Bella Galli

Mr. Dawson
MAT 3312 – Math and Science for the Elementary Teacher
6 April 2020

Rochester University
Science Lesson Plan
                                               
Grade Level/Content Teacher Candidate Date
Area Name
2nd Grade - Science Miss Bella Galli April 6th, 2020
Next Generation Science Standards (InTASC 4; InTASC 7)
2-LS2-1 – Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and
water to grow.
Learning Outcomes InTASC 1; InTASC 7)
 Students will understand that water from soil moves into a plant through its
roots and into its stem. The water carries nutrients into the plant, which helps
the plant to grow.
 Students will perform an experiment over the course of two days, learning that
it takes time for the water to travel up the stem of a plant, or in this case, the
celery stalk. The students will even see that the water will reach the leaves on
the top of the stalk.
 Students will notice the small tubes that the water travels up through the celery,
which are called xylems. They will understand that the tubes carry water and
nutrients to help the nourish the plant and help it grow. Ultimately, this
connects to the standard, because it allows children to see how water and
nutrients enter the plant in order to help it flourish.
Important Concepts for the Lesson (InTASC 4; InTASC 7)
 Students will learn the concept of water moving through small tubes in the
stem, which are called xylems.
 Students will learn that water carries nutrients in it from the soil, and it moves
from the ground, to the roots of the plant, and up through the rest of the plant
(to the leaves and all other parts of the plant); this ultimately helps the plants to
grow. Students will compare this idea to how the water with the food coloring
in it traveled through the stalk of the celery and into the leaves. They will see
that the food coloring moved throughout the entire stalk.
Higher Order Thinking Skills (Revised Bloom’s)
Remembering: What are the parts of plant? Where does water enter the plant?
Understanding: Explain what xylems are in the celery stalk/plant stem.
Applying: What do you think would occur if we left the celery stalk/stem in the food
coloring for longer than one day?
Analyzing: Compare a celery stalk to a plant stem. How are they similar? How are they
different?
Creating: Design/draw and color your own diagram of water traveling up the xylems
and into the leaves/petals of a flower. (Show/label each step.)
Essential Prior Knowledge for New Learning (InTASC 4; InTASC 7)
 Students know the parts of a plant – stem, leaves, roots, and flowers/petals.
 Students know basic procedures of scientific method that are often used in an
experiment (observations, ask questions, form hypothesis, experiment/test
hypothesis, analyze data, make conclusions) and have practiced them in prior
experiments.
 Students understand that each part of the plant has a specific task that helps the
plant grow and reproduce.
 Students understand that plants produce oxygen and also serve as food for
animals.
Flexible and Responsive Instruction (InTASC 1; InTASC 2; InTASC 7)
Special Needs:
1.) For students who do not have the prerequisite relationships, I could begin the lesson
with a short review about plants and the different parts of plants (roots, leaves, stem,
petals, etc.). I may provide a visual, such as a picture pulled up on a SmartBoard, a
drawing that I create on the white board, a worksheet with the parts of the flower
labeled, or even display an actual flower/physical model of a flower to help bridge the
gap between an idea and a concrete object. Before the experiment, I may also ask
students if they can list the steps of the scientific method and explain what occurs at
each step. We could even discuss and work through an example of an experiment that
we have already completed in the class, and I could ask students to recall what we did
at each step for that specific activity/experiment. Overall, I will make sure to be
thorough in my review before moving forward, while helping students make
connections to real-life ideas and helping them to see the basic function of plants,
before diving deeper into understanding how they function and why they function the
way they do.
2.) For students who show a lack of understanding, I will make sure to keep my lesson
short, simple, and engaging. I will ask my students questions that challenge their
thinking, but I will also ask students questions that create a desire to discover what will
happen next. I want to encourage students that it is okay to have wrong answers,
because we will use them to help us better understand and grow. Making mistakes is
important to the lesson because students then have the opportunity to troubleshoot and
consider how to fix them. One specific way I can help students who are not
understanding is by creating partners for students. I may partner a student who is
understanding the material well with a student who is struggling a bit and needs some
extra guidance; this may help the struggling student to better understand the concepts,
because a classmate/friend can explain it in simpler terms or from a different
perspective that the student had not heard before. Throughout the lesson, I can also
pause, ask questions in order to understand students’ thinking processes, and help
reframe ideas if needed.

Advanced Students: For students who are mastering the material more quickly than
expected, I may challenge them to consider ideas such as whether the temperature of
the water affects how much water travels up the celery stalk and how fast the water
travels. I may also challenge them to consider what would happen if we tried the
experiment with actual flowers; I might ask them what they think would occur (such as
if they think the food coloring would change the color of the flower, if the flower
would respond well and keep growing or if the food coloring would hurt the flower,
etc.). I could also have children test the celery stalks in sunlight and in darkness, to see
if there would be a difference in how the water traveled based on location/amount of
sunlight, as well. (Finally, I could also explain the process that is occurring more
deeply, explaining that transpiration takes place, and the water evaporates through the
leaves once it reaches the leaves. To explain this, I could challenge students to consider
where the water went once it reached the leaves, and I can ask for students’ ideas about
it.)
Instructional Procedures (InTASC 4; InTASC 5; InTASC 6; InTASC 7; InTASC 8)
Review: I may begin by reviewing by providing a flower with arrows pointing to each
part of the flower (roots, leaves, stem, etc.). I can have students come up
to the board and label each one. In order for each student to have a turn
to think through what he/she knows individually, I may pass out a sheet
with a picture of a flower on it, which includes blanks to label each part
of the flower. Then, I can have students compare with partners or in a
group, in order to determine whether they remembered the parts of the
plant correctly. I can then discuss with the students (as a whole class)
what they could recall. Then, I may have students each brainstorm their
own idea of what the plant’s function(s) are. Once they each have their
own ideas, I will again have the students discuss their ideas in groups
and determine a one-sentence summary of what the important jobs of a
plant are (which are producing oxygen and serving as food for other
animals). Since they can identify the important jobs of a plant, the
students will now need to dive deeper in order to learn how certain parts
of the plant operate in order to carry out those jobs.

Anticipatory Set: After reviewing the major concepts related to flowers, I will ask the
students if they have eaten celery before and ask whether or not they
like it, calling on some students to hear their answers. Once I do this, I
may ask the students, “If celery is a plant, what part of the plant do we
eat?” I can have students talk in groups, or I may pause and then allow
them to answer individually. The answer I am looking for is “the stem.”
During this time, I may pull up a picture of celery or even display actual
celery for the students to see, so that they can determine whether the
celery is the leaves, the stem, etc. Finally, I will end my introduction by
stating “Today, we are going to be scientists and change the color of
celery.” The students may have some confused looks on their faces,
wondering how it is possible to change the color of celery and why it
relates to science. This will help them to start asking questions like,
“How?” and “Why?”
Curriculum-Framing Questions
  Essential Question How do water and nutrients move through the stem of a
plant (or through a celery stalk, in this experiment)?
  Unit Questions How does water enter a plant (celery)? Where does it
travel in the plant (celery)? Why does the plant (celery)
 need water? What is in the plant (celery) that helps water
and nutrients travel?
  Content Questions  Applying – Explain where the water travels in a
flower/plant in comparison to a celery stalk.
(Students may explain that water might travel to
petals and leaves in flowers, while the water only
travels to the leaves in a celery stalk.)
 Analyzing – Is there anything that might stop the
water from traveling up the plant stem/celery?
 Evaluating – If I put more water in one vase/jar
than another vase/jar, how would this affect the
celery/plant stem? (Do you think the celery
stalk/stem would take in more water faster if there
was more water in the cup?)

Assessment Summary:
Formative Assessment: For this lesson, I will formatively assess students by observing
their work as individuals throughout the review and experiment, as well as during their
group work time as they are discussing ideas and observations. I will challenge
individual students and groups of students by asking questions when the opportunities
arise. At the beginning of the second day of the lesson, before the students observe the
changes that occurred to their celery, I may have the students list three important steps
they took in their experiments the day before, identify some observations, and even
simply answer review questions about the parts of plants and the functions of plants.

Summative Assessment: For this lesson, the summative assessment will be the
students’ completed lab sheet, which includes their observations, experimental steps,
hypothesis, conclusions, and pictures of the celery before and after the food coloring
changes. Another idea I have for the summative assessment is that have students create
a small booklet/pamphlet that highlights each step they took to carry out their
experiment, along with a picture to display each step. I could either have the students
create their own, or I could create a template in which I have lines for writing the
sentence that highlights each step and boxes for each picture beneath the lines.

Lesson Timeline

Start of the Lesson Mid-Lesson Activities End of Lesson Activities

 The lesson will  I will split students  On Day Two, the
begin with a into groups of 3-4. students will get
review on the Most of them may back into their
parts of the plant, already be in groups groups and observe
the scientific this size at their the changes that
method, and the tables. occurred since the
functions of the  Each table will have day before. They
plant. 1-2 pieces of celery, will observe that
 I will introduce a clear vase/jar, the food coloring
the lesson by water, and food
asking students if coloring.
they like celery,  At the front of the
what it is, and classroom, I will
what part of the model the first steps
plant it is. Then, I the students need to
will engage take: place the celery
students further in the glass, fill the
with the idea that glass halfway with
we will change the water, and add food
color of celery. coloring. Students
should use 2-4 drops
of food coloring;
they want to make
sure that they use
enough food coloring
to be able to see an
obvious change in
the stem.
 I will provide a
worksheet that has
the students
determine their
hypothesis, write
observations,
identify the scientific
method steps they
used in order to
complete their
experiment, and  Students will draw
make conclusions
based on their results
They will complete
these in groups,
discussing what they
think will happen
and what they notice
is already happening.
(This will occur on
the first day.)
 I will walk around,
observe, and answer  Students will turn
questions as students
work in groups as
part o the formative
assessment.
did, in fact, change
the color of the
leaves. Once the
students take the
celery stalks out of
the water, they will
notice that the
bottom of the
stalks have been
darkened by the
food coloring. This
will help them to
see the “tiny holes”
in which the celery
used to absorb the
water. I will
explain that these
are called xylems,
and they are tiny
tubes which carry,
or transport, water
through the stalk
and into the leaves.
In plants, the
xylems carry water
and nutrients
throughout the
stem and into the
leaves.
conclusions as
groups. I may have
them draw and
color pictures of
the celery in the
food coloring from
Day 1 and from
Day 2, so that they
have a visual to
help display the
difference.
in their lab sheets
as their summative
assessment piece
for this experiment.
Technology – Hardware

 SmartBoard (Optional – Could be used to display a picture of a real flower

or to display a visual that shows the parts of the flower labeled; this can be
determined by what the teacher feels is appropriate for the students’ levels
of understanding.)

Technology – Software
No software is necessary/involved for this experiment.

 Celery “Before and After Food Coloring” Worksheet

(https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Celery-
Stalk-Experiment-Observations-Worksheet-1049419)

Printed
Materials
(These materials  Celery Lab/Experiment Sheet –
are examples of (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/299207968969739710/)
what I might
use/are similar to
what I might
use.)

Supplies  Fresh stalks of celery (with leaves on top and bottoms pre-
 cut – this will help to see where the water travels through
on the bottom and where it reaches at the top)
 Water
 Food Coloring – Red, Purple, Blue (Maybe also
orange/green– as long as the colors are easily visible to
students)
 3-4 Clear jars/vases/containers (For students to be able to
easily view celery in various food colorings)
 White board (optional)

 “The Color-Changing Celery Experiment” -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIug9Foou3s
Internet
 http://www.teaching-tiny-tots.com/toddler-science-celery-
Resources
experiment.html

Other
Resources