For the ee R tne Ey fins Teacher The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections. and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaninaful wavs. ‘Sub-Standard 8(b): The teacher continuously monitors student learning, engages learners in assessing their progress. and adjusts instruction in response to student — During the Spring 2020 semester. the class was assigned to learning needs, create a lesson plan using one of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) The standard on which I chose to base my lesson is Standard 2-LS2-1! “Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow’ At the end of this lesson, stucents 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, Over the course of two days, students wil. InTASC Standard 8(6) would be utilized throughout this lesson, because throughout the lesson plan. |, as the teacher, would monitor students’ understanding by asking questions that assess their approach to the ‘experiment. For example, once the students observe that the water is absorbed throughout the stalk. | may ask the students questions, such as, ‘Where and how does water enter the celery/plant? How do you know?" In order to adjust instruction for students! needs, | included methods such as using visuals/objects to review the parts of the flower and activate background knowledge, pairing students of different levels of understanding together, and asking questions that aoe challenge students who are mastering the material pind moe elt to answer mare complex rial inking 9 In my future classroom. | would employ this standard by first identifying my students’ learning styles, in order to identify their needs. tis my goal to create ways in which my students can be engaged in lessons and gain a deeper understanding ofa topic within the content area of science In this lesson. | provided students with a kinesthetic and visual experience. in which they could physically observe a celery stalk absorb water through the xylems, Although | did not have an opportunity to teach this lesson. | believe that it would allow for students to also ask and answer eritical thinking questions, analyze the stalk/stem and the absorption process, and apply the concept to other experiments and assessment work. To extend the activity, l could challenge students to consider ideas, such as whether temperature of the water affects how fast itis absorbed through the xylems. Ultimately, itis my hope that my prospective students would be engaged in their learning ask higher-order thinking questions, and have a more enhanced knowledge of science at the end of the lesson, so that, they can continue to apply their new strategies to other activities and areas. experiment using stalks of celery. They will place the stalks in cups thal are filled with waler and food coloring, in order to observe that the food coloring travels up the stem, Students wilinotice small tubes that the water travels up through the celery, which are called xylems This ullimatety allows children to see how water and nutrients enter the plant in order to help it Nourish, and learners must assess their understanding through observation and asking questions during the process,