Science Lesson Plan

Name: Rebecca Prentiss

Grade Level: First Grade
Content Area: Science
Date for Implementation: December 9, 2013
Lesson Title: Exploring UV Beads
Whole Class

Standards
1
st
Grade, Earth Sciences Standard 3c: Students know the sun warms the land, air, and
water.
NGSS Practice Standards: K-PS3-1: Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight
on Earths surface.

Content Objective/Learning Outcome
Students will be able to explain that one of the differences between artificial light and
sunlight is the presence or absence of UV rays.

Language Objective/Language Learning Outcome
Given sentence stems and a word bank, students will be able to describe what they
discovered about the UV beads and how it relates to the sun.

Assessment

Formative Assessment Tasks: I will ask the students to do a think-pair-share about
what they know about light. During this time, I will walk around and listen in on their
conversations in order to find out what their current understandings are with regards to
the topic. I will write down their volunteered responses on the promethean board and use
these responses to gauge the amount of support and scaffolding I will give later on. I will
pay close attention to two students who typically grasp concepts quickly, two students who
take longer to fully grasp concepts, and two students who are typically somewhere in the
middle so that I get a snapshot of where the class is most likely at as a whole during the
introduction and explore time.


Summative Assessment Tasks: As an exit slip, I will ask students to write down their
hypothesis regarding why the beads change by filling in a provided sentence frame. I will
also ask Why do you think the beads changed? and What made you think that? to as
many students as time permits. Also, I will ask at the end What did you learn about light?


Materials Needed
UV beads (3 for each student)
Pipe Cleaners
First grade writing paper with sentence frame already printed on it
Promethean board to be used to record students prior knowledge about light.

Differentiation: When asking the students to describe the beads, I will provide two
sentence frames, one that is more challenging than the other. I will also use language that is
simple and straightforward and provide multiple opportunities for students to ask
questions. I will check in with the five ELLs in the classroom frequently during the explore
time and during the writing of the hypotheses so as to provide extra support if needed. For
the student with a IEP for speech, I will have him practice saying his responses in front of
me and not in front of the whole class, because he often gets embarrassed to speak in front
of everyone. For the students that come to the correct conclusion quickly, I will challenge
them to ask questions and suggest experiments that they can perform at home to test out
their questions. Given that this lesson is focused on the science content and students are
still developing fundamental writing skills, I will provide the students with writing paper
that already contains the sentence frame so that they are able to focus on content rather
than spending time copying down the sentence frame.

Instructional Sequence:

Introduction
-Gather students to the rug in front of the promethean board and ask them to each sit in
their assigned square.
-Tapping prior knowledge: ask and write on Promethean board What do you know about
light? Explain that it can be anything. Have them think for a few seconds and then turn to a
neighbor to share what they know. After a few minutes, get their attention and ask for
volunteers to share with the class. Try to alternate calling girls and boys, and give students
who typically do not share out loud priority. Restate and affirm responses while recording
them on the promethean board.
-Explain that Today, we are going to be scientists. What does a scientist do? How does a
scientist act? Wait for their responses. Emphasize the importance of observing, asking
questions, and acting responsibly.
-Tell students that Today we are going to do an investigation. We will be investigating a
question about light. The question is Is there a difference between the lights in the
classroom and the light outside? We'll start by making a bracelet with a pipe cleaner and
three beads, just like this. (Show example bracelet). Explain that these are very special
beads that will help us with our investigation.
-Hand out supplies to students who Look ready to act like scientists. Assist students to
make them if they are having difficulties.
-After we make the bracelets, ask students to examine their bracelets closely.
-After a few minutes, introduce the sentence frame to the students "The beads are________
and _____. For students at higher levels of language abilities, I will also introduce the added
sentence frame I think they're made out of_________because____________."
-Model using the sentence frame without filling in blanks so as to not change students
current ideas. Have students repeat after me.
-Tell students to practice describing the beads using the sentence frames with their
neighbor. Listen in on their conversations and remind them to try the sentence frames if
they are not already. Ask for three volunteers to share.
-Explain that we are going outside to observe the beads but that if students are not making
good choices or acting like scientists, we will come back inside.
Body
-Take the students outside, reminding them to act like scientists by observing and asking
questions.
-While we are outside, ask as many students as time permits What are you noticing? and
Why do you think that happened?
-Say When you can hear my voice, put your hands on your head and so on to get their
attention so that we can head back into the classroom.
-Let the students chat for a minute or two as they head back to the rug in front of the
promethean board.
-Ask students to tell their neighbor what they noticed and what they think makes the bead
change.
-Ask students to think about whether we know anything more about whether or not there
is a difference between the light outside and the light inside the classroom.
- Tell the students that they will be writing a hypothesis, and explain that a hypothesis is a
guess based on observations. Introduce the exit slip and read aloud the sentence frame
written on it. Have the students practice saying the sentence frame.
-Send students back to their desks by handing out exit slips (lined paper containing a pre-
written sentence frame) to students showing that they are paying attention and ready to
begin the next part.
- While students are writing, walk around the room to provide assistance and
encouragement, and further assess understanding.
Closure
-Say, "Okay, now that you have written your hypothesis, do you think there is a difference
between the light in the classroom and the light outside? Show me thumbs up for yes and
thumbs down for no.
-Ask, Did the beads help you find that out? If so, how?
-Give time to think, then call on individual students to volunteer a response.
-Ask Has anyone ever heard the term UV rays? If so, where and when did you hear it?
-Explain that these beads are called UV beads, because they tell us when light contains UV
rays or not. Explain that sunscreen protects us from UV rays in sunlight, because they can
be bad for our skin.
- Say So, one difference between sunlight and the lights in the classroom is that sunlight
gives off UV rays, and the lights in the classroom do not. Everybody say UV rays. The UV
beads showed us that difference.
-Ask students to share with their neighbor something that they learned today about light.
Ask for volunteers to share their responses with the class.
-To close, I will challenge students to keep asking questions about the beads and think
about ways they can set up experiments to help them answer those questions.