SINGLE SUBJECT CREDENTIAL PROGRAM

SCIENCE LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE Revised 4.15

For directions on how to complete this form, see EDSC Lesson Plan Directions and Scoring Guide in the SSCP Handbook at www.sscphandbook.org.

Name

CWID

Subject Area

Nothing Cooler Than Absolute Zero

Class Title

Biology

Biology
Lesson Title

Macromolecules

STANDARDS AND LESSON OBJECTIVES

Next Generation Science Standards

Unit Title

Energy in our
Ecosystems

Grade Levels

Total Minutes

90

Common Core State Standard Connections

HS-LS1-7 Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a

chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and
oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds
are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual,

graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning,
and evidence to add interest.

Lesson Objective(s)

Evidence

Students will understand the cycling of macromolecules

throughout an ecosystem by revising their initial models,
highlighting the cyclical nature of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins,
and nucleic acids.

1 Components of the model a From a given model, students

identify and describe* the components of the model relevant for
their illustration of cellular respiration, including: i. Matter in the
form of food molecules, oxygen, and the products of their
reaction (e.g., water and CO2); ii. The breaking and formation of
chemical bonds; and iii. Energy from the chemical reactions. 2
Relationships a From the given model, students describe* the
relationships between components, including: i. Carbon dioxide
and water are produced from sugar and oxygen by the process
of cellular respiration; and ii. The process of cellular respiration
releases energy because the energy released when the bonds
that are formed in CO2 and water is greater than the energy
required to break the bonds of sugar and oxygen. 3 Connections
a Students use the given model to illustrate that: i. The chemical
reaction of oxygen and food molecules releases energy as the
matter is rearranged, existing chemical bonds are broken, and
new chemical bonds are formed, but matter and energy are
neither created nor destroyed

STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Type
Purpose/Focus of Assessment

EL

Assess prior knowledge of

macromolecules based on a
previous unit

Implementation

Warm-up question

Feedback Strategy

Class discussion

Graded poster

Assess knowledge gained

from the unit

Completed Ecosystem
Poster
A unit exam will also be
given.

Written feedback will be

given to students in the
form of a grade evaluation
on the test. However,
students have the
opportunity to retake unit
tests as long as they come
and meet with the teacher
during lunch or after school
to identify and discuss the
weaknesses that appeared

How Informs Teaching

Allows teacher to decide

how much information is
necessary for the lecture
and if more time should be
spent on reviewing
macromolecules
Allows teacher to check for
understanding of the unit
once the unit has
completed. Allows teacher
to make changes for next
year if necessary.
A unit test helps inform
teaching by helping identify
what concepts students
understood well or not well.
It informs the teacher if the
strategies used will be
beneficial to students in

on the original test, as a

form of verbal feedback

future years or if an
adjustment of lessons
would be appropriate.

FOCUS OF INSTRUCTION
Instructional Strategies

DRIVING QUESTION: How do energy and matter flow through our ecosystem?
There are no safety concerns during this lesson.
Lesson Introduction/Anticipatory Set
Time
Teacher Does

5 min

5 min

50 min

Students should be willing to share their answers with the

class. Only a few will need to share, but participation is
expected of the class. During the review, students should
be actively listening and refreshing their knowledge of
macromolecules and their monomers.

Teacher Does

Student Does

Hold brief lecture highlighting the cycle of macromolecules

within an ecosystem. Discuss the breaking and remaking
of bonds from the molecules obtained from food to show
the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next.
Connect these ideas to what students learned in
photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Students should be taking notes on the brief lecture on the

cycle of macromolecules within an ecosystem. During this
time, students should remain in their assigned seats and
should remain silent unless asked to answer a question by
the teacher.

Allow students majority of remainder of time to revise and

add to their initial models. Explain to students that their
final product should have at least one example of a source
of carbohydrates, a source of protein, and a source of lipids
with explanations.

Lesson Closure
Time

15 min

Students should be completing their Warm-Up questions in

their assigned seats, quietly. This activity should be done
individually.

After students have had time to complete the question, ask

a few students to share their thoughts. This activity does
not require a correct answer, an honest attempt is all that
is expected of students. After a few students have shared
their answers, hold a brief class discussion, reviewing
macromolecules and their monomers.

Lesson Body
Time

15 min

Student Does

Begin class with a Warm-Up question on board: Give one

example of each macromolecule (carbohydrate, protein,
lipid) that can be found on your poster of your
ecosystem. Allow students about 5 minutes to answer
the question. It should be noted that students have
previously covered macromolecules in a previous unit,
nutrition. In that unit, students learned the structure of
macromolecules and their monomers. In this unit, they
will apply what they have learned to an ecosystem,
explaining how molecules cycle within that system.

Students should get back into their poster groups and work
together to revise and add any final touches to their
models. They should be using this time to complete their
poster, tying in all of the elements of the unit (energy
transfer, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, cycling of
matter).

Teacher Does

Student Does

Allow students to hang their posters on the wall. Once all

posters are up, have students return to their seats and
hold a class discussion tying in all of the components of the
lesson (energy transfer, photosynthesis, cellular
respiration, cycling of matter). Give an example of an
ecosystem, highlighting all of these components and how
they connect.

Groups should hang their posters on the wall and then go

back to their assigned seats to listen to the closure of the
unit. While the teacher wraps up the unit, connecting all of
the concepts learned, students should be listening and
making connecting to each lesson of the unit.

Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Multimedia

Scissors, glue sticks, markers/colored pencils, student posters, ELMO projector

Co-Teaching Strategies

Parallel Teaching
DIFFERENTIATION
English Learners

Striving Readers

Students with Special Needs

Advanced Students

Students have obtained

several graphic organizers and
sentence frames that will help
them complete the unit.
The brief lecture will include a
heavy use of visuals to
supplement the material being
discussed. Additionally, this is
a review of macromolecules
and students have seen this
material before.

Guided notes will be provided

for striving readers for the
lecture portion to help them
sift through important
information. A heavy use of
visuals will supplement the
lecture as well to help students
make sense of the
information.

For the lecture guided notes

will be provided, students with
special needs can be given
printed versions of the
PowerPoint slides to follow
along. Students with special
needs will be grouped based
on their specific needs with
other students. In a case
where a student is especially
antisocial, moderate
personalities of other students
will be grouped together as to
not cause the student any
additional anxiety and stress
on learning. Assigned roles will
also be given during the group
work model as to limit the
feeling of being overwhelmed
and focus on a task.

Advanced students may be

seated together to allow for
the argumentation and
analysis process. Advanced
students may be tasked with
providing additional detail in
their explanations to allow for
additional growth in the
knowledge of the content.

REFLECTION: SUMMARY, RATIONALE, AND IMPLEMENTATION

This unit began with the use of a familiar video that served as an anchoring phenomenon for students. It allowed them to think
about the unit in terms of a medium they are already familiar with and had them create an initial model. As the unit progressed,
students were allowed to build and revise their models with their understanding of the unit. The unit allows for class discussion,
inviting students to share their ideas and possible misconceptions in an open environment where they understand that it is alright to
have their misconceptions, as they will not be penalized for having them. Their misconceptions can be addressed in order to fill in
the gaps in their learning. Accommodations have been made for students with special needs and English learners that not only
benefit the students that they were directly intended for, but all students such as through the use of KWL charts and several other
guides that have been handed out throughout the unit. Allowing students to revisit and revise their models allows them to reflect
on their learning as they progress through the unit. They are able to see where they started from and how they are growing as
students. By the end of the unit, they will have completed a model that answers the driving question of the unit and relates directly
back to the anchoring phenomenon (The Lion King video) they were first introduced to.