EDCI 270 Case 4

Shawn De Both

Skyler Horning

David Snyder

Lesson Plan
I.

Overview

A. College Mentors For Kids (CMFK) will help elementary students

learn about plants and photosynthesis by guiding them through the process of
planting and growing a seed.
II.
Standard 6.3.4 (6th Grade Science): Recognize that plants use energy from the
sun to make sugar (i.e. glucose) by the process of photosynthesis.
III.
Learners:
A. 6th grade students in the College Mentors For Kids program
B. Small groups of 3-4 students with volunteer to guide the student
through the lesson
IV.
Goals
A. To engage and inspire students with a willingness to learn about
biology and agriculture.
B. To teach students about plants anatomy, physiology, and life cycle.
C. To provide an opportunity to students for a fun, hands-on activity
after school.
D. CMFK: To motivate at-risk children and communities to achieve
their potential by fostering inspiration to transform lives, education to change
attitudes, and connections to increase opportunities.
V.
Objectives
A. Students will be able to locate a credible source and research the
photosynthetic needs of a maple tree.
B. Given a picture of a maple tree, students will be able to locate a
tree and collect its seeds on Purdues campus.
C. With the collected seeds and research, students will plant their
maple seedling.
VI.
Materials
A. CMFK Volunteers
B. Computers with access to the internet
C. Potting equipment (pots, soil, water, shovels, etc)
D. Pictures of a maple tree
VII.
Procedures
A. Show Video (https://youtu.be/-a5d8U9I064)
B. Students will pair up with a CMFK Buddy and research maple
trees on the internet. They should research information that interests them about
the trees (where they grow, how long they live, what the tree looks like, etc), what
the seed looks like, and also how to plant the seeds to provide the best
opportunity to for growth.
C. With their buddy and a picture of a maple tree, the students will
collect a handful of seeds from a maple tree on campus. These are the seeds
that the students will plant, so the seeds should be in good condition.

VIII.

IX.

D. With the knowledge of how to effectively plant the seed, the

student will be given the supplies to do so. Their buddies will help them through
the process.
E. The students will take their plant home and continue to take care
and grow it.
F. Follow up activities could contain tracking progress via a blog,
having a competition to see who can grow the largest tree, etc.
Assessment
A. Primary: CMFK Buddies should be monitoring the student's
development by informal questioning/communication.
B. Students will take their plant home and progress can be
measured.
C. Students will be able to tell their buddy the conditions for plant
growth and life.
Additional Resources
A. Modifications to Procedures: (due to time constraints, lack of
materials, other miscellaneous reasons)
1. Instead of Section A, a factual handout or
worksheet could be given out to students in lieu of research.
2. Instead of Section B, students could be given the
seeds to plant rather than finding them themselves.

Journal Articles:
Convergence Between Science and Environmental Education
Arjen E. J. Wals, Michael Brody, Justin Dillon, and Robert B. Stevenson
Science 9 May 2014: 344 (6184), 583-584. [DOI:10.1126/science.1250515]
2)
This article covers the intersection points between general science and environmental
education. Specifically, this article addresses the lack of emphasis in the specific field of
environmental education. The importance of maintaining the environment is becoming a larger
and larger issue, and less and less of an issue in the classroom. The article promotes hands on
experiences working with systems as an educational model for the field. This lesson plan
incorporates the hands on aspect to engage students in real world applications.
Prioritizing Science Education
Bruce Alberts
Science 23 April 2010: 328 (5977), 405. [DOI:10.1126/science.1190788]
This article from Science proposes a drastic change to the methodology of science
education. It promotes the idea of integrating language and communication skills into the
science curriculum to be taught together. The rationale behind this idea is that language classes
often promote critical thinking along with comparing and contrasting skills. These skills are often

weak points for many individuals currently in the field. By working with the CMFK buddies, the
students will learn how to communicate in healthy and meaningful ways.