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Student Teaching Lesson Plan Template

(Indirect Instruction)

Subject: Central Focus:


Science Ecosystems
Essential Standards/Common Core Objective (2): Date submitted: Date taught:
4.L.1.1 Give examples of changes in an organism’s 3/14 3/20
environment that are beneficial to it and some that are (Pi Day!)
harmful

Daily Lesson Objective (1):

The student will know that a change in any particular environment can be advantageous and disadvantageous by
identifying whether organisms are harmed or benefit when there is change within a food web at 80% accuracy
individually.

21st Century Skills (1): Academic Language Demand (if Handbook applicable)
● Language Function:
Critical Thinking and Problem o Identify
Solving: The students will be given
scenarios that they must investigate in ▪ The students will identify the benefits and the harms of
order to find a solution. The answers changes in an organism’s environment.
are not clearly stated, so the students
must use the information given to them ● Content/Academic Vocabulary:
them in order to justify their answer. o Benefit - to positively affect
Students are required to problem solve o Harm - to negatively affect
and critically think to answer each
scenario. ● Discourse possibilities:
o Teacher to student discourse:
Communication: The students will be
working in groups to investigate each ▪ During explore, the teacher will discuss with students as
scenario. They must work together to a whole group to elicit their thoughts about how the
justify their answers. Every student terms benefit and harm relate to food webs.
will be accountable for their own chart,
but by working in groups they may o Student to student discourse:
persuade or challenge their peers’
responses. ▪ During explore and explain, the students will discuss
with each other how changes in an environment benefit
and harm other organisms in the food web.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills Global Awareness (1):


needed (1) (for both student and
teacher): The students will circulate throughout stations that showcase the different
The student should be aware of how biomes of the Earth. The student will be aware of what part of the world they
food webs work. The student should are in depending on which station they have rotated to.
know and be able to classify the
different biomes. The student must also
know the terms consumer, producer,
and decomposer.
The teacher should be aware of how
consumers, producers, and
decomposers are affected when
changes are made in the food chain of
various biomes.
Source of Lesson: Safety Considerations:
My brain! - No horseplay
- No items should be used improperly
- Push in chairs and keep the floors tidy

Activity Description of Activities and Setting Time


1. Engage (3) The teacher will set up 6 stations, numbered 1-6, 5 minutes
representing the 6 biomes they learned in class
previously: the marine biome, the polar region, the
forest, the grasslands/savannah, the tropical rainforest,
and the desert.

Each table will have a picture of one item:


Table 1 - Marine Biome - Sunscreen
Table 2 – Polar Region – Winter gloves
Table 3 – Forest - Torch
Table 4 – Grasslands/Savannah – Savannah Hat
Table 5 – Tropical Rainforest - Umbrella
Table 6 – Desert - Sunglasses

The teacher will tell the students that there has been a
shortage of ecologists all over the world. The teacher
will then explain that they signed the class up to be
volunteer ecologists to help out for the day. They will
need to “travel the world” and conduct studies. The
teacher will launch the lesson with the questions below:

● What do ecologists do? What do you think we


will be doing?
○ We are studying ecosystems
○ We are studying interactions between
organisms and their environment
● What biomes do you think you will be traveling
to based on the items on the table?
○ Grasslands, forest, tropical rainforest,
desert, marine, polar region
2. Explore (3) The teacher will hand out number cards (1-6) at random 30 min
to assign students to stations. There should be 4-5
students at each station. The teacher will explain that
they are now ecologists who need to travel around the
world to study 6 different biomes because a strange
occurrence is happening: animals are being wiped out
completely and it is affecting the entire food web of the
ecosystem!
Pre-Explore:
● There are so many animals that live in these
biomes. Do you think that something as small as
an insect going extinct could affect the whole
food web?
○ An insect is tiny! It won’t matter.
○ Yes, anything going extinct will affect
everything
● Do you think the effect of an animal being
removed from an ecosystem can be beneficial?
Harmful? What do I mean by beneficial and
harmful? What does that mean?
○ It can’t be beneficial only harmful
○ Beneficial is a good thing harmful
means to hurt something

The students will rotate around the 6 stations clockwise


at 5 minute intervals. Setting a timer will be helpful.
Each biome will include a map of where they are
located, a picture of a food web that exists in that biome,
and a scenario. Each scenario states what has changed in
the environment that has caused an animal to be wiped
out from the food web.

the marine biome:


Scenario: Hey, they didn’t give you scuba gear?
I need you to study what’s going in the ocean. Octopi
are going missing! Will this affect anything?

Scenario: I guess you didn’t need the scuba


gear… but it looks like you need a towel. Check one
more thing for me. Plankton and phytoplankton are
going missing. These little things can’t be that big of a
deal when they’re gone, can they?

the polar region:


Scenario: Hey you!! You look like a scientist..
or something.. What’s going on out here? This is my
vacation spot for baleen whale watching and I haven’t
seen a single one! What could be worse?! Are any other
animals going to be affected? I am never coming here
again!

Scenario: Hi ecologist. This is urgent. Please


figure out what will happen if we remove all of the
elephant seals from the polar region. We want to
relocate them for money, ahem, I mean we want to send
them to the zoos.

the forest:
Scenario: There is something out here called a
grouse. I have never even heard of it…. Oh sorry! Hi! I
am a volunteer ecologist too. Can you help me figure out
how this missing grouse animal affects the ecosystem?

Scenario: Dear ecologists, should we


reintroduce the chipmunks to this area? We removed
them because they were noisy. It didn’t affect anything
when they were gone did it?

the grasslands/savannah:
Scenario: Hey fellow ecologists! Thanks for
helping out. There was once an infestation of termites
here. Local authorities decided it would be best to
exterminate them to control their population.
Unfortunately, the extermination wiped out all of the
termites completely. Will this affect anything?

Scenario: Hey again fellow ecologists. There is


another issue. I noticed the Acacia trees have been
depleting. I need to get the local authorities to try
planting some. Can you let me know what the wipe out
of Acacia trees will do the grasslands?

the tropical rainforest:


Scenario: Dear volunteer, no one really lives out
here, but I have been doing studies here for years. I need
some help. It looks like all of the iguanas have
completely disappeared! I am off to go find if they are
any around. What organisms will this affect?

Scenario: Oh yeah. Volunteers. In case I forget,


can you also see how the organisms will do if all of the
grasshoppers are relocated and removed from this
biome?

the desert:
Scenario: Hey!! I’ve been waiting for you!! I
live out here in the desert and I just want these
rattlesnakes gone! I think I wished too hard and now
they’re all missing! I hope this doesn’t mess up the
ecosystem. Can you study this?

Scenario: Hiya! I live out here. I have been


collecting Yucca plants for years now. I think I may
need to stop… I may have picked them all. This doesn’t
affect anything does it?

The students must analyze the food webs and complete


the chart (both attached) and analyze what organism(s)
would benefit from the change and what organism(s)
would be harmed. The student must then identify if the
organism affected is a producer, a consumer, or a
decomposer.

3. Explain (3) After the students circulate, the teacher should direct the 5 min.
students to move back to their regular seats and compare
charts with their table. The teacher should also ask the
students to revisit the questions that they completed
before the activity. The students will find that removing
an animal from an ecosystem can actually be beneficial
to some organisms and really harmful to others. The
teacher should lead the whole group discussion to ensure
that everyone has come up with the same answers and
address any outliers that the students may have analyzed
from the data they collected. The student will know that
a change in any particular environment can be
advantageous and disadvantageous by identifying which
organisms are harmed and which organisms benefit if an
organism is removed from a food web.

Discussions questions:
• Now that you have completed the activity, how
does something as small as an insect going
extinct affect the whole food web?

• It affects the animals that feed on it


because now they have less food.

• It helps producers because they don’t


get eaten

• How did your mind change from before? Did


you think a change could harm and benefit an
organism’s environment at the same time?
• I knew it could, I just didn’t know how
it could
• I thought it was only bad.
• What would happen if the top consumer of the
food web is removed? Would it beneficial or
harmful?

• Nothing! That’s a good thing.

• It would affect the decomposers.

4. Elaborate/Extend (3) 20 min.


● Pre-video: How do you think animals become
extinct?
○ Humans hunting

○ Weather changes

○ Lack of food

○ Another organism became extinct

https://youtu.be/JWdpkA9cR00

Students will watch a YouTube video about 10 recently


extinct animals. Students will pick an animal from the
video and research how other animals were harmed or
benefited from the extinction of their chosen animal.

• Post-video: So how did those animals in the


video become extinct?
o Mostly from humans
o Deforestation
o Environmental changes

Students will draw their own food web of the animal


they chose. The food web must include at least two other
organisms. This can be drawn on paper or created
digitally. They must label the organism with either
“Harmed” of “Benefitted” to show how they were
affected from the extinction of their chosen animal.

5. Evaluate (Assessment methods) (3) Formative: 5 min.


Informal:
Teacher should informally assess the charts that the
students are completing as they circulate to the different
stations. Teacher should check for correctness and elicit
thinking throughout the lesson.
Formal:
The students must complete a quizizz individually on
their chrome books. They will be given pictures of 5
food webs and they must identify which organism
benefits from a change in the environment or which
organism is harmed from a change in the environment at
80% accuracy to be considered proficient.
Student(s) & Student/Small Group Student/Small Group
Modifications/Accommodations (2): For students that finish early For struggling students

1. Hearing impaired: I will wear the


Differentiation: Differentiation:
device that amplifies my voice to assist
With the extra time in the stations, The teacher will model the scenario
those that are hearing impaired when
students will be given an extra to guide the students and then give
explaining directions.
scenario card. the group a new scenario
2. Developing readers: I will provide
pictures as well as words and ensure that
someone in the group is assigned to read
aloud the questions.

Materials/Technology (1):

Teacher materials:
- Scenario cards printed (attached)
- Food webs printed (attached)
- Maps of the biome locations printed (attached)
- Pictures of items for the tables: sunglasses, sunscreen, Savannah hat, winter gloves, torch, umbrella
- Quizizz link: (Live link will be produced)
- Elaborate video: https://youtu.be/JWdpkA9cR00

Student materials:
- Chart
- Pencil

Reflection on lesson:

The students really loved this lesson plan! It challenged them to work together and to challenge each other’s thoughts.
When I first asked if removing an animal from a food web was harmful or beneficial, they initially thought it could be
only harmful, but after the lesson, they realized changes could be simultaneously beneficial! As I was circulating
throughout the first rotations of the explore portion, students were leaving the benefit column of their charts blank.
After guiding them through and asking them how each animal is affected, they realized that changes could also benefit
certain organisms.

I would probably think twice before doing randomized groups. Some groups worked great together, while some argued.
I had to intervene a couple of times to break things up. I also had one group that was just goofing around. This class
was not the the class I had been observing for the majority of my clinicals; This class was my partner teacher’s class, so
I wasn’t too familiar with their personalities. I could have done better to accommodate my struggling learners who’s
group members were not helpful to them. I think I failed those students out of a quality lesson. This is something I
would definitely change when I teach again, which I definitely will in the future.

For the students that were really able to grasp the content of the lesson, they loved it! Even telling me how good of a
lesson it was before they left. The students were really given the chance to problem solve and critically think about the
scenarios. The only factor not on my side was time. I think the lesson felt a little rushed and we could have gone in
depth more for the explain portion of the lesson. Because of time, the assessment also did not go as well as planned,
and they felt pressed for time.
Who benefits? Who is harmed?
List the organisms Are they a producer, List the organisms Are they a producer,
here decomposer, or here decomposer, or
consumer? consumer?

Table 1

Biome:

Table 2

Biome:

Table 3

Biome:

Table 4

Biome:

Table 5

Biome:

Table 6

Biome:

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