Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA
Geneva Lesson Plan
Name: Kelsey McFarland Date: 9/14/21 Time: 8:35-3:00
th
Subject: Science Grade Level: 4
I. Topic & General Goal Animal Adaptations Centers: How animals adapt to their
environments.
II. Reference to PA or 3.1.4.C2 Describe plant and animal adaptations that are important
Common Core to survival.
Standards

III. Lesson Objectives TSWBAT identify at least two structural adaptations of an

animal.
TSWBAT describe adaptations needed for a certain environment.
TSWBAT explain how adaptations help an organism survive in
its environment.
IV. Materials  Bell ringer
 Science notebook
 Pencils
 iPads
 Worksheets (Read it, create it, and sort it)
 Readings for each station (Read it, create it, and sort it)
 Google slide for sorting
 laptop
V. A. Introduction Students will begin today’s bell ringer in their science notebooks.
After they are given three minutes to write the question, “What
are 3 characteristics of reptiles?” and answer (dry, scaly skin, lays
eggs, cold-blooded). Review the answer as a class. Students will
put away their science notebooks and get onto Schoology.

Instruct students to open the entrance ticket on Schoology.

Screenshare the entrance ticket so students can check if they have
the right document. Students can upload to notability to work on
their entrance ticket, or they can write on a piece of paper and
take a picture to upload. Students will choose an animal and
answer the prompt. Then they will submit their entrance ticket to
Schoology.

Ask students to open station #1 on Schoology and upload the

worksheet onto notability. Screenshare the readings with the
students. Ask students for the definition of adaptation (a body
 part of behavior that helps an animal meet its needs in its
environment). Tell students that a structural adaptation means the
same thing. Tell students they will be reading about animal’s
different adaptations and how these help them survive in their
environment.
B. Procedures Station 1: Read It! Students will download the worksheet onto
notability. We will read each of the animal cards (giraffe,
elephant, Madagascar gecko, agave plants, earthworm). After
reading each card, students will identify at least two structural
adaptations for each animal. They will write these adaptations on
their Read It! chart. After they have finished, they will submit
their worksheet to Schoology under station #1.

Station 2: Create It! Students will download the worksheet onto

notability or draw using a piece of paper and pencil. We will read
about camels and the Arctic. After reading, students will draw
and label a camel with the structural adaptations it would need to
survive in the Arctic. This is the top priority. They will need at
least two adaptations. Students will write a brief explanation of 2-
3 sentences of how these adaptations will help a camel survive in
the Arctic. After they have finished these three steps, they will
submit their drawings to Schoology.

Station 3: Sort It! Students will open the google slide document
on Schoology. They will observe the photos of the poison dart
frog and leopard gecko. They will read the adaptation cards and
sort which adaptations match each animal by dragging the cards
under the correct animal’s picture. After the sorting activity,
students will answer the question, “How do the type of skin, feet,
and coloring help each organism survive in its environment?”
They will create a new slide on the google slide document and
type their answer to the question. Students will submit their
google slide to Schoology.

C. Differentiation Product: Students are reading and writing at some centers. The
Create It! center gives students a creative outlet to express their
learning. Students can choose to write and draw on notability or
with paper and pencil.
D. Closure Ask students what kinds of adaptations they discovered today.
Ask if there are any questions students have and write these down
to address in the following lesson. Students will write homework
assignments and the test date in their planner.
VI. Assessment The Read It! worksheet will be used to assess if students are able
to identify at least two structural adaptations of animals. Read
through their chart and check if they listed adaptations from what
they read during the station. Mark whether students were
 successful, and which struggled. (3 points)

The Create It! worksheet will be used to assess if students can

describe adaptations an animal would need for a certain
environment. Students read about camels and the Arctic and must
create adaptations for the camel to survive in the Arctic. Use a
rubric to check if students gave a structural adaptation and an
explanation for how that adaptation would help the camel
survive. (3 points)

The Sort It! worksheet will be used to assess if students can

explain how adaptations help an organism survive. The students
learn about leopard geckos and poison dart frogs. They must
answer the question, “How do the type of skin, feet, and coloring
help each organism survive in its environment?” Use a rubric to
assess if students can explain how these adaptations help an
organism survive in its environment. (3 points)

If students work slowly and are unable to finish one of these three
stations, they will find the stations on Schoology under today’s
folder. Students will complete the stations they did not finish
during MTSS or in class the following day.
VII. Modifications and/or Class 1: Nolan can choose to fill out each paper on his iPad using
Accommodations notability to use speech-to-text. A TA will be in the google meet
to assist Nolan as needed. All documents and classwork will be
printed out for Kaylee to use at home.

Class 3: Easton and Nevaeh will have a TA in the google meet to

assist as needed. Information will be read aloud and pointed out
for students.
Co-Operating Teacher Approval Signature: Date of Approval:

_______________________________________________ ______________________

IX. Self-Evaluation This lesson had to be changed due to being virtual this week. I
discussed this with Mrs. Wargo and made the changes to the
lesson plan.

Class 1: For the beginning of this class, I forgot about the exit
ticket. A student asked me about the entrance ticket document
that was on Schoology and that reminded me about the
assignment. I had students upload the document onto notability or
write it on a piece of paper. I allowed them around 15 minutes to
finish and send it in. The students who finished their entrance
ticket quickly, I had them start on the stations. This allowed
students to work at their own pace, but this left the class at
different points in the stations.

Next time, I would set a certain amount of time to work on the

entrance ticket instead of waiting for all students to finish. I
would also have run through each station as a class since we were
online. If we were in person, I would have quickly gone over the
instructions for each station prior to students beginning work.
Then I would have set an 8-minute timer for each station.
Students working at their own pace online was beneficial because
they were able to find the answers independently and discover
what adaptations animals had. The difficulty was being virtual
and not being able to walk around to students and help them.
This class will complete the stations at the beginning of
tomorrow’s class.

Class 2: This class went much better than the first. I added a time
limit for the entrance ticket. I gave students 8 minutes to work on
the ticket and those that finished quickly worked on their
vocabulary homework. Those who did not finish in the 8
minutes, I still had them submit what they had finished. Then we
began station one as a class. This was a significant change
compared to the first class. Students were able to follow along
and submit while we were working through each station.

One thing that I did not like about working as a class is that
students were not able to make those discoveries and find that
information independently. I did like that I knew students were
all on the same page and I was able to answer any questions as
we were working. Students knew what station the questions were
about instead of being at different points and getting confused. I
was also able to track who submitted and who needed help
submitting. I kept track of which students read or helped give
answers. Only a few students did not participate other than
working on their worksheet.

We did not have enough time to finish station three and submit. I
told students we would finish the third station in the morning for
tomorrow’s class. Overall, the changes I made for this class made
it significantly more efficient. The students had a time limit for
the entrance ticket which gave us enough time to get through two
of the stations. The 8-minute time was a sweet spot between the
students who finish quickly and the students who take longer to
work. Working on the stations as a class kept students on the
same track and made sure they had the correct information on
their worksheets. Ideally, these stations would have been used as
actual stations in a classroom that students would switch
between.

Class 3: The bell ringer for this class went quickly. The entrance
ticket was a struggle. Students had multiple questions about what
they needed to do or write on the ticket. Most of the students
finished their ticket and turned it in within 8 minutes. The TA
informed me following class that Easton gets high anxiety when
given a time limit. I had told students they would have 8 minutes
to work on their entrance ticket because the first class took up too
much time to work. Next time, I would send him with the TA to
work or create a separate google meet for him to join with the TA
and get his work done without the time pressure.

We moved onto station one and began the readings. Having the
class work with me made it easier to track where certain students
were. There were a handful of students who did not follow along
or complete their worksheet. Being virtual makes it difficult to
see if students are working or not. The second station went well
with this class. I told students they could use notability or draw
on a piece of paper. They submitted a picture of their work
instead. We did not finish the final station during class. We will
work on this station tomorrow at the beginning of class.

Students were unmuting to talk to one another or answer without

waiting to be called on. In class this causes disruption, but online
it causes confusion and is difficult to track. I can mute students,
so I used that to my advantage. This class was very engaged
throughout the stations.