SINGLE SUBJECT CREDENTIAL PROGRAM

EDSC LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Revised 4.15
For directions on how to complete this form, see EDSC Lesson Plan Directions and Scoring Guide in the SSCP Handbook at
www.sscphandbook.org.

Name

CWID

Paula Alcantar
Class Title
Biology

890864739
Lesson Title
Diffusion

Subject Area
Biology

Unit Title
The Cell
Membrane

Grade Levels
9-10

Total Minutes
53

CLASS DESCRIPTION
The class consists of 36 students from varying backgrounds and ethnicities. There are 8 ELLs; 6 students home
language is Spanish, one students home language is Mandarin, and one students home language is Hindi. There are
also 2 students with special needs. Both students see a resource specialist and one of them also sees a speech
specialist. The classroom includes 38 desks in the lecture side of the room aligned in 6 rows that are all facing forward
toward the teachers desk and the projector. In the lab side of the room, there are 8 lab stations, each with 5 chairs
around the table. The classroom is quite large and has several inspirational and biology-related posters on the walls.
There is a designated section on the whiteboard for the daily agenda, which the teacher updates so students know
what theyre plan is for the days lesson.
STANDARDS AND LESSON OBJECTIVES
CCSS Math, CCSS ELA & Literacy History/Social
Studies, Science and Technical Subjects, NGSS, and
English Language Development Standards (ELD)
Content Standards
1. Exchanging Information/Ideas: Contribute to
class, group, and partner discussions,
sustaining conversations on a variety of age
and grade-appropriate academic topics by
following turn-taking rules, asking and
answering relevant, on-topic questions,
affirming others, providing additional,
HS-LS1-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence
relevant information, and paraphrasing key
that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.
ideas.
5. Listening Actively: Demonstrate
comprehension of oral presentations and
discussions on a variety of social and academic
topics by asking and answering questions that
show thoughtful consideration of the ideas or
arguments, with moderate support.
Lesson Objective(s)
Evidence
Students will be able to review their knowledge of
Students will complete a focused inquiry handout that
selective permeability.
helps them apply concepts theyve learned through
Students will be able to explain how diffusion works.
lecture and class discussion to a real experiment. This
Students will be able to apply concepts of hypertonic and
handout will scaffold their thought process to engage in
hypotonic solutions to an experimental demo directed by
the epistemic practice of inquiry.
the teacher candidate.
STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Purpose/Focus of
Type
Implementation
Feedback Strategy
How Informs Teaching
Assessment
Students will watch a
video that shows them
The teacher will ask
The purpose is to
how kidney dialysis
students to share their
introduce students to a
works, particularly the
responses with their
This will help the teacher
real-life application of a
aspects that make it act
assigned neighbor. After
see if students
selectively permeable
like a semi permeable
about 1-2 minutes, the
understand the concept
EL
membrane other than a
membrane while filtering teacher will bring the
of selective permeability
cell and review a concept
out the patients blood.
class together and have
before discussing
theyve seen through
Students will the answer
students share what
diffusion.
lecture. This will be an
a few questions as a
they/their neighbor
informal EL assessment.
warmup to get them
wrote.
ready for the demo.
PM
The purpose is to engage Students will respond to
The teacher will have
This will show the
students in inquiry with
questions in a focused
students engage in
teacher how well the
content they covered
inquiry handout that
Think-Write-Pair-Share for students can engage in

during lecture about the

cell membrane.

The purpose of this is to

get students to think
about the demo they
watched and the
concepts that are
associated with it.

follows a teacherdirected demo.

In a think-write-pairshare format, students

will respond to a
question that asks them
to reflect on what they
learned today. They must
write down 2 things they
learned and 1 question
they still have.

many of the questions as

well as engage in class
discussion. The students
will be able to get
feedback from their
peers and their teacher.
After students write
down their responses,
they will share with their
neighbor. Students will
try to see if they can
help their neighbor by
answering the question
they still have. The
teacher will bring the
class together and have
students share either
something they learned
or a question they still
have. If they share a
question, they must say
if their neighbor helped
them answer it or if they
needed clarification from
the teacher.

the epistemic practice for

inquiry.

This will show the

teacher that students
were able to think about
what they learned and if
they are able to
communicate ideas with
one another. If students
are able to answer each
others questions, this
will also show that
students are able to help
each other reinforce
concepts.

INSTRUCTION
Instructional Strategies
Think-Write-Pair-Share, Facilitative Questioning, Teacher-directed Inquiry (demo), thumbs up/thumbs down
Lesson Introduction/Anticipatory Set
Time
Teacher Does
The teacher will show students a short video on
kidney dialysis and provide them a few questions
about the video. The teacher will give students time
(1-2 minutes) to share their responses with their
10
assigned neighbor and then she will bring the class
mins.
together so they can discuss their answers. The
teacher will then reference the video and elaborate
on the selectively permeable design of the dialysis
tubing.
Lesson Body
Time
Teacher Does
30
The teacher will pass out the focused inquiry
mins.
handout and direct them to the first question.

The teacher will give them about 1 minute to

write down what they know about selective
permeability. The students will be encouraged
to include what they learned about the dialysis
tubing. The teacher will then have students
share their ideas with the class. The teacher
will then prompt students to respond to the
next question. They will write their answer and
then the teacher will have them turn to their
neighbor and describe diffusion. This concept
was introduced in lecture last week. After
students engage in this short discussion, the
teacher will bring the class together and ask a
student to describe diffusion for everyone to
hear. The teacher will ask students to give a
thumbs-up if they think the description was
correct or a thumbs-down if they think it was
incorrect. The teacher will then reveal the
materials to the class and name each item as
she brings it out. She will inform students that
they will be watching a demo. She will ask the

Student Does
The students will watch the video and then think
about the questions they must answer. They will
write down their responses and be cued when its
appropriate to share with their neighbor. After
coming together as a class and discussing their
responses, they will be introduced to dialysis tubing
and learn that it is another example of a selectively
permeable membrane.
Student Does
The students will answer questions from the focused
inquiry handout, watch a demo including dialysis
tubing, starch solution and iodine solution. They will
engage in Think-Write-Pair-Share for many of the
questions. They will help the teacher complete the
diagram on the board and engage in discussion with
the teacher about the movement of molecules during
the demo. The students will observe 2 prepared raw
egg membranes, one in a hypertonic solution and
one in a hypotonic solution, and apply concepts from
lecture, the demo, and class discussions to what
happened to the eggs. Students may choose to write
a response to the brainstorm question.

students to think about what weve talked

about so far in class along with the materials
presented and then look at the next question in
the handout. The teacher will provide a vague
description of the demo and have students
write their prediction of the demos outcome.
The teacher will then perform the demo and
verbally describe what she is doing. As she
does the demo, the teacher will have the
students write down their observations. Once
the demo is complete, the teacher will show the
result of the experiment. She will have students
turn to the back of the handout and, based on
what they know about diffusion, selective
permeability, and the materials (starch and
iodine solutions), draw arrows on the provided
diagram to show the direction the water,
starch, and iodine molecules are moving in.
After giving students a few minutes to complete
the diagram, the teacher will prompt them to
turn to their neighbor and discuss their
diagrams. The teacher will then direct the
students attention to the front and draw the
same diagram from the handout on the board.
The teacher will have students tell her how to
draw the arrows and engage students in
discussion about whats happening in the
diagram. The teacher will then tell the students
to use what we talked about and respond to the
next question. The teacher will have the
students complete the next question about
their prediction. The teacher will then direct
students attention to one more example of
diffusion. She will show them 2 prepared raw
egg membranes, one in a hypertonic solution
and one in a hypotonic solution. The teacher
will describe the procedure of the experiment
and ask facilitative questions so that students
can think about what happened biologically.
The teacher will have students look at the last
question and apply their knowledge of diffusion
and other related concepts to whats happened
with the eggs. The teacher will have students
share with their neighbor what they wrote and
then bring the class together to discuss as a
whole. The teacher will direct the students
attention to the brainstorm question and let
them know that if something came to mind as
they were watching the demo and video, they
can write down their thoughts on a potential lab
on diffusion.
Lesson Closure
Time
Teacher Does
The teacher will prompt students to put away
everything except for a pen or pencil. She will inform
13
them that they will be taking a short quiz to review
mins.
some of the important content covered in class
today. The quiz will consist of multiple choice, fill in
the blank, true or false, and free response.
Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Multimedia

Student Does
Students will put away all items except for a pen or
pencil and prepare to take a short quiz. Since the
quiz is based on content covered during the lesson,
the material will be fresh in their mind.

YouTube video on kidney dialysis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shFSW8VE3Gs), YouTube video on egg diffusion

demo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c8acUE9Itw), PowerPoint Slide with dialysis video questions, focused
inquiry handout, beaker, dialysis tubing, rubber band, starch solution, iodine indicator, prepared egg membrane
experiment
Co-Teaching Strategies
Tag teaching
DIFFERENTIATION
English Learners

Striving Readers

Students with Special

Needs

Advanced Students

The think-write-pair-share
strategy will help English
Learners because it allows
Students with special needs
The class has an ongoing
Advanced students can
the students to share their
will be able to communicate
list of prefixes and suffixes
answer the brainstorm
ideas with a peer, which
with their neighbor and ask
that are important in the
question at the end of the
give them the opportunity
questions for clarification.
class. If they get stuck on a
focused inquiry and think of
to enhance their written
They will also benefit from
word they make take out
a potential experimental
and oral English skills. The
the teachers facilitative
that sheet to help them
design where they apply
drawing in the focused
questions to help them
understand the meaning of
the concepts they reviewed
inquiry will help EL
think about the concepts
the vocabulary term.
today to an original lab.
students visually describe
they learned.
what they know about
diffusion.
REFLECTION: SUMMARY, RATIONALE, AND IMPLEMENTATION
Summary: This lesson takes place in a Biology class with multiple EL students and students with special needs. It
covers important content pertaining to the cell membrane and helps students make real world connections to the
importance of having a selectively permeable membrane. The students watch a video about kidney dialysis and then
watch a demo that includes using dialysis tubing as a selectively permeable membrane that allows the iodine to pass
through and not the starch, thus causing the color change. Students answer a series of inquiry-based questions and
participate in Think-write-pair-share throughout the lesson. Many questions require them to think critically and
collaborate with their peers to reach an understanding. The students then watch a video about osmosis with a raw egg
and then apply everything theyve learned today to brainstorm ideas on what they would like to test when they design
their own labs.
Rationale: The particular demo consisting of iodine solution, starch solution, and dialysis tubing was chosen to show
students a simple yet effective model of selective permeability, which is a vital characteristic of the cell membrane.
Much of the content thus far in the class hasnt be contextualized for the students, so by showing them a video on
dialysis and then working with materials that help facilitate this medical procedure, students can make a real world
connection between abstract characteristics of a cell to things that are visible and concrete. The focused inquiry
handout provided scaffolding questions to help them think about experiments through the lens of inquiry. Designing
labs and writing lab reports are an integral part of doing science in the class and since students have yet to work in
the lab or design their own procedures, this demo and the accompanying handout will help students understand the
general thought process that a scientist goes through when designing experiments.
Implementation: The lesson was implemented as planned in this lesson plan for 1 st period, but after a quick discussion
with my master teacher, some aspects of the lesson were modified for 2 nd period, such as timing the demo more
accurately with the flow of content coverage so that students are required to think of a prediction of the outcome
before seeing the actual outcome. The outcome of the demo was visible to students before they were able to make a
prediction, so the second time around, the demo was hidden throughout the lesson until it was necessary for students
to see it. Another aspect that was changed was showing the dialysis video later in the lesson, after students saw what
happened in the demo. The video shows the beginning of the lesson up until before the dialysis video was shown, and
looking back on it, it seems that I ended up not having a solid anticipatory set for the lesson. While I did engage
students in a short discussion and started the demo earlier in the period to engage them, I feel like I shouldve had a
back-up plan for my lesson introduction.