Lesson Plan Title: Float/Sink Lab

Date: Feb. 10, 2018 Grade: 9

Subject: Science Essential Question: Is density important for us
Topic: Density/ Aboriginal canoe building to understand why things float/sink? How important to
the FNIM culture is the aspect of density?
Materials: (per group)
- 1 rubber stopper - 1 PVC plastic bushing (white) - 1 Styrofoam piece - 1 cork stopper
- 1 paper clip - 1 polypropylene plastic plug - 1 beaker - Water - 1 stick
- Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) - 1 piece of wood - 1 bucked of hot water
Stage 1- Desired Results – you may use student friendly language
What do they need to understand, know, and/or able to do?
Part 1 of this lab is designed to expand students knowledge how density causes materials to float or
sink. They must determine how density can be used to predict if an object will float or sink in water.
Part 2 to this lab will provide the students with opportunities to investigate the Aboriginal world view
about science and introduce them to how Aboriginal societies value the land and resources in distinct
ways and use it to create unique resource management systems.
Broad Areas of Learning:
Sense of Self, Community and Place: Students will gain an understanding of how identity is shaped
through interactions with their peers and classroom environment. They will explore other cultures
and view points and be given the opportunity to respectfully compare them to their own.
Lifelong Learners: The students will be curious, observant, and reflective throughout the lessons and
will be given the opportunity to imagine, explore, and construct knowledge while working in groups
and collaborating with each other in the creation of their experiment. The lab will allow students to
demonstrate their lifelong learning skills.
Engaged Citizens: Students will be able to make informed decisions that work towards team building
skills when designing their experiment. The group work and discussions will allow students to
advocate for their self and/or others, to act for the common good as engaged citizens.

Cross-Curricular Competencies:
Developing thinking: Students will be bringing knowledge from their understanding of properties of
density. They will develop their understanding of the world by thinking contextually, creatively, and
critically.
Developing identity & interdependence: This lab will develop interdependence because students will
need to rely on each other during group work.
Developing social responsibilities: Students will be able to understand that their knowledge is what
their social responsibility is based on. They will explore and examine the impact of scientific
understanding in the development of their labs.

Outcome(s):
AE9.1 - Distinguish between physical and chemical properties of common substances, including those
found in household, commercial, industrial, and agricultural applications.
(d) Investigate common materials and describe them in terms of their physical properties such as
smell, color, melting point, boiling point, density, solubility, ductility, crystal shape, conductivity,
hardness, luster, texture, and malleability.
PGP Goals:
1.1 - the ability to maintain respectful, mutually supportive and equitable professional relationships
with learners, colleagues, families and communities
2.3 knowledge of First Nations, Metis and Inuit Culture and History (e.g., Treaties, Residential School,
Scrip, and Worldview)
2.6 – ability to strive for/pursue new knowledge
3.2 – the ability to use a wide variety of responsive instructional strategies and methodologies to
accommodate learning styles of individual learners and support their growth as social, intellectual,
physical and spiritual beings.
4.1 – knowledge of Saskatchewan curriculum and policy documents and applies this understanding to
plan lessons, units of study and year plans using curriculum outcomes as outlined by the
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education
4.2 the ability to incorporate First Nations, Metis, and Inuit knowledge, content and perspective into
all teaching areas
4.3 – the capacity to engage in program planning to shape ‘lived curriculum’ that brings learner needs,
subject matter, and contextual variables together in developmentally appropriate, culturally
responsive and meaningful ways

Stage 2- Assessment

Assessment FOR Learning (formative) Assess the students during the learning to help determine next
steps.
- having them write down their observations and data collected throughout the experiment, so I can
be checking in on them throughout the lab
- walking around asking questions to the students to see if they are understanding what they need to
be and then testing their knowledge on real life examples

Assessment OF Learning (summative) Assess the students during the learning to help determine next
steps.
- the students will submit their designed lab reports which will demonstrate to their understanding of
the lab
- their research project will demonstrate to me whether they understand the perspectives from the
FNIM culture

Stage 3- Learning Plan

Motivational/Anticipatory Set (introducing topic while engaging the students)
- asking questions throughout the lab to get them thinking deeper into the topic of density
- giving them the hands-on opportunity to discover why objects are floating/sinking
- allowing them the opportunity to carry out their own experiments which will help them think like
scientists
- letting them conduct their own research of the FNIM culture and how they build canoes
Main Procedures/Strategies:
Day 1: Give each of the students a copy of the Lab Handout, give the green paper ones to the designated
students (any students with anxiety). Using the given materials, the students will be able to determine
what property determines if an object will float or sink (density). Have the students separate into groups
of 2, give each group a beaker of water and rubbing alcohol and allow them to conduct their own
experiment to test the densities of each by adding the different items to see what floats and what sinks.
They should begin should be able to predict future events as their experiments go on. They will write a
conclusion that predicts if any object will float or sink in each liquid. They will be required to design
their own procedure and carry out their own experiment.
Assignment 1: Each student must write an individual lab report for this experiment demonstrating their
understanding on the property that causes materials to float or sink.

In the last 20 minutes of class, clean up and then begin a discussion on how each group carried out
their experiments. Pose the question to the students: is density important for us understand why
things float/sink? Go over some of the errors and solutions that were experienced throughout the lab.
Then discuss how the lab report should look.

Day 2: Pick up where the previous day had left off. If some parts of the experiment need to be wrapped
up, allow students to finish. Begin by warning the students about the safety precautions when handling
hot water. Then, for the students who are done, provide them with a piece of wood and a bucket of hot
water. They will observe and record the physical traits of the piece of wood and then answer the given
questions. Next, they will place the wood in hot water and examine the physical changes related to the
cell structures of wood and answer the given questions.
Assignment 2: Research and examine the intricacies of canoe building. The students will design a
presentation in the format of a power-point, Prezi, video, poster-board, word document, etc. or any
other manner that will demonstrate their understanding of Aboriginal traditions and teachings about
canoe-building. Each group will present their research to the class.

When there are 20 mins remaining, clean up and begin the final discussion. Address what happened
with the wood piece when it was steamed and the benefits of this when creating different structures
(ie: canoes). Ask the students about what they know about the FNIM culture and how they used this
property in their traditional practices. The ask them to discuss how important they thing density is to
the FNIM culture. Conclude by discussing the expectations of the research project, then come up with
criteria for a grading rubric as a class.

Adaptations/Differentiation:
- this lesson is hands on so it targets the kinesthetic learners
- the experiments are conducted by the students to get them thinking on their own
- they are working in groups for students to benefit from a collaborative environment
- to accommodate learning disabilities such as oral/visual processing and dyslexia, this lab is hands on
and allows students to write up and conduct their own experiment
- there will be a copy of the printed off notes to give to students with anxiety that is on green paper,
with red Garamond font
- EAL students will be able to work with other students and see first hand how and why processes are
occurring which will make some of the harder vocabulary words easier to understand
Closing of lesson:
 This lesson will span 2 days, at the end of the first day we will sit down and discuss how each group
carried out their experiments. We will also go over some of the errors and solutions that were
experienced throughout the lab. The students will get the opportunity to see how other groups ran
their experiments and take ideas to improve their own. Then we will discuss how the lab report
should look.
At the end of the second day, we will discuss what happened with the wood piece and the benefits of
steaming the wood in order to create structures (ie: canoes). We will then discuss the expectations of
the research project, and come up with criteria for a grading rubric as a class.

Reflection

Science has an important role in Aboriginal culture as a total cultural expression. The relatedness of all things in
the natural world is at the heart of Aboriginal culture (Shared, 2006). Aboriginal societies value the land and
resources in distinct ways and have created unique resource management systems (Shared, 2006). My lesson
takes all of this into consideration and gives the students the opportunity to explore and understand this point
of view. The students will learn to appreciate orally learning and communicating their knowledge to one another
and understand why and how oral language and tradition have distinct purposes in Aboriginal cultures. They will
learn about the way in which Aboriginals have been using different aspects of science for their survival. I chose
to add this in to my lesson plan because it gives the students a unique perspective to how a different culture
incorporates scientific practices into their everyday lives. This lesson also has the potential to stem into a field
trip (time permitted) to an Aboriginal community center where the students would have the opportunity to
meet with Aboriginal elders. They would be able to learn first-hand how and why canoe building is important in
their culture.

I also made revisions to my unit plan to better address the need for the inclusion of diverse perspectives of
Aboriginal ways of knowing. In our introductory lesson to atoms and the structure of matter, I decided to
conclude the lesson by describing First Nations and Métis views on the nature and structure of matter after
watching a short YouTube video. Then, we will discuss the structure of matter from other cultural views and
create Venn diagrams that compare and contrast all of them. In another one of my lessons, on the periodic
table, I added in a portion to talk about the Medicine Wheel that Aboriginals use in their culture. I posed a
question to the students and had them get into groups to discuss and design their answer. The question was:
“Can the periodic table or parts of the periodic table be put into a circular format or structure as opposed to the
grid that exists now, and can it be analyzed using the medicine wheel?”. This activity allows the students to tie
modern science into the culture and history of Aboriginals. I think this is a great way to demonstrate how
different cultures and perspectives can still easily relate to one another. It promotes inclusion and diversity
within the classroom and works towards creating a safe place for students to feel welcome and valued.

One goal that I had was to engage in self-reflection to determine my individual professional growth needs. I
achieved this goal when planning this lesson because I was able to reflect on my plan to incorporate FNIM
culture and a new perspective to this concept in science. Another goal I had was to maximize my available
resources by gathering and sharing experiences and resources. I accomplished this while creating this lesson
plan because I was able to incorporate a variety of different assessments, activities, collaborative work, research
etc. into the lesson to achieve the best results for the learning of my students. My goals for the future are to
implement these lessons while creating a collaborative, respectful, and mutual climate for my students to
flourish in. I also hope to anticipate how my students will use their learning and have a clear expectation for
transferring it to practice. I would attempt to get a field trip arranged to visit with elders and learn first hand
how canoes were made by the Aboriginal culture. In order to accomplish my goals, I would need to put my
lesson plan into practice.

Shared Learnings (2006). Integrating BC Aboriginal Content K-10

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/aboriginal-
education/shared_learning.pdf

I believe my lesson plan meets the requirements for our rubric for this assessment. For the outcome: “I plan
lessons and assessment based on provincial curriculum” I believe “my plans for instruction and assessment are
designed to respond to my formative assessment of students” because my lesson plan is a lab designed to assess
the students learning after they have learned prior information and allows them opportunity to research on
their own to show me how much they understand. For the outcome: “I make student learning goals for each
lesson/task” I believe “My goal is clear and effective and my planned instruction and activities are likely to
achieve it” because I have identified my learning goals in the beginning of the lab and provided them to the
students at the beginning of their assignment. For the outcome: “I know which instructional strategies to pick at
given times” I believe “I choose instructional and learning strategies that are best related to both outcomes and
indicators and my students” because there are many different instructional strategies incorporated into the
various parts of my lab and lesson that are suited for the most optimal learning in the diversity of my students.
For the outcome: “My lessons are ready to be used” I believe “the lesson has everything you would need to
teach it, and would encourage a sub to come back” because my instructions are detailed, clear, and concise to
make it easy for someone to come in and use without any additional help. For the outcome: “I create formative
assessment” I believe “My formative assessments tell me how to change the plan as I go” because I can assess
throughout the lab and make changes as I see fit. Students will be writing down their observations and data on
the worksheet given to them at the beginning of the lab. I will also formatively assess them at the end of the
class when we sit down and talk as a group about the topics we have learned. This will help me assess which
students are understanding the topics and ready to move on. It will also let me know who and what students are
not understanding, which will help me to know what we need to elaborate or discuss further next class. For the
outcome: “I create summative assessment” I believe “My students help shape the assessment and will
understand the assessment easily” because the lab has clear instructions, worksheet, notes, guidelines, etc. that
students are given so they can meet the expectations of what they are required to learn. We will also discuss as
a group to create concise rubric that students can check to see if they are meeting what is expected of them for
the assignment at the end. For the outcome: “I set and use goals for enhancing my professional development” I
believe “I have evidence of where I need to improve, and am working towards specific goals” because I have
received feedback from my cooperating teacher and other students directing me to where I need to go to
achieve my teaching goals. For the outcome: “I can demonstrate a culturally responsive instructional stance” I
believe “My planning is designed to allow me to learn from, and respond to, my students’ culture” because I
incorporated a Venn-diagram task that allows students to learn about the different cultures in the class and
compare/contrast them. This includes a variety of culture and will be different within each class. For the
outcome: “I can use all four types of questions” I believe “I have a variety of clear, powerful questions and my
essential question drives my unit” because I refer back to my essential question in each lesson and develop new
open ended thinking questions to drive each of my topics. For the outcome: “I understand how to plan for
differentiation and adaptation” I believe “my plans make it likely that students with different needs would
experience success” because my lesson has multiple activities that include hands-on approaches, collaborative
group learning, and written notes that pertain to a variety of learning abilities.
 For the outcome “I create engaging learning activities and tasks” I believe “My planned instruction and
activities would create interest and interaction between students” because this is a hands-on experiment where
student create their own experiments. They work collaboratively, and explore the topic of density in an engaging
manner. For the outcome: “My planned activities would improve the discipline specific literacy skills of my
students” I believe “My students will have the opportunity to self-assess and improve literacy strategies”
because I have provided them with the content they need to understand density, but they are able to conduct
their own experiment to prove it. They will be able to check back to their rubrics and be able to self-asses their
own work. For the outcome: “I can create a unit that would achieve the outcomes and the indicators” I believe “I
have tried to add a variety of elements to make it more likely students would demonstrate the knowledge and
skills” because this lesson combines elements that connect the CCCs knowledge, outcomes, and indicators
together while allowing students to explore a deeper understandings of the topic of density. For the outcome
“the final task in my unit elicits evidence of application in a new situation” I believe “my final assessment will
make the application of student learning relevant and useful” because my final assessment piece will show
whether or not the students learned the unit outcomes well enough to demonstrate their learning through
multiple domains. For the outcome “I can create a unit that would assess the outcomes and indicators” I believe
“My unit assesses outcomes, and has effective pre, formative, and summative assessments” because my unit
incorporates assessments throughout each lesson to help me determine when the students are ready to move
on. For the outcome “Improvements in my unit plan show my increased understanding” I believe “my unit plan
had a number of additions designed to refine the tasks, goals, or assessments” because I have been updating
and making constant changes to the plan as I learn more about what is going to be most beneficial to the
students.