LESSONPLAN

YourName:HeatherMuoio
TitleofLesson:Photosynthesis
Grade:Third

STANDARDS

3LS1FromMoleculestoOrganisms:StructuresandProcesses
3LS11.Developmodelstodescribethatorganismshaveuniqueanddiverselifecyclesbutall
haveincommonbirth,growth,reproduction,anddeath.

3LS4BiologicalEvolution:UnityandDiversity
3LS44.Makeaclaimaboutthemeritofasolutiontoaproblemcausedwhentheenvironment
changesandthetypesofplantsandanimalsthatlivetheremaychange.

LESSONSUMMARY/OVERVIEW

Studentswilllearnabouttheprocessofphotosynthesis.Studentswillwatchashortvideo
demonstratinghowphotosynthesisworks.Next,studentswillcreateatreeillustrationof
theprocessofphotosynthesis.Then,
theteacherwillhaveadiscussionwiththeclassto
getsomefeedbackfromthemaboutwhatwouldhappeniftherewerehardlyanytreesin
theworld.
Lastly,asanassessmentofhowwelltheyknowtheprocessofphotosynthesis
studentswillbegivenaworksheettocomplete.

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to know and develop the process of photosynthesis and be able to make a
claim/predictwhatwouldlifebelikewithhardlyanytreesintheworld.

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION

ThemeasuresIwillusetoknowifmystudentsmettheobjectivesistohavestudentscompletea
worksheet(theassessment)withfillintheblanksandopenendedquestionsforstudentsto
answer.Iwillgradethemusingarubric,3beingthatstudentknowstheprocessof
photosynthesisandcanpredictwhattheworldwouldbelikewithouttrees.2beingdoesnotfully
comprehendtheprocessofphotosynthesisbymakingminormistakes.1beingthatthestudent
doesnotknowtheprocessofphotosynthesisanddoesnotknowhowphotosynthesisaffects
humans.

PREREQUISITEKNOWLEDGE

Studentswillneedthepriorknowledgeofwhattreestakeinsuchassunlightandwatertogeta
betterunderstandingoftheprocessofphotosynthesis.Iwillaccesstheirpriorknowledgeby
askingstudentsquestionsanddiscussingwiththemabouttreesandwhatkindsofnutrientstrees

takein,soIcangetabetterunderstandingofwhatstudentsalreadyknowandwhattheydonot
know.

MATERIALS
Listofrequiredmaterials.
Apieceofgreen,brown,andwhiteconstructionpaperforeachstudent.
Scissors
Glue
Markers

VOCABULARY/KEYWORDS
Listofkeyvocabularyterms.
photosynthesis

theprocessbywhichgreenplantsandsomeotherorganismsusesunlighttosynthesize
foodsfromcarbondioxideandwater.
glucose

asimplesugarthatisanimportantenergysourceinlivingorganismsandisacomponentof
manycarbohydrates.

TEACHINGPROCEDURES

1. Teacherwillasktheclassiftheyhaveeverheardofphotosynthesisandwhatitis.
Teacherwillhearideasofwhatthestudentsthinkphotosynthesismaybe.Iexpectthat
thestudentswillhaveverylittleknowledgeaboutphotosynthesis.Iexpectthemtosay
thattheydonotanythingaboutphotosynthesisandhaveneverheardthewordbeforeorI
expectthemtosaythatithassomethingtodowithplantsandenergy.
2. Then,studentswillwatchashortvideoabouttheprocessofphotosynthesis.The
followingisalinktothevideo:
http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/photosynthesis
3. Afterwatchingthevideotheteacherwillreflectwiththeclasswhatphotosynthesisisand
shewillaskstudentswhatthevideotoldthemabouttheprocessofphotosynthesis.I
expectthestudentstotellmewhatphotosynthesisisanddescribetomehowitworks.
4. Next,teacherwillshowanexampleupontheboardofwhatthestudentsaregoingto
create(theprocessofphotosynthesis)sostudentscanfollowtheexampleiftheywant.
Theexampleisattachedbelow.
5. Usinggreenandbrownconstructionpaperinstructstudentstocutoutandcreatea
tree.
6. Then,studentsshouldgluetheirtreeontoawhiteconstructionpaper.
7. Usingmarkersstudentsshouldthendrawtheprocessofphotosynthesis.
8. Theendresultshouldbeillustrated:
a. Studentshouldhavedrawnasunabovethetreetosymbolizethesun's
energyandarrowsgoingfromthesuntothetreetosymbolizethetreeis
takinginthesunenergy.
b. Studentshouldhavedrawnasourceofwaterforthetree.Thiscanbeinthe
formofraindropsorgroundwater.
c. Studentshouldhavewrittenthewords"CarbonDioxide"anddrewan
arrowleadingfromthetermtothetreetoshowthatthetreeistakinginthe
carbondioxidefromtheenvironment.

d. Studentshouldhavewrittentheword"Oxygenanddrewanarrow
pointingawayfromthetreetosymbolizethereleaseofoxygenintothe
surroundingair.
e. Studentshouldhavedrawnsugarnearthebaseoftheplanttosymbolize
theglucoseproducedbyphotosynthesis.
9. Whenstudentsareillustrating,teacherwillgoaroundtheclasstomonitorand
guidethestudents.
10. Whenstudentsaredoneillustratingtheteacherwillhaveadiscussionwiththe
classtogetsomefeedbackfromthemaboutwhatwouldhappeniftherewere
hardlyanytreesintheworld.
TeacherWill:
Askstudentswhatwouldhappeniftherewerehardlyanytreesintheworld?
StudentsWill:
Respondtothequestion.Iexpectresponsessuchastherewouldbenooxygenso
humansandanimalscouldnotbreathandthereforecouldnotlive.Treesarekeyto
survival.
11. Teacherwillthenhandouttheassessmentworksheetforstudentstocomplete
individually.Theworksheetisattachedatthebottom.
12. Onceallstudentshavecompletedtheassessmenttheteacherandstudentswill
hangupthetreeillustrationsoftheprocessofphotosynthesisonthewall.

RESOURCES

Photosynthesis.(n.d.).RetrievedApril9,2015,from
http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/photosynthesis

WAYSOFTHINKINGCONNECTION

Futuresthinkingmeansthinkingabouthowthepastandpresentinfluencethefuture.The
purposeofthislessonisforstudentstolearntheprocessofphotosynthesissotheycan
understandhowimportanttreesaretohumansandmanyotherlivingthings.Thislessonplan
connectstofuturesthinkingbecausestudentswilldevelopananswerpertainingtothequestion
intheassessmentofwhatwouldhappeniftreesdidnotexist.

Exampleoftheprocessofphotosynthesis:

Name:

What is Photosynthesis?
Directions: Fill in the blank with the words given in the word bank. Then answer the
questions below in complete sentences.

Photosynthesisisaprocesswhereplantsuse_____________________________from

thesuntoconvert__________________________fromtheairand

______________________fromthesoilinto____________________________to

feedtheplantand________________________isgivenoutintheair.

WordKey:

water,sugar,carbondioxide,light,oxygen

Whatwouldhappeniftreesdidnotexist?

Whyaretreesessentialtolife?Nameacouplethingsthattreesprovideus.