LESSON PLAN Teacher: Vianna Hong Lesson: 2 out of 5

Subject: Science Unit 2: Changes to Land Over Time

Objective
SWBAT categorize natural events by identifying which events occur quickly or slowly.

Science Standard Math CCLS

ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.3:
● Some events happen very quickly; others occur Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters,
very slowly, over a time period much longer than and meters.
one can observe. (2-ESS1-1)

Materials Vocabulary
Categorized Events for Mini-Lesson Board Tier 2:
Categorizing Worksheet for Pairs (copy for each student) Occur: To happen
Safety scissors Categorize: To put in a certain group
Glue
Time Connection/Motivation
5 minutes A few months ago, I was making myself a glass of chocolate milk in the kitchen. As I was pouring
the milk into the cup, the cup tilted over and fell, spilling everything onto the kitchen table. Little did
I know, my sister’s homework was on the table and was ruined by the spilled milk quickly. I felt
terrible, so I bought her a new bicycle the next day to make up for ruining her homework. She
loved the bicycle and said it was okay that the milk quickly ruined her homework.

Normally, she leaves the bicycle outside the house because it’s very dirty after she takes it out for a
ride. The bicycle sits outside in the rain, snow, and sun. I never noticed until yesterday that the
bicycle has started to show this reddish-orange mark on it, which I found out was rust. This means
that the bicycle started to rust slowly after being outside in the rain, snow, and sun.

There are natural events that happen quickly, just like how quickly the milk ruined my sister’s
homework, and there are natural events that happen slowly, just like how slow the bicycle started to
rust.
Mini-lesson
15 minutes Today we’re going to be categorizing events by identifying which events happen quickly and which
events happen slowly.

We’re going to start by doing an activity together where we categorize everyday events. On the
board, there are two colored boxes. The orange box has the word “quickly” on top of it, and the
purple box has the word “slowly” on top of it. On the bottom of the board, there are 3 pictures of
different events with the name of each event on the picture. We’re going to be putting the events in
the correct boxes by identifying which events occur quickly and which events occur slowly.

Let’s start with this picture. Can one of our friends start us off and tell us which box this event (glass
breaking) belongs in? (Ans: quickly)

Great, let’s move it inside the orange box that says “quickly.” This is a quick event because when
glass breaks we see it happen very fast!

Now, who can try telling us which box this second event (apple rotting) belongs in? (Ans: slowly)

You’re right! An apple rotting belongs in the purple box that says “slowly.” Let’s move that in there.
This is a slow event because apples take a while for them to rot and sometimes we don’t even
notice them rotting because it’s that slow!

Alright, we’re up to the last one. Can anyone tell us which box this event (cracking an egg) belongs
in? (Ans: quickly)
 Yes, this event goes into the orange box that says “quickly” because when you crack an egg, you
see it happen right before your eyes!

Now, for our independent pair work, you will be doing the same thing except now you’re going to
be categorizing natural events instead of everyday events. Let’s get started!

Independent/Partner/Group Work
15 minutes Students will be in pairs working together on a worksheet. They will differentiate natural events by
figuring out whether the natural event occurred quickly or slowly and moving the events into the
correct category. This worksheet will lead students to categorize natural events by identifying
whether the natural events occur quickly or slowly.

Teacher will be circulating the classroom to ensure students are on task or if there are any questions
Possible guiding questions that will help further the students thinking:
- Does this event happen right before your eyes?
- Does this event happen over time that your eyes can’t even see it?

Share/Closing
10 minutes Students will share answers as a class. They will be encouraged to elaborate on why they
categorized the events the way they did. Discussion should lead students to be able to categorize
natural events by identifying which event occurs quickly and which event occurs slowly.

Homework
Categorize the events: Wildfire, Hurricane, and Earthquake into whether they occur quickly or slowly.