Inquiry Lesson Plan Template (with Four Ways of Thinking connection)

Teacher:
Content & Title:
Grade Level:
Allison Bramanti
Population Growth on
3rd
EarthWhat factors
influence human
population both
positively and
negatively?
Standards:
These will be addressed over the course of the entire 5-day Unit.
Concept 1: Changes in Environments
Describe the interactions between human populations, natural hazards, and the environment.
PO 1. Describe the major factors that could impact a human population (e.g., famine, drought, disease,
improved transportation, medical breakthroughs).
PO 2. Describe the beneficial and harmful impacts of natural events and human activities on the environment
(e.g., forest fires, flooding, pesticides).
Concept 2: Science and Technology in Society Understand the impact of technology.
PO 1. Identify ways that people use tools and techniques to solve problems.
PO 2. Describe the development of different technologies (e.g., communication, entertainment,
transportation, medicine) in response to resources, needs, and values.
Objectives (Explicit & Measurable):

Students should be able to identify and note the difference between positive and negative factors that
affect the growth or decline of a population such as famine, disease, technological improvements, and
medical breakthroughs by sorting the factors into the two groups (positive and negative) and creating
a concrete T-chart of at least three positve and three negative factors.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):

(formative): Students will be assessed through formative assessments during this lesson that include
class participation, group participation, share alouds, journal paragraph writing, and their exit ticket.
Students must actively engage in each of these activities by participating at least once within the
small group and partner discussions. More participation will show the student exceeds expectations
while no participation will suggest the student fails to meet expectations. Each of these outcomes will
reflect in the students grade. Students must also complete their journal responses and exit tickets to
receive full points. Completion of each of these assessments will receive full points. Students who do
not complete the assessments will have grades that reflect their incompletion (wont receive the
points).

(summative): To be given at the end of the unit.

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

Define a need and a want; as well as compare and contrast the two terms
Think about how factors that affect population growth and decline can also affect them personally
Think about the impact that one positive or negative factor has had on population growth in the past,
in the present, and even could have in the future

Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information about what students are
doing. Justification why is this lesson being taught)
Population growth on Earth should be taught to students because it impacts nearly every other sustainability
topic. Students need to first understand population and what influences the population before they can
understand why its so important to think about sustainability. Its important that our young generations of
students are learning about population and its constant growth so that they can begin using futures thinking
to create sustainable solutions to this problem.
Through this lesson students learn about what factors positively and negatively impact population growth
and begin to think about how specific factors impact their own lives, the lives of all humans, and our Earth as
a whole. By engaging students in the learning of this material, teachers can create informed, innovative and
sustainable thinkers that will be able to lead our world in the future.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know prior to completing this lesson)
Students should know what population growth is based on what they learned in the previous days lesson.
Students should be familiar with what a T-chart is and how to use one.
Students should know how to write a proper paragraph with an introductory sentence and concluding
sentence.
Misconception: (what possible misleading thoughts might students have?)
Students might believe that the Earth can sustain a continually increasing population.
Students might think that population growth is only positive and will not personally affect them in any
negative ways.
Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing)
Critical thinking skills
Listening skills
Teamwork
Writing skills
Four Ways of Thinking connection: (Provide a complete explanation of how your lesson plan connects
to futures, system, strategic, or values thinking. Define the way of thinking you selected and used in
this lesson plan. Remember, this should be included meaningfully in the lesson plan.)
Futures thinking requires an individual to make decisions by taking into consideration the potential outcomes
those decisions may create and cause. By teaching individuals to use the concept of futures thinking, they
will be more aware of their impact on the world around them. This type of thinking is especially useful when
attempting to find solutions to sustainability challenges because it requires individuals to think about the
impact their solution might have and plan for that impact. This type of thinking allows for creativity and
innovation to occur that might help solve challenges that were originally only confronted with a mindset to
focus on a present solution, not a long-lasting solution.
This lesson plan connects to Futures Thinking because it requires students to think about what factors affect
population growth both positively and negatively. By thinking about the affects of various factors on
population, students can begin to think about how one factor can influence the lives of millions of people and
help determine the sustainability of our planet, humanity, and natural resources.
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?) No safety concerns.

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

1. (to explore) What factors, both positive and negative, impact population growth and decline?
2. (to elaborate) How might one factor (ie. famine, drought, technological improvements, medical
breakthroughs) impact our population in the future? What are ways we could plan for these impacts
using futures thinking so that our Earth and the population wont be negatively impacted?
Key vocabulary: (list and define)
1. Need: something that is essential for human
survival such as water, food, and air
2. Want: something desired, but not essential to
survival; one could live without this
3. Famine: Extreme lack of food
4. Drought: Extreme lack of water
5. Poverty: Extreme lack of money or lacking in
needs that are essential to human survival

Materials: (list item and possible quantity)

1. Needs and Wants Introductory Information:
https://populationeducation.org/sites/default/files
/what_are_peoples_basic_needs.pdf
2. Computer
3. Sorting Game Cards pre-cut, one set for every
small group of 4-5 students (included at the end of
the lesson plan)
4. Paper for every student
5. Pencil or writing utensil for every student
Engage - In this section you should activate prior knowledge, hook student attention, pose a question
(IQ#1) based on your lesson objective that students will seek to answer in Explore.
Teacher Will: (hook)
Students Will:
Introduce the idea of needs vs. wants by asking
Think about what the word need and what
students how they might define a need vs. how
the word want means to them
they might define a want and what items they
Share out their ideas of what both of those
might say are Needs and what items they
words mean
might say are Wants
Look at the T-chart on the whiteboard to
Draw a T-chart to organize the students
help visualize the two different words and
answers on the white board with Need above
their meanings
one side and Want above the other side so that
Ask questions if they are unsure of how to
students can visually compare and contrast the
define need/want at the end of the
two words as they share aloud how they might
discussion
define each word
Adhere to the information from this PDF to
help guide students to come to the correct
conclusions about what a need and what a want
is:
https://populationeducation.org/sites/default/fi
les/what_are_peoples_basic_needs.pdf
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
The teacher can differentiate within the introduction by printing out T-charts for every student so that they
can follow along and remain focused on the lesson plan by completing their own T-chart. The teacher can
also differentiate by having gifted students think of more specific needs and wants based on different
populations throughout the world such as over crowded populations in China or malnourished populations in
Africa. The students could compare and contrast how those populations needs and wants might differ from
the American populations needs and wants.
By creating a visual aid for students to follow along with on the board, the teacher is utilizing a best practice.
Students will be able to clearly follow along with the lesson and categorize needs vs. wants using the T-chart
to guide their thinking.
Explore - In this section students should take the lead and actively use materials to discover information
that will help them answer the question posed in Engage. Teachers may choose to give steps to follow,
especially for younger students, but the goal is for students to discover some or all of the sub-objectives of

the lesson.
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #1)
Ask students to think about what might happen
if they did not have the words listed in the
Need column of the class T-chart
Tell students that throughout history humans
have struggled and still continue to struggle to
meet their needs with the resources and
technology we currently have available on
Earth
Hand out Sorting Game Cards to each small
group of students (4-5 students) and tell them to
sort the cards into two groups: a group that
would help population to grow and a group that
would cause population to decrease
Give students 10-15 minutes to sort their cards
and discuss their answers, walking around and
helping small groups as needed to come to the
correct conclusions

Students Will: (list all steps)

Think about what might happen if they
could not obtain their Needs and how that
might affect their lifestyle
Listen as the teacher talks and ask
questions if they are confused about
anything being said
With their small group sort the Game Cards
into two groups: a group of positive growth
factors and a group of factors that would
cause population to decline

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes

The teacher could differentiate by dividing students into small groups based on their learning abilities so that
in every group there would be a student who could serve as a leader to help and guide struggling students
such as ELL students or special education students. The teacher could also alter the Sorting Game Cards to
meet learners needs by creating simpler cards or more complex cards. The teacher could even vary the
number of cards or the specificity of the cards to match learners needs best. The teacher could provide a set
of Sorting Game Cards in Spanish or another language as necessary for ELL students.
Allowing students to work in small groups is a best practice because it fosters collaboration and helps
students build ideas by learning from one another.
Explain In this section students share what they discovered, teacher connects student discoveries to
correct content terms/explanations, students articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the
lesson sub-objectives by answering the question from Engage before moving on.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Bring the class back together to discuss the
Listen to the correct answers for the
correct answers for the Sorting Game making
Sorting Game activity, asking questions if
sure that every small group understands why
they do not understand why a certain card
each card goes into each category
falls under a certain category
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
The teacher can write the answers on the board or project an image of the cards sorted into the correct
groupings in order to help differentiate for students that learn visually.
A best practice is used when the teacher leads the class in a group discussion. This allows all ideas to be
considered and accepted, as well as allowing students to learn from one another and providing the teacher
with an opportunity to correct any misguided ideas or incorrect conlusions.

Elaborate In this section students take the basic learning gained from Explore and clarified in Explain
and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of this learning at a deeper level. Students
should be using higher order thinking in this stage. A common practice in this section is to ask a What If?
question. IQ #2
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #2)
Students Will:
Ask students, What if in the future our planet
Think about the question, What if in the
didnt have: food, water, medicine, or
future our planet didnt have: food, water,
technology?
medicine, or technology?
Tell students to choose one of these factors and
Write a minimum of two to three fivewrite a minimum of two to three paragraphs
sentence paragraphs in reflection on the
with at least five sentences each in a journal
question in reference to only one of the
response explaining what their life would be
four factors, while considering the
like without one of those four factors.
following questions in their responses:
Could they personally survive without that
Ask students to consider the following
factor? Could humans as a whole survive?
questions when writing their responses: Could
What would life be like? What would Earth
they personally survive without that factor?
be like?
Could humans as a whole survive? What would
life be like? What would Earth be like?
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
The teacher can provide students that struggle to write with a mind map or brainstorming chart that would
break down each part of the paragraph so that students could fill in the blanks instead of trying to construct
the paragraph on their own. The teacher could also modify the journal assignment and have students write
only three sentences instead of five sentences. If many students struggle with writing the teacher could pull
them aside to brainstorm ideas as a group and construct a paragraph response together.
A best practice within this section includes allowing students to draw their own conclusions and ideas based
on the concepts taught within the lesson in order to explore the topic on a deeper level and foster students
higher order thinking skills.
Evaluate In this section every student demonstrates mastery of the lesson objective (though perhaps not
mastery of the elaborate content). Because this also serves as a closing, students should also have a chance
to summarize the big concepts they learned outside of the assessment.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Have students share their journal responses
Share their journal response with a partner
with a partner who picked a different factor
who picked a different factor to write about
than them to write about
Think about and discuss with their partners if
Ask partners to think about and discuss if we
there is anything we could do to prevent the
could do anything to prevent the loss of the
loss of the factor that they journaled about or
factors that they journaled about or do
if there is anything we could do to lessen the
anything to lessen the negative impacts we or
negative impacts we or the Earth might feel if
the Earth might feel if one of the factors no
one of the factors no longer existed
longer existed
Write any ideas they come up with during
Instruct partners to write any ideas they come
their partner discussion underneath their
up with underneath their journal entries
journal entry
Then ask partners to write out as many
Make a T-chart listing as many positive and
positive and as many negative factors that
negative factors that affect population growth
affect population growth as they can think of
as they can think of with their partner as their
in a T-chart format as their Exit Ticket,
Exit Ticket, including at least three of each
making sure that they have at least three of
factor in order to receive full points and prove
each factor in order to receive full points and
their mastery of the lesson

prove their mastery of the lesson

Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)
The teacher will collect the students Exit Tickets. The teacher will then ask students to begin thinking about
how they personally might be impacting the Earth and its resources by mentally or physically taking note of
all the different objects and resources they use until tomorrows class (such as food items, technology,
clothing, water, etc.).
**Best Practices List the Best Teaching Practices you will use to enhance the learning outcomes. In
each section where prompted, list the best practice, how the practices will be used and the purpose.

Sorting Game Cards

Food Famine
Water

Drought

Medicine Sickness

Technology

Poverty

War

Natural
Disasters

Sources
What Are People's Basic Needs? [PDF]. (2016). Population Connection.