Rivier University

STUDENT TEACHER LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Day: Tuesday Date: 12/4/2018
Subject: Life Science
This lesson incorporates changing instructional technologies in daily instruction

Common Core Standard(s):

Science Standard: 3-LS3-1.
“Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits
inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar
organisms” (NGSS Lead States, 2013)

Math Standard: CCSS.Math.Content.3.NBT.A.2

“Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place
value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.”
(Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2018b).

Objective(s): At the end of this lesson my students will be able to examine data and explain
how living things (plants and animals) have characteristics inherited from their parents
(NGSS Lead States, 2013). This lesson will focus on the skill that students will be able to
notice the similarities and differences among plants and animals and their parents.
Students will also be practicing their skills in addition and subtraction with large numbers
(up to 1,000).

Resources/Materials List:
Labradors –Similarities and Differences (Print out)
Activity: Three pages with two pictures on each page
“What is a trait? –Genetics and Inherited Traits” Video (Math and Science, 2016).

Procedure: This lesson is the first introducing the students to heredity, and the goal of this
lesson is to show the students data that they can analyze and see that plants and animals
(mainly animals in this lesson) inherit certain characteristics from their parents.
1. Step One: Show a picture on the board of two different animals (an bear and a
giraffe)
a. Ask students to name some similarities and differences
b. List what the students say on the board
2. Step Two: Show a picture on the board of two more different animals (an elephant
and a monkey)
a. Ask the students to name some similarities and differences
b. List what the students say on the board
3. Step Three: Definition of Trait
a. “a distinguishing characteristic or quality, especially of one's personal nature”
(Dictonary.com, 2018b)
4. Step Four: Definition of Heredity
 a. “the transmission of genetic characters from parents to offspring”
(Dictonary.com 2018a)
5. Step Five (Changing instructional technologies in daily instruction)
a. In addition to the explaining the definition of what traits are, the teacher will
also show the information in the form of a video:
i. What is a trait?-Genetics and Inherited Traits (Math and Science,
2016)
ii. This video will add some more dialogue to the classroom instruction,
and it is a way to incorporate a different type of technology into the
lesson
6. Step Five: Let’s look at the traits of each individual animal (add to what is already on
the board)
a. Bear
b. Giraffe
c. Elephant
d. Monkey
7. Step Six: How are they similar/different than their parents?
a. Show pictures of an adult giraffe and a baby giraffe
i. T: Although there are many similarities among the traits of these
animals, there are also subtle differences because of the inherited
characteristics from their parents
b. For example: If you have a brother or sister, think about how they look.
i. Even though you have the same parents, you and your siblings do not
look exactly alike.
ii. There are variations among animals in the same way –even though
they have the same parents, they do not look exactly alike
8. Step Seven: Show a picture of two dogs (same breed)
a. In Pairs, ask the students to look at the dogs and make observations about
each of the dogs and then compare the two
b. Example: Picture of two Labrador Retrievers
c. Make a list of similarities and differences
d. Have a class discussion of the similarities and differences found by each of
the pairs
9. Step Eight: Activity: Comparing Parents and Children (Animals)
a. Hand out three pages (each page has two pictures –one of an adult and one of
a baby animal)
i. On the pages will also be a description of each animal: their height and
weight
b. Students will independently look at each of the animals and list the traits of
each animal. On that page, students will write two to three traits per animal.
c. Students will need to take the height and weight of the animals and compare
them in order to see who is taller and weighs more.
i. Students must use >,<, = statements for each of the categories of
height and weight
ii. Math Component: Addition and Subtraction.
 1. With the information the students know about the animal’s
height and weight, students will need to solve a word problem
on each of the pages.
2. Each of the problems asks students to add and subtract using
the height and weight of each animal.
3. These problems will be handed in at the end of the class:
d. With their list of characteristics and comparisons of height and weight, the
students will need to come up with an educated guess as to who they believe
is the adult and who they believe is the child (out of the two pictures)
e. Each student will write a statement on the page with the animal’s picture on
it and provide evidence that the child inherited certain traits from their
parent
f. This will be handed in at the end of the class period

Plans for differentiation: The plan for differentiation in this lesson is to use many images
to reinforce the vocabulary. For students who may not be familiar with these types of
animals, the teacher should incorporate visual as well as verbal representations of all of the
examples. During the activity, all of the students will have a copy of all three of the animals
being analyzed and the description of the animal’s height and weight is included so that
there is less confusion. Another form of differentiation offered in this lesson is when the
video about traits is shown. For the students who learn best visually, this video will give
them the opportunity to look at the same information from the lesson in a different way.
This will also demonstrate how technology can be used in conjunction with or even instead
of instruction. Offering students multiple forms of representation of the same information
will meet the student at their level or method of learning, and will lead to deeper
understanding of the topics being discussed.

Plans for accommodation/modification:

In this classroom of twenty students, there are zero students who have a 504 or IEP, so
there are no accommodations or modifications necessary for this lesson.

Assessment:
The assessment included in this lesson is the activity at the end of the lesson.
Students will need to list the similarities and differences among the parent and the child
animal. Based on those observations, students will need to write a statement determining
which picture is the adult and which is the child. Along with their statements, the students
must show their evidence for their claims based on observations and comparisons. After
writing their observations, the students must also solve work problems using addition and
subtraction (up to 1,000), using the values given about the animals in the activity. The
students will be handing in their statements along with their observations of the traits at
the end of this lesson. This assessment will show that the students can notice the
similarities and differences in the traits between the animals and their parents, and that
they can perform the processes of addition and subtraction with large numbers (up to
1,000).
What’s next?
This lesson is the first in this unit about heredity. The main focus of this lesson is for
the students to understand what heredity is and how the traits of animals and plants can be
similar or different than their parents. In the next lesson, students will build on this
knowledge and explain how these traits can be influenced by the environment.

Reflection:
One of the strengths of this lesson is the activity, and how the students will be given
the time to look at each of the animals and make observations about the similarities and
differences among the same animal. In the activity, the students will be required to not only
compare the animals according to their height and weight, but they will also need to solve
word problems using those same values for height and weight. This activity will
incorporate important skills from both the science and math lessons. Another strength of
this lesson is the inclusion of the video at the beginning of the lesson. Although students
will be shown the definition of the terms in a power point presentation with pictures, using
another form of technology to enhance the lesson will give the students a different way to
look at the same information. Giving the students another form of representation of the
same information will increase the odds that the students will retain and store the
information. One of the weaknesses of this lesson is the transition from the instruction into
the activity. If I were to do this lesson again, I would try to find small group discussion that
could lead the students to use the terms that were mentioned in the instruction, and then
that discussion would be a bridge to begin the activity.
References:

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2018b) Grade 3 –number & operations in base
ten. Retrieved in November, 2018 from
http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/3/NBT/

Dictonary.com. (2018a). Heredity. Retrieved November, 2018, from

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/heredity

Dictonary.com. (2018b). Trait. Retrieved November, 2018, from

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/trait

Math and Science, M. (2016, October 24). What is a trait?-Genetics and Inherited Traits.
Retrieved November, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SldwzOJ23J8

NGSS Lead States. (2013). 3-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits. Retrieved
November, 2018, https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/3-ls3-1-heredity-inheritance-and-
variation-traits