Overview: The Lesson Plan Template below is intended to provide you with instructions for building your lesson

and a format for organizing and writing your lesson plan. Please review the instructions in this document and then
complete the template.

Discipline: Science - Biology/Life Sciences Grade Level: Secondary

Subject Matter Content Focus: Environmental changes
Students’ Prior Subject Matter Knowledge & Skills: What will
students know and be able to do prior to this lesson that
prepares them to engage in this lesson?
Subject Matter Skill Focus: Research and analyze how climate
change affects the relationships within ecosystems
Students’ Funds of Knowledge: What do you know about the
knowledge and skills students have learned outside of the
school or academic setting that informs your lesson design?

Students will know about changing weather patterns, climate
change, and means of energy conservation from prior
assembly and possible units. Two students have IEPs while
two students are identified as gifted.
Most students are not native English speakers and come from
Latinx backgrounds. The classroom is ethnically diverse with
students of African American, Asian, European, Latinx, and
Native/Indigenous descent. Some students have experienced
the challenges of immigration first-hand or have had it impact
their families. Two students are active in their debate clubs,
so they probably have a deeper understanding of current
political issues but the class is largely interested in these
issues as well. Students express interest SciFi action movies.
This tells me that students care about social issues while
having strong connections to places outside of their
immediate community. The lesson will connect the content
with their desire to act on current issues in places that hold
importance to them.

Standard(s): Identify and list the state’s Core Content Curriculum Standards that are addressed by this lesson’s learning
objectives, activities, and assessments.

HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively
consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Objective(s): Articulate a clear, four-part learning objective (thinking skill + subject matter content + learning resource +
student learning product), that you intend your students to be able to demonstrate by the end of this single lesson.
Skill - Compare and contrast
Content - Symbiotic relationships, biodiversity, climate change, distribution
Resource - Coral reef investigation activity & text book resources
https://portal.nnvl.noaa.gov/arcgis/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=138acf1bee62443fae7e8ab10e2e0266
Product - Persuasive poster

By the end of this lesson, Students Will Be Able To (SWBAT):

Compare and contrast an ideal ecosystem with an ecosystem affected by climate change, by researching the affects of
temperature rise on coral reefs and creating a persuasive poster for a local community.

Model of Teaching – Group Investigation: Based on your stated learning objectives, articulate how will you utilize this model
of teaching to support learning by ALL students in your classroom during this lesson.

Model: What is the purpose of this Model of Teaching?

This model allows students to work together to identify how distribution and temperature affect relationships between coral
and algae. Students will see visual representations of how changes in temperature affect biodiversity, this will help ELLs by
giving appropriate input as they learn the language. The activity has different levels that progressively increase in difficulty, so
groups can go at their own speed to completing them and I can monitor their progress in the activities. By having them create
a persuasive poster, this can create an equitable opportunity to show that they understand key concepts while exercising
students’ creativity and persuasive skills. Students will be able to pick their own location of an ecosystem, giving it a more
personal connection.

Learning Theory: How students will “construct knowledge” in this lesson model?
Students will pick any coral reef for their poster. It could be near their home or a place they are familiar with OR an
environment they feel passionate about. A time limit will be given so that they can properly use their resources (in case the
choose an ecosystem not presented in learning activity or text book). In groups, they will work together to determine which
ecosystem they will all be able to contribute to. Students will also work out the democratic process by picking locations and
determining important questions.

Lesson Design: How will you utilize this model of teaching to support learning by ALL students in your classroom?
Students will be given two days to complete the online activity and the poster. This will allow groups to go at their own pace
given the time restraint. As there are different elements to the lesson, each student can either learn from peers that
understand/excel in one area, or be able to teach/guide. Students will be given a rubric that explicitly states that poster will be
mainly graded on providing the appropriate facts that support how climate change affects an ecosystem & how it connects to
its proximal community. Posters will not be graded on artistic ability, but organization of information.

Academic Language: List academic language and subject matter vocabulary students will encounter and apply in this lesson.
Biodiversity, ecosystems, ecology, climate change, coral reefs, symbiotic relationships, geographic distribution, abiotic factors,
biotic factors, local community, succession.

Syntax Learning Experience: Describe the ACTION STEPS
taken by the teacher and the students within each
learning experience/phase below.
Present the Teacher will: Present a distribution map of coral
Puzzlement reefs across the globe, one image of a “before and
(Independent, after” reef (one healthy, one bleached), one image
small group, of a dead reef taken over by algae. Three images
and/or whole total to small groups. Small groups will be pre-
group) determined based off of individual learners.
Students will work for 5 minutes to create
questions. Then take 1 minute to rank questions.
Learners will: See all three images at one time.
Discuss within their groups what they think or
know what the connections are. Work with each
other to create questions.
Script: Articulate explicit instructions, guiding
questions, and stimulus for discourse the teacher
provides to facilitate and stimulate learning.
3 images: Take a moment to observe these images.
In your groups, take 5 minutes to work together to
create as many questions you may have about the
images. Create questions you may have about
these images. What do you want to know? Work
with your teammates to formulate questions.
*After a couple of minutes*
Here are some things to consider: What do you
think the distribution of the reefs have to do with
the images? What are the differences between the
two images of reefs? Do you see any similarities?
*After the total 5 min are done*
Take just 1 minute to determine which question is
the most pressing/important to your group.
Solicit Questions Teacher will: Have each group state their most
from Students important questions aloud to the class and explain
(Whole Group) why that was important to them.
Learners will: Share their questions and
explanations to class.
Research Teacher will: Provide a chrome book to each group
(Small Group) and give them the link to the activity. Provide
poster paper when they are complete.
Write directions on the board for students to refer
to.
Learners will: Go through the activity completing
each level together.
Share and Teacher will: Write on the board how
Summarize presentations will work (1 member goes over
(Whole Group) question, 1 location, 2 persuasive arguments)
Summarize how ecosystems and their unique
relationship are affected by climate change.
Reiterate the purpose of the posters. Ask groups to
share.
Now we are going to share these questions with
our class and explain why we picked that question.
The person in your group with the most colors on
their t-shirt will present their group’s question to
the class.
As a team, your groups will complete the learning
activity about coral reefs. You will learn about
these specific ecosystems and how they are
affected by changes in temperature. As you
complete these activities, pay attention to see if
your question is answered. Be sure to write the
answer down along with any answers to other
questions you came up with.
Once your group is finished with the online
activity, you will take what you learned and create
a persuasive poster. Your task is to pick any country
(looking at distribution map on board or included
in the activity) that has a coral reef ecosystem on
its coast and explain to the local community why
its important to protect those reefs from climate
change. Each group will need to do a different
location, so once your group has picked one, write
it on the whiteboard. Be sure to incorporate the
answer to your group’s question in your poster. If
your group has another ecosystem in mind that is
in your text book, or feel strongly connected to
(ex: rainforest, tundra) feel free to use that for
your poster instead. Your posters should just to
explain to the community the ‘WHY’ portion, not
the ‘HOW’. Remember, you will only be given two
days to complete this so use your time wisely. I will
leave the instructions up on the board for your
reference.
We will now have each group present their poster
to the class. Remind the class what your important
question was and how you answered it in the
poster. One person will discuss the question and
why you picked it. One person will discuss the
location/ecosystem you picked and why. Two
people will discuss the answer to your question
and persuasive arguments.
 If your group chose a different ecosystem other
than a coral reef, be sure to explain how your
question about reefs relates to your poster.

Learners will: Pick who will discuss what portion of

the assignment and present to the class. They will
discuss their important question, location, and
persuasive points.

Recycle Teacher will: Ask students to write down any new
(Independent, questions/conclusions they came up with during
small group, the activities. Have the students see as a whole
and/or whole group if they can answer each other’s questions.
group)
Give students remaining class time to revise or add
to their posters.
Learners will: Write down their remaining
questions on the back of their posters then share
with the class what they came up with.
On the back of your posters, write down any new
questions or conclusions that you made during this
lesson. What stood out to you? What were the
common themes amongst each location? Were
there any questions you had that did not get
answered in your activity or during the
presentations? Take about 5 minutes with your
group to think about more questions, then we will
share our questions. These questions will not be a
part of your poster grade.
*after 5 minutes* Let’s have each group share
anything new they came up with or any questions.
Other groups, if you know the answer to their
question please feel free to answer them!

Now, with the remaining time in class

Informal Assessments Formal Assessments

Describe any informal assessment of student learning that
occurs during the lesson in which you receive students’
learning data, but do not record that data. For example,
verbal responses to questions or ungraded group
presentations. Assessments should promote learning and
inform instruction.
-Poster presentation will not be graded, but will assess what
they were able to come up with.
-Questions/conclusions written on the back of poster
-Verbal responses to Recycle questions
-During coral activity, check in with each group and make sure
they are understanding material.
Describe any formative assessment tasks given during the
lesson in which students’ learning data is collected and
recorded. For example, journal reflections, independent
written work, group presentations evaluated with a rubric.
Assessments should promote learning and inform instruction.
-Persuasive poster will be graded based on the parameters of
the rubric
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nopfdis_7zWpcdE
6_ae3YpgUWu20zIJixyX3m_84Jik/edit?usp=sharing
Lesson Resources: List all the learning resources, teaching materials, and digital learning apps or instructional technology to be
used by the students to achieve the learning objective during the lesson. You must show where in the lesson (code the lesson)
these resources appear. In addition to completing this written lesson plan, you must provide copies of all learning resources,
assessments, and rubrics that the students will encounter during the lesson, such as worksheets, performance tasks,
instructions for an activity, etc.

Puzzlement Images:
Distribution map

(NOAA)

Side by side healthy/bleached coral

(Cornell)

Dead reef algae overgrowth

Coral reef climate change activity:
https://portal.nnvl.noaa.gov/arcgis/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=138acf1bee62443fae7e8ab10e2e0266

Rubric for poster (handout 1 per group):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nopfdis_7zWpcdE6_ae3YpgUWu20zIJixyX3m_84Jik/edit?usp=sharing
Critical Analysis and Reflection on Lesson Plan Elements: Using the principles that guide socially just, differentiated, and
blended classroom learning introduced in Oakes et al. (2018) Chapters 6-8, please respond to the following questions in each
box below and note where in your lesson each element.
How does the lesson’s design
demonstrate that diversity is an asset
and every student is a capable learner?
(Oakes et al., Ch. 6)
Each group had the opportunity to pick
any location/type of ecosystem that
they wanted. It could be somewhere
close to home or a community they
identified with. The online activity also
includes some aspects of chemistry and
math, which shows that all of the
content they learn is applicable to real
life. The activity removes the “layered
cake” of science classes (pg 182).
How will you use authentic assessment
in this lesson design? (Oakes et al., Ch.
7)
Rubric for the poster will be provided
with frames the content and
connections students will be able to
make. While the poster highlights a
specific location, they must include the
big ideas that they have learned in the
lesson. These parameters and
expectations on content and neatness
will be provided in the rubric (pg 240).
Which scaffolding techniques do you
How does the instructional design
provide opportunities for active, social, this lesson design build on students’
multidimensional, and scaffolded
learning? (Oakes et al., Ch. 6)
The small groups will be intentionally
grouped so that each student can
scaffold off of each other (ex: 2 Exiting
emerging ELLs will be grouped with 1
gifted, 1 native speaker. These groups
will allow students to learn from each
others’ experience and to build each
others’ language acquisition. Socially
relevant science is the goal of the poster
(pg 182). The groups will be created
based off of ELL status and personality
to create equitable participating (Not
pairing a gifted with a shy/quiet ELL).
This will hopefully make ELL students
negotiate meaning of words/content
with their group members.
What elements of this lesson design will
rely on your capacity to build
authentically caring relationships with
your students? (Oakes et al., Ch. 8)
During group work, one of biggest
things is having a relationship where
students are not afraid to ask me
questions or question ideas. I want
them to be able to feel comfortable
sharing why they chose their locations.
This lesson is personally important to
me, so if I can foster strong relationships
with my students, I can hopefully get
them to care about the subject too.
Which principles of cooperative learning
How will the teaching and learning in
cultural and linguistic knowledge?
(Oakes et al., Ch. 7)
By showing the distribution map, this
will initially let students make
connections between a place they
identify with and the lesson. The activity
also utilizes the world map often so
students can directly see how that
ecosystem is affected by its location. By
using one specific ecosystem, students
are encouraged to make connections
between the online activity with
another type of ecosystem they feel
strongly about - this helps them make
meaning by connecting content to their
lives (pg 211).
What features of this lesson will
promote talk and action among
students that are social just? (Oakes et
al., Ch. 8)
Students will need to work together to
determine which question is the most
important to them to answer and to
unanimously pick a location. This will
help students learn the process of
democracy and think of possible current
events that drive their decisions in
choosing. (pg 298)
How is instructional technology utilized
employ to differentiate instruction (e.g.,
activating prior knowledge, modeling,
questioning, mapping concepts, using
graphic organizers, offering sentence
frames)? (Oakes et al., Ch. 6; Tomlinson
& McTighe, Ch. 6 & 7)
Activating prior knowledge: having
students work together to create
questions about the images they see on
the board will prepare them for learning
but also tapping into each other’s prior
knowledge to see what answers they
already know as a group, then
determining what they can learn
together.
Mapping concepts: posters will include
content from the lesson and
persuasions
(pg 216)
do you employ in the lesson to enhance
student engagement (e.g., small groups,
positive interdependence, accountable
talk, group social skills, and debriefing)?
(Oakes et al., Ch. 6)
Small groups: the entire lesson will be in
a small group setting that is intended for
each student in mind.
Accountable talk: at the end of the
presentations, students will come up
with more questions about each other’s
posters or the content. Students will be
asked to try to answer each other’s
questions rather than the teacher
(pg 220).
by students to engage in challenging
tasks and core media literacy skills?
(Oakes et al., Ch. 6)
Students will work on an online activity
that teaches them very basic
Geographic information system
mapping skills, which is an important
skill required in the STEM field. The
instructional technology also shows
them interactive videos and then
exercises their ability to utilize latitude
and longitude while making inferences
based off of maps.