Teachers:

Miss Lustig
Standard:

Inquiry Lesson Plan Template

Title & Topic: Solar Grade Level:
Energy Smores
1st

NGSS Standards:
1-PS4-3
Plan and conduct invenstigations to determind the effect of placing objects made with
different materials in the path of a beam of light.
Arizona State Standard:
Concept 2 Strand 6
PO 1. Identify evidence that the Sun is the natural source of heat and light on the
Earth
Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts
about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
Objective (Explicit & Measurable):
Students will learn about the characteristics of the sun, and build a small oven to
learn how the energy from the sun can be used as heat.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):

Observation of students interaction with the virtual solar cooker as a preinstructional tool.

Evaluation of the completed student handouts, and of the students participation

in class discussions.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (steps that lead to completion of objective; sequence from
simple to more complex):

Describe how passive solar energy can be used in our everyday lives and
homes.
Construct a solar cooker that fully cooks a Smore
Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information about what
students are doing. Justification why is this lesson being taught)

Two to three (2-3) 50-minute class periods are required for this lesson. The lesson
allows for students to explore benefits of solar energy by relating it to tasks we use in
our everyday lives. In this lab the solar cookers act as solar collectors, which trap
sunlight and convert it to heat.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know to complete this lesson)
Since students are only in first grade, students should only be able to understand
surface level ideas. One major idea students need to know in order to complete this
lesson is that the Sun heats things up.
Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing: ex: observation
reinforcing; prediction - introducing.)

Prediction on what is going to happen as sunlight hits the pizza box. Observation as to
what is happening over time to the marshmallow and chocolate.
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?)
Have students wear sunglasses if it is really sunny outside so their eyes dont get
damaged. Adult supervision recommended.

Inquiry Questions: (testable in the here and now.)

1. What do you notice or observe?
2.

What conclusions can you make?

Key vocabulary: (list and define)

1. Solar collector
2. Energy
3. Absorb
4. Solar Energy

Engage - 20 minutes
Teacher Will: (hook)
Read Aloud: How to Harness Solar
Power for Your Home (Tell Your
Parents) (Robbie Readers) by
Stephanie Bearce
Explain experiment to students and
have them make predictions based on
their experiences
Assign groups for students to work in
and pass out pizza boxes
Walk students through the steps of
putting their solar cookers together
and pause as needed

quantity)

1. Smores handout
2. Cardboard cutting tools
3. Pizza box
4. Glue
5. Pencil
6. Thermometers
7. Mirror
5. Window glass
6. Aluminum foil
7. Stopwatch
8. Black Construction paper:
9. Cardboard box
10.
Ruler
11.
Tape
12.
Scissors
13.
Smores ingredients
14.
Wooden skewers
Students Will:

Students will be engaged and

listening quietly while teacher
reads aloud
Students will make predictions for
what might happen in their
experiment
Students will begin to assemble
solar cookers in groups so that
they can be ready to go
tomorrow.

Walk around the class offering

assistance to any students in need

Explore - 20 minutes
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #1)

Materials: (list item and possible

Teacher will have students set up

pizza boxes outside in the direct
sunlight
Teacher will pass out smores
materials when groups show they are
ready for cooking

Students Will: (list all steps)

Students will place their solar

cookers on a sunny flat surface
facing the sun and use masking
tape to prop the aluminum flap
open
Students will have the teacher

Teacher will walk around and make

sure students are on task
Teacher will ask students engaging
questions like What do you noticing
happening? What do you see
happening to your marshmellow?
What factors do you think are causing
the marshmellow to cook?

come around and check that they

are ready to cook their Smores

Students will prepare Smore with

graham crackers, chocolate, and
marshmallows and place them on
the black plate.

Students will slide the Smore into

the center of your solar box oven,
close the lid tightly and adjust the
aluminum flap as needed.

Students will use the stopwatch to

time how long it takes to cook the
Smores the way you want it.

Students record observations in

their science journal

Students should be drawing pictures

as well as labeling what changes are
occurring to their smore.

Students will be able to make their

own smores once completed drawing
and writing the solar energy process
in their science journals

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes

For differentiation teacher might place struggling student in a group with higher level
learners for more explaination and understanding.
Explain 10 minutes
Teacher Will:

Students Will:

Teacher will bring students back

together as a class

Students will share what they

observed

Teacher will facilitate a class led

discussion where students will share
what they observed

Students will build upon one

anothers responses

Teacher will elaborate on students

discoveries to build a deeper
understanding

Students will take notes on

anything they have missed that
the teacher discusses in class

Studnts should be able to talk

about how the marshmellow was
cooked using solar energy. They
should understand all the energy
came directly from the sun and
the aluminum foil acted as the
Solar Collector which absorbed all
the light.

Teacher may ask how the reflection of

the aluminum foil helped the cooking
process. Teacher may also ask if the
marshmellow would cook faster had
we just cooked the marshemellow by
itself.

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes

For differenetiation, teacher will provide typed notes so student can partiicpate in class
led discussion
Elaborate 10-15 minutes
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #2)

Students Will:

Teacher will pose the question What

does the combined data show you
about how solar ovens work?
Teacher will tell students they will be
comparing and contrasting their data
to another groups data based upon
the experiement we just did
Teacher will draw a compare and
contrast chart on the whiteboard for
students to follow
Teacher will walk around as students
ask questions to help them come up
with ideas. For example the teacher
may ask why did group 1s
marshmellow only take 3 minutes to
cook, whereas group 2s marshemllow
took 5 minutes. Were you guys in the
same spot?

Students will compare and

contrast data to anothers groups
data
Students will brainstrom reasons
why they got the results they did
Students will use their science
journals to help complete a
compare/ contrast chart
Students will answer the teachers
question, What does the combined
data show you about how solar
ovens work?
Students must have at least 3
bullets in each circle

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation and Teacher Notes

For differentiation student must hve at least 2 bullets in each column to show what
they have learned
Evaluate 20 minutes
Teacher Will:

Teacher will provide example of

what a informative paragraph
should look like
Teacher will show some extra
examples of household items that
you can use solar energy with
Teacher will ask students of any
questions they have
Teacher will walk around classroom
and provide support to students if
needed
For differentiation, teacher will allow
for student to draw picture to
explain what household items they
could use solar energy with.

Students Will:

Students will write informative

paragraph for how they could
incorapte solar into their everday
lives
Students will reflect on what they
learned in their science journals to
build ideas
Students will properly support their
paragraph with at least four
sentences.
For students needing differentiation,
they should be able to draw and
label at least 5 pictures.

Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)

Students will be allowed to share out their responses to the whole class if they

want. Students should be activley listening and respect their classmates they
present their paragraph.
Teacher will ask students what other items they may cook in their solar cooker
as well as what they might change for next time if they were to complete the lab
again.

Ways of Thinking Connection

Futures thinking will be introduced and expected to evaluate the
performance of the students with the lesson of the day. After the students
explore the idea solar energy by creating their own lab of toasting
marshmallows using a solar cooker, students will write about what items in
their daily lives they would like to see changed to solar powered and how if
needed explaination. For example a water heater is something needed in
order to heat your water, however EnergyStar has created a solar energy
water heater that cuts your annual hot water costs in half.