Updated January 2022

Name: Sam Polk Date lesson taught: 3/29/2022

Content Area: Biology

Course Title & Grade Level: Biology, 9th Grade
Standards:
● HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
● HS-LS4-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors:
(1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to
mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that
are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
Objectives:

Content— Students will construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to the adaptation of
populations with a higher proportion of organisms that are fit for their environment.

Language— Working individually or with a partner, students will construct an explanation for how natural selection leads to the
adaptation of populations by reading an article on adaptive radiation in cuba, writing correct answers with complete sentences to
seven questions, and by drawing a fish with specific adaptations.

Student-friendly— I can explain how natural natural selection leads to a population adapting and a higher number of organisms
that are fit for their environment.
Assessment:
● When doing the review over Charles Darwin, ask specific students questions to gauge their understanding. Students called
on should answer correctly, if not, then other students may raise their hand to say the correct answer (formative)
● Students will fill out their handout while reading the article on Cuba. They will answer in complete sentences to the first
six questions, and use 1-2 sentences to answer question number 7. Students will also draw their fish with specific
adaptations on the back of the sheet (formative).
○ If students did not answer at least 5 out of the first 6 questions correctly, did not have a fish drawing with specific
adaptations, and/or did not have a 1-2 sentence answer to question 7, then they did not meet the objective for this
lesson.
● If less than 50% of students in all sections do not meet the objective, plan to reteach the concept of adaptive radiation to
students using another example or activity. (Future Plans)
● Students will turn in their handout sheet with the answers to all of the questions and their fish drawing. (Data Collection)
Proactive Management:
Expectations:
● Students should be paying attention during direct instruction and modeling, with students following along with the
instructor on their own activity sheet.
● Specifically tell students the expectations for each part of the lesson, i.e. telling them to quiet down when doing direct
instruction.
Voice:
● If there are students that are not paying attention during direct instruction/talking about other things, redirect those students
by asking them a content specific question. Use the redirective behavior model for students that are disengaged, talking, on
their phones, etc.
● Give students the opportunity to respond to questions as a class (choral response).
Movement:
● Give students checks for understanding by asking them to raise up a certain hand, give a thumbs up, etc.
● If students are getting restless during work time, come together as a class and ask them to stand up, take a breath, and sit
back down to get re-focused.
Task:
● Ask students to repeat instructions back after they have been given to the class.
● Show students that the instructions are written out on their activity sheet.
Instructional Strategies: Instructional Strategies are listed in blue in the lesson section.
Strategies:
● Cloze notes
● Anticipatory set
● Direct Instruction
 Updated January 2022
● Mental-modeling
● Modeling
● Illustration/Drawing
Literacy Strategy: Students will use the stop and jot strategy. At specific points in the reading, students will be asked to stop
reading and answer a question on the corresponding handout. Students are also using sketch to stretch by drawing their own fish to
go with their evolution assignment.
Note Taking Strategy: Students will continue to use their cloze notes sheet that they have been using for the evolution unit.
During instruction, students will be told if they need to write down any additional points along the side of their notes sheet.
Questions: Specific questions are listed in green in the lesson section.
List:
● “What are the four postulates that Darwin came up with about natural selection (VISE)?”
● “Where did Darwin go and what kind of animal did he study?”
● “How were the different finches adapted to the islands?”
● “Think of an animal/organism and raise your hand. What is one adaptation that organism has for its environment?”
● “Does anyone know why islands create weird or highly specialized forms of life?”
● “Did anyone else find one more way new species can arrive on islands?”
● “Name the adaptations you gave your fish for its food source/habitat/protection from predators. How does natural selection
lead to evolution of organisms that are better suited to their environment?”
Beginning of the lesson:
Anticipatory Set:
● Review: Review over Charles Darwin and what he did/what he discovered about natural selection. Ask these specific
questions, calling on specific students:
○ “What are the four postulates that Darwin came up with about natural selection (VISE)?”
○ “Where did Darwin go and what kind of animal did he study?”
○ “How were the different finches adapted to the islands?”
● Preview: State the student-friendly objective orally for the students, letting them know that today they are going to learn
more about something called “adaptive radiation.” Tell them that they are going to be learning about adaptive radiation in
lizards and fish.
● Hook: Ask students: “Think of an animal/organism and raise your hand.” Once a student calls out an organism, ask the
other students “What is one adaptation that organism has for its environment?” Do this with the students to activate their
background knowledge (3.1) and to allow them to ask about organisms that interest them.
(First 10 minutes of class)

The Lesson:
Transition from anticipatory set to direct instruction by asking students to take out their notes sheet from the previous week.
● Explicitly tell students that they need to be paying attention and writing notes down during direct instruction.
● Keep direct instruction light, so that students have time to do the activity associated with the lesson.
● While doing direct instruction, bring up dogs as an example of human controlled selection, giving students a relevant
connection (7.2) to their own lives.
● Preview the idea of adaptive radiation here when talking about dogs to let students see an example before (3.4) they read
the article.
(About 5 minutes)

I do:
● Transition from direct instruction to the stop and jot literacy strategy by handing out the article to the students along with
the handout they will be using to work for the rest of class time.
● Ask the students: “Does anyone know why islands create weird or highly specialized forms of life?”
○ Isolation would be the main answer
● Explain the instructions for the stop and jot question sheet.
○ “You will read the article, stopping where you see the stop signs to write down answers to the questions on your
handout. Write these answers in complete sentences. You can work on this individually or in partners (8.3).”
○ Ask one student to repeat the instructions back.
● Read through the first section of the article out loud for the class. Use mental-modeling to show students how you would
complete question number one.
○ Model for the students how to do the assignment as well, saying where to stop to write their answer.
(7 minutes)

We do:
● Transition into guided practice by giving students 1-3 minutes to read the next section of the article.
 Updated January 2022
● Once students have read the section of the article, call on one student to give one way new species can arrive on islands,
then ask another student to give one more reason. “Did anyone else find one more way new species can arrive on islands?”
● Use this opportunity to explain the back part of the sheet, where the students will create an illustration of their own fish
(7.1) that resulted from adaptive radiation. Students here are using their sketch to stretch strategy.
● Give the students the opportunity to ask any questions they might have.
(About 5 minutes)

You do:
● Transition from guided practice into independent/partner work by telling students to keep reading their article, answering
the questions, and remind them of what they are doing on the back of the assignment sheet.
● Monitor student progress, keeping students on task while they are completing their assignment.
○ If more than half of the class is not doing the sheet correctly, give a class reminder about the expectations, i.e.
completing the questions in complete sentences.
● Remind students to answer question number seven : “Name the adaptations you gave your fish for its food
source/habitat/protection from predators. How does natural selection lead to evolution of organisms that are better suited
to their environment?” Ask different students about the fish they created, asking students to highlight how that fish is
adapted to its environment (3.3).
(Up until 5 minutes before the bell rings)
Closure:
Procedural— Ask students to put away any materials such as markers, colored pencils, etc. Tell students to hand in the handout
they worked on during class before the time is over.
Content Summary— Restate the student friendly objective and what was learned during the day. “Today our objective was
[student friendly objective]. We learned what adaptive radiation is and how it happens on islands such as Cuba.” Give a short
preview of the activity for Wednesday.
References: Handout developed by myself. Notes sheet and powerpoint developed by my mentor teacher, [Removed for
Privacy]
Text developed from:
American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Cuba: A Case Study of Island Evolution, Biodiversity, and Conservation. American
Museum of Natural History: Resources for Learning. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from
https://www.amnh.org/content/download/342229/5313801/file/cuba%20-%20a%20case%20study%20article%209-12.pdf

Lesson Plan Reflection (required):

1) Highlight Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) components within your lesson.
Write a paragraph (3-5 sentences) elaborating on the intentionally planned CRT components of your lesson. How did you demonstrate high
expectations (be specific on what this looks like), make learning relevant, and motivate students?

For the CRT components of this lesson, I focused on making sure that students could find relevant connections to our unit on
evolution while also giving students clarification on expectations and objectives throughout the lesson. I want to make sure that students
are given the opportunity to have a good base for evolution, using the background knowledge they might already have of what adaptations
other organisms have. Many students have dogs, which are a great example of selection and adaptive radiation of a species, while also
being an organism many students can connect with. Students are also expected to repeat directions back to the instructor, which puts the
directions in their own words. In addition, students have the opportunity to ask questions about the expectations for this assignment.

2) Italicize Universal Design for Learning (UDL) components within your lesson.
Write a paragraph (3-5 sentences) elaborating on the intentionally planned UDL components (representation, action & expression,
engagement) of your lesson. How did you differentiate to meet the needs of ALL learners?

To meet the needs of all the learners in this classroom, I want to ensure that I am correctly guiding the information processing of
the students as they are working. While the stop and jot literacy strategy is a great way to give students the opportunity to process
information, I want to make sure that they know why they are giving their fish drawing specific adaptations. Giving students an assignment
where they draw their own fish also enhances their autonomy and freedom in the learning, since they could give their fish any kind of
adaptation they want. Relevant connections also help for the content to reach the most possible students, so including the example of dogs
keeps the learning relevant. Overall, these UDL strategies help the most possible students learn something from this lesson.