Jodi Thompson PSII Practicum

LESSON PLAN

Grade: 4 Science Lesson Title: Biome Vocabulary

Wednesday January 20, 2021

Overview of lesson

This lesson will continue an introduction to the Science unit on Biomes with the following activities,
 Review last week’s lesson
 Vocabulary activity

BC Program of Study
BIG IDEA  Study adaptations of local animals (aquatic invertebrates,
All living things sense and respond to their insects, salmon, caterpillars or birds) that help them sense their
environment environment and respond to the environment to help them
survive
 Examine interdependence within ecosystems through an
examination of food chains
 Study biomes by looking at terrestrial, aquatic and marine
biomes (regions grouped by similar conditions). BC biomes
include forest, grassland, wetlands, alpine tundra and marine.

Learning Resources / Material & Equipment used

- Vocabulary handout
- Power point with images and videos of different biomes and what terms are associated with them
- https://uleth-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jodi_thompson_uleth_ca/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=
%7B603D521D-5FC7-485A-9341-
76AA83E286D8%7D&file=Presentation.pptx&action=edit&mobileredirect=true&CT=1611086487779&OR=ItemsV
iew

Lesson Procedures (50 minutes)

Introduction (5-10 minutes)

Have students seated at their desks with their biome vocabulary sheet – they are responsible for keeping these
somewhere so they do not get lost
Review expectations for the lesson – they should be seated and listening, not drawing on the tables or on their sheets.
If they want to share or comment or answer during the lesson they should put their hand up and wait to be called upon.

Review of last class

 Review what was done and discussed in the last class.
o We started the “vocappulary” activity last week and have made it up to the desert biome on the
student’s vocab sheets.
o Briefly review each of these words with discussion – the students can read the definition that they wrote
down last science lesson
 Habitat – the natural home of an animal, plant or organism
 What is the difference between a habitat and a biome?
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 Adaptation – features that help an organism survive in its environment
 Temperate Forest – Four Seasons. Lots of Rain.
 Boreal Forest (Taiga) – Evergreen Trees. Long Winters.
 Grassland – Large open areas. Lots of Grass.
 Savanna – Grassy plain with few trees.
Body (30 minutes)

 Work through more of the vocabulary – starting with desert

 Ask the students what they know about the word before going to the slide with the definition
 Read the definition out loud and give the students a chance to write down the definition
 Show the slides about that definition, allow the students a chance to comment if they want to (by putting their hand up)

Desert
 Before flipping to the next slide ask the students what they know about the desert already. Accept any answers even if they
may not be correct.
 Flip to the next slide with information.
 A Large region with little rain.
o This is the bullet that the students should write down on their vocab sheet.
o When the majority of the students have written down the first line, read the rest of the slide or have students
volunteer to read.
 Flip to the map slide. Allow the students a chance to put their hand up if they have any comments to make about the map.
This may be anything they notice about the placements or the existence of this biome where they live.
 Plants and animals slide.
o Have a student read out the plants and another read out the animals,
o Ask the students if they have seen any of these animals before. Allow discussion if students put their hand up to
speak.
 Video
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4crvs-KTBw
o Wait for the students to be quiet and attentive and show them the national geographic video on deserts.
o Ask the students to notice anything that they fins interesting or something they want to comment on about the
video.
o After the video has played allow the students 30 seconds to share their interesting thing they noticed with a
partner.
o Ask the students if anyone wants to share their notice with the rest of the class.
 Pictures
o Show the pictures to the class, allow the students to share anything if they put their hand up and are quiet.

Tropical Rainforest
 Before flipping to the next slide ask the students what they know about the desert already. Accept any answers even if they
may not be correct.
 Flip to the next slide with information
o Read out the first line “Tall trees, warm, lots of rain” and tell the students to write down that line on their vocab
sheet
o Circulate around the classroom to make sure students are on task and writing what they should be. When most of
the students are finished writing read out the rest of the bullet points. Ask the students if they have visited a
Rainforest before, did they notice anything about it?
 Flip to the map slide. Allow the students a chance to put their hand up if they have any comments to make about the map.
This may be anything they notice about the placements or the existence of this biome where they live.
 Plants and Animals slide
o Have a student volunteer to read the plants and another to read the animals
o Ask the students if they have seen any of these animals before. Allow discussion if students put their hand up to
speak.
 Video
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vijLre760w
o Wait for the students to be quiet and attentive and show them the national geographic video on rainforests.
o Ask the students to notice anything that they fins interesting or something they want to comment on about the
video.
o After the video has played allow the students 30 seconds to share their interesting thing they noticed with a
partner.
o Ask the students if anyone wants to share their notice with the rest of the class.

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 Pictures
o Show the pictures to the class, allow the students to share anything if they put their hand up and are quiet.

Tundra
 Before flipping to the next slide ask the students what they know about the desert already. Accept any answers even if they
may not be correct.
 Flip to the next slide with information
o Read out the first bullet “arctic region with frozen soil” and tell the students that they will write that line on their
vocab sheet
o Circulate around the classroom to ensure that the students are on task with their writing
o When most of the students have finished writing, have a student read our the last two bullets and move onto the
next slide.
 Flip to the map slide. Allow the students a chance to put their hand up if they have any comments to make about the map.
This may be anything they notice about the placements or the existence of this biome where they live.
 Plants and animals slide: have a student volunteer to read some of the bullets on this slide.
 Video
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT6x5GVPFG8
o Wait for the students to be quiet and attentive and show them the national geographic video on Tundra.
o Ask the students to make a connection to the video while they are watching it.
o After the video has played allow the students 30 seconds to share their connection they noticed with a partner.
o Ask the students if anyone wants to share their connection with the rest of the class.
 Show the pictures of the Tundra slide, allow the students a moment to look at the pictures and allow some of them to share if
they put their hand up and are listening attentively

Part 2 of activity
 When the class has filled out their vocab words with definitions they can start the second part of the activity
o Ask the students if any of them are missing words and need to review them – they can also copy off of a partner
 Hand out the top sheet of the vocappulary (boxes with images on it)
 The students will need to draw pictures to match the vocab words (ie draw something that represents Tundra for the Tundra
vocabulary word) I have created an example that they can reference if they want some ideas however this should be their
own work.
 They will colour the images and then cut them out. Once they are cut out they will glue them onto the appropriate definition.
Encourage students to cut them out one at a time so that they do not get confused with which one it should be glued to.
 Remind students that they are only gluing the very top part onto their definition so that they can still read the words
underneath
 Remind the students that they are responsible for keeping their vocab activity and not losing it. They should ensure that the
flaps they cut out are glued on so that they do not get lost before next class.
 Circulate around the classroom and help students as needed.
Remind students that they should be working quietly on their own as this is something that they are creating by themselves
and not with a partner.

When this is complete they can colour the background of their project
Tell the students that the last few boxes that are blank should remain blank and will be explained in the next class. They can glue these
flaps on so that they are not lost.

Closure/ Reflection
Ask the students to sit back at their desks and place all their belongings on the table.
Rapidly ask different students to tell you a fact about a specific biome.
o For example: Jodi tell me something about the Tundra.
o Answers will vary but look for correct information about the biome.
o There will not be enough time to ask every student something but try to ask students who were not as active during class
discussion earlier.

Have students clean up their desks and put their vocab sheets away. They can then sit at their desks and get ready for home time

Professional Reflections: (of the lesson) What went well? What needs modification? This is not the final
reflective essay, however contents of this reflection could be used in your reflective essay.

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Here is the example of the Biome vocabulary that the students are creating. They will draw their own
flaps for the activity.