Lesson Plan Template - Adapted for LSEE 313 - Spring 2023

Lesson Title: Get Outside

Your Name: Halle Root, Sophia Guericke, Miranda Clark

Grade Level: 3-5 Discipline domain: Life Science
Unit Snapshot:
- This fits into a larger life science unit about how plants and animals function in their own
environment.

What should the students already know?

- Students should be able to identify their emotions that differ from playing indoors versus
outdoors.

What should they know at the end?

- Students will learn that working and playing outside has more benefits and overall has a more
positive effect on one’s mood.

Big Idea/Key Concepts:

- Regular and frequent time outdoors is beneficial for emotional, mental, and physical health, as
well as creativity, learning, and child development.
- Time outdoors has more benefits than time indoors.
- Learn to measure heart rate.
Describe your lesson in 1 sentence:
- Students will participate in a task both outdoors and indoors to investigate the benefits of time
outdoors as well as learning how to measure their heart rate.
Next Generation Science Standard:
4-LS1-1. From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to
support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

DCI: LS1.A: Structure and Function

Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth,
survival, behavior, and reproduction.

Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to…
- Investigate the psychological and physical effects of working or playing outside compared with
inside.
- Identify possible benefits of working and playing outside.
- Participate in an outdoor activity.
Academic Language and Key Vocabulary
- Heart Rate: the number of times your heart beats per minute
- Investigation: a search for facts
- Mood: how you feel
- Measure: the size or amount of something
- Effect: what happens after an action
Adapted from the template created for CI3211 - Lesson Planning and Teaching Assignment at UMN by SKS/MP
Differentiation:
- For step 1, if a student doesn’t understand the English language well or has hearing impairment,
the teachers can give out a physical copy of the questions for the poll in their home language and
have them circle the answer. The student’s slip will be collected and tallied on the board.
- For step 3, the list of physical tasks can be given in a student's home language if they are a
multilingual or a non-verbal student.
- For step 4, students that have low mobility or physical impairments have the option to work with
a tension band or a medicine ball to focus on upper arm strength.
- For step 5, students that are multilingual can be given the instructions in their home language,
and write the journal entry in whichever language they feel comfortable writing in.
Materials:
- Phone with stopwatch and calculator app
- Student pages on measuring heart rate and mood
- Pencil

Learning Activities/Teaching Strategies - Write as a procedure - Include Timing

Be sure to explicitly list teacher actions and student actions.

1. Personal Connections (5 min)

● Teachers introduce the activity by taking a quick poll, asking:
- Which do you think is more fun: playing inside or outside?
- Which makes you happier: being inside or outside?
- Where do you spend more of your day: inside or outside?
● Students reply by raising their hands for each question. Teachers will record responses on
the whiteboard.

2. Discussion (2 min)
● Teachers ask students how they might be able to determine whether being inside or
outside is healthier for their mind or body. Teachers instruct students to turn to their
elbow partner and discuss this question for one minute.
● Students will turn to their elbow partners and engage in discussion for one minute.

3. Physical Tasks (2 min)

● Teachers will provide a list of physical tasks that students will choose from to complete to
raise their heart rate. Task will be completed once indoor and once outdoors.
- Tasks include: jumping jacks, high knees, push-ups, crunches, running in place, and
windmills.
● Students will choose a physical task to repeat in both environments during the given
duration.

4. Procedure (12-15 minutes)

● Teachers will provide an overview of the investigation procedure and guide them through
each activity. Teachers will instruct students to pair up with their elbow partner for the
next portion of the activity.
● Students will
- Select the same task to do both inside and outside.
- In each location, student pairs will work together to:
- Take their pulse prior to doing the chosen task, using the Measuring Heart
Adapted from the template created for CI3211 - Lesson Planning and Teaching Assignment at UMN by SKS/MP
 Rate student page.
- Complete the chosen task for a duration of 30 seconds, using the stopwatch
app on their phones to mark time. Record their pulse again after completing
the physical task.
- Complete the Mood Meter student page after completing the activity inside
and outside.

5. Reflection/Summative Assessment (5 min)

● Teachers instruct students to reflect on what they have learned from the activity, how
their mood was affected, and whether their opinion on spending time outside has changed
for 3 minutes.
● Students will write a reflection independently in their journals for 3 minutes.
Formative Assessment: Mood Meter after physical activity inside and outside.

Summative Assessment: Ask students to write a journal entry describing what they learned from the
activity and whether their opinion on spending time outside has changed. How did the activity make
them feel?
Appendix:
- Student Page - Measuring Heart Rate (pg. 128)

- Student Page - Mood Meter (p. 129)

Adapted from the template created for CI3211 - Lesson Planning and Teaching Assignment at UMN by SKS/MP
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UPDATED 02/14/2023 - JO

Adapted from the template created for CI3211 - Lesson Planning and Teaching Assignment at UMN by SKS/MP