Example of an Elementary Science Lesson Plan

Title: Comparing and Contrasting Plant Structures

Sunshine State Standards Benchmark SC.5.L.14.2 The student will compare and contrast the function of organs and other physical strctures of plants and animals, including humans; for example, some animals have skeletons for support–some with internal skeletons, others with exoskeletons–while some plants have stems for support.

Write the Objective

Given live examples of five types of plants, the student will correctly compare and contrast physical characteristics of five of six plant structures (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds).

Introduce the Lesson

• Gain Student Attention: The class takes a brief walking tour of the school grounds and observes the types of plants. They make notes and sketches of what they see. Upon returning to class, students compile a list of what they saw. The teacher points out the physical characteristics of the plants that are the same and those that are different.
• Explain the Objective: The teacher tells the students that they should be able to look at five different plants and tell what is the same or different about the physical characteristics of each of the plant structures (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds).
• Relate to Prior Knowledge: The teacher reminds students what they have already learned about plant structures and how the environment impacts plant growth. The teacher also reminds students what it means to compare and contrast and how to use good observation skills.

Present the Content

Knowledge and Skills in Lesson: Students have basic information on plants and what it takes for them to grow. They have information on basic plant structures. The lesson content will focus on information on physical characteristics of plant structures.

Teacher and student learning activities

• The teacher presents a mini-lecture on the physical characteristics of plant structures. The lecture is accompanied by video or internet examples that define and illustrate characteristics of plant structures (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds).
• The teacher also links the information to previous lessons in the mini-lecture. The examples include pictures of each type of plant structure. Students will take notes during the lecture using a note-taking guide.
• Next, the teacher models how to make observations of a sample plant and records his or her observations on a transparency of a worksheet to compare and contrast of plant structures.The teacher demonstrates the process to compare and contrast the physical characteristics she has observed.

Get PDF copies of Note-Taking Guide and Worksheet Transparency

Activity Organization and Support

• Media Selection: Prepare a note-taking guide to provide scaffolding for students in the mini-lecture. Prepare a compare and contrast worksheet to guide and record the observations of the plant samples in the second part of the lesson. Make three copies per student. Make a transparency of this worksheet. Obtain sufficient plant samples.
• Student Grouping: The mini-lecture is a whole class activity using an Internet link or video. The second part of the lesson is a small group activity.

Provide Practice and feedback

• Guided Practice: The teacher divides the class into groups of four, giving each group two actual plant samples and copies of the worksheet to use as a graphic organizer to compare and contrast plant structures. The students work in groups to complete the worksheet. Students are encouraged to follow the note-taking guide and projected transparency to structure their responses. The teacher observes groups and provides feedback while students are completing the worksheet. The teacher is prepared to add more plant samples to the activity if students need additional time and practice. The teacher debriefs the activity with the whole class.
• Independent practice: Independent practice will be a homework assignment. Using a second copy of the practice worksheet, the students identify five plants growing at their home or neighborhood, record characteristics of plant structures, and compare and contrast the plants. The teacher reviews the worksheets completed for homework and provides feedback to students. She arranges for an individual or small group discussion with students who may need additional practice.
• Judicious Review: The teacher reviews physical characteristics of plant structures in at least one additional lesson within the unit on plants. He or she surveys units for the remainder of the course and notes places to incorporate reviews of these skills.

Summarize the Lesson

The teacher writes the lesson objective on the board and reads it to the class as a summary of what students are supposed to learn. The teacher asks students to recall parts of the mini-lecture and group work that helped them learn this knowledge.

Assess Student Learning:

• Determine the Procedures: The teacher will use a performance assessment to measure student learning by setting up five stations with real plants (different from those used in guided practice) at each station. The students are divided into five groups to move through the stations. The teacher tells students they are to independently observe the plants at each station and use the compare and contrast worksheet to write observations of the physical characteristics of each plant structure. Then they should return to their desks to complete the comparison and contrast of the physical characteristics of the structures of plants. She tells students they can revisit stations as needed. The teacher reminds students that they will need to correctly compare and contrast at least five of the plant structures in order to master the objective. Students complete this activity independently. The teacher cautions students not to copy notes from one another as they move through the stations.
• Decide How to Judge Performance: This is a performance assessment that includes conducting observations and writing a description. The teacher designs an evaluation checklist that lists the points expected in the comparison and contrast of the plants. The teacher reviews each student paper and completes the evaluation checklist. She makes additional comments, if needed. The papers and the completed checklist are returned to students as feedback on the assessment. The teacher gives individual feedback to students who did not meet the mastery criterion and discusses plans for helping them meet it.

Accommodations

For students in the class who typically need assitance in organizing their repsonses to complex tasks, the accommodation listed below could be provided

• Present the Content, Guided Practice, and Independent Practice: The compare and contrast worksheet form used for all students in the practice and assessment activity may be used for these students.
• For a student who is easily distracted while completing written assignments, the accommodations listed below could be provided.
• Assess student learning: The teacher may allow the student to complete the written contrast and comparison required in the assessment using a study carrel turned away from students who may be moving around the stations with the plant samples.

Access Points (Different Objectives) for Individual Students

Students working on access points have different earning goals and objectives for the lesson. The SSS Science Access Points specify learning goals at the Independent, Supported, and Participatory levels.

For students working on the access points, the modifications listed below could be made.

Independent Level Access Point: SC.5.L.14.ln.b Identify functions of plant and animal structures; for example, plant stem transports food to leaves, and heart pumps blood to parts of the body.

Write the Objective: Identify functions of plant structures, including roots, stem, leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruit. The student must correctly identify the functions of at least five of the plant structures.

Supported Level Access Point: SC.5.L.14.Su.b Recognize the functions of the major parts of plants and animals.

Write the Objective: The student will recognize functions of the major parts of plants, including, roots, stem, leaves, and seeds. The student must correrectly recognize at least three out of four functions as indicated by the teacher–"Do the leaves help the plant make its own food?"

Participatory Level Access Point: SC.5.L.14.Pa.b Observe plants and animals and recognize how they are alike in the way they look.

Write the Objective: The student will match major plant parts, including stems, leaves, roots, and flowers.

Go to sample lessons: Elementary Language Arts | Middle School Mathematics

Write Objective | Introduce | Present Content | Practice & Feedback | Summarize | Assess