Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Tiffany DeFranza Date:

Group Size: 27 Allotted Time: 30 minutes Grade Level: 4th Grade

Subject or Topic: Matter, Physical and Chemical Changes

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

3.2.4.A3: Demonstrate the conservation of mass during physical changes such as melting or
freezing.
3.2.4.A4: Recognize that combining two or more substances may make new materials with
different properties.

Learning Targets/Objectives:

The fourth-grade students will be able restate the characteristics of both physical and chemical
changes by participating in demonstrations after a group read aloud of the corresponding
lesson in the science textbook.

Assessment Approaches: Evidence:

1. Thumbs up, thumbs down 1. After the group read aloud from the science
2. Exit Ticket textbook, the teacher will ask the students for
a thumb up if they understand the difference
between a physical and chemical change, and
a thumb down if they do not.
2. After the lesson, the student is expected to
explain the difference between a physical and
chemical change in their own words.
Assessment Scale:

Ö+ • The student showed a clear understanding of both physical and chemical

changes by correctly describing each, as well as explaining the difference
between the changes.
Ö • The student attempted to explain the difference between physical and
chemical changes, however, the student only correctly described either
physical or chemical change.
Ö- • The student did not correctly explain the difference between physical and
chemical changes. The student was not able to explain what a chemical or
physical change are.
Subject Matter/Content:

Prerequisites:
• The students are familiar with the general vocabulary of the unit, including the
textbook definitions for physical change and chemical change/reaction.
• The students are familiar with the three states of matter.
• The students are familiar with the scientific method and making observations.
• The students are familiar with mixing solutions.

Key Vocabulary:
• Physical change: a change in shape, size, or state of matter.
• Chemical change: a change in the properties of matter where a new substance.
• Chemical reaction (same definition as chemical change in the textbook)
• Matter: Anything in the universe that has mass and takes up space.
• Mass: the amount of matter in any given object.
• Solid: a state of matter where the particles are close together and in a regular pattern.
• Liquid: a state of matter where the particles are not close together and take the shape of
their container.
• Gas: a state of matter which has no definite shape or fixed volume.

Content/Facts:
• Any change in the size, shape, or state of a substance is a physical change.
• Examples of physical changes are a pencil breaking, ice melting, freezing water…
• Physical changes may also include: cutting, grinding, melting, and dissolving.
• A chemical change is where one or more new substances are formed and energy may
be released.
• Signs of a chemical change include formation of one or more new substances, a color
change, or a release of energy.
• Examples of chemical changes would be rust on a penny or cake baking in the oven.
Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
• The teacher will hand back the students trifold notes from the previous class.
• The teacher will ask a student for the definition of a chemical change. The teacher will
ask a student for the definition of a physical change.
• The teacher will tell the students that today we are going to see some examples of
physical and chemical changes, after we read and learn some more about them.

Development/Teaching Approaches
• The teacher will have the students get their science textbooks, row by row.
• The teacher will have the students turn to page E26.
• The teacher will choose a new student to read each paragraph. From page E26 – E31.
• The teacher will ask the following comprehension questions throughout the read along:
o If you see rust on a penny what kind of change is this?
o If something shrinks what kind of change is this?
 o I am boiling a pot of pasta. Can someone name physical change that is
happening? (There are 2)
o What are some of the signs of a chemical change?
o What clues might indicate that energy has been released?
o What are clues that might show you that a new substance is formed?
• The teacher will have the students put their textbooks away, row by row. After they
have put their textbooks away they will begin making a fishbowl around the table at
the front of the room.
• The teacher will tell the students that we are going to demonstrate both physical and
chemical changes. The teacher will tell the students to raise their hand when they think
they know what kind of change one of the models is.
• Models:
o Physical change, dissolve: mixing sugar with a cup of water. The students will
see that the sugar gets extremely tiny and will no longer be visible. This is a
physical change because there is a change in shape.
o Physical change, cutting: cutting up paper with scissors. This is a physical
change because there is a change in both shape and size.
o Physical change, melting: dropping butter into a small cup of hot water. This is
a physical change because there is a change in state of matter when the butter
goes from a solid to a liquid.
o Physical change, grinding: using a grater on the skin of a clementine. This is a
physical change because the skin is changing size as it gets grinded up.
o Chemical change, release of carbon dioxide: The teacher will take a water
bottle and put ¼ cup of vinegar in it. The teacher will put some baking soda
into a balloon. Without letting the baking soda into the bottle, the teacher will
fasten the end of the balloon on the water bottle end. The teacher will ask the
students to make predictions about what will happen. The teacher will lift the
balloon over the water bottle.
§ The students should see that the balloon will fill with gas and inflate.
§ The teacher will ask students if anyone has an idea of what happened.
§ The teacher will explain that when vinegar and baking soda meet, they
create carbon dioxide which inflates the balloon.
§ The teacher will ask the students what kind of change this is.
§ Desired response: chemical change.
§ The students should notice that we know that because a new substance
is formed, the carbon dioxide.
• The teacher will ask the students if they have any questions about physical and
chemical changes.
• The teacher will have the students sit back at their seats.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
• The teacher will hand out the exit tickets and have students flip them over when
they’re done.
• The teacher will line the students up as they complete their exit tickets for co-
curricular/special.
 • The teacher will collect their exit tickets to review while they are at special.

Accommodations/Differentiation:
• JG, GK, JT, KT: Pre-typed guided notes to go along with the textbook read along.
• JG, GK, JT, KT: Differentiated exit-slip.

Materials/Resources:
• Harcourt Science textbook, teacher’s edition
• Harcourt Science textbook, student edition (27 copies)
• Demonstrations: Water bottle, balloon, cheese grater, clementine, baking soda, vinegar,
cup, paper, sugar, butter, scissors.
• Exit slips (23 copies)
• Differentiated exit slips (4 copies)
Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

This was the lesson where I found myself being shocked by the outcome of the exit tickets, and
very thankful that I included them in the lesson to check the student’s understanding. Throughout
the lesson the students were extremely engaged. All the comprehension questions I intended to
ask the students were asked, and students volunteered to answer them. Although some of their
answers during class may not have been correct, we went through thorough discussion about
physical and chemical changes, and where we see them in the real world. Yet, as you can see
based on the below exit ticket results, very few students had a clear understanding and could
explain physical and chemical changes. I think what also plays a large role in this lack of being
able to provide explanation is that for most students, memorizing a definition is all they must do
to succeed on their tests’. This exit slip did add an extra challenge when they were expected to
explain the difference between the two changes, not only restate each changes definition.

Overall, I believe when an example was given during class, many students only remembered this
short example. For instance, one of the examples of a chemical reaction that I gave was when
you bake a cake in the oven. The liquid batter changes from a solid to a liquid, but the smell that
comes from the cake is an indicator of a chemical change. On many exit slips, the students stated
that a chemical change was one, “where the smell changed”.
Remediation Plan (if applicable)

The exit tickets were a clear indicator to me that the students did not have a clear
understanding of physical and chemical changes. Because of this, I added an error analysis
piece into my review lesson where we are going to go over many of the common
misconceptions student have about physical and chemical changes. In addition, I hope that
analyzing our mistakes and hearing both teacher and student responses, the students will gain a
clearer understanding of the difference between the two concepts. In the future, I am also going
to explain the exit ticket more clearly for Jayla and Gavin because they did answer the exit
ticket in a way that related back to this specific lesson, only science in general. I believe the
students do not have a lot of experience with an informal exit ticket.