Lesson Plan

Erika McFarlane/Shenner

Subject: Science Grade: 8

Topic: Cells & Systems Time Frame: 45 minutes

Curriculum Outcomes:
*copy directly from Program of Studies -Indicate strand, number, etc.

Students will…
SCIENCE - ​3. Interpret the healthy function of human body systems, and illustrate ways the body
reacts to internal and external stimuli
•​ describe changes in body functions in response to changing conditions (e.g.,​ changes in heart rate
in response to exercise​, change in metabolism in response to lower temperature, reflex responses to
stimuli)
PHYSICAL EDUCATION - ​D8–1 participate regularly in, and identify and d​ escribe the benefits
of an active lifestyle

Lesson objective(s):
*Students will be able to…

- Describe the process that results in our heart rate increasing or decreasing.
- Describe the benefits of an active lifestyle in regards to their heart health.
- Describe an average, exceptional, and poor resting heart rate

Resources:
*include links, textbooks, literature, materials*

PowerPoint Presentation Link

Heart Health Youtube Video
Timer
Exit Card

Considerations:
​ eeting Needs of Diverse Learners, Learning styles & Multiple Intelligences
*M

Alternative stools depending on students height:

● Stepping Stool
● Chairs
● Large Blocks
● If a student is in a wheelchair - have the student and partner go to where there is a ramp and
have them go up and down 5 times (cut it in half) as if it was a stool.
● For ESL students, have them partner with someone who speaks both English and their
language if applicable.
● If there is no other ESL student, use the picture and ​video​ in the slideshow to show them
how to do the activity. Explain the activity using visual cues and have another student who is
 patient (you will know your students well to know who would be a good fit) work with the
ESL student.

Integration of Technology:

● Students will be watching a video, as well as the teacher will use videos as visual cues as to
how to do the activity.
● Students may use the timer on the screen or use their phones as a stopwatch when counting
out each other's heartbeats.

Assessment Plan:
*How will you collect evidence of learning? (observation, rubric, checklist, quiz, performance-based task)

Exit Card​ - This is a formative assessment check to ensure students understand what happens inside
the body when their heart rate increases, it also assesses their knowledge of their own heart rate and
active lifestyle outside of school and gets them thinking on how they could be more active, daily,
for life.

Relevant Background Knowledge to Teach Lesson:

Students will have been learning about how to “interpret the healthy function of human body
systems” within their cells & systems unit.

Introduction (7 minutes) Notes

*Include anticipatory set, sharing of lesson objectives, activate prior knowledge, etc. Timeline

The anticipatory set is the game “guess their resting heart rate”. This game gets the
students thinking on what a good resting heart rate should be and the majority of the
time works to the teacher's advantage because the students get the resting heart rates
backward. They think what is an exceptional heart rate is actually what a sedentary
heart rate is and vice versa. This gets them intrigued to know why it is the way that
it is.

Activities
*Step by step - what is going to happen during the lesson?
(Include teacher modeling, student practice, check for understanding, etc.)

1. After the game, the teacher will then explain why he/she is active and how
he/she does it daily for life.
- The teacher may then ask the students, how do you stay active daily?
What activities do you like to do?
2. Out of discussion time, it will go into the activity. The teacher will go
through it step by step, explaining each piece and showing the video if
 needed (ESL learners)
- After explaining the activity, the teacher will then explain HOW to
find each other's heart rates. Place pointer finger and middle finger
on persons RIGHT arm. Not your thumb, otherwise you may
confuse their pulse with your own. Have the person whose pulse is
being found use the timer to get to 10 seconds while the other person
counts how many pulses they feel. Times the number by 10 to get
the BPM.
3. Once it all has been explained the students can find a partner, with teacher
assistance to ensure that ESL students are set up for success along with
potentially disabled students (ie. Those in a wheelchair)
4. The teacher can walk around ensuring students are on task and going
through each round.

Conclusion
(How will you revisit the main ideas of the lesson, check for understanding, assess
learning, etc?)

Once the students have completed each round, or nearly completed depending on
time, the teacher will bring it back for a group discussion to go over the questions
and watch a video further explaining heart rates and heart health.
1. Question time!
- What was your heart rate before the steps up and down the stool?
- What was your heart rate after 10, 20, and 30 steps up and down the
stool?
- What made the heart beat faster after the exercise?
- What did the muscles need to do all the work?

2. Video
3. Overview of why physical activity is good for your heart health.
4. Exit Card (formative assessment)

Reflection: ​How did it go?

Next Time: ​What would you change?

Notes:
- Watch the clock
- Ensure that ESL students understand what they are doing.
 Teacher Directions
This is a step by step instructional explanation of how someone, other than myself, could
pick up this lesson and confidently present the layout of the lesson to a very similar matter as to
how I would present it. There answers to certain questions such as how they are active in their
day to day life will differ from mine, but the heart behind the discussion will remain the same. I
would be confident presenting this lesson plan to a substitute, trusting that they will get through
the required outcomes do to the detailed description I will provide. I have included a time
sequence of when each aspect should be flowing into the next because this lesson could easily go
longer than expected and the main discussion and direct instruction piece at the end could get
lost. The intent of the time layout is to prevent that from happening.
First, start the class off by first going over the outcomes, then going right into the
introductory game that is within the powerpoint presentation. The outcomes are a great piece to
start off with because it is a hint of what they need to pay attention for throughout the lesson. The
game, or discrepant event, is the next step to getting them interested in achieving the outcomes
presented. This gets the students thinking about what they might be learning in class today and
gets them intrigued to know why the resting heart rates are so low for athletes, and high for
sedentary people. After the game has been played, go into a discussion on what you do to stay
active, daily, for life. The slide shows some examples of how the students may perhaps stay
active daily. Have a few students who raise their hands, share on how they stay active.
Depending on how many hands go up, use your discretion on how many students you may call
upon. Watch the clock while you have this discussion. It should be no longer than 5 minutes.
Once a few students have shared on how they like to be active, you can transition into the
activity. This is where you will explain the activity, step by step, along with a detailed
explanation of how the students can properly find each other's heart rates. Do not let them find a
partner or grab their pen and paper until this is done. You want all of their attention to ensure
they do the activity correctly. You do not, however, want to spend a lot of instruction time on
this part because you want to ensure you have time for discussion and more instruction at the
end. Here is an example of what to say when explaining the activity:
“Today we are going to go through an activity to see how each of your heart rates
increases or perhaps decreases after a certain amount of physical activity. I am first going to
explain the activity, then when I say go, you may find your partner and begin. Step one of this
activity when you find your partner is to first find your partners resting heart rate. You will do
this by taking your middle finger and pointer finger and placing it on your partners right arm on
their veins, don’t use your thumb or you could mistake it for your own pulse. The partner whose
pulse is being found will count to ten as the other partner finding the pulse counts how many
“beats” they feel within that ten seconds. You will multiply that number by six to find your total
beats per minute. This is how you will find their pulse after each round of the activity. Once you
have found each of your resting heart rates and written it down on your piece of paper, you will
find a stool, chair, or block that will challenge you but won’t be too high. The first round, one at
a time you will do 10 steps up and down on your item of choosing. Before the next partner goes
make sure you find your new heart rate and write it down. Once each of you have gone, you will
increase your steps to 20, then 30 steps if there is still time. Don’t forget to write down your
heart rate after each round immediately after finding your steps. To clarify, a step is classified as
going up the chair AND back down. One step is not just going up, then the second step be you
coming back down. It is both up and down that classifies as one step. (You may demonstrate this
on a chair for a visual explanation.)”
Once the activity has been explained, allow the students to partner up. You have the
option to have them all together find each others resting heart rates. You can start the 10-second
countdown clock as a reference for students who may not have a watch or electronic device with
a timer. This is where you can maneuver around the classroom, helping those either stay on task
or understand the task. Some may have difficulties finding one another's pulse so it is important
to be watching the students, ensuring they are going through the task as smooth as possible. The
noise volume will get loud, but just because it is noisy does not mean that learning is not taking
place, listen to the conversations creating the noise, if it is on task, do not stop the conversations
from happening. Only when the pair is seeming to be off topic in their conversation as well as off
task, that is when it is time to intervene and bring them back to the task at hand. There are
pictures of how the students can go about doing the task, along with videos for those who may
need a more visual aspect to guide them. The teacher must also ensure that students are using an
appropriate stool for the task. If a student who is shorter is using a chair that is too high, switch
the chair with a shorter stool or block. If a student is in a wheelchair, partner them with a student
you are confident to have outside of your supervision to go to a ramp or area where the student
can do pushes up and down a ramp as if he/she were going up and down a stool. It is so
important to be mindful of this and ensure that each student has a fair chance to this activity. Fair
does not mean equal, each student will have different needs and we must cater to those needs.
Once the activity has been completed or the allotted time has passed, bring the students back in
to answer some key questions to formatively assess their learning. Once the questions have been
answered to the best of their abilities, the video following the question slide will answer the
questions for those who perhaps still did not understand. Following that, the teacher can give a
brief moment of instruction touching on more of the benefits that living an active lifestyle has for
the heart. Allott at least 5-7 minutes for the students to fill in their exit card. This will be the
lessons final piece of formative assessment. This piece is important because, dependant on the
answers of the students, will provide a good reflection for the teacher to ensure the students have
grasped the intended outcomes from the lesson. This is also a good tool to interpret if more time
needs to be spent on the intended outcomes to ensure that students have grasped the content
fully. This could simply look like a re-cap during the next lesson, where the direct instruction
that was used at the end of this lesson is re-taught and perhaps solidified for the students after
having another opportunity to address the topic. That is a decision that would be made based on
their answers on the exit slip if there was a general consensus of students not understanding the
questions.
Here is the format of how the lesson should pan out timewise for a 45-minute lesson:
Activity Time Frame

Introduction slide & outcomes 2 minutes

Game: ​Guess the heart rate? 2 minutes

Discussion: ​What do you do to increase your 3 minutes

heart rate? (there is now 38 minutes left of class)

Activity Introduction 3 minutes

Activity Time 20 minutes

Question Time 2 minutes

(Questions on PowerPoint Slide) (​Don’t spend too much time here, the video
answers the questions they don’t know, as well as
some of the questions will be on their exit slip. It's
just a way to gather their attention)

Video 2 minutes

Direct Instruction: 3 minutes

(Points on PowerPoint Slide) (While touching on the key aspects from this slide,
you can hand out the exit slips)

Exit Slip 5-7 minutes

(Formative Assessment Questions) (after the cards have been distributed)
 Justification - How is this touching on the Nature of Science
This lesson is something that I have seen to be engaging for a wide range of students.
Within the Nature of Science (NSTA) portion provided to us, point c falls in line with what I
think the lesson accomplishes so well, which is that it will, “engage students successfully in
studies of the nature of science [...]”. Not only will they discover what a healthy heart rate should
be, but they will also learn aspects as to what happens within our body when our heart rate
increases. Along with that, they will learn what happens in the long run for our heart health when
we engage in an active lifestyle. This is linked to content because it engages the student in the
content and focuses on the process of their learning and the student discovery of why our heart
works the way that it does. The way our heart works and the way our heart and body respond all
has a science behind each aspect. Our heart rate does not increase by random chance, there are
always things happening inside of our body that influence the result of where our heart rate rests
at or reaches. This lesson does not just teach these aspects, the students discover them for
themselves along the way.
The areas of strength within this lesson are that it is engaging for all students and is
adaptable to incorporate into an inclusive classroom. It is a cross-curricular lesson, touching on
outcomes from both the science and the physical education program of studies. Having lesson
plans that are cross-curricular should be the goal for almost every lesson, even if you do not
teach the other subjects, working as a team with your other grade teachers, working together to
ensure all the outcomes are reached. A weakness of this lesson plan, however, is the short
amount of time given to do this all in one class. Great learning moments could be missed due to
the lack of time, along with a full understanding and comprehension of the outcomes. This lesson
would do well during a double class to ensure that time for students to complete the full activity
and asking lots of questions. Another weakness within this lesson is ensuring that no student is
left discouraged due to perhaps their ‘unhealthy’ heart rate. We want students to leave feeling
encouraged and wanting to engage in physical activity daily. When touching on healthy living
the teacher must always be mindful of how they bring it across. If the teacher follows the
instructions laid out in this lesson, however, it should not be a problem. It is, however, a potential
risk that can be avoided if the heart of the lesson remains what is stated above. Which is living an
active lifestyle and having a healthy heart.