Erica Kettlewell Date: Erica Kettlewell Science Unit: Living things & Plants Grade level: 1st Number

of students: 25 Timeframe: 5 days Goals/Rationale: For students to understand that plants are alive and we need plants for us to stay alive. For students to understand how plants function and how they grow. The purpose of this unit is for students to learn the basics of plants for future understanding of plant processes. This is important to their lives because plants create jobs and plants are also a big part of what we eat every day. S.IP.01.11 Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the appropriate senses. S.IP.01.12 Generate questions based on observations. S.IP.01.13 Plan and conduct simple investigations. S.IP.01.16 Construct simple charts from data and observations S.RS.01.11 Demonstrate scientic concepts through various illustrations, performances, models, exhibits, and activities. L.OL.E.1 Life Requirements- Organisms have basic needs. Animals and plants need air, water, and food. Plants also require light. Plants and animals use food as a source of energy and as a source of building material for growth and repair. L.OL.E.2 Life Cycles- Plants and animals have life cycles. Both plants and animals begin life and develop into adults, reproduce, and eventually die. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. E.ES.01.12 Demonstrate the importance of sunlight and warmth in plant growth.

Teacher Preparation: There are a few clips that need on ahead of time *on the lessons. Concept maps Assessment Plans: Formal: The worksheet will allow them to label the parts of the plant on their own. Informal: Observations shows me prior knowledge if they are using vocabulary. Informal: The concept map allows students to inquire about where seeds come from and how they come from many different places. Informal: Students will fill out the worksheet in their own words how plants grow. Overview of Instructional Sequence: **Lessons attached

Lesson -Informal assessment of prior knowledge. Is a flower living? -Read A11-A13 Day 1 Focus: Living -Double Bubble map whole group and nonliving things

Demonstration/Questions How do you know the dogs are alive? They are breathing and they grow. What would the flower look like without water and air? Brown or dying - it needs food and water. How are rocks or chairs not alive? They do not grow and do not need water or food.

-Informal assessment of understanding. Is a tree living? Day 2 Focus: Living -Read A14-A15 and nonliving -Individual worksheets things -Video -Observations -Read A23 A27 -Labeling plant sheet (may have to do before next lesson) What are the roots for? Hold the plant to the ground and get nutrients from the ground. What does the stem do? Between the ground and the leaves. Hold up the plant and helps move water to leaves. How do leaves help plants? Make food for them. What do the flowers parts of the plant do? Make seeds and attract insects. -Dissection of bean seed? Are all seeds made the same way? Some seeds travel off of flowers like dandelions. Some seeds come from inside the fruit. Do all seeds grow the same way into the same thing? No, some seeds will grow into thicker roots and some seeds will grow into just flowers or just fruits or vegetables. I wonder why some plants look brown or droopy? Have you seen this happen? Why? They are not getting enough water and need water to live. Does every plant need the same amount of things to grow? No, some plants need more air or water and some need less. It depends on the

Day 3 Focus: Parts of Plants

-Concept map of types of seeds. -Read A29 A31 Day 4 Focus: How Plants Grow

Day 5 Focus: What Plants Need

-Interactive game -Reading -Chart

environment.

Lessons
Grade/Age level: 1st Domain: Science Activity Name: Living and Nonliving MDES & CCSSM: L.OL.E.1 Life Requirements- Organisms have basic needs. Animals and plants need air, water, and food. Plants also require light. Plants and animals use food as a source of energy and as a source of building material for growth and repair. S.RS.01.11 Demonstrate scientic concepts through various illustrations, performances, models, exhibits, and activities. S.IP.01.16 Construct simple charts from data and observations. Prior Knowledge: This will be found out with a brief informal assessment at the beginning of the lessons. Goal(s) & Rationale: For students to understand how to differentiate between living and nonliving things. For students to understand why something is living or why it is not alive. This is important because it is the basic idea of all science. Students need to know if things are alive or nonliving to understand basic processes and life cycles. Objectives: After reading about living and nonliving things, the students as a group will compare living and nonliving things with a double bubble map. On the next lesson, students will think of their own living and nonliving things and label their pictures. Students will know the differences between living and nonliving things and be able to identify what things in their own lives are living or nonliving. Materials/Preparation: Double Bubble map Worksheets 27 Science books

Location of the lesson: Both lessons, location will be whole group at their tables. Key vocabulary words or concepts: Living: Living things eat, drink, digest, produce waste, breathe, reproduce, grow, movie and respond to their environment. Nonliving: A nonliving thing does not need food and water. It does not breathe air and grow. Unless it has all the characteristics of a living thing, it cannot be called living.

Instructional procedures Day 1: I. Introduction & Hook Today we will be talking about living and nonliving things. In a minute, you will lay you head down and I will ask the question that is here on the board. If yes, raise your hand. If no, keep your hand down. **Is a flower a living thing? collect answers with tallies on the board. Mark how many yes and how many no. II. Lesson/Activity Why did you choose yes? Why did you choose no? *Discuss *Turn to page A11 in your book. Read that page. Flowers are living things. It is easier to see that animals are alive than seeing that plants are alive. That is because plants eat and grow differently. Plants make their own food and grow because of light, water, and gravity. What are some nonliving things that dont need food, water, and air? Rocks, chairs, buildings, pencils, and more! *Let the students use the classroom for a resource. *Read pages A12 & A13: - How do you know the dogs are alive? They are breathing and they grow. - What would the flower look like without water and air? Brown or dying - it needs food and water. - How are rocks or chairs not alive? They do not grow and do not need water or food. FILL OUT DOUBLE BUBBLE CHART TO COMPARE & CONTRAST LIVING AND NONLIVING - Living: Breathe, eat, grow, move, reproduce, etc - Nonliving: dont eat, dont breathe, dont need air, dont move. - Same: Some can move, some feel similar, some can change. III. Concluding statement and questions When you look around, try to determine what is alive and what is not alive. Sometimes it is hard to tell if the nonliving thing is different from a living thing. Something MUST have all the attributes of a living thing to be living.

Instructional procedures Day 2:

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VI.

Introduction & Hook Again, we are going to start this lesson with our heads down. Raise your hand if yes, keep your hand down if no. Question: Is a tree a living thing? Record the yeses and discuss why. It needs air, it needs to eat, it grows, and changes. Lesson/Activity *Review the double bubble map about living things and nonliving things. How do you know something is alive? It breathes, needs air, produces waste, grows, and changes. How do you know something is nonliving? It does not need air, does not grow, does not move, does not change, and does not need to eat. Today you will be finding and thinking about things that are living and nonliving. *Show an example on the document camera. *Draw in the box the picture of your example and then label it underneath the picture. Ask yourself while thinking of living and nonliving things? - Does it breathe or need air? - Does it grow or change? - Does it need food or water? Concluding statement and questions It is important to observe in your environment what is alive and what is not alive. This will help you understand many things in science. Quick assessment: Thumbs up if alive, thumbs down if nonliving. - Dog - Tree - Miss Kettlewell - Flower - Chair - Water bottles - Grass

Simplifications: If students are having a hard time understanding supplement with an online game. http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Science-Stories/Earthworms/Living-or-non-living. Making the lesson more relevant to their lives can simplify it. Mealworm demonstration. Extensions: Going home and making a list of living and nonliving things. On the back of the paper ask questions about what students are unsure of. List observations and characteristics to say why they are living or not living. Assessment: Informal: Students raising hands to answer the questions: Is a flower living? Is a tree living? Students have to determine on their own without prompt or influence of others. Formal: Double bubble map will assess their knowledge of knowing the difference between living and nonliving things.

Formal: Worksheet allows students to think on their own what is living and nonliving. This will give me an understanding of who can differentiate between living and nonliving things.

Parts of a Plant Grade/Age level: 1st Domain: Science Activity Name: Parts of a Plant MDES & CCSSM: On Chart for unit Prior Knowledge: Basil readings have provided some information on plant growth and flowers but not details. Observations at the beginning will show me if they have prior knowledge of vocabulary. Goal(s) & Rationale: For students to understand that each part of the flower has a function. The purpose of this unit is for students to learn the basics of plants for future understanding of plant processes. This is important to their lives because plants create jobs and plants are also a big part of what we eat every day. Objectives: After reading A23 A27 and watching the time lapse of a growing bean seed, students will make observations and label the parts of the plants. Students will know what these parts of the plant will do and they will be able to label them. Materials/Preparation: Video of bean plant time lapse. Worksheets for everyone to label plants. Location of the lesson: Whole group at their tables. Key vocabulary words or concepts: - Roots: grow underground and absorb the water and nutrients that the plant needs to grow. - Stems: support a plants leaves and flowers and improve the plants ability to absorb water and nutrients. - Leaves: make most of the food that the plant needs in a process called photosynthesis. - Seeds: Plants reproduce from seeds.

Instructional procedures: VII. Introduction & Hook PUT ON YOUR SCIENTIST COAT, GLASSES, AND PRETEND NOTEPAD AND PAPER! We are going to watch a video of a real plant growing from a seed. Make sure you are really paying attention like true scientists. Watch everything that happens! VIII. Lesson/Activity Fill out our observation chart: What we saw and observed and what we predict. This observation chart is for all of us right now BUT you will all get your own observation chart that we will fill out every week. Tomorrow: we will plant tomato plants and flowers. Every week, even when we are done learning about plants, we will make observations about our plants. A new job on the job chart: water plants! Lets take a look in our books on page A24 to learn about the amazing video we just saw. *Read A24 A25: - What are the roots for? Hold the plant to the ground and get nutrients from the ground. - What does the stem do? Between the ground and the leaves. Hold up the plant and helps move water to leaves. *Read A26 A27 - How do leaves help plants? Make food for them. - What do the flowers parts of the plant do? Make seeds and attract insects. TUESDAY: Re-read or finish reading our books for review then - Fill out plant labeling sheet together as a class. IX. Concluding statement and questions Every part of plants are important! These parts exist in all plants, not just flowers. Simplifications: If students have difficulty understanding, the lesson will be repeated and broken down. We would spend more time on each part of the flower. Filling out a K-W-L chart to show what they learned and what they used to know. Extensions: Growing our own beans and making observations and predictions. Assessment: Formal: The worksheet will allow them to label the parts of the plant on their own. Informal: Observations shows me prior knowledge if they are using vocabulary.

How Plants Grow Grade/Age level: 1 Domain: Science Activity Name: How Plants Grow MDES & CCSSM: On chart Prior Knowledge: Students before this lesson know the parts of plants and know that plants come from the ground. Goal(s) & Rationale: For students to understand that plants come from seeds and there are many types of seeds. It is important for students to understand that seeds are what make a plant grow because it will help them understand the basic essential needs for the seed to grow that they will learn next chapter. Objectives: After reading about seeds, students will add more ideas to the concept map. Students will know that plants grow from seeds and be able to identify where some seeds come from. Materials/Preparation: Prepare the concept map. Location of the lesson: Whole group at tables. Key vocabulary words or concepts: - Seed: Have many different shapes and colors. Plants grow from the seed and the embryo. - Seed coat: Covering of the seed that falls away as the plant grows. Instructional procedures: X. Introduction & Hook DAY 1 HOOK: Yesterday we saw a video of a flower growing. Today, we are going to plant seeds and watch this happen for ourselves.
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Test prior knowledge: Do plants need soil? Yes. Where do plants come from? Seeds. What else do plants need? Water and sunlight. Plant the flowers. During this discuss calendar job of watering the plant and the importance of taking care of them! DAY 2 HOOK: Yesterday, we learned about parts of plants. Today we will talk about how plants grow and where they come from. SEEDS! Concept map of seeds. Middle bubble says seeds then students fill out bubbles around it with different types of seeds: bean, apple, tomato, orange, sunflower, corn, dandelion, etc Lesson/Activity DAY 1: The most important part of these seeds is making observations. Remember on Monday when we made observations and predictions about the video we saw? We are going to do this every week: we will write down our observations, or what we see, then we will make predictions, or what we think is going to happen. Make week 1 observations and predictions together! - What do you see? Color? Soil? Seeds? - What do you think it will look like tomorrow or next week? This is called a prediction! DAY 2: *Read page A29 Turn the page to learn more about seeds and see if we got some of these right! *Before reading the next pages ask: Are all seeds made the same way? Some seeds travel off of flowers like dandelions. Some seeds come from inside the fruit. Do all seeds grow the same way into the same thing? No, some seeds will grow into thicker roots and some seeds will grow into just flowers or just fruits or vegetables. *Read A30 A31 Concluding statement and questions Seeds are the beginning of a lot of our foods and flowers we enjoy every day! I took apple seeds from one of my apples and planted them in my yard it is important to understand how seeds produce many of our essential needs.

XI.

XII.

Simplifications: If students struggle to understand seeds turn into plants rematch the time lapse. Extensions: Have students who are really grasping the concept draw the process of a plant life cycle and what the seed has to do. Assessment:

Informal: The concept map allows students to inquire about where seeds come from and how they come from many different places.

What Plants Need to Grow Grade/Age level: 1 Domain: Science Activity Name: What Plants need to grow MDES & CCSSM: On chart Prior Knowledge: Students know parts of a plant and that plants come from seeds. Goal(s) & Rationale: For students to understand that plants need the key elements: light, air, water, and soil. When students understand the main essential needs for plants, they begin their prior knowledge for future difficult concepts. The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand what plants need and why. Objectives: While students are reading about what plants need, they will fill out the chart writing in their own words why plants need air, light, water, and soil. Students will know what plants need and be able to explain in their own words why they are important. Materials/Preparation: Prepare interactive ahead of time. Prepare chart on board or large piece of paper. Location of the lesson: Whole group at tables Key vocabulary words or concepts: Sunlight: light from the sun that helps plants grow. Instructional procedures: XIII. Introduction & Hook
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Our mission is to keep this plant alive! Help me! http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/plantsgrow.html Does it need water or heat? Both! But we need the right amount of both. Keep this in mind when taking care of our own plants! XIV. Lesson/Activity After doing that activity, what are some things plants need to live? Water, light, air, and food. Lets read about why these things are so important for plants. *Turn to page A33 Plants need air and light to help make/produce their food. *Read A34 A35 I wonder why some plants look brown or droopy? Have you seen this happen? Why? They are not getting enough water and need water to live. Does every plant need the same amount of things to grow? No, some plants need more air or water and some need less. It depends on the environment. *Fill out chart together XV. Concluding statement and questions Plants need air, water, food, and sunlight to live without these they would die. But they do not all need the same amount! It depends on the plant and environment. Simplifications: If students struggle to understand, I can re-teach the lesson. Also, filling out the chart as a group will help if the students struggle understanding. Extensions: To extend their thinking, I can show them pictures of plants in different environments and habitats. Then, students will make predictions and observations about what certain plants need. Assessment: Informal: Students will fill out the worksheet in their own words how plants grow.

Reflection of unit: Describe what activity you chose and why: My activities are short because we only had 15 minutes at the end of the day. However, I was able to work in the reading during our 10 minute break so we were able to spend more time on the activities for the end of the day. The activities, planting and the interactive game, got the students really excited about science and learning about plants. Also, the worksheets allowed the students to process their learning and show me what they learned. Discuss how you implemented it with the students: I started every lesson before the actual time to do the lesson. During this time, I was able to read an exciting book or read part of the large text book. Being able to do this allowed the

students to activate prior knowledge before doing their work during the lesson later in the day. I always began the lessons with a hook because it is important students get excited about the science lesson. What lessons went well and why? First, the living and nonliving part when we did the double bubble map went really well. At this point they understood the difference with living and nonliving things are were also able to make observations about how they can be the same. Also, they understood the use of the concept map more because we used it in a previous lesson. The concept map showed me their understanding of living and nonliving and brought up a lot of questions when it comes to distinguishing between the two. During the plant section of the unit, one of the lessons that went well was planting the flowers for our classroom. I put the cups under the document camera and talked about seeds and planting while I put the seeds in the soil. The students were so attentive and excited about growing flowers! Also, the last lesson, What plants need to grow, was very fun for them. The interactive board really showed them what plants need and why. Then, they were better able to understand the worksheet and explain what plants need. This went very well and they responded well to the game and were able to concentrate on the worksheet. Did you reach your objectives? Why or why not? I felt the objectives were met because the worksheet and the concept map reflected their learning of the basic concepts for the lessons.

What changes, if any, would you make next time? Next time, I would take longer and use pre-tests and post-tests to show growth in their learning of the concepts about living and nonliving and plants. If I knew what they knew, I would better plan my lessons around their knowledge. Also, it would show me if some students need more help with certain lessons and concepts. If I did this unit again, I would make sure to include an inquiry station for this unit so they can create their own knowledge, questions, and answers. Inquiry is important when teaching science because science is all about the process and problem solving. Also, I would plan to take more time for them to do group work with plants. I would include a project and homework that involved observations and problem solving.