SIOP Lesson Plan Template 2

STANDARDS:
THEME: Science
LESSON TOPIC: Black Holes
OBJECTIVES:
Language:
Students will write a summary about black holes using at least 5 out of 7 new vocabulary
words.

Content:
Students will list 3 characteristics of a black hole.

LEARNING STRATEGIES:
Students will complete hands-on activities. They will create a picture or other project that will
exemplify the characteristics of a black hole)
Near the beginning of class,students will share their personal experiences and knowledge about
stars, vacuums, mass, gravity, the universe, black holes, and event horizons. This will establish
their background knowledge, and the direction that the lesson should take.
The students will observe some activities in their learning. Students will observe a flashlight in a
dark room, and how hard it is to stop the light from coming out of the flashlight. This will help to
demonstrate the event horizon of a black hole.
Hands on activities with mass to exemplify gravity. A big ball and a little ball will fall at the same
rate.
Students will watch videos that will help them to get an idea of how big the universe is. They will
also watch videos that will help them to better understand what a black hole is, what it looks like
in the universe, and how it behaves.
Students will also view images as they are learning the vocabulary words to help them
understand the meaning of the vocabulary words.
Students will take a Kahoot quiz on the vocabulary words to help reinforce the definitions and to
assess their progress.

KEY VOCABULARY: Black Hole, mass, gravity, the universe, vacuum, star, event horizon
Concepts reinforces through pictures, observations, and hands on activities.

MATERIALS: Computer,
Projector,
Whiteboard,
flashlight,
kahoot,
Star simulator,

MOTIVATION:
(Building background)
The students in this class are a 9 year old and an 11 year old, and they are completely unaware
of black holes. That being said, they are somewhat aquainted with related terms, such as gravity,
stars, and vacuums. This will be used to help tie their background knowledge to the new
definitions and terms that they will be learning.

2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

SIOP Lesson Plan Template 2

Students will be motivated by applying their prior knowledge in a new way through the use of
hands on activities, visual images, and interactive projects about black holes.

PRESENTATION:
(Language and content objectives, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, feedback)
In this 30 minute lesson plan, we will begin by assessing their prior knowledge, and build upon
that to help create a more foundational working definition of the key terms.
Students will begin by writing down definitions for the vocabulary words to the best of their
current ability. This will establish their background knowledge. The students will then learn about
each vocabulary word and the definition that will be used for this lesson. They will start by
watching a video of Joe teaching about each vocab word. After each vocab word is described in
the video; Becky will then elaborate on the definitions with an activity or demonstration for each
word.
Mass: discuss different objects, which ones have more mass, and why.
Gravity: Try to jump as high as you can. Why don't you keep moving up? Gravity.
The Universe: Watch a video of space as it shows the size of other objects compared to Earth. The
universe is huge.
Vacuum: Watch a video of astronauts in space, and show how water floats and doesn't take a
solid form.
Stars: Use the Planatarium simulator to show how many stars there are in the Universe. Refer
back to the video of the Universe to remember how big the stars really are.
Black hole: Try to imagine all of the mass of the sun in one tiny dot. How much gravity would that
have? It can suck anything inside of it.
Event Horizon: Black holes can suck in light. Turn the lights off and use a flashlight. Try to stop
the light from coming out of the flashlight. You can't. A black hole is so strong that it actually
sucks the light back into itself. The point where the black hole starts to suck the light back in is
called the Event Horizon.
The class will then take a Kahoot quiz on all of the vocab words to reinforce and assess their
progress.
Students will then draw a picture that will show at least 3 characteristics of a black hole.
Students will then write about black holes using at least 5 of the vocabulary words.

PRACTICE AND APPLICATION:

(Meaningful activities, interaction, strategies, practice and application, feedback)
Mass: discuss different objects, which ones have more mass, and why.
Gravity: Try to jump as high as you can. Why don't you keep moving up? Gravity.
The Universe: Watch a video of space as it shows the size of other objects compared to Earth. The
universe is huge.
Vacuum: Watch a video of astronauts in space, and show how water floats and doesn't take a
solid form.
Stars: Use the Planatarium simulator to show how many stars there are in the Universe. Refer
back to the video of the Universe to remember how big the stars really are.
Black hole: Try to imagine all of the mass of the sun in one tiny dot. How much gravity would that
have? It can suck anything inside of it.
Event Horizon: Black holes can suck in light. Turn the lights off and use a flashlight. Try to stop
the light from coming out of the flashlight. You can't. A black hole is so strong that it actually
sucks the light back into itself. The point where the black hole starts to suck the light back in is
called the Event Horizon.

2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

SIOP Lesson Plan Template 2

REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT:
(Review objectives and vocabulary, assess learning)
The class will then take a Kahoot quiz on all of the vocab words to reinforce and assess their
progress.
Students will then draw a picture that will show at least 3 characteristics of a black hole.
Students will then write about black holes using at least 5 of the vocabulary words.

EXTENSION:
Students will then tell a story about a black hole, and an imaginary encounter that they have with
one. They will try to use all of the vocabulary words.
(Reproduction of this material is restricted to use with Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, 2008. Making Content
Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model.)

2008 Pearson Education, Inc.