Artifact #7: Nearpod Science Lesson Plan:

This artifact provides an example of my science lesson on the seasons that occur

annually. It showcases my skills in effectively utilizing technology in a creative way to make

learning engaging for my students. It has become quite apparent that technology is now

becoming a very popular commodity in our lives. It is important for teachers to be familiar with

new APPS such as the Nearpod. Nearpod is an easy APP to use for subjects like Science. This

lesson enabled students to read educational information, to listen to a song and video, to do

group and individual work through the use of technology. The teacher assesses student

understanding by getting students to complete an online quiz. The teacher is also able to review

students’ work by utilizing Nearpod on the computer. This type of learning reminds me of

Howard Gardner’s theory where it highlights the 8 multiple intelligences for children. This

lesson utilized almost all of the 8 different types of intelligences.

Grade 2: Standards: Understanding the basic concepts:

The lesson will fulfill the following Ontario Science standards:

3.1. Identify the sun as Earth’s principal source of heat and light

3.2. Describe changes in the amount of heat and light from the sun that occur throughout the day

and the seasons.

3.3. Describe and compare the four seasons (e.g., in terms of amount of daylight, type of

precipitation, temperature).

3.4. Describe changes in the appearance or behavior of living things that are adaptations to

seasonal changes (e.g., in fall, some plants shed their leaves and some birds migrate; in winter

some animals change color.

Objective:

Using variety of technology and written work, students will be able to show an

understanding of their knowledge on identifying the earth’s principal source of heat and light,

describing change in weather patterns, differences in night and day, and the ability to compare

and describe how the four seasons impact living things

Anticipatory Set:

 The teacher will open the Nearpod lesson.

 The teacher will hand out personal I-Pads to the students.

 Students will be asked to come to the carpet area and play the Four Seasons Song.

 Teacher will pull out a winter hat, snow pants, gloves, and put them on in order to get the

student’s attention. She will then ask the students, “What is your favorite season and

why? Can you guess what my favorite one is? What do you see? What do you think?”
  Students will use their prior knowledge of inference from Language class when

answering the questions.

 The teacher will inform the students that the purpose of today’s lesson is to learn about

the importance of the four seasons.

 The teacher will hand out the Seasons worksheets for the video based assignment

(Appendix A).

Step by Step:

 The teacher will have students seated at their desks with their individual I-Pads.

 The teacher will have them log into Nearpod with the code MARSD (the code is also

available in our Google Classroom (code is jk5wpof).

 The teacher and students will access the next slide and watch a video on seasons.

 The teacher will ask students to type out what they feel the role of the Sun plays on Earth.

This is a collaborative segment in Nearpod where students get a chance to express their

ideas before going into the first part of the lesson.

 The next slide will be an informative webpage from National Geographic Kids that the

students can read along to understand the role of the Sun and how it plays a part in

heating, lighting, and influencing the four seasons.

 After reviewing the webpage, an open question will be directed to the students pertaining

to the true role of the Sun’s impact on earth.

 Now that the children have understood the role of the Sun and its’ impact on the four

seasons, the next slides will introduce the four seasons, their attributes, and how the Sun

plays a role during each season.

  The next slide is a “fill in the blanks exercise” where students will match the

corresponding season to the respective attribute of that particular season, e.g. “I am the

coldest season – WINTER”.

 Students will next be asked to take out their handout exercise (Appendix A) to watch a

video and to then answer questions about the four seasons.

 The web content activity for Appendix A was obtained from the BBC. Students will

watch an interactive video on attributes of the four seasons such as:

1. When they occur?

2. Sequence in which they occur?

3. Precipitation

4. Weather

5. Animal life

 Once this exercise is completed, the next slide will be introduced to prepare the students

for the next activity which is a video by Bill Nye on the “Sun and the Four Seasons”.

This segment ties in with the entire activity through:

1. The Sun’s role

2. Four Seasons

 Once the video is completed, students will use Google Forms to submit a quiz on the

video they have just viewed.

Teacher’s Role during Exercise:

 While students are watching the video, the teacher will circulate, answer questions, and

redirect students who are not on task.

 The story video may be replayed many times if necessary.

  The teacher will give the students a few moments to wrap up their answers and then

review the video with the students and assessing their understanding, e.g.: “What is the

coldest season? Name the hottest season? When is the rainy season?”

 The teacher will ask students to share their answers and the teacher and class will correct

the worksheet together.

 The teacher will ask if there are any questions or if there is anything they would like to

review.

 Once questions and answers are completed, the teacher and students will move on to the

next slide with the teacher asking open ended questions.

 Once everyone has posted their answers, the teacher and students will move on to the

next slide and where the students will be required to complete a quiz the kids.

 The students will individually complete the Google Forms quiz by taking as much time as

they need.

 Once submitted, students can view their scores and determine the correct answers.

 Once everyone has submitted their quiz, the teacher will review it to ensure students’

understanding, and answer any remaining questions that they may have. The teacher will

then review the material if necessary.

Closure:

 The teacher will review and identify each season.

 The teacher will praise the students for their hard work.

 The teacher will ask the students to log out of Nearpod, shutdown the system, return their

I-Pads to the teacher, and get in line for recess.

Materials Needed:

• SMART board

• Nearpod MARSP

• Pencil and eraser

• Four Seasons worksheet (Appendix A)

• Personal I-Pads

Appendix A

The Four Seasons

Watch the story video and read the questions

Answer each question:

1. How long do seasons typically last?

2. Which season has the most rain?

3. Which season is the hottest? How can you tell?

4. What types of animals do you see in the summer?

5. What does it mean when the leaves start changing colors and falling off the trees?

6. Which season can be wet, frosty, and cold?

7. During which season do animals hibernate?