Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

CAEP 2018 K-6 Elementary Teacher Preparation Standards
Kenzie Teel
LESSON RATIONALE
Students need to learn to look at a situation or problem from a different perspective to make sure
they are getting all the details for a complete picture. This lesson puts their mind in that position by having
them think about rainforest deforestation in a different light because the obvious solutions have been done
and failed. So, by thinking of a new solution, the students are utilizing a new perspective. Thinking different
ways will help students in life with people, jobs, and interactions that may be confusing at first, but it will
allow the students to stay open-minded and find a reasonable solution for all parties involved.

READINESS
I.Goals/Objectives/Standard
A. Goal
 Students will demonstrate and utilize the knowledge of the scientific method by
working through the steps to design a prototype to prevent rainforest deforestation.
B. Objective(s)
 Students will develop a basic understanding of the causes of rainforest
deforestations.

 Students will produce a visual aide of each prototype option, until the final creation
is demonstrated.

 Students will record and compare different types of preventions that have been in
place to stop rainforest deforestation.
C. Standard:
 2.E.1 Pose questions, make observations, and obtain information about a situation
people want to change. Use this data to define a simple problem that can be solved
through the construction of a new or improved object or tool.
II. Management Plan-
a. Time per lesson element:
 Anticipatory Set: 7 minutes
 Mini-lesson: 4 minutes
 Research: 15 minutes
 Group Work: 30 minutes
 Closing: 4 minutes
b. Use of space:
 Anticipatory Set: the large carpet area in the back of the room.
 Mini-lesson: the carpet area in the front of the room.
 Research: individual work at their seats.
 Group Work: Each group will get half the class to work. So one group will be in the back
of the classroom and the other group will be in the front of the classroom.
 Closing: Students will go back to their seats, and each group will come up one at a time
to present.
c. List of materials:
 Blocks
 Bin
 Research paper
 Paper
 Glue
 String

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  Mirrors
 Colored paper
 Markers
 Pencils
 Rulers
 Pom-poms
 Cardboard
 Tape
 Wooden sticks
 Computer
 Blank paper

d. Describe expectations and procedures:

 The students have a clip chart that will be utilized if they are not behaving. They know
how to use this chart and understand that consequences will follow if they clip down.
 The student will be informed about the procedures to walk from place to place in the
room because there is no running.
 I will expect the students to work together quietly and nicely so each person is active in
the learning. If not, they will be warned and then if it continued, they will clip down.
 I will expect the students to put forth effort in the project and be taking care of their
actions.

III. Anticipatory Set

“Good morning, how are you guys doing today? Allow students to respond. I am glad to hear you all
are doing well. So, I made a mess over on the floor with my blocks, do you guys think you could help me pick them
up? Allow students to respond with ‘yes.’ Fantastic, only thing is, no part of your body can touch the block. So,
your hands, feet, or any other part cannot touch the cubes to move them. I need you to place them in this bin. You
will have seven minute to figure out who you are going to clean up the mess. Time starts now!”
Allow students 7 minutes to try and figure out how to clean up the blocks without touching them.
“What ways are you trying to pick up the blocks?”
Allow students to respond.
“How did you think of cleaning up the blocks in that way?”
Allow students to respond.
“Freeze, time is up! You guys did a great job, but there are still a few blocks laying on the ground. Why?”
Allow students to respond with some form of ‘It was a difficult task.’
“Yes, it was difficult, and I will explain why after we move up to the front of the room.”
Allow students to move to the front of the room and sit on the carpet.

Purpose:
“Today we are going to look at a problem in the world from a new perspective or a new way of thinking
and try to create a solution. From this new perspective, you may notice unique qualities that you did not
notice before. I want you to embrace them and help them motivate you in your discoveries.”

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners:
a. I will block off the sections on the recording sheets so students know where the information
should be going. The sections will help the visual students, so they know how much
information they need and it provides an easy way to keep track of the information.

b. For the students who are struggling, I will supply a list of resources that provide information
on how people are using tools to prevent rainforest deforestation.

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 c. When the students are working on finding the research, I will allow them to sit anywhere in
their area, as long as they are behaving and not distracting other students. This will benefit
the students who need to move around or are not comfortable sitting in the hard chairs.

V.Lesson Presentation:
“So, you guys think that cleaning up the blocks was hard? Can someone quietly raise their hand and
explain to me why you thought that?”
Allow students to raise their hands, then choose one that is sitting quietly to answer.
“Yes, I made you guys pick up the block in a new way that I am sure most of you are not used to. The
simple way would have been to use your hands and you would have cleaned the blocks up in less than a minute.
Yet, I wanted to challenge you and make you look at cleaning from a new perspective. Who knows what a
perspective is? Allow students to respond with guesses on what perspective means. Perspective is a way that
we think about a situation. Each one of us has a different perspective because our lives and things we think are
important are different to us. It is a good thing that we have different perspective or this room would be boring
cause we all would think the same! Was there anything that stood out to you as something that was better by
doing it this way?”
Allow students to respond with one thing that was better about the new way.
“Did you guys notice, that instead of quietly picking up the blocks, you had to talk to your neighbor to
help you pick them up? So, you got to communicate instead of working quietly. We tried something new, and
something good came out of it. Trying new ways of thinking is not always bad. Using a new view allows us to see
things that we could not see or do before. So, we have two problems that I want us as a class to try and prevent
from happening. We can either work with Rainforest Deforestation, which means cutting down the tree in the
rainforest or we can work with Pollution, which is harmful things in the water, ground, and air. Why one do you
guys want to work with?”
Allow students time to think about which problem they want to solve.
“Now, raise your hand if you want to work on the Rainforest Deforestation.”
15 students raise their hands.
“Raise your hand if you want to work on Pollution.”
11 students raise their hands.
“Okay, we are going to try and prevent rainforest deforestation today during science! Are you all read?”
Students respond with “yes!”
“The question we are going to try and solve is ‘How do we prevent rainforest deforestation?’ Rainforest
deforestation is a problem because people are cutting down trees too quickly so we can have lots of wood, but
when we do that animals and other creatures lose their homes. Yes, rainforest deforestation is a big, can you say
it with me?”
Allow students to say ‘rainforest deforestation.’
“Nice, it is a vocab word that means removing the forest or cutting down trees. So now, you can go home
and tell the people in your house that you know what rainforest deforestation means!”
“Since rainforest deforestation has been a problem before, people have already tried to prevent it, but
the preventions have not been as helpful because people are still cutting down the trees. So, who remembers
what a prediction or hypothesis is?”
Allow students to respond with ‘a guess on what is happening.’
“Yes, now I want to see a thumbs-up if you understand what a hypothesis is or a thumbs-down if you
need more explanation. Ready, Set, Show Me!”
I will check the students thumbs to see which students are understanding and which ones are not. If
the students need more clarification, I will reexplain the concept in a different direction.
“I have placed a recording sheet at your seat, I want you to go back to your desk and write down a
prediction on how people are already trying to prevent rainforest deforestation and then draw a picture of what
this object looks like in the box that say ‘Prototype #1’. A prototype is like a rough draft of the invention. We have
not created the project so people can buy it, so it is still in the building stage. What questions do you guys have?”
Answer any question that the students have.
“If there are no more questions, you may quietly move back to your seats.”
Allow 4 minutes for students to think of a prediction and draw the picture. During this time, I will
walk around to make sure students are predicting and drawing their images.

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 “I saw a lot of great hypotheses and pictures! Now, I want you to look at the top right corner of your
recording sheet, there is either a blue mark or a red mark. If you have a blue mark you are group #1 and you will
be in the back part of the room by the teachers table. If you have a red mark you are group #2 and you will be in
the front part of the room by my table. Quietly point to where you will be moving to.”
Allow students to point in the direction of their colored tables that have a blue or red piece of paper
above the location.
“Quietly grab your computers and move, and then be quiet and raise your hand once you get to your
spot so I can give more directions. Ready, Set, Move!”
Allow students to move to the section of the room they are supposed to be in. I will wait until all
students are quiet and raising their hands.
“Now, in your group with computers I want you to research about ways and tools that are designed to
stop deforestation and what the term rainforest deforestation means so you have a better understanding. You
will take notes, draw a picture of another prototype people created. You will work through the recording sheet
until the last picture and materials sections, this will be completed later. Remember, we learned in digital
citizenship what are good websites to use, so I want to see you using what you learned when you are
researching. What questions do you have or give me a thumbs-up if you are ready to start?”
Answer any questions that arise and give clarification when needed.
“If there are no more question then we are ready to work! You will have fifteen minutes to work, happy
researching!”
During this time, I will be walking around the room and be talking to each group to see what they are
finding in their research. If the students seem to be struggling to find information, I will have a set of reviewed
websites that they can look at to help their thinking get on the right track or use ideas from. I will be asking
students question about their research as I am walking around. Some questions I may ask could include; ‘How
does that tool prevent deforestation?’ or ‘What are those people doing to help with prevention?’ or ‘Can you
describe your drawing of the prototype to me?’
The students will have 15 minutes to research and fill out their record sheets.
“Freeze! Time is up. I am going to give you three minutes to discuss with your group the information you
found and determine the prototype you want to design. Once you have determined what the design is going to
look like draw a sketch on the sticky note and come place it on your side of the white board under your teams’
color. This way, we will get two perspectives on the problem and how to solve it instead of both groups choosing
the same way. What questions do you have before we start discussing?”
Allow the students to ask question that arise and answer accordingly.
“If there are no more questions, you may start discussing.”
Allow the students 3 minutes to discuss and write on the board the design of their prototype. Check
the sticky notes to make sure the designs are not over lapping in similarities. If they are, have the groups
design new ideas.
“Freeze, time is up! Now I have checked over the prototypes and they look great! I am going to give you
the next twenty-five minutes to use the art supplies in on the art table over by the closets to build the design of
the prototype. Remember that these are art tools, so I should not see them flying in the air or at other people.
Make sure you work as a group to design the model because I want one from each group. I challenge you to be as
creative as you can be so I can see the design that is in your heads. Make sure to listen to your peers’ opinions
because their unique perspectives may add something you did not notice before. Make sure to write down the
materials you used and draw a picture of the final design of the prototype on the recording sheet. Any questions
before we start creating?”
Answer any questions that arise with the appropriate information.
“Fantastic! Ready, set, happy creating!”
During this time, I will be walking around to the groups to see how they are designing the models. I
will check to make sure they are recording the information on the sheets. I will also check to make sure that
each student is participating in the design and that one student is not taking the project over. Some questions
that I may ask could include; ‘Why are you using those supplies to build the design?’ or ‘If you had different
materials to use, what items would you choose?’ or ‘How is this design harder to build or is it easier than you
thought?’
“Hey blue group, how are you guys doing?”
Allow students to respond.

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 “Your design is coming together very nicely, it looks a lot like the picture you drew up there for the
sticky note! How is your design supposed to prevent rainforest deforestation?”
Allow students to think and respond to the question.
“You guys are doing great, keep up the good work. I am going to move to the red group, but if you need
anything just raise your hands.”
““Hey red group, how are you guys doing?”
Allow students to respond.
“Your design is coming together well, it looks like the picture you drew up there for the board! How is
your design supposed to prevent rainforest deforestation?”
Allow students to think and respond to the question. After 25 minutes has passed, I will stop the
groups from working on their projects. I will pass out a blank piece of paper to each student during their
creating time period.
“Freeze! The creating time is up, but now I want you to take the white paper in front of you and I want
you to compare the prevention tools you looked at and the prototype you made. How are they similar? How are
they different? I am going to give you five minutes to compare and contrast You may start!?
During the 5 minutes, I will walk around to see how the students are doing with the comparing and
contrasting and ask and answer question if needed.
“Times up! You guys did really well throughout this whole experiment, so thank you!”

VI. Check for understanding:

 I will use the thumb-up and thumbs-down method to check for understanding on topics that are
presented to the students. Students feel comfortable with this method because it is used daily in the
classroom.
 I will ask question to students and they will respond. Based on their answers I will know if students
understand a concept or need more review.
 I will for understanding by looking at their compare and contrast charts to see if they know the
differences between their model and the current tools being used.

VII. Review learning outcomes / Closure

“Now, we are going to move to the presenting, so I want one group to come up and show us your
prototype and explain how it is going to prevent rainforest deforestation. Which is what again?”
Allow students to respond with ‘cutting down trees.’
“Perfect! Blue group, would you like to come up here and present first?”
Allow blue group to come up and present their prototype to the class and answer questions that
may arise.
“Fantastic! Now the red group, you can come up and share.”
Allow red group to come up and present their prototype to the class and answer questions that
may arise.
“These prototypes were a great start into looking at how we can prevent deforestation, but what
happens if these do not work?”
Allow students to respond.
“Right, one of the parts of the scientific method is checking to see the accuracy of the product and if it
fails, we start again. This is a trial and error process that will occur a lot in science because things are constantly
changing. During this lesson we posed a question on how to prevent the rainforest from being destroyed, then we
made our predictions, then we did research on how people were trying to help, next we used that data to create
our models. Today we used our brains to think like scientist and work through the scientific method to help
prevent the rainforest from being destroyed! This project gave us a chance to look at a problem and solution
from a new perspective to try and find a solution that would work better. There are going to be many situations
in life where we need to take a new look at a situation instead of giving up. So, remember to embrace the
differences of a new perspective or situation because that is when you will see the full picture!”

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

Formative Assessment:

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 o A formative assessment will include the note taking and asking questions to make sure
students know what is going on without confusion.
o The formative assessment will include thumbs-up and thumbs-down method the students
are showing me because it shows how well they understand the content and if I need to
reteach.
o The recording sheet will be another formative assessment because it will show the students
working on the content and it will show if they are confused with what information should
be included or where that lesson should be going.

Summative Assessment:
o The summative assessment will be the prototypes the groups are designing. After
researching, the groups are going to design a prototype they think based on the data will
help prevent rainforest deforestation. Each group will present their model and explain why
to the rest of the class.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
7. Did the students explore multiple prototypes created by other people? If not, why?
8. Were the students fully interested in the topic and putting forth their best efforts? If not, why?
9. Where the students able to accurately complete the recording sheet? If not, why?

Extra Websites for students:

https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/How-Can-We-Stop-Deforestation

https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/three-innovations-might-save-amazon

https://kids.kiddle.co/Deforestation

https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/forests/deforestation_fronts2/deforestation_in_the_amazon/

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https://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/501.html

https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/stories/deforestation-facts-kids