Rivier University

STUDENT TEACHER LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Day: Tuesday Date: 12/4/2018
Subject: Engineering

Common Core Standard(s):

Science Standard: 3-5-ETS1-1.
“Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria
for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost” (NGSS Lead States, 2013)

Math Standard: CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.5

“Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area
measurement” (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2018d).

Objective(s):
At the end of this lesson my students will be able to design and build a structure, to meet
the need for a big and strong building, using the materials that are available to them, in the
class period, and allocating the money they have with the cost of the materials (NGSS Lead
States, 2013). Students will also be able to measure the bases and walls of their buildings
and find the area for those parts.

The activity in this lesson is based on the lesson plan “Structure Building Challenge”
(Slobodnick, 2015).

Resources/Materials List:
Popsicle sticks
Money (Printed off) $10
Glue
Ribbon
Markers
Graphing Paper
Ruler

Procedure: This lesson plan is the end of a unit of lessons about building structures. In this
activity, the students will need to use their knowledge about building a good structure,
based on previous lessons and the mini-review at the beginning of the class. Also, in this
class activity, students will need to use their knowledge about cost in order to collect the
most popsicle sticks.
1. Step One: Class Discussion: Tell students that today is the day that they get to be
builders. Let’s have a quick review on what a good building looks like:
a. Teacher: “A good structure is one with balance, or an even distribution of
weight that allows the building to stay upright and steady” (Slobodnick,
2015)
i. What part of a structure is the most important for the building to be
strong and steady?
 1. Student: The Base
ii. What is another important characteristic of buildings that makes
them strong and reliable?
1. Student: Walls
b. Record this information on the board
2. Step Two: After a review of information learned in this last unit, explain the
materials for the activity
a. Show the students all of the materials they will be able to use during this
activity:
i. Popsicle sticks
ii. Clothes Pins
iii. Ribbon
iv. Glue
v. Paperclips
b. Once students have seen all of the materials for the activity, display the cost
for each of the items:
i. Popsicle sticks: 20 popsicle sticks for $10
ii. Clothes Pins: 5 clothes pins for $5
iii. Ribbon: five inches of ribbon for $ 5
iv. Glue: glue is free: students are limited to the amount of glue that is
available
v. Paperclips: 10 paperclips for $5
3. Step Three: Instructions for the Activity
a. Students will each be given $150 (printed off $10’s and $5’s)
b. Students will be allowed to buy as many and as much of certain materials
that they think they will need to build a structure
i. Students will need to examine what they think they will need and plan
for the money that they have
ii. When students come up to purchase materials, the teacher will ask
them to explain what materials they want to purchase, and how much
they will need to pay
iii. Students must keep track of what they bought and how much money
they spent –in their math notebooks (will be handed in at the end of
the activity with the buildings)
c. Students will be challenged with building the biggest and sturdiest building
with the materials that are available to them, using their knowledge about
buildings
4. Step Four: Twist: Tell students that they may build the biggest and strongest
building in many ways…
a. They can work individually/using their own money
b. They can work in partners or a group/pooling their money together for more
materials
c. They can buy all of their materials upfront
d. They can buy their materials as they need them throughout the activity
5. Step Five: Finding the Area
 a. Math Component: tell the students that once they have made their bases for
their buildings, they must write down the shape and the lengths of the sides
of their bases
i. With these measurements, the students will need to calculate the
areas of their bases.
ii. Remind students: we have gone over area in our math lessons, but the
equation to find the area is:
1. Area = Length x Height
iii. Since the students are creating a building, the bases will most likely be
a square or rectangle.
1. Rectangle Area =Length x Height
2. Square Area = Length of 1 Side x Length of 1 Side
a. All of the sides of the square should be the same length.
iv. Students will repeat this process for the walls of their buildings.
v. Students will keep track of their measurements and area calculations,
and they will be handed in at the end of the class along with the
description of how they spent their money on materials
6. Step Six: Once all of the students have expressed that they are comfortable with the
directions (Ask for a thumbs up or down), and do not have any questions, give the
students the rest of the class period to build their buildings
a. Teacher will walk around the classroom during the activity, and will take
note of conversations between students, and will ask students to explain
what they are doing along the way
7. Step Seven: Students will need to stop building at the end of the class period, the
teacher will set aside their buildings to dry
a. Students will also need to submit their lists of purchased materials and the
area calculations with their buildings for assessment
b. At the end of the school day, the teacher will examine all of the buildings and
rate all of the buildings on strength and size (scale of 1 to 10)
c. During the next class, the teacher will go over the buildings that had the
highest score, as well as the ones with the lowest scores
i. Also, ask the students who had the best scores how much money they
spent on certain materials –examine their costs

Plans for differentiation:

The plan for differentiation in this lesson is the review at the beginning of the class
period. The teacher, during the review, will go over the information necessary for the
students, and will display that information on the board. This review gives all of the
students a basis to be successful in the activity. If, during the activity, some students are
still having a hard time with building their structure, the teacher will direct their attention
to the board and remind them of the information we went over in the unit. If there is still
some confusion, the teacher will permit the students to use their notes from previous
lessons, and may even project some slides from previous lessons. The main point of this
differentiation is to get all of the students to the same level of understanding about what a
good structure is, so that they can apply the information they learned throughout this unit
and be successful with their buildings. If there are a couple of students who are not
comfortable with the information, the teacher should stop the activity, and go back over
some of the information from the previous lesson that will get all of the students on the
same page.
Also, for students who need another way of looking at the materials and to solve the
problem, I will have graphing paper available. This will be available for all students. If the
students use the graphing paper, they will need to submit their work on the paper with
their building.

Plans for accommodation/modification:

In this classroom of twenty students, there are zero students who have a 504 or IEP,
so there are no accommodations or modifications necessary for this lesson.

Assessment:
The assessment for this lesson is broken up into two parts. The first assessment is
when the teacher is walking around the classroom and is taking notes of the student’s
progress with the activity and the conversations among students. The other form of
assessment is when the teacher is examining the buildings at the end of the school day. The
teacher will have a scoring system (scale of 1 to 10: 1 indicating a weak or small building,
and 10 indicating a big and strong building). The building will be scored out of 20 points
(10 for strength and 10 for size of the building). Along with the buildings, the students will
submit the list of materials they purchased, the measurements and calculation of area for
their bases and walls, and the teacher will examine the lists and see if the students made
the connection to spending more money on materials that made their buildings stronger, of
if some students decided to work together. If the students can successfully create a building
that can stand on its own, express how they purchased their materials, and show that they
know how to calculate the area of a plane (rectangle or square), they will have met the
learning objectives for this lesson.

What’s next?
This lesson/activity is one of the last pieces of the unit. In order to be successful in
this activity, students needed to rely on their prior knowledge from previous lessons. In the
next lesson, the teacher will go over the structures that had the highest scores, as well as
the ones with the lowest scores. There will be a class discussion about how the structures
with the highest scores were built, and how their money was allocated for materials. Also,
in the discussion, there will be an analysis of the structures with the lowest scores and
students will need to problem-solve and see how these structures could be made bigger
and stronger.

Reflection:
The strength of this lesson is the activity. This activity is an opportunity for the
students to apply the information they have learned in this unit, as well as incorporating
some math (with cost and money, and calculating area) as well as some problem solving.
One of the potential weaknesses of this lesson is the depth of the review at the beginning of
the lesson. This review was meant to be only five or ten minutes at the beginning of the
class, but if some students were absent for other lessons in the unit or need some more
explanation, then more time will be needed either before or during the activity for further
review. For next time, a teacher could take the slides from previous lessons that were the
most relevant for this activity and take those ten minutes at the beginning and go over the
information again. Taking the time at the beginning of the class period to ensure
understanding will give the students the rest of the time for the activity, and will hopefully
address any areas of confusion, and avoid reinstruction during the activity.
References:

Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2018d. Grade 3 –measurement and data.
Retrieved November, 2018, from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/3/MD/

NGSS Lead States. (2013). 3-5-ETS1-1 Engineering Design. Retrieved November, 2018,
from https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/3-5-ets1-1-engineering-design

Slobodnick, D. (2015, October). Structure Building Challenge. Retrieved November, 2018,

from https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/structure-building-challenge/