5E Lesson Plan

Teacher: Ashlyn Cummings

Date: 11/17/15
Subject / grade level: Science/ 4th grade
Materials:
Potting soil
Sand
Dirt and sand mixture
Lima beans
Sunflower seeds
Marigold seeds
Plastic cups
Water
White board
Journals
Pencils
Pictures of an orchids, and a cactus.
15 pictures of different plants for assessment
Manila paper
Glue
Scissors

Resources:
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9272714/adaptation adaptation definition for my explain section.
http://www.slideshare.net/ciellauren/plant-adaptation-elementary explanations for the key reasons plants adapt:
protection, reproduction, and weather/climate.
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/chiwonlee/plsc211/student%20papers/articles11/ewentzel/characteristcs.html
Information about orchid characteristics.
Preparation:
I would need to make sure that I go to the store and get the soil, sand, dirt and sand mixture, lima beans, sunflower
seeds, and marigold seeds. I would also have their journals next to the area in the back of the room where I want them
to place their experiments. I will make sure that the assessment is ready and good to go with the papers and pictures.
Background Knowledge:
The students have an understanding how different features of plants and animals allow them to survive in a particular
environment. They have a general understanding of how plants and animals survive in different ecosystems. The students have
a general understanding of different characteristics that allow plants and animals to survive, and what they need to survive such
as water and sunlight.
The teacher knows that adaptation is how plants and animals change to meet the needs of their environment. The teacher
knows that it is because of the three characteristics such as protection, reproduction, and weather/climate that plants and
animals adapt to their environment. The teacher should have an understanding of different examples of how plants and animals
use their special characteristics to survive in dry, wet, or cold climates. The teacher should also know the reason adaptation is
necessary for plants and animals for survival.

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Safety Issues:
The teacher will make sure that students are being careful with all materials. The teacher needs to be aware of any
allergies or exhalents that could ale the students. The teacher would also be the one to prepare and pour any of the
ingredients for the students. The teacher will also state the rules of keeping the materials inside the cup and that we
are to observe not touch or eat what is inside the cup. After the first lesson, the students will need to wash their hands
and tables once finished.

TEKS

Inquiry based TEKS:

4.2.A. Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific inquiry methods during laboratory and outdoor
investigations. The student is expected to:

(A) plan and implement descriptive investigations, including asking well-defined questions, making inferences, and
selecting and using appropriate equipment or technology to answer his/her questions

Standard TEKS:

4.10.A. Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have structures
that help them survive within their environment. The student is expected to:
(A) explore how adaptations enable organisms to survive in their environment such as comparing birds' beaks and leaves
on plants;

Lesson objective(s):
The students will understand the role of adaptations in plants and how adaptations allow them to survive in different
environments. This is introductory lesson into a three-week long look into adaptations of plants and animals. The students will
be able to understand the characteristics between plants that survive based upon protection, reproduction, and weather/climate.

Rationale:
It is important for students to learn how and why plants adapt to their environment. An adaptation is something that
not only happens to plants or animals, but also to humans. This lesson helps prompt them to understand the basics
behind adaptation to help them understand how humans have adapted over time. The students will learn how plants
use adaptation to survive by protection, reproduction, and weather/climate.
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs (special needs):
My student has a visual impairment. I will have the student be placed in the front of the classroom so that he is in
easier access to the screen for any PowerPoints or demonstrations that might happen. I will also have all of the
worksheets in a bigger font.

ENGAGE
Create Interest-
Good morning class! How was your week? (students response: Great!) Well I am so happy to hear that, today we
have a fun filled lesson about plants and their environments. With your team members I want you to evaluate and
discuss what you all think will be the best environment for each type of seeds. You have three types of soils and 3 types

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of seeds, you will be given 10 minutes to evaluate and write down your questions and predictions of what you think
will happen in each soil/environment. The students will be given the opportunity to use all the seeds and materials
needed to fit their question. Students would ask themselves what type of soil would create the best environment for a
plant to grow in? The students would already have some knowledge that their environments impact plants. Thus,
helping them with their predictions and hypotheses.
Raise Questions:
o In what kind of soil do you think will produce a plant?
o What kind of plants do you think would grow in a desert?
o What type of plant would be would be produced in potting soil?
o What type of plant do you think would grow in the sand?
o Why do you think potting soil is a good environment to grow a plant?
o Why do you think the sand would not be a good environment for a plant?
Provide Instructions and Modeling:
The teacher will be walking around the room assessing the students understanding/ideas of their train of thoughts.
The teacher will guide the students by asking them question, which is the best environment for a plant to grow in? This will
be the first of many questions to help scaffold their particular learning towards the direction the teacher wants them to go.
The teacher will also scaffold the type of experiment they have decided to come up with. The scaffolding will be seen by
the teacher asking questions such as: does it matter what type of soil a lima bean is in? On the other hand, does it matter
what type of seed is in potting soil or sand? The questions will be directed in a way to help steer the students into choosing
one question to answer and formulate an experience based upon. The teacher would go back around and ask the students to
come up with a different question that could be placed with their experiment.

EXPLORE
Facilitating Investigation plan: What type of environment do plants grow the best in? (Overall question)
1. Example number 1: What happens if you use sand to grow a lima bean plant?
o I think that the sand will be the best place for lima beans to grow in. We need to first get our plastic cup,
sand, and lima beans. Next, we will need to water the seed. After this, the students will write/draw in
their journals every Tuesday and Friday the progress of their plants for 3 weeks.
2. Example number 2: Do marigolds grow best in potting soil?
o I think that the marigolds will grow best in potting soil. The students then will fill their plastic cup with
potting soil and place a marigold seed inside. After this, the students will water the plant and write/draw
in their journals every Tuesday and Fridays about the progress of their plants.
Supervising groups:
The teacher will go to each group and make sure that their problem/hypothesis is following along with the lesson and
objective of the activity that day. Also, the teacher is making sure that the students are assessing whether or not the
problem/hypothesis could be measured and observed. At this point the teacher will circle back around and make sure
that they are on topic and following safety procedures.
o Questions to ask:
What are some differences about the seeds that could make a difference on where they live?
What have you been seeing happen from your plant?
Has the type of soil you chosen been effective for growing your plant?
Which way is your plant growing? (left, right, up, falling down, etc)
Managing materials:
The teacher will keep all materials on a cart in the back of the classroom. When the activity is being introduced, the
teacher will move the cart to the front and explaining to the students the activity. The teacher will then pass out the cups
to each table group. The groups will then have one representative come with their cup and tell the teacher which soil

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and seed they chose. After this, the teacher will then pour the soil into the cup and give the groups one seed. The
teacher will then go around to each group and put a little bit of water on the plants. Representatives of each group will
then go and place their plant on the back table.
EXPLAIN
Share results:
At the end of the three weeks the teacher will ask the students to look over their results from their journal entries
and drawings to answer the question if the plants were able to grow in their environment or not? Each group will
then share their results and discuss why they think their plants grew or did not grow.
o What characteristics did each plant have? (ex: did the plant lean towards the window? What did the
leaves look like?)
o What did your group conclude about the plants that did not grow?
o What would you do differently?
o Why do you think the plants in the potting soil grew?
Further explanation:
The teacher will discuss how plants overtime have protected themselves and survived by doing something called
adapting. Adapting means the process by which a species (type of plants) become better suited to its environment
(Britannica Kids). Plants can grow in all sorts of environments, but the main reason why this is true is because they are
able to adapt or change to what will be better suited for the environment. Plants adapt for different kinds of reasons.
Flowers are a prime example of adapting their environment for the purpose of reproduction. They have found that
having different colors on their petals, it attracts birds and insects that pollinate (or transport pollen from one plant to
another). Plants also adapt to their climate and weather. If you are plant that lives in the desert, you will most likely
have leaves that store water and face towards the sun. Lastly, plants adapt for protection with having thorns or spikes
like cactus do in the desert. Adaptations are the way of survival for plants. For plants that live in the rainforest then they
will need to adapt to weather that is humid and wet. For example orchids grow on trees in the Amazon Rainforest. They
need to be in at least 12 hours of sunlight to help them survive. They reproduce by birds or insects that come and
pollinate (ndsu.edu). They help them to not be eaten, crushed or lack the nutrients (water and sunlight) they need to
survive.

ELABORATE
Alternative explanation:
The teacher will bring in a variety of plants such as a cactus, rose, grass, and carnations. The students will write down
in a chart the differences between each plant. On the table will be a description of the plants and they will match it with
the appropriate plant. What do you notice about the plants? (Their leaves are different). Different plants have different
ways of receiving nutrients, so their leaves change to the environment they are in.
The students will discuss in their groups the similarities and differences of each plant and make a comparison chart
for each one of them.
Extension:
Animals also adapt to their environments. If we know that plants adapt to their environment for the purposes of
survival for protection, reproduction, and weather/climate. How do you think animals adapt to their environment. Write
down in your journals 5 different ways you think that an animal might adapt to their environment and list at least three
examples. We will be looking into how animals adapt to their environment tomorrow.
Application to other situations:
Where have you seen adaptations before? Adaptations are all around us in our everyday lives. People are a great
example of adaptations. When we move from a warmer climate such as Texas to a colder climate like Massachusetts than we
would need to adapt or change to that environment by the clothes we buy and the safety precautions we might take. Cactus is
another great example of a plant that has adapted. Cactus is seen in a dryer climate and the whole plant is made up of a fleshy,
thick material that helps them store water. The purpose and objective of a cactus is to store water (show a picture of a cactus).
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On the other hand if it was a plant from the tropical rainforest like and orchid, then the plant would need to adapt to rain that
happens all the time. The orchids live in humid, moist conditions and typically grow on the trees rather than the ground.

EVALUATE
Assess and reflect/Consequential Task:
The students will be given a worksheet with 12 pictures of different plants from different environments. The students
be given a manila sheet of paper and are to draw three overlapping circles for a compare and contrast chart. One circle
will be labeled protection, another reproduction, and then finally weather/climate. The students will then cut out the
images and place them in the designated places. The students then will write down the definition of adaptation and the
overall characteristics of the plants in each category. Lastly, the students must put in their own words why they think
adaptation is important.

(Rubric is going to be on the last page of the lesson plan)

Specific Key Questions:

What are the three main ways that plants adapt to survive? (Protection, reproduction, and weather/climate).
Why is adaptation important? (It allows plants to change to their environment to help them survive).
What happens if a plant is from the desert climate? (the plants most likely conserve water)
What if a plant is from a rain forest? (The plants have most likely adapted to humid and wet conditions).
What does adaptation mean? (How something changes to its environment to help it survive).

Personal Reflection:
Inquiry lesson plans have many important components that go within them. To make a good inquiry lesson you need
to have put the time and effort into each little aspect, so that you are prepared and ready to teach. Inquiry lessons allow the
students to generate and test their own hypothesis so that they can learn from what they are doing. I have learned that as future
teachers we need to be plan and be ready to show the science behind the experiments the children do, to further their
understanding of the topic. By completing this lesson it has helped me to understand how all of the components fit with one
another, and how important it is to a students learning. Overall, I have learned a lot from creating and generating an inquiry
lesson plan for students.

Horizontal Alignment within the Grade chosen for the 5E lesson

What other TEKS can be aligned to this lesson (what will this lesson build upon and build for)?

4.9.B. Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an
ecosystem interact with one another and with their environment. The student is expected to:
(B) describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in
the ecosystem affect the food web such as a fire in a forest.

This TEKS is taught in the previous few weeks before the lesson on adaptation. It is important because it
discusses how plants and animals survive in different ecosystems. During the adaptation lesson, it would be
easy to reflect on because it discusses how ecosystems play a big role on how plants and animals respond to
their environment, which would be a great tie-in into the lesson that we will be discussing about adaptation.

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Vertical Alignment within the Grade Chosen for the 5E lesson

Prior Grade
What other TEKS can be aligned to this lesson (what will this lesson build upon and build for)?
How would you integrate this foundational knowledge for developed 5E lesson?

3.10.A. Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and
have structures that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to:
(A) explore how structures and functions of plants and animals allow them to survive in a particular
environment.

The TEKS discusses how specific characteristics of plants and animals allow them to survive in different
environments. This is crucial to understanding how plants and animals adapt to their environment because many
of the characteristics of the plants and animals are due to their environment that they live in. Due to this, the
children will already be coming in with an understanding of how different characteristics of plants and animals
allow them to survive in their environments.

Next Grade
What other TEKS can be aligned to this lesson (what will this lesson build upon and build for)?
How would this aid their knowledge in future grades?

5.10.B Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and
have structures that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to:
(B) differentiate between inherited traits of plants and animals such as spines on a cactus or shape of a
beak and learned behaviors such as an animal learning tricks or a child riding a bicycle.

The TEKS builds upon what the students have already been taught the year before on adaptations. For this
lesson, we discuss how plants adapt to their environments for survival, where as in the upcoming year they will
be discussing what inherited traits affect how plants and animals survive. Due to this, the students will be able
to build upon what they have learned during this lesson with applying that different plants are able to live in
different areas due to ways they survive. This will make the connection for them when discussing why cacti
have spines, or why roses have thorns.

Rubric for Assessment:

Title 5 points
Label on three of the Venn diagram circles 5 points
Pictures are placed in the correct spaces 15 points (a point for each picture)
A clear definition of adaptation (Ex: how plants 10 points
change to their environment, etc).
Description for each Venn diagram using the 5 points for each description including the
characteristics of the images of the plants. characteristics for the plants used.
15 points overall.
Explanation for why they think adaptation is 10 points
important. (Must be relevant to what we discussed in
class).
Total Points _____/60

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