WSE WINTER 2021 LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Learning Ancient Athens STEM Challenge: Class Olympics 6

Date March 22, 2021 Experience Grade Level
[Lesson Title]
120 minutes Social Studies/Science 17
Time in Lesson Subject[s] Lesson #

Developed by Kylie Higgs

SECTION 1. IDENTIFY DESIRED RESULTS

RESOURCE: CH. 1-6 IN:
Wiggins, G. J. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd Edition)
Available: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/lib/ucalgary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3002118

Learner Outcomes from the Program of Studies

The … General Outcome for this lesson is [this would be from the Unit Plan] …

1-2 … Specific Outcomes for this lesson are…

If this lesson also connects with other subjects:

The … General Outcome[s] for this lesson is/are [from the Unit Plan] …

1-2 Specific … Outcomes for this lesson are…

SOCIAL STUDIES

General Outcome: 6.S.5 demonstrate skills of cooperation, conflict resolution and consensus building

Specific Outcomes:
• demonstrate the skills of compromise to reach group consensus
• work collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal
• record group brainstorming, planning and sharing of ideas by using technology

SCIENCE

General Outcome: 6–6 Construct devices that move through air, and identify adaptations for controlling flight.

Specific Outcomes:
• Conduct tests of glider designs; and modify a design so that a glider will go further, stay up longer or fly in a desired way; e.g., fly in a loop, turn to the right.

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

 Objective in student-friendly language
What will students understand/experience/appreciate
as a result of this lesson?
Based on the Specific Outcomes above, re-phrase, in
student friendly language:
By the end of this lesson students will understand how
ancient Athenians used principles of flight and
aerodynamics.
By the end of this lesson students will experience working
collaboratively to engage in the design process.
By the end of this lesson students will appreciate the
impact of principles of aerodynamics on their glider.
Assessment Strategies
What will I accept as evidence of learning/development? Have I employed three formative
assessments? Do I make use of prior assessments in this lesson?
I will access prior learning [What do students already know?] for this lesson by [i.e. the K of KWL…
Resource: video further down in this lesson plan FYI …
• Asking students what they remember about flight and aerodynamics
• Reviewing forces of flight and Bernoulli’s principle
I will employ these three formative assessments [Resource: D2L D’s Content]
Note: All formative assessment must connect with the Specific Outcome above. For example: “I will
use the thumbs up formative strategy to assess Specific Outcome #... I will record this assessment by
noting who has thumbs up/down and provide evidence of follow up by noting with date…
Conferencing and Planning Sheet
• Outcomes: 6.S.5, 6-6 (I will touch base with groups and discuss their collaboration process and plan
for flying device)
• Evidence: I will keep short notes of my conversations to refer to later on a clipboard. Planning sheet
can be kept and checked to see what intentional choices they made.
Final Product (flying pigeon)
• Outcomes: 6-6 (by observing the final product, I will be able to see if students understand how to
modify a flying device to make it stay up longer)
• Evidence: Pictures of final product will be taken and examined to see intentional design choices that
reflect the principles of aerodynamics.
Reflection
• Outcomes: 6.S.5, 6-6 (students will reflect on the group work portion and identify design choices
they made to help their glider fly longer)
• Evidence: Reflection sheet will be kept.
Assessment on 6.S.5 will be followed up with on Tuesday, March 23rd as we discuss working
collaboratively to make decisions and problem solve.
Assessment on 6-6 will be discussed with science teacher and can be used to determine whether or
not to revisit the properties of flight.
The Essential Question for this lesson is….[that is, the Question that encompasses all three Specific
Outcomes in student friendly language.] How did ancient Athenians use the concept of
aerodynamics to create things that fly?
Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

 Resources Personalization/Differentiation
What materials/resources/technology will be required? How will you attend to the needs of ALL learners in this lesson?

Resource: https://education.alberta.ca/media/3069745/
Presentation slides personalizationvsdifferentiationvsindividualization.pdf
Building materials
• Cardboard I will personalize each student’s learning through these three ways…
• Cardstock • Students can choose research sources and building materials
• Glue • Students can choose the design they would like to build and test
• Tape • Students can choose the role they will take on in their groups
• Paper
• Paper clips I will differentiate groups of students’ learning through these three ways…
• Scissors • Scaffolded instructions
Planning sheet • Intentional grouping (mixed-ability)
Reflection sheet • Students can record information using technology or paper
Yardstick to measure

SECTION 2 LESSON PLAN SEQUENCE

RESOURCE: CH. 7-13
Wiggins, G. J. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd Edition)
Available: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/lib/ucalgary-ebooksdetail.action?docID=3002118

Introduction
How will you ACTIVATE prior knowledge and ENGAGE them in the lesson and how does this lesson connect to prior lessons?

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

 Resource
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvF0ON4olOc

Then:

I will activate prior knowledge through… reviewing the forces of flight with students. What do they remember about thrust, drag, lift and gravity? What about
Bernoulli’s principle? What did they learn in their recent research project on how birds fly? How can we use these concepts to create something aerodynamic?

Also:

I will engage the students [hook them] in this lesson through….. Telling students we are going to host our very own Olympics and talking about how the Olympics
started in ancient Athens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdHHus8IgYA) (also - stop the video and ask why do they think people competed naked?
Aerodynamics! That is also why athletes wear tight clothes today). But - did they also know that ancient Athenians were some of the first people to investigate flight?
Athenian philosopher Archytas was one of the very first people to build something that flies.

I will connect this lesson with prior lessons through… building off our discussion of the Olympics in ancient Athens, and the scientific principles of flight (thrust,
drag, lift, gravity, Bernoulli’s principle, etc.) and aerodynamics (aerodynamics in sports and nature).

Learning/Activity Sequence
How will students ENGAGE, EXPLORE, EXPLAIN, ELABORATE, and/or EVALUATE their understandings of the outcomes?.

Resource: The 5E’ s model.

https://lesley.edu/article/empowering-students-the-5e-model-explained

How will you, the teacher plan… How will the students…..

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

 To engage the students? Be engaged?......

1. Tell the students what they will be learning
I will tell students that we will be designing and building a
glider, working collaboratively to problem solve, and engage in
the design thinking process.
2. Tell the students why they are doing this [“it is in the
Curriculum” and “Because in your real world this looks like/is
used ….”
I will tell the students they are doing this because it will make
them better engineers, scientists, and problem-solvers, as well
as further their knowledge of life in ancient Athens.
Students will foster an interest in the topic by connecting it to the Olympics and their
recent science lessons, as well as introducing a competition.
Students will be engaged by thinking about their prior knowledge and experiences, for
example, aerodynamics in nature, and participating in a class discussion about the
principles of aerodynamics and flight, and writing their thoughts and hypotheses on the
whiteboard.
Students will be engaged by generating questions about not only what makes
something aerodynamic, but how to build something that will fly the farthest.

3. Tell the students how they will know they have learned:
“When you can answer the Essential Question [EQ]” for this
lesson
I will tell the students will know they have learned when they
can explain how ancient Athenians used the principles of
aerodynamics to design things that flew, and build a glider
themselves.

4. The W of KWL
Once students have told me what they already know about
flight, I will ask them what questions they still have. If no one
has questions, I will start by asking what they think makes
something fly the fastest or the furthest.

5. Create a “hook” [a story/ a related current event etc./ a carry

over from a previous lesson]
I will hook students by telling them we are going to host our
own Olympics, and piquing their curiosity by telling them that
ancient Athenians were some of the first people to investigate
flight.
The opportunities for the students to explore the lesson? Explore?......

Students will be able to explore the forces of flight and principles of Students will explore the lesson by using their knowledge of flight, aerodynamics and
aerodynamics by using the design thinking process to design, build, Bernoulli’s principle to design, build and test gliders.
and test gliders inspired by Archytas’ flying pigeon.

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

 The opportunities for the students to elaborate on the lesson? Elaborate?…..

Students will return after testing their gliders and have a class
discussion about what worked and what didn’t. We will discuss the
qualities that the most successful glider had, and students will plan
changes to their glider for tomorrow’s class.
Students will elaborate on their understanding by reflecting on and explaining what
design choices helped their glider fly and which did not. Students will gain a deeper
understanding by hearing their peers discuss their designs and examining the most
successful glider design to see what is different. Then, students will use their new
knowledge to plan changes to their gliders.

The opportunities for the students to self-evaluate their learning through Self-Evaluate?……
Formative Assessment strategies aligned with the Specific Outcomes
above?
Students will self-evaluate their learning by answering reflection questions that have
Students will self-evaluate their understanding through the reflection, them describe what they learned about aerodynamics by building their glider and
during which they will reflect on the scientific principles they have examining others, what they could improve upon to make their glider go further, and
learned that could improve their design, as well as their ability to work their participation in their group.
collaboratively, use the design thinking process, and participate in
decision-making and problem solving.

Conclusion
How will you ensure students walk away with a sense of understanding the PURPOSE of the lesson and its IMPORTANCE to their learning?

How will you organize so that students can individually and collectively answer the EQ for this lesson?

Students will be able to individually answer the EQ through the reflection questions.
Students will collectively answer the EQ through building a glider that reflects the principles of aerodynamics, and participating in class discussion about the
elements of the most successful gliders.

How will you organize so that students can show their learning through the L of KWL

Students can show their learning by identifying the ways they designed their glider to be aerodynamic or changes they would make on it to improve its flight, as well
as identifying the design choices Archytas made that demonstrated ancient Athenian understanding of aerodynamics.

How will you celebrate the learning that has happened in this lesson?

We will celebrate the learning by having an Olympics-inspired medal ceremony where each group will win an award (furthest flight, most creative design, coolest
trick, etc.)

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

 PRE-SERVICE TEACHER SELF-REFLECTION

YOU WOULD COMPLETE THIS SECTION AFTER THE LESSON

In your self- reflection of your lesson, please consider the following questions:

1. What went well in your lesson? What were the strengths of the lesson?
2. What are the areas that need to be refined? What might you do differently next time?
3. What are your next steps to further develop/ refine this lesson? How will you continue to grow in your practice? What actions will you take?

These are additional questions that can help guide your response to the three self– reflection questions.

• How do you feel your students experienced this lesson?

• How were they able to make explicit and self-evaluate their growing understanding, skills and/or knowledge?
• How did you employ formative assessment for/of/as learning?
• Were you successful in reaching all students? How do you know? How did you accommodate for diverse learners and those requiring
accommodations?
• Were there opportunities to address Indigenous, multicultural and interdisciplinary activities and knowledge?

Please adapt this lesson plan for your classroom.

However, please use this entire template for my two observations [addressing all resources and “prompts”]. This will be your Learning Task 3:
Designing for Learning: Lesson Plan for which you will receive Cr/Non Cr for the two lesson plan submission observations. Please post in DropBox

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)