Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Lesson Plan



  • Subject: Science
  • Grades: 4
  • Objectives: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the water cycle. Students will be able to explain the process of the water cycle as well as its importance. Students will have an understanding of the vocabulary used to describe the processes involved it the water cycle.
  • Standards: Standard 4: The Physical Settings "Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical
    setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science."
    (Reference)
  • Materials: Computer, Internet, Paper, writing tool (optional), headphones

  • Procedure:
  1. Students will watch Bill Nye The Science Guy's video on the Water Cycle.

    Video 1
    Video 2
    Video 3

  2. Take notes on the process and importance of the water cycle an post as a blog.
  3. Make a list of important vocabulary.
  4. Use the internet to find definitions for

    evaporation: changing of water (liquid) into water vapor (gas)

    • condensation: changing of water vapor (gas) into water (liquid)

    • precipitation: rain, sleet, snow, hail

    • runoff: water flowing on Earth’s surface

    • groundwater: water that moves downward into the ground (Reference)

  5. Answer questions provided by teacher on blog pages
  6. Write a blog about what you have learned from the teacher as well as from the video example. Include:

    The vocabulary listed in procedure.

    • Where each of the processes takes place.

    • What causes the processes to occur

    • The various forms of precipitation.

    • The various forms of ground water.

    • Why is the Water Cycle important?
  7. There should be a total of 4 blogs:

    • Notes

    • Vocabulary

    • Answers to provided questions

    • Reflection
  8. Students will be asked to comment on their peers blogs. Students can help their peer know if they missed any information and positively suggest what can be added to the blog. Students can also comment on any other topic as long as it is relevant to topic and the comment contains constructive criticism.
  • Assessment:< Students will be assessed on a 0-4 scale.

    4 -Student show an understanding of the process of the water cycle. All vocabulary is included and all procedure requirements are met.

    3- Student includes a majority of the steps involved in the water cycle but not all. Some understanding of the cycle

    2- Blog includes very few vocabulary words and little understanding of the process.

    1- Student include no vocabulary words show poor understanding of the Water Cycle.

    0-Student creates no blog.

    (Reference)

  • Accommodations For Special Needs Students: Depending on the student the following will be provided -

    Any visual or audio equipment necessary.

    • Extended time for video, questions, & reflection.

    • Teachers guidance (offered to any student)

    • Any necessary alterations to allow for a more comfortable learning experience. (Option not limited to this assignment)


Various Links:
Kidzone.com
EEK!
Water Cycle Song (
performed by Science Explosion--David Bydlowski, Charles Kline and Fred Ribits)

14 comments:

  1. This is a very thorough lesson plan. Maybe it would be a good idea for them to post the notes they took on the videos in their blog. This way they can come back and reference those notes at any time and you can see what students thought the importance of the water cycle was. It might also be a good idea to post their vocab list and definitions in their blog for the same reasons.

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  2. Man, you have such good graphics. Plus fun linkage, and I like having the little "reference" bits. This is so thorough and awesome. It seems like a really fun project. The only thing I'd say is, is there any way that the students could comment on each other's blogs helpfully? Maybe they could have a few preliminary posts with ideas and what they think the words mean, and could comment on those before posting the big one? Just to make it more blog-like.

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  3. Hello Stephanie,

    Excellent lesson plan with many links, images that make it very attractive. Could you show us how you added the images and made that impressive title?

    I love Bill Nye and his videos are very easy to understand. Fourth graders will find them appropriate for their level.

    You covered all the parts of a lesson plan well except for Standards. Go to nysed.gov.

    Blog rubric and expectations are clear.

    Excellent effort! :)

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  4. Ohhhhhh. This is awesome . I love earth science. Everything looks ok. You are missing the standards for the grade level. I know that this material is covered in the 9th grade in New york State so the grade level might have to be adjusted after you look up the standards. I really like incorporation of multimedia.

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  5. Very nice lesson plan. I really like how you implemented the use of blogs with the earth science. I agree with Jess's idea of keep class notes in the blog. It leaves their notebook accessible for class and home.

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  6. Wow very well organized lesson plan, you even added some videos and a nice song. Very good creativity.

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  7. Belatedly: Bill Nye for the win. We used to watch him at Nana's; I think incorporating something that funny and comforting (well, for some people; at least anyone who grew up with him) into classwork is a good idea.

    And the song. Oh my gosh! I love it.

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  8. I see the standards now sorry!
    Awesome song and presentation!

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  9. That video was great! It was entertaining, easy to understand and it demonstrates the cycle.

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  10. I like the song, and it's perfect for kids. I like that the song has the lyrics on the screen so students will be able to understand what is being said.

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  11. It is perfect for fourth graders.

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  12. I wanna know who is singing the song, It almost sounds like They Might Be Giants.

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  13. I also like how you created an interesting graphic title for your blog. It grabs a little more attention for the reader.

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  14. Really enjoyed the song and the Bill Nye video. Bill Nye always helped me learn when i was in 4th grade. Very thought out lesson plan. Good job.

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