships within food
chains. As I am modeling, I will be asking the class for
answers to help me model and to assess student learning.
4. In the “we do” portion, I will pass out dry erase sleeves
with food webs chains and extinction scenarios they have to
answer in groups. They will have to write down their
answers, and when I come by to check be able to explain
how they found it. I will have a new one ready for them to
answer after. We will form it as a competition to see which
group can answer the most in the time. When I check each
group, I will make sure that each member is equally
contributing and understanding, by asking specific questions
that require open-ended answers.
5. : We will then move into the formative assessment. This
will be a short quiz at the end of class. Students will be given
a sample food chain and possible extinction scenarios.
Students must be able to predict whether the other species
in the food chains will have increasing or decreasing
populations, as well as explain why this would occur using
the relationships that food chains describe. Their
performance will be scored with a rubric where the criteria
will include a correct prediction based on the scenario and a
correct explanation of the student’s prediction. This will be
online and give them multiple attempts that I can grade
throughout class.
LITERACY STRATEGIES USED When we are modeling the questions, we will go over how
to read the question, underline or highlight important
information, and relate it to the graphic (the food web)
using labels, annotating, and drawing arrows and “X”s.
STUDENT USE OF TECHNOLOGY Students will use technology to take their quizzes. This
allows almost immediate feedback on correct/incorrect, and
I can also make additional comments on their explanations if
they need more instruction or if they did well. It also allows
me to give them multiple attempts to maximize their
learning potential and let them correct their mistakes.
CLOSURE:
Review: How will you cement the
learning that has taken place in this
lesson?
Connect to future learning: How will
what students learned today help
them in upcoming lessons?
At the last 5-10 minutes of class after all students have
turned in their quizzes, we will have closing. We will briefly
review our learning objective, and on a scale of 1-5 rank
how confident we feel on our learning.
We will discuss what this applies to for the remainder of the
week to our upcoming lessons, and briefly state the learning
goal for tomorrow.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Answer each of the following questions in the text box provided. Your answer
should be written in complete sentences and be at least one and no more than three paragraphs per
question.
1. Explain how the instructional strategies you chose for this lesson help your students learn the
material. Consider the diverse learning needs in a typical classroom, including your students who
are below grade level or English learners.
2. Explain what criteria you will use to group students. Include things such as group size, learner
characteristic, special needs of specific students, etc.
I like to use the “I do, we do, You do” method of modeling in my class a lot, to demonstrate to my
students exactly what I am expecting and quickly address any issues or misconceptions. This also
allows for group work in the “We Do” portion to help them with their academic language with
each other and allows students to ask each other questions to figure out a problem without
needing my help. It also allows my student who are at a lower learning level to have an example
of what to do and peer support before they perform an assessment on their own. I also do most
of my assessments online because it allows for accommodations and modifications if needed,
such as content clarifiers, text-to-speech, translation, reduced answer choices, and extended time
to name a few. I chose to do an open-ended quiz, so the students are required to not just answer
the question but explain their learning. Providing sentence stems allows them structure to
organize their thoughts, but still requires them to think for themselves.
3. Explain how this lesson plan supports what we know about how learning occurs and how learners
develop, construct meaning, and acquire knowledge and skills
4. How will you encourage persistence and a growth mindset throughout this lesson?
When I group students, I try to mix them as evenly as possible, given gender, personality, class
grade, ELL level, or learning disability. I try to group students with others who may not be their
best friends, but they will still be able to enjoy each other’s company while accomplishing the
work. I try to pair a student who struggles in one area with another who thrives in the area, to
support them and help guide them. I put students with behavior issues with others who have lots
of patience. When making groups, I also always include at least one with neat handwriting and
one who is not afraid to speak up in front of the class, in case those two skills are needed. Making
multiple drafts of groups also takes into account any absences that may happen.
The I do, we do, you do model slowly gives students more responsibility for their learning. We start
with teacher driven, then move to group driven, and finally individual driven to help them slowly
take control and be self-sufficient learners. This also allows for most learning, including visual,
reading/writing and audio. It could also be adapted to be kinesthetic if needed. The lesson allows
the students to drive their own learning in the group portion, which gives the teacher the
opportunity to walk around to observe and answer any questions before they move to individual
assessment.
Praising effort goes a long way to encourage students to persevere. Many times, we offer more
correction than we do praise, and this can affect the classroom environment. Letting students
know when they are doing a good job helps them have a positive outlook on learning and feel
confident in themselves. The model I use in this lesson which slowly gives more control to the
students helps foster the growth mindset. By modeling as a teacher, then allowing them to try with
groups, this gives them an opportunity to understand and work through problems with support
and feel confident before they have to work on their own.