Science Lesson Plan, Thematic Unit, Activity, Worksheet, or Biology or Chemistry Teaching Idea

A SPECIAL INVITATION FOR TEACHERS...

LessonPlansPage.com would like to take a moment to let you know about Concordia University's new Master’s Degrees in Education that you can complete online in just one year!

Available Master's Degrees in Education include:

Curriculum & Instruction: Reading
Curriculum & Instruction: Methods & Curriculum
Curriculum & Instruction: English to Speakers
of Other Languages
Educational Leadership

These programs can help you:

Open the door to a variety of school leadership career opportunities like higher education teaching, department chair, ELL consultant, literacy coach, or curriculum coordinator
Complete your degree in one year, on your schedule,
from the comfort of your home
A Master's Degree could mean an automatic salary increase in your school district!

A national university system with 10 campuses throughout the United States, Concordia was founded more than 100 years ago and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

Objective:
Students will be work as individuals in a group effort, gain experience in researching for specific information, and learn to differentiate between Needs and Wants on the matter of survival.

Materials Needed:
Pilgrim Worksheet
Mars Worksheet
Internet, CD-ROM, or books
Poster board

Motivation:
Write on the board, "If Mars takes approximately 700 days to orbit the sun, how old would you be on Mars?" and "What do you think is the biggest challenge that colonists would face when they got to Mars?" Total time: 5 min

Procedure:
1.After the students have had a chance to discuss their various ages on Mars (roughly half their current age), use butcher paper or poster board to record approximately 15 students' ideas on what may be the colonists' greatest challenges (many of the ideas will be similar, but try and direct their ideas in the way of oxygen, soil, shelter, power, water, and heat). Inform the students that it is going to be one of their jobs to try and overcome some of the challenges as they progress through the unit. Total time: 5 min.

3.Make a T-chart on the blackboard and have each student report one item from his or her list of needs. Once all the students have stated one need, state to the class that you will be discussing the list later in class. Total time: 5 min.

4.Briefly review the previous day's discussion on why the Pilgrims left Europe to come to the New World. A Venn Diagram may be helpful in reviewing the similarities and differences between the Pilgrims and us when discussing the colonization of a New World. Total time: 5 min.

5.Move from the discussion on similarities and differences to the needs of the Pilgrims. State, "now that we know why the Pilgrims left, let's talk about what they needed for their journey and their survival. Keep in mind when you think about what they needed that they could only bring a few personal items with them. Let's say that each member on the voyage of the Mayflower and Speedwell could only carry two bags the size of medium sized suitcases or duffel bags. Why do you think they could only bring a few things?" Many answers are possible, but the target answer that needs to be addressed is because the ship had limited space and they had to bring food and water to survive the journey as well as supplies for the establishment of their colony. Total time: 3 min.

6.Students are then asked to spend a few minutes putting themselves in the shoes of a Pilgrim and deciding what things they believed they needed most to survive the voyage and the first landing on the New World. State, "As you do this activity, keep in mind the time period of the Pilgrims. That means you can't write in your list things like game boys, playstations, or skateboards." Set the timer for 6 minutes and then instruct them that when the timer goes off that they will have 5 minutes to make a second list as a group on what they believed the Pilgrims as a whole, needed to survive the trip and landing. Total time: 11 min.

7.Make a T-Chart with one side labeled Individual Needs and the other labeled Group Needs, while the students are engaged in their activity. Make the list close to the other T-Chart with the needs they listed earlier. When the time has run out, call on several students (approximately 10-15) to list what they as individuals would bring had they been a Pilgrim aboard one of the ships. Total time: 3 min.

8.After praising the students for being able to think critically, ask, "How did the Pilgrims know what they should bring?" Take as many answers as possible. Do not dismiss any likely possibility, but steer the kids in the direction that many of the Pilgrims and ship crew knew what to bring because they had learned what the land might be like from other explorers, ships' captains, or others who have colonized areas to the far south. In other words, stress the usefulness of researching and discovering what may await at the other end as a means to better prepare oneself. After a brief discussion on how the Pilgrims may have collected information, state, "So, if we are to colonize Mars, what should we do first before taking off?" Research. Handout the Mars Worksheet found as an attachment to this lesson plan. Total time: 3 min.

9.The worksheet is a little different from the previous worksheet that was used in gathering basic information about the solar system. This worksheet is somewhat based on the Jigsaw Puzzle approach to cooperative learning. Each member of the group gets only a portion of the whole worksheet to research on. By splitting up the worksheet, each member of the group can be held accountable for their part. Once the time is up, all members are able to get back together and report to one another what they have discovered. Total time: 10 min.

10.On a poster board with the whole worksheet written on it, write the answers to the questions as students report their findings. This poster board will also be placed on the bulletin board. Total time: 2 min.

11.State, "Now that we know a little more about Mars, let's take a look at the list that we made at the beginning of class. First, what is the difference between a need and a want when we talk about this unit?" Students should be able to discuss that a need is something one must have in order to survive and thrive and that a want is something that one can live with out even if they do not wish to. On the T-Chart write Needs at the top over where the student list begins and then write Wants over the empty column. Begin reading off the list and discuss each item with the class until you have reached a general consensus as to whether the item is in fact a need or a want. Total time: 5 min.

12.Praise the students for their ability to work independently, in small groups, and think critically. Tell the students that as the first lessons are for information gathering and that tomorrow the teacher will be handing out the directions for the rest of the project. Inform the students that even though only one hour a day is being spent on this project that they are more than able to ask questions in their journals about anything they might wish to know more about, read books on Mars, look at Internet sites on space exploration, etc. The key is to pass along the message that they should expand their own knowledge on this topic outside of the classroom. Lastly inform the students that the journal topic question for that evening is, "What is an experiment and how do you do an experiment?"

Evaluation:
Walk throughout the classroom observing and answering questions. Assess the accuracy of their answers, ability to think critically, independent work, and contribution to the group.

Homework:
Complete the next page in their journals, answer the topic question, and add three more vocabulary words to their private word list and defining them in their own words.
Here's the Mars Research Sheet.
Here's the Pilgrim Handout.

LessonPlansPage.com would like to take a moment to let you know about Concordia University's new Master’s Degrees in Education that you can complete online in just one year!

Find Out More!