The C.O.P.E.

Lesson Plan Format for Scientific Notation Using a KWL Chart and

Utilizing Gagne and Briggs

By

Professor Rachelle Evans

C – Concept: Grade, subject, topic

5th through 10th grades, Mathematics, Scientific Notation

O – Objective:

Informing the learner of the learning intention:

• This is where the teacher would talk about the objectives for today’s lesson, which

should have previously been written on the board. Again, this would help both the

visual and the oral learners to do this both ways. The teacher would also explain why

these objectives are important to learn.

o Since this is a lesson on scientific notation, I would put the following

objectives on the board:

1. TLWBAT (The learner will be able to) identify the significance of

scientific notation in today’s society by brainstorming with other students

in his/her group, the teacher, and others in the class, and shall write at least

3 of these ideas down in KWL format in his/her own math journal.

2. TLWBAT identify the main formula that is used to decide whether or not

an answer is in scientific notation, while reading the introduction to the

chapter, and writing at least 3 examples with 100% accuracy in his/her

math journal in KWL format.

 3. TLWBAT change an answer from standard notation into scientific

notation, and vice versa, during guided practice with help from the teacher

and other members of the group by writing down at least 3 examples in

KWL format in his/her math journal with 100% accuracy and during

independent practice and on a quiz, with 80% accuracy.

P – Procedure: (Teacher Directed)

1. Review previous concepts – aka Assess Prior Knowledge

Gaining Attention:

• The teacher announces the agenda and objectives for the day, having already written

it on the board prior to the beginning of class. The teacher can point to the agenda

while s/he is telling the students the agenda. This makes the start of the day

differentiable so that both visual and oral learners can understand what the plan for

the day is. Students should have come into class and should be writing these

objectives and the agenda in their planners (if in middle school) or in their math

journals (at any other level). At this point, I would have the following agenda on the

board, prior to when students walked in the door to my classroom:

1. Warm-up (this would be an activity from the previous day’s lesson. It would be a

problem using the division property of exponents, which is what the students

would have done the previous day).

2. Discuss homework / turn in (this is where the teacher would read off the answers

and answer any questions students have. Students would pass their homework to

the front of the row and the teacher would collect it at this time).
 3. Scientific Notation Video and Lesson (this is where the teacher would teach the

actual lesson for the day on Scientific Notation)

4. Homework Assignment: (Usually listed prior to students coming into class)

5. Quiz ?: (this would be optional and would be based on the students’ behavior

throughout the lesson. If the students were good and the majority paid attention

to the lesson, then there wouldn’t be a quiz. If the majority of the students were

not paying attention, then there would be a quiz. Students should have been made

aware in advance that they would have a quiz based upon their behavior during

that class period).

Stimulating recall of prerequisite information:

• This is where the teacher would have a warm-up on the overhead, which is based

upon a review of the previous day’s activities. Since this is a lesson on scientific

notation, the previous day’s activities would include a review of the division property

of exponents. Therefore, I would have problems such as these for a warm-up activity:

Simplify each expression with no negative exponents:

16 x 4 y -3 3 x -10 y 2
1. 2.
- 4x 2 y 5 15 x 6 y - 4

• After students had finished with the warm-up (they would have about 5 minutes to do

it), then we would discuss the answers as a class and answer any questions students

had about the previous days lesson. This should be done in an interactive format by

either calling on volunteers (one group for each question, since the students would sit

in cooperative learning groups) and asking them to come up to the board and write

down the steps to get to the answer for each problem in a VIP format (i.e. not just the
 answer, as in a summary graphic) and then having that group explain how they went

through the problem and got the answer.

• Also part of this section, this is where we would review the previous day’s

homework. As a teacher, I would give all the answers to the homework and answer

any questions students had on any of the problems. I would have students exchange

papers and have students place the number of answers the student got wrong at the

top and then have them give the student a grade for the homework. In order to get

full credit for the homework, all work must be shown, not just an answer. Then I

would have students give the homework back to the original student, and I would

collect homework from each group. During this process, students would be expected

to get out a piece of paper for notes (or their math journals) for the day’s lesson on

scientific notation at that time.

2. Anticipatory Set – Getting the kids interested in the lesson.

• The teacher could show students a 3-5 minute clip from a video about scientific

notation. This clip should include the reasons students should study and know the

concept of scientific notation. Since students generally like variety, having a video in

the classroom would help them become interested in the day’s lesson.

• The teacher should then ask students “Why should we study scientific notation?” The

teacher would then write student responses (hopefully at least three) on the K part of

the KWL chart, and students should write this down in their math journals.

o In discussing why it is important to know about scientific notation and how to

use it, if students could not come up with 3 reasons, or if students did not state

one of these reasons, I would add the following. I would tell the students that
 scientific notation is important to know and use when you have extremely

small numbers (i.e. .000024020342040203402 parts per million) or when you

have extremely large numbers (i.e. 34600000000000000). It is easier to write

such large numbers out in scientific notation than it is in the above notation,

which is called standard notation. I would also explain to them that the

numbers are easier to recite and say in scientific notation than they would be if

you tried to say them in standard notation.

• Next, the teacher should ask, “What do we still want to know about scientific

notation?” The teacher should then write down what students still want to know

under the W part of the KWL Chart, and students should write this down in their

math journals.

3. Introduction of Concept

Presenting the stimulus material:

• This is the time when the teacher is lecturing and presenting the lesson content for the

day. The teacher would need to explain the main concepts of the lesson and any rules

and procedures necessary to have students grasp that information.

• Since this is a lesson on scientific notation, I have enclosed my rough draft notes that

I would basically write on the board for students to know and understand. This is the

content that I would present. The rules and procedures are things such as the formula

that students need to know to understand when a number is in scientific notation and

when it is not.
4. Guided Practice (What the student will do while the teacher facilitates)

Eliciting the desired behavior:

• This is when the teacher is calling on students to ask how to do the steps to obtain the

correct answers. This section really goes hand in hand with presenting the stimulus

material. Because throughout the lesson, after the teacher has shown the students

how to do a couple of the problems, the teacher should then put a problem on the

board where s/he says that the students should work on it on their own in their

cooperative learning groups and we will go over it as a class in a couple or a few

minutes.

• After that period, the teacher should call on three groups, each of which should

present an answer to one of the questions on the board. The group should make sure

to write all of the steps to the problem, not just the answer. Then, some member or

members of the group should explain to the class how to do the problem, step by step.

• The teacher should do this with at least 3 problems and go around the class and not

always call on the same groups for answers everyday. Sometimes s/he should call on

groups of students who are not raising their hands to answer, so that the whole class

may be considered involved. But that is why these steps go hand in hand. So some

of the problems that are on my scientific notation notes, I would put on the board for

students to try themselves and then try to have them explain the steps and how they

got to the answer, not just the answer itself.

• If other students in the class still have questions after the group explains the problem,

the group should attempt to answer questions from other students. If they cannot
 answer those questions, the teacher should then answer the questions from these other

students.

• During this whole process, the teacher should be walking around the room and

making sure all members of all groups are on tasks. If any students are raising their

hands, the teacher should make every effort to go over to those students as soon as

possible to help them.

• Students should be writing the problems and answers to the questions in their math

journals.

5. Independent Practice (What the students do while the teacher works with special

groups)

Providing Feedback:

• This is where the teacher gives students at least 2, but preferably between 3 and 5,

problems to do on their own and the teacher goes around the room and checks for

understanding. This also goes hand in hand with Eliciting the Desired Behavior, but

is done pretty much at the end of the lesson, after the groups and the teacher have

discussed all of the main concepts and the teacher has given different students a

chance to participate and the whole class to work through a couple problems together.

• During this time, the teacher either puts these problems on the board for students to

just try on their own, or the teacher assigns some problems from the book or

workbook students are working with, and then s/he goes around the room and makes

sure that students understand the content from the lesson. This could also go hand in

hand with Assessing the Behavior. Because at this point, the teacher could also
 assign the homework and still walk around the room to see if the students have started

on it and are understanding the concepts.

• The teacher can also use this time as PAT time. The teacher could first ask students

which problems they would prefer to do (either evens or odds) from a certain section

of the book. Then, the teacher could say that the first 10 minutes, students would

need to work individually, and then, if students were good and on task during that

time, the rest of the time could be used to work with partners or groups to finish their

Independent Practice Activity.

• If students who are having difficulties with the concepts, the teacher may allow them

to work with other students in their cooperative learning group, even during

Independent Practice. Since the cooperative learning groups should usually have one

student who is above average and advanced, two middle level students, and one

student who is of lower-level ability, other students in the group should be able to

help the students who are struggling.

• If students finish early, they can have extra time to themselves. Teachers may do

something like allow students to use the calculators (if teachers have a class set) to

play certain math games, such as “Bears”. Or, students can choose to start working

on their homework assignment, which should have already been listed on the board.

E – Evaluation: How will you check to see that the students learned the concept?

Assessing the behavior:

• The teacher should now ask the students, “What have we learned during this lesson

on scientific notation?” The teacher should call on different respective groups to

 answer this question and there should be at least three answers from students. These

answers should be filled in on the L column of the KWL chart on the board as well as

by the students in their math journals.

• At this time, if the teacher for some reason has chosen not to write the homework

assignment on the board, the teacher should immediately write the homework

assignment on the board and also verbally tell the students what it is. This, again, is a

strategy for teaching both oral and visual learners.

• Next, if the students have been paying attention during the lesson and the whole class

period, the teacher might just want to give students the rest of the class period to get

started on the homework.

• If the majority of students have not been paying attention and/or were not

participating in the lesson (hopefully this does not occur), then the teacher could

assign a pop quiz right then and there on the lesson. It should consist of one, possibly

2 problems for the lesson. But it shouldn’t be any more than that, because there

would more than likely only be about 5, maybe 10 minutes left of class.

• If a quiz is assigned, students should have to turn in the quiz promptly by the time the

bell rings. The best pop quiz might be an actual problem from the lesson that was just

taught. Therefore, those students who weren’t paying attention wouldn’t understand

how to do it at all and the teacher would be able to assess which students understood

the concept and which students were paying attention to the lesson by the grades on

the quiz. Those who were paying attention and taking notes should have no trouble

with it whatsoever.
• If a quiz is given for whatever reason, the teacher should collect the quizzes, grade

them prior to the next class period, and return them to students, along with comments.

This provides prompt feedback and allows the students to know they are accountable

for their actions.