Two assignments due tomorrow before 11:59

Week 1

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Lesson Title, Brief Summary, and Rationale

(fill in during Topic 1)

Lesson title: Earth Day

Summary: This lesson will emphasize on the environmental wellbeing of our planet. Some of the areas which will be covered include garbage, natural resources, reduction of waste, and the 3 R’s of reducing, reusing, and recycling. The rationale behind this lesson is the fact that children are the future and they need to be taught about the earth and ways to save it in future.

Lesson title: The earth’s layers

Summary: This lesson is focused on demonstrating the layers of the earth to the students using play dough.

Rationale: This lesson will make students understand that the earth is made up of various layers and not only one as many would think.

Lesson title: Natural resources.

Summary: This lesson is focused on helping the learners understand the various resources naturally found on the earth.

Rationale: There is need for children to understand that the earth is endowed with various important natural resources such as plants, water, animals, soil, among others.

Lesson title: Where does the garbage go?

Summary: This lesson is designed to help learners understand where garbage ends up after leaving our homes.

Rationale: This lesson contributes to the students’ understanding of waste management and how it can negatively affect the environment if not handled properly.

Lesson title: Recycling

Summary: This lesson is designed to help children understand what recycling is, what can be recycled, how they can help others appreciate the concept of recycling, and how the earth can be saved through recycling.

Rationale: Children need to understand recycling, its benefits, and how it can help save the planet.

State-Specific Standards

(fill in during Topic 1)

Tennessee Science State Standard 2.2.4. Recognize that the environment and the organisms that live in it can be affected by pollution. 362

TN.9.0. Earth and Space Science: Earth Features: The student will understand that the earth has many geological features that are constantly changing.

TN.10.0. Earth and Space Science: Earth Resources: The student will investigate the properties, uses, and conservation of earth's resources.

2.2.4. Recognize that the environment and the organisms that live in it can be affected by pollution. 362

2.10.2. Realize that earth materials can be recycled or conserved. 39

Learning Objectives

(fill in during Topic 1)

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to tell the history and significance of Earth Day as well as figure out how they can protect the earth.

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to name the earth’s layers

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to describe a natural resource and identify the various natural resources found on planet earth

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to understand what happens to trash after it leaves their homes and the potential environmental and health hazard associated with it.

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to figure out recycling solutions to safe their communities.

Vocabulary

(fill in during Topic 1)

Earth day, protect, compost, trash, pollution, water, clean, volunteer, recycle, reuse, reduce, environment.

Mantle, crust, core

Natural resource, air, sunlight, water, soil.

Garbage/trash, pollution, plastic, recycling, environment, living organisms

Recycling, compost, plastic, glass, paper, clothes, waste, emissions.

Instructional Strategy

(fill in during Topic 2)

Instruction will be focused on reading the The Earth Book by Todd Parr, group engagement/discussions, Earth Day Pledge, doing a SMART exchange lab activity.

Use of graphic organizers, storytelling hands-on learning, using visual aid

Visual clues, class and group discussions, instructional conversations, use of science text cards

Engaging, exploration, explaining, and elaborating.

Use of graphic organizers, visual clues, engaging, explanation, and group discussions

Summary of Instruction and Activities for the Lesson

(fill in during Topic 2)

Ask learners what they can remember about earth day from previous experiences. Activities will include creating engagement among students by asking them a focus question and helping them explore by reading them The Earth Book by Todd Parr. Students will also be asked to participate in a discussion about Earth Day. Ask learners to make a list of 15 things they think makes the earth great. They will also recite the Earth Day Pledge, do a SMART exchange lab activity.

Reminding students about the earth day’s lesson and connect to the current lesson by telling them that the earth has 3 key layers. Teacher will use a graphic organizer for the layers of the earth to demonstrate to learners the key layers of the earth. Use KS2 Earth Layers QR Visual Aid to show students the layers of the earth in 3D. Demonstrate to students the positions of the crust, mantle, and the core. Give a short narration to the learners about how the earth was formed many years ago, ask them to complete the “inside the earth puzzle” working in groups of two or three

Connect with previous lesson by stating that the natural resources to be examined today are found on the earth’s outermost layer. Using visual clues such as diagrams and photos of soil, water, and plants, the teacher will explain that these are the key natural resources. The class will then discuss among themselves and with the teacher about the importance of each of these resources. Use of true/false science text cards to teach important concepts related to plants, soil, and water. Ask learners to list the different uses of water, soil, and plants.

Reminding the learners about natural resources and how they can be destroyed by poor garbage management practices. Starting the lesson by asking a question related to garbage to engage learners. To help students explore, they will be asked to create a list of items found in garbage bins. For explanation, students will watch the video Segregation of Garbage - Waste Management by Mocomi Kids. For elaboration learners will participate in a group activity of collecting and sorting garbage.

Link to previous lesson by stating that some garbage can be reduced through recycling. Using graphic organizers and visual clues, the teacher explains what recycling is and demonstrates various ways of recycling. The teacher engages learners by asking them what they can recycle at home. Explaining that wastes can be put into trash, become compost, or recycled. Ask learners to discuss among themselves about wastes which can fall under each category.

Differentiation and Accommodations

(fill in during Topic 3)

Materials, Resources, and Technology

(fill in during Topic 4)

Formative Assessment

(fill in during Topic 5)

Summative Assessment

(fill in during Topic 5)

Reflection Topic 1: The process of beginning the unit plan and including multiple content areas of science in one lesson needs one to think in a wider spectrum. This is as opposed to the thinking one has to do and the considerations to make when preparing a lesson focusing on only a single content area. While preparing the lesson, one important thing that I had to bear in mind that the key concepts of the lesson must be interrelated. This was achieved by first identifying a broad area in science that can be taught or examined in different ways. For instance, the environment is quite an expansive area that can be taught under many different subtopics.

The most important key components of the unit plan so far include topics/titles, summary and rationale, state standards, learning objectives, and vocabulary. The lesson titles are important because they help learners have a rough idea of what will be learned during the lesson. The summary and rationale helps the teacher to briefly state how the lesson covers different areas of science. State standards component is key in the sense that stating them ensures that the lesson is meeting the students’ learning needs at this grade level. Objectives are vital for the reason that they give students a clear purpose on where they should focus their learning efforts, and guide the teacher’s selection of teaching activities and assessment methods. Vocabulary helps learners understand various terms used in science and how they can be applied in daily lives. Further, they also help learners develop language skills.

This process can be used in my future practice to help me prepare lesson plans with concepts which overlap from one lesson to another. Through the process, I will be able to arrange related lessons chronologically so that learners can build on related concepts.

Reflection Topic 2:

When choosing the instruction strategies, the key considerations included ensuring that students have the opportunity to do independent study, be involved in active inquiry, collaborate, and interact. It was also important to ensure that the instruction activities and learning content of every lesson has a link to the prior knowledge of the students regarding key science concepts. Another key consideration to make was to ensure that the instruction strategies promote critical thinking among the learners. Skills in critical thinking are important for success in higher education and career of learners, thus should be incorporated virtually in every lesson (Murawski, 2014;Nold, 2017). This was achieved by asking learners to take part in activities such as asking them to complete the “inside the earth puzzle.” Through this activity, students are able to figure out the various layers of the earth by identifying them in a word puzzle. In addition to the three layers studied in class, the puzzle also has additional terms related to the earth. This helps them start figuring out how these are related to the earth. Questions such as asking the children to think about and state the various materials they dispose into the garbage bin and those that they recycle also build their critical thinking. The questions on science text cards also help students critically think about the answer before saying it. Asking students to make a list of things which they think makes the earth a great place will enhance their critical thinking skills. In my future professional practice, I will use this process to prepare science lesson plans which can connect several areas of science content. In each science lesson plan, I will ensure that instruction strategies and activities gives the learners an opportunity to study independently, do active enquiry, work in a team, and most importantly, think critically and solve problems.

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