Hannah Broder

Lesson Name: BATTLE OF THE BEAKS

Lesson Plan (#) __2___of____3___

Grade Level: ____4_______ Duration of Lesson: ___60 minutes___ Subject: SCIENCE

Overarching Phenomenon: What phenomenon helps to frame this lesson?

Why are bird’s beaks different?

NGSS Performance Expectation/s: What Performance Expectation/s will be used in this

lesson?
4-LA1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external
structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior and reproduction.

NGSS Disciplinary Core Idea/s: What are the major core idea/s that will be used in this
lesson?
LS1.A: Structure and Function
- Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve carious
functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction. (4-LS1-1)
LS1.D: Information Processing
- Different sense receptors are specialized for particular kinds of information,
which may be then processed by the animal’s brain. Animals are able to use their
perceptions and memories to guide their actions. (4-LS1-2)

NGSS Science and Engineering Practice/s: Which Science and Engineering Practice/s
will you be using in this lesson? May not be exactly the same as the one in the PE.
Engaging in Argument from Evidence – in 3-5 builds on K-2 experiences and progresses to
critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant
evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
- Construct an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model. (4-LS1-1)
- Use a model to test interactions concerning the functioning of a natural system.
(4-LS1-2)

NGSS Crosscutting Concept/s: What are the major crosscutting concept/s that will be
used in this lesson?
Systems and System Models
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (4-
LS1-2)

Learning Objectives/Goals: Your objectives Formative Assessments: Describe your

are what the student will do to demonstrate assessments and explain how will you
learning, understanding, and/or reasoning as a assess to determine if students are
result of this lesson. This is what you must learning the specific learning
communicate, evaluate, and provide feedback
for each student. HINT: Always use an action
verb.
Students will formulate a hypothesis about
which beak will perform the best.
Students will perform an experiment to prove or
disprove their hypothesis.
Students will reflect on their findings during the
experiment and draw conclusions about why
certain beaks performed better than others.
objectives/goals
Students will complete a worksheet
where they will write their hypothesis in
sentence form and will also make
numerical predictions for how many
seeds each beak will pick up.
Upon completion of each round of the
experiment, students will record their
findings in the chart provided.
The class will discuss the findings
during the experiment. Students will
individually answer questions provided
about their discoveries and will be led to
various conclusions about why bird
beaks are different.

I will collect their worksheets and

review their responses to the questions.

Resources, Materials, and Grouping: What materials and references are you using?
How will you manage those materials during the class? When will the students be
working individually, in small groups, and whole group?
Materials:
- Chart paper
- Markers
- Pencils
- Timer/clock
- PowerPoint presentation with experiment instructions
- “Battle of the Beaks” worksheet
- Sunflower seeds (10 for each pair of students)
- Popcorn kernels (10 for each pair of students)
- Large, square pretzels (5 per pair)
- Paper plates (2 per pair)
- Binder clips (1 per pair)
- Popsicle sticks (2 per pair)
- Straws (1 per pair)
- Mini cups (2 per pair)

Materials Management:
Before the lesson begins, the materials will have been appropriately measured and
separated for each pair of students. This will limit transition time.

Grouping Structure:
Students will be partnered with their ‘desk partner’ for this experiment. This will limit
movement and these students work well with the person previously assigned as their desk
partners.

References: (see attached Works Cited)

Differentiated Instruction: What scaffolds and instructional modifications will you

provide to support individual and/or group learning needs? How will you support
students who need special attention connecting to the material or the classroom
environment? (be specific about ELs, SPED, GATE or other important subgroups in
your class and how you will meet their needs. Indicate if not present.)

IEPs: There are a few students with IEPs who are positioned at the front of the classroom
with a non-obstructed view. One student will have his aid helping him with the writing
portion of the lesson. The PowerPoint has clearly written step-by-step instructions for
how to perform the experiment.

GATE: This is a GATE/Seminar class, so the students are accustomed to activities that
yield independent work and know they are expected to provide thought-out responses to
prompts. Some students will finish the activity early, and will be instructed to research
various bird adaptations in preparation for our next day’s lesson.

Instruction [Anticipatory stage/Engage]: How will you draw out prior

knowledge? What experiences will you design to engage and motivate students? What
are the relevant/real world connections within this lesson?

To begin the lesson, we will first review the “Knew/New Notes” from the previous
lesson. Students will have an opportunity to add to the chart and ask any questions that
may have arisen.

I will go over the instructions of the experiment IN DETAIL before passing out the
materials. The instructions will also be presented on a PowerPoint for reference (see
attached).

Following this, I will have the students make some predictions. Students will need to
understand that there is no “right answer” for these predictions and they are just being
used to help them make their hypothesis. The question presented to the students is which
“beak” do they think will perform the best with the seeds? (See attached worksheet for
more information and chart). Once students have filled out their numbers in the chart, the
students will write a sentence or two for their hypothesis.

While the students are writing, I will pass out the materials to each set of students,
emphasizing NOT TO TOUCH THE MATERIALS UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO.
Anticipating some questions and confusion, we will begin a ‘practice round’. Instruct
students to pick a partner to go first and that person will be named “Student A”, the other
will be “Student B”. Allow each student to practice with their first “tool” (the scissors)
and the “big seeds” (pretzels).

Once all students have had an opportunity to practice, we will begin the real experiment.
Remind students we are beginning with the 5 pretzels and their scissors and that Student
A will go first, and Student B will keep time by looking at the clock.

Instruction [Exploratory stage/Explore]: What experiences will you design so that

students will grapple with the content, investigate, and explore the central concepts?
What ideas do you expect students to develop as a result?

Students will have opportunities to experiment with all of their given tools. Some
students may find innovative ways to best use the tools. While I am walking around
observing, I will make comments on what I am observing such as “Oh, interesting,
___________ is using their popsicle sticks to scoop, that’s clever” or “Hmmmm…I
wonder what bird beak the straw represents?”

I will periodically stop students and check in on their progress as well as make sure
everyone is on task. Classroom management will be crucial during this portion of the
lesson.

I want students to discover why certain beaks work better with certain seeds and how that
relates to the real world. I will prompt students individually and ask what bird might
have a beak represented by the binder clip, or the popsicle sticks, encouraging them to
view the tools as beaks not just household items.

Instruction [Student Explanation stage/Explain]: How will the students communicate

their understanding of the concepts? How will you design additional experiences to
extend their understanding or to assist them in recognizing misconceptions? How will
you support students in using data, evidence and/or representations to make sense of the
central concept?

Once the class has completed all of their rotations, I will have them reconvene their
attention to the front of the class for a “check in”. At this point, I will tell students I will
be taking a survey to see what results we gathered. I will ask the students a series of
questions and have them raise their hands in response (or hold up fingers if it is a number
question). I hope this question/answer time will encourage students to look around the
room to see what their peers found in their data and compare it to their own.

Once the class has an idea of the data gathered, I will hand them another worksheet that
has the different tools listed and their corresponding bird. The worksheet explains why
the certain bird has a particular beak. This should put the experiment into perspective for
the students.
Instruction [Student Elaboration stage/Elaborate]: How will the students take what
they have learned about the concept and apply it to a new situation to demonstrate their
understanding, deeper their learning, and/or refine their new skills?

The final part of this lesson (elaborate) will occur on a different day.

Instruction [Closure/Evaluate]: Closure. How will you help students reflect on this
lesson, introduce homework (if applicable) and connect it to the next lesson?

Using their data and the chart comparing the tools to bird beaks, students will begin
answering the questions on the back of their worksheet. Students will also write a
sentence explaining why their hypothesis was correct or incorrect and will create a new
claim.

Battle of the Beaks

Make predictions:
How many seeds do you think you will pick up
with each beak?

Small Large
Seeds Seeds
Scissors
Chopsticks
Straw
Binder
Clip

Hypothesis:

Actual data:
Small Large
Seeds Seeds
Scissors
Chopsticks
Straw
Binder
Clip
Results:
 1. Which beak picked up the most
seeds? Why?
______________________________________
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________________

2. Which beak picked up the least

seeds? Why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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________________

3. A hummingbird was represented

by which tool?
______________________________________
__________________

4. Were your predictions correct?

______________________________________
______________________________________
____________________________________
 5. If an environment only had
trees with large seeds and plants,
which beak would perform the best?
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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________________
Hawk
- Beak is
great for
cutting
through
meat
- Sharp
Toucan
- Beak can
grab things
that are
hard to
reach
- Not very
strong
Hummingbird
- Beak is
great for
sipping
nectar
- Not very
good at
picking up
Parrot
- Beak can
break open
hard shells