Life Cycle of Frogs Lesson Plan

Name Jennifer Breckette

Date of Presentation 08/07/2013

Name of Project: Life Cycle of a Frog Number of Children:

Age Group:

Kindergarten

Time needed: 40 minutes

Source Cited: Schulz, T. (2003, January 26). Lesson Plans: Life Cycle of a Frog (Kindergarten, Science). Teachers.Net - TEACHERS - Lesson Plans, Teaching Jobs, Teacher Chat. Retrieved August 3, 2013, from http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2801.html Objectives: Students will work together to illustrate the life cycle of a frog. Context: Prior to this lesson, students explored the life cycle of apples and pumpkins. They have worked in groups to illustrate the sequence of events that occur in these cycles. Therefore, they are familiar with working in groups to perform this sort of task. Last week, the children also worked with sequencing as they showed Clifford growing from a puppy to a full-grown dog. Furthermore, this lesson is being taught in an integrated mathematics and science unit on frogs. NET Objective: 3. Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information
from a variety of sources and media

d. Process data and report results Materials Needed: Dry-erase board and marker 4 pieces of white paper Crayons Pencils What Comes Next? worksheet The book, From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer

Procedure/Instructions: Review the sequence of my dog Jakes life along with my own life. Show the pictures, and have the children put them in the correct order. Have them explain why they go in this particular order. Ask the children to recall what they learned about frogs yesterday. Tell the children that today we are going to discuss the life cycle of a frog. Read, From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer. After reading the story, discuss the sequence of events that must occur before a frog develops. Tell students that first there are tiny eggs that cling together in the water. Begin to make a list on the dry-erase board (1. Tiny eggs are in the pond). Ask students what happens next. Prompt students when necessary, and continue to write the sequence of events on the dry-erase board (2. Tadpoles come out of the eggs and they swim in the pond, 3. The tadpole grows legs and lungs, 4. The tadpole changes into a frog). After making the list of events that must occur before a frog develops, explain to the children that they are going to work in groups to illustrate one part of the cycle just as they did for the apple and pumpkin in a previous lesson. Give each group a piece of white paper that is labeled with their particular part in the sequence/cycle. Have children spread out in the room and use pencils and crayons to complete their pictures. After the children have illustrated their part of the cycle, have the children return to their seats. Ask one member of each group to come to the front of the room. Have volunteers tell the order they should come in. Hang and display the finished sequence in the room. Students will then complete the worksheet, What Comes Next? They will cut and paste the four pictures of the life cycle of a frog into the correct order. Evaluation Procedure: Students will be assessed on their participation in the group activity based on teacher observation. They will also be assessed on the correctness of the worksheet they complete. If they have placed the pictures in the correct order they will receive a plus for skilled, and if they are not in the correct order they will receive a minus for need improvement. Refinement-Lesson Extension/Follow-up: Students will continue to learn about frogs. They will explore the eating habits of frogs, how they catch their food, and what they eat.

Summary How would incorporate technology into this lesson plan? After the students have completed the above lesson plan, I would bring up the following website http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/frog_lifecycle.htm using the interactive whiteboard and have each student have a turn at the board by clicking and dragging the items to the center circle as instructed on the website. I would also show a school approved YouTube video like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCL3JenMCs Does the technology support instructional activity? Yes, it supports the students learning about frog life cycles. This will require students to remember what they have previous learned from the lesson. Is the lesson/activity intrinsically motivating? Yes. By working together as a group, the students will be engaged in the fun activity on learning about frog life cycles. The students will connect with the lesson by having hands on experiences. Can the lesson be taught without technology? Yes. Students are able to learn without the use of technology on frog lifecycles. There are plenty of books, worksheets, and/or past lesson plans that cover the life cycle of frogs. Classrooms have also brought in tadpoles for students to watch morph into frogs. They take pictures each day while taking notes on the changes they observe. Introducing the technology will reinforce what they have learned.