Battle of Tooth Decay

4th Grade 30 Minutes

By: Brian Dahl
Context for Learning Attention to students backgrounds, interests, and needs
This lesson will be taught to a 4th grade class at Hoover Elementary School in Rochester, Minnesota. In the class
there are 13 males and 12 females. The environment of the classroom is set up for easy collaboration between peers
and easy access for everyone to see the board.
The conditions that might impact this lesson could be distractions between students as they are sitting in quads
together. The only other condition that might interfere with my lesson is one of the eggs breaking during my
instruction.
Lesson Rationale
I am teaching my students about oral health today. This will help them see the positives from brushing and flossing
teeth every day. We will also be taking a look at what health related impacts can happen from not having good oral
hygiene. Students need to start taking personal responsibility for the care of their teeth as they only get one set.
Content Standard(s)
Standard #: Students will be able to comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention
to enhance health.
P.I. #:
Learning Objectives (Established Goals): Giventheeggexperimentactivity.Thelearnerswillidentifythe
negativeimpactsdifferentthingswedrinkcanhaveonourteethinordertodemonstratetheirknowledgeofproper
oralhealth.
Formative/Summative Assessment (Process)
Title: The battle of tooth decay egg experiment
Description of assessment activity: I will have 4 different hard boiled eggs and 1 raw. We will see what happens to
the hard boiled eggs when they are placed into either: pop, juice, coffee, and water. The raw egg will be placed in a
cup filled with vinegar. (Placed in the night before) Each student will make hypothesis on each experiment. After we
conclude the experiments the students will write what they observed/learned.
Evaluative criteria: Seeing if the students can identify that negative impacts of not brushing our teeth and how can
we prevent poor oral hygiene.
Designed to assess: To demonstrate the negative effects when proper oral hygiene is not taken place.
Feedback to students: I will collect and look over the worksheets each student completed.
Academic Language (Vocabulary)
Oral health-health that takes place inside your mouth
Plaque-The sticky deposit on your teeth that consists of bacteria and causes cavities.
Hygiene- The conditions needed to maintain good health.
Integration
Science- Hypothesis and observation, Acids and bases.
Materials
4 Hard Boiled Eggs
1 Raw Egg
5 liquid solutions: Water, Vinegar, Pepsi or Coke, Orange Juice, and Coffee
5 Clear glasses
Toothbrush and tooth paste
Battle of Tooth Decay Worksheet
Mouth Diagram
Smart Board
Floss
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Time & Materials Learning Activities (Procedure)
Purpose (Objective)
Orientation/Engagement/Motivation Any order
1 min
Hook: Have the students compile a list of things that
To get the students attention and
they like to eat or drink.
to think about the things we may
eat or drink.
< 1 min
Relevancy Ask the students how many of you are afraid This will lead into a discussion of

Battle of Tooth Decay

4th Grade 30 Minutes
By: Brian Dahl
of going to the dentist?
5 min

being afraid of having cavities or

scary.
To relate to the lesson that is
going to be taught today.

Review: Yesterday we talked about the amounts of sugar

in different drinks. Pop has a lot of sugar, juice is less
sugar but is acidic, coffee doesnt have much sugar but
full of caffeine and water is the healthiest choice.
< 1 min
Preview: Today we are going to learn about the negative
impacts that can happen to your oral health if proper
Content Choose all that apply (Can repeat and add rows): Presentation/Explicit Instruction, Structured
Practice/Exploration, Guided Practice/Feedback, Independent Practice/ Application, Formative Assessment,
Summative Assessment
5 min
Structured Practice/ Application:
Summative Assessment. To help
Pass out hypothesis/observation worksheet to everyone.
the students understand how
I will explain to everyone that this worksheet will be
different drinks can affect our
completed as we work through the lesson. They will
teeth.
need to make a hypothesis on what each drink will do to
the egg.
5 min
Presentation/ Structured practice:
I will place each egg in a different drink. After I drop
each egg in I will also talk about the amounts of sugar in
each drink. As I am doing this, the students will make a
hypothesis on what will happen.
10 min
Presentation/Application:
To help students see what plaque
After each student has complete their hypothesis
can do to your teeth. The students
worksheet we will go over the observations of what has
will learn how to properly take
happened. During this time, we will talk about the
care of their teeth.
negative impacts what you drink can have on your teeth.
In addition, we will look at the egg in vinegar that is
representing teeth that havent been brushed before.
Closure Any order
<1 min
Review: Lets pass in our worksheets and talk about
To confirm that students retained
things each person can change in order to improve their
the information that was taught.
oral health.
< 1 min
Preview: In our next lesson we will continue looking at
To get the students prepared for
body functions by looking at how the heart and lungs
the next lesson.
work.
<1 min
Home/Family Involvement: I want each of you to go
A message the students can bring
home tonight and remember to brush and floss your
home to their parents.
teeth tonight. Also share this information with your
family.
<1 min
Closing Statement: Remember that we all can have
Closing message to the students.
things that contain sugar, but we need to remember to
brush our teeth daily to remove plaque. Our teeth are our
first impression when we meet someone.
Extension/Lesson Builder
5 minutes
Oral Health Chart: The student will create a graph to
This will help the students to get a
chart the number of times they brush their teeth each
better understanding of how often
day.
they bush their teeth.
Modifications, Management, and/or Safety Issues Repeat as needed
Issue: Hygiene and classroom noise
Modification: Wash hands before hand and close door
Content Information (Resources)

"Luv Pre-K: Two Toothy Eggsperiments." Luv Pre-K: Two Toothy Eggsperiments. N.p.,
17 Feb. 11.

Battle of Tooth Decay

4th Grade 30 Minutes
By: Brian Dahl

"What Is Plaque?" - Delta Dental. N.p., Mar. 2012.