Bryanna Reed

Microteaching Report
SED 482
Lesson Overview

This lesson covered the Next Generation Standard of HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and
refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and
biodiversity. This was the over arching goal of the unit plan and my lesson was the day that
covers what biodiversity is and how we affect it. This lesson gives the background
knowledge needed for the end result of designing, evaluating, refining a solution to reduce
these impacts. The main objective of this lesson was to identify the impacts on biodiversity
and explain those impacts from using the media and text source provided. Using these
sources students were to create a concept map listing three impacts and giving an
explanation for each and coming up with a few ideas on how affecting biodiversity will
impact humans. Reading and identifying key terms in the science articles met the common
core reading standards and helped students break down the text for better understanding.
Writing standards were met by having students gather important information from
different sources to help them create their concept web.
Unit Connection
This lesson is in the middle of the unit plan. The different types of human impacts were
discussed in previous days of the unit plan. These impacts were not discussed in detail how
they fully impacted the environment they just gave an overview about what is going on.
This lesson was designed scaffold off of the human impacts that were discussed earlier in
the unit and dive a bitter deeper into how these impacts affect the biodiversity of our
planet. Digging deeper into the impacts on biodiversity leads into the idea of degrading
ecosystems and impacting the services we receive from these ecosystems. The next lesson
would cover why it is important to keep ecosystems healthy and to discuss the benefits we
receive from these ecosystems such as the goods and services. The connection of our
economy depends on these ecosystem goods and services would be made and the harsh
reality of what would happen if we no longer received these services. Later in the unit plan
the students will revisit the impacts humans are having on the environment and will need
to come up with a realistic solution to the impact given to them. They will need to design
the action steps need to achieve their solutions.
Lesson Analysis
Scientific sense making was present in this lesson by communicating to the students the
big idea of the lesson. The standard we wanted to reach was for students to be able to
design, evaluate, and revise a solution to human impacts on the environment and

biodiversity. In order to do these students needed background information on the different

types of human impacts and how they are affecting the environment and biodiversity. This
lesson discussed multiple times that we need to identify the impacts and explain them.
Using previous knowledge of the human impacts that were covered in previous lessons
helps student organize the information. One day we cover the impact and the next we use
our knowledge of the impact to figure out how this is impacting the biodiversity. Students
are given multiple sources and visual representation to help them sort through the
information and make sense of it. The lesson could have made better use of human impacts
that are going on in Arizona. This would have helped students get a better understanding of
how this impact will affect them and why they should care. It would have made better
connections to possible experiences they may have with these human impacts. Ideally in
the previous lessons we would assess the previous knowledge through the engagement
stage of the 5E learning cycle so that we could bring in these experiences later in the unit
plan for lessons such as the one I have created.
Scientific discourse was present in this lesson when students present their concept
map. Students are able to inform their classmates about the topic they have and discuss
their ideas about why biodiversity is important to them. Students are required to use the
vocab words that we have been covering the entire year in their presentation. A bit of
writing was required for the concept web but thinking about it now it would have been a
good idea to have a graphic organizer so that students could write down notes on each
groups presentation. This could have helped develop written language for science.
English language and disciplinary literacy development was promoted in this lesson
by allowing student interaction while reading the articles, working on their concept map,
and presenting their topic. Helping students break down words to help them grasp the
concepts of the article also promotes the English language and literacy. This lesson had a lot
of front-loading of vocabulary. Teaching students how to break down words would have
been helpful in the beginning and then having them try and break down new words they
encounter in the text would have been more beneficial. It would also have been better to
find articles with statistics that showed graphical representations, charts, and illustrations
to further enhance English development.
I could have accessed more funds of knowledge in this lesson for contextualization.
This would go back to the beginning of the unit plan a assessing what they already know
and finding out their experiences and the importance that they place on the environment
and what it does for us. Connecting these experiences with events that are happening
around them would have made the lesson more meaning. Obviously the topics discussed
are import for sustaining the future but the connection was lost in why they should care.
This lesson did scaffold off of previous vocab words while introducing new ones into the
lesson. We also scaffold off of previous lessons and the topics that were covered.
Revised Lesson
Environmental Topics

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Deforestation
Mining
Pollution
Agriculture
Over fishing

1. Human set wildfires in Arizona

2. Urbanization in Arizona
3. Carbon emissions in Arizona

Resources
1. Deforestation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Frtk6hfYo
2. Mining - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0S8iayJDhQ
3. Pollution - http://on.aol.com/video/chemical-pollutions-effect-on-amphibians517286556
4. Agriculture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6W9j7glY2s
5. Over harvesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxacxShp3LY
Procedures
1. Pass out numbers to students.
2. Each number will correspond to specific task in their group.
3. 1s read the article to group 2s- list three human impacts on concept web 3s- write
explanation next to each impact 4s-present the concept web
4. Have every student take out an electronic device to use later in the lesson.
5. Present a picture of biodiversity.
6. Discuss what biodiversity means (draws students attention to the big ideas and connects
to prior activities):
a) What is going on in this picture?
b) Is whats in this picture living?
c) Do we see many organisms?
d) If so what types? Is there only one type of species?
e) What does bio mean?
f) What does diversity mean? Draw on students experiences with diversity? (Bring
in the diversity of clothing in the room).
g) Where is biodiversity located?
7. After discussion of biodiversity, teacher will revisit prior experiences with the Arizona
impact topics.
8. The lesson will make the connection between their experiences and how this impacts
them.
9. Have students pull out their research on previous Arizona topics.
10. Explain that they will be doing additional research on these topics using a video provided
for them and the research article they did on a topic in a previous lesson.

11. Explicitly state that the research will be finding the impacts that humans have on
biodiversity. Students will highlight the impacts they find in their topic article.
12. The research will include more data, tables, illustrations, and graphs.
13. Restate that our goal is to identify these impacts and explain the impacts they have on
biodiversity and to come up with a prediction to given hypothesis.
14. Students will write down key impacts that humans have on biodiversity from the video.
15. While explaining the research hand each group their QR code.
16. This QR code will have their specific video that they need to watch on their topic.
17. Their electronic devices will read the QR code.
18. The students will then watch the video in their groups on their electronic devices.
19. Teacher will provide graphic organizer to take notes for the videos.
20. Students will write down important information from the video.
21. After the video students will do more research on their topic and biodiversity using their
previous article (focuses on fully supported scientific explanations or arguments related
to the big ideas).
22. As groups are researching hand out a poster board, sticky notes, markers, and the
guidelines for the concept web to each group.
23. Pause the class after handing materials out and explain that they will be creating concept
web using the materials provided.
24. Write on the board that the concept web must include the name of the topic, list three
impacts on biodiversity and an explanation next to them, the explanation must be backed
up by the evidence in the videos and articles (results in brief development of students
thinking, hypotheses about science ideas).
25. Students must state their claim; use their identification and explanation of impacts along
with the evidence backing it up on their poster board.
26. Individually students will defend their reasoning by writing paragraph.
27. Explain what is written on the board.
28. Allow time for students to create concept web in their groups (includes widespread
student interaction).
29. Students will present concepts webs the next day of class (includes widespread student
interaction).
30. Teacher will provide outline of claim, evidence, and support your reasoning for students
to fill on out on each groups presentation.
31. Students will fill in the outline to the best of their knowledge.
32. Students will argue which groups had evidence to back up their claim and how their
evidence supports their reasoning.
33. Teacher will close the lesson with a discussion on their ideas of why biodiversity is
important to humans. This will lead into the concept of ecosystem goods and services that
will be covered the next day after students present their concept web.

The highlighted areas in the topics, resources, and procedures are what have or will be
changed. The topics for human impacts have been changed. I wanted to find topics that
were more relatable to students to make the lesson more meaningful. The resources will
need to be researched on the new topics and implemented into the lesson plan. In the
beginning of the unit plan students previous experiences will be discussed. We will then
revisit their experiences to make the connection between their lives and what impact we
are having on whatever experiences they have with the topics. I have also added a graphic
organizer for two different reasons. One the students will have a better idea of what they
are looking for when they watch their video about their topics. The second reason being I
thought it would be good idea to have a section on the graphic organizer for new vocab
words. Students will read the articles and whatever words they come across that they do
not know they can write down and it will have instructions on how to break down the word
so that they can figure out the meaning. We can discuss these new vocab words as they
present and the rest of the groups can write the meaning down as well. This will help
students with language development and help them make sense of the information.
The article will have more data to back up what is happening to the environment. I
also added in an outline for students to take notes on the presenting groups. Students will
now state their topic, state their claim, list their impacts, and give an explanation for
impacts backing it up with the evidence used in their resources. Students will now
individually write a paragraph explaining their reasoning for the their claim in each group.
For the students watching the presentation; they will need to find the claim the
presenting group is making with their concept map, the evidence they used, and in their
own words try to explain that groups reasoning. Students will argue the validity of the
articles and videos they had. This will provide extra practice with scientific discourse. I took
out the prediction and will have a closing discussion on them thinking about what this could
have to do with them. They will need to come up with some ideas on the importance of
their topic and how it relates to them. This will be discussed in detail after every group
presents.