Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

Science
2007 ACEI Standards
READINESS
I.
Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)

A.
B.

Goal(s)Learning is Play
Objective(s) After guided practice, students will be able to form
and test a hypothesis.
C.
Standard(s): SEPS.3 Constructing and performing investigations
II.
Materials Plants
A variety of safe substances
Rulers
Science journals
Youtube videos
Time every other day to measure and water plants
cup scoops
Space along the window for each plant
Students will be grouped by various skill levels and strengths. Each group will
have a strong reader, a strong math minded individual, and a strong leader.
(More assessment of how students work together would be needed to know which
students will work best together.)
III. Anticipatory Set (2 minutes)
You guys! I was planning the lesson for today and I got a message from
a scientist. Have you guys ever heard of Mythbusters? (student
response) Well this is the message I got from him last night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSUMBBFjxrY
Hmmm? That was an interesting message. There was some text that
went with it. Hello young scientist! I have a job for you. I got thinking
the other day if I could water my plant with something besides water,
but I am so busy I cant test it. I need you to test it for me. I hope you
are all up to the challenge! Remember to be awesome! Thanks so
much! Mythbusters.
Do you guys think you are up to the challenge? Alright, then. Lets get
started.
IV.

Purpose: Today and the next few weeks, we are going to be do a

study on plants to see

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

III. Adaptation to Diverse Students

Hands on experimentation
The directions will be partially in Spanish for M
The students will be in specific groups according to strengths

(ACEI 3.2)

IV. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

(30 minutes) I have a song for us to listen to that will help us learn some background
information about plants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBIQ1fTRzI
The song we just listened to sang about what plants need to grow. The
five things that plants need to grow are water, soil, space, sun light,
and air. (Write these on the board as you say them). Sometimes
though, plants decided they want to do their own thing. Like this plant
(show a picture of a plant not growing in soil). What do you guys think
of that? Turn to a friend next to you and talk about it. (Give students
about 30 seconds to discuss). So the question from our Mythbusters
friend was can he water his plants with something besides water.
What do you guys think? (Wait for student response) Do you want to
find out? (Wait for student response).
(ACEI 2.2)

I have ten plants here and I am going to split you up into groups of
three and each group will get a plant. Within your groups, you will get
decided what you are going to give to your plant. You guys are going to
experiment on your plants. Remember we have to write things down or
we are just screwing around. Now I want you to all flip the booklet over
that is on your desk. This will be your experiment journal that we will
use to collect our data.

Now, I am sure some of you are thinking, Ms. Oke, what on earth is data. Well, my
friends, have you ever kept track of the weather? Have you ever looked at a graph? Or
have you kept track of your height? Data is simply facts that are collected. Like right
now, I know that my plant is 4 inches tall. I would mark that on my paper as data. But to
start an experiment we have to ask a question. Each may have a slightly different
question. Asking can a plant be watered with something other than water and grow is too
big of question. Say I wanted to try watering my plant with pop. My questions would be,
Will a plant watered with pop grow more or less than a plant watered with water? You
guys each have a question area in your journal that you will fill in with your groups, but
your sentence looks like this, Will a plant watered with ________ grow more or less
than a plant watered with water?

After you ask your question, you have to write what you think the answer to the
question will be. You dont have to be right. That is the great thing about
experimenting. It isnt about who is right or wrong, it is about learning new
things. The next part of your journal is to decide as a group what you think the
answer to your question is. Once I put you in your groups, you will need to pick
what you are going to water your plant. I have a list of approved thing you can
use to water your plant. If you come up with something that is not on the list,
ask me and we will discuss it.
I will put students into their groups and allow them time to discuss.

Once the students have chosen a liquid, I will give them their plant and allow
them to begin taking measurements. After the students measure they will water
their plant with their substance. No matter the substance students will always
water one fourth cup.
(3 weeks) Every day students will water and measure their plant. We will do this
experiment for three weeks. I will have a control plant and if a groups plant dies,
they will help me take care of the control plant.
At the end of the experiment, students will get the opportunity to graph their
findings and compare it to the control and decided if their hypothesis was
correct.
(ACEI 3.3)
V. Check for understanding.
As the experiment is going on, I will ask students questions as they take
data. What has been your favorite part? What are your noticing about
your plant? Do you think your hypothesis will be correct? What effect do
you think your substance is having on the plant? What is another thing
you could test about plants?
VII. Review learning outcomes / Closure
Once a week we will review the new vocabulary and the plant song. At
the end of the experiment, we will have a debriefing about the data we
collected. We will determine the best substance for watering plants.
PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT
Students will be assessed on their science journals. I will be looking to see if
they filled out their hypothesis, completed their data, and analysis the end
results. Students will also be assessed to see if they can name the 5 things a
plant needs to grow. They can either sing the song or write them out.
(ACEI 4.0)
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1.
How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those
who did not, why not?
2.
What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3.
How should I alter this lesson?
4.
How would I pace it differently?
5.
Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6.
What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and
ability levels?
a.
Blooms Taxonomy
b.
Gardners Multiple Intelligences
1. Were the students able to apply the scientific method without being
told what it was?
2. What was the most challenging part for the students?
3. Did students stay engaged through the three weeks of the experiment?
Revision Date: August 25, 20152007 ACEI Standard