Science LP With NL Comments and Es Revisions

1
Elizabeth Kahn and Emily Strupp

Term III Lesson Plan
Science Methods
To be taught: Monday, 11/24/2014
What:
This lesson is designed for whole group instruction. The third grade students at
our school participate each fall in a unit focused on exploring the ideas of community and
cultural diversity through rice. Prior to this lesson, students will have been learning about
rice through various lenses for about two weeks. As the rest of the unit leans strongly
toward social studies and is considered part of the social studies curriculum, we have
decided to add another dimension this year by teaching about the science of rice as well.
In a previous lesson, students will have built understanding of the procedures through
which rice goes from field or paddy to bowls on our tables. For this science lesson, we
will focus in on the fully-grown rice plant, breaking down both the life cycle of the rice
plant and the physical parts of the just before it is harvested. Students will first practice
scientific exploration by examining rice husks, and they will extend this practice by
developing their own hypotheses, questions, and connections to what they have learned in
the past. Our intention is to teach our students about the life cycle of a plant by using rice
as an example and to develop their understanding of the progression of the plant from
seed to fully grown plant and the way in which the seed remains a part of the plant
through its life cycle. Students will have the opportunity to physically explore several
parts of the rice seed in order to deepen understanding.
How:
We have decided to teach this lesson based upon the Biological Sciences
Curriculum Study 5E Instructional Model. The five phases of this model are:
engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation (Bybee et al., 2006).
Engagement and exploration will occur first through allowing students time to examine
the rice husks, developing and writing their own hypotheses and questions about their
place in our learning about rice. Only after students have had these opportunities will we
offer a verbal and visual explanation of the growth stages of a rice plant and the layers
that make up the rice itself. Once we have shared this information, students will have a
chance to elaborate on and deepen their understanding by returning to exploration of
physical materials. This time, however, students will already have the answers and will
use rice grains and sandpaper in order to interact with a tangible representation of what
they have learned. Evaluation will come in the form of open-ended questions posed to
students before, during and following the lesson and, to a lesser degree, students ability
to label the parts of a rice plant diagram. This piece will primarily evaluate beginning
note-taking skills scaffolded by teacher modeling.
In the Chche Konnen approach described by Bransford, Brown and Cocking
(2000), students explore their own questions (p. 183). Though we have limited time to
have significant influence on students scientific thinking, and though we are unable at
this time to have students design their own studies based on self-developed questions, we
believe it is important across all subjects to begin with questions. Through this inquiry
approach, we can engage students by allowing them to formulate their own wonderings
NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:29 PM

Comment [1]: But term IV is coming!
Emily Strupp 12/5/2014 2:46 PM
Comment [2]: I agree, this would be great
to do in the Term IV unit!
about a topic so that they are more motivated to learn more (and feel more included) than
if the teacher were simply to lecture at them.
Why:
We have chosen a whole group lesson for our particular students because all third
graders participate in the rice unit, and we prefer to include the entire class in each piece
of this thematic unit. When the unit culminates with a rice celebration in December,
therefore, students will have all had the same opportunities to expand their knowledge
and deepen their understanding of the subject matter through various academic lenses.
Within the rice unit, the purpose of this lesson is to build upon and enrich the
previous lessons by introducing a new dimension through which we can learn and think
about rice. We intend to enrich learning done in the social studies lesson, taught a week
prior to the science lesson, by delving more deeply and more scientifically into one piece
of the history of a bowl of rice.
Within the BSCS framework, each piece of our particular lesson has a specific
purpose for teaching our group of students. Because they are accustomed to group
discussions and investigations in which they build understanding by asking and
answering questions, we anticipate that our students will become more invested in the
learning tasks if they are allowed to formulate thoughts individually and within table
groups before turning their attention toward the board for a presentation. Within the
presentation itself, though the primary focus of our inquiry piece is the rice seed and its
parts (including husk and bran layer), we will introduce the stages of plant growth in
order to bridge this lesson to the previous one. A week prior, students will have seen a
time-lapse video of rice growing out of the ground. We will access prior knowledge by
showing this video again, followed by diagrams of plant growth, and we will zoom in
ultimately on the rice grain itself. We have chosen to teach this lesson through varied
modalities in order to engage different types of learners. Information will be presented
both visually (on the SmartBoard) and verbally, and we will engage interpersonal skills
by asking students to use one another as resources for discussion and/or assistance with
activities. Students will be asked to draw upon information learned in the previous
weeks lesson and to build on it by gathering information from physical materials and a
digital and verbal presentation. The practice of taking notes will be heavily scaffolded, as
our students have not yet developed note-taking skills. A worksheet will provide spaces
for organizing information gathered.. We will begin and end the lesson with tasks
intended to activate kinesthetic learning, as students will handle and examine rice husks
and will later use sandpaper to make their own white rice grains from brown ones,
modeling the polishing phase of rice production discussed in a previous lesson use both
their eyes and their hands to compare the husks to the brown and white rice and make
observations about how the three are related.
Goals and Objectives
Students will understand the basic life cycle of a rice plant from seed to harvest.
Students will pose questions in the beginning of the lesson and reference them later,
engaging in a process of scientific inquiry.
Students will be able to diagram the major parts of a full-grown rice plant.

Comment [3]: This sentence is confusing.
Could you try it again, improving clarity?
Comment [4]: I agree. Please see revised
explanation of this note-taking task.
Deleted: Though we would like students to
work on taking notes, they have very little
practice with this, so we will use modeled
worksheets in order to scaffold the process of
organizing presented information in written
form
Formatted: Strikethrough
Comment [5]: Although this is a tactile
experience, it is visual as well.
Comment [6]: This task was revised
because I discovered the sandpaper activity
would not work, but I wanted to end with a
tactile activity and allow students time to
circle back and make more connections.
Students will physically interact with rice grains and husks, supporting their
understanding of the layers of the grain and relating back to the processes of husking,
threshing, and polishing that they learned about last week.
Standards
K-12 Framework:
Dimension 1: Scientific and Engineering Practices
Asking questions: Students will write questions on sticky notes at the
beginning of the lesson while examining rice husks. They will be
encouraged to access prior knowledge in order to formulate questions
about things they would like to learn through this lesson or in the future.
Observation: Students will make observations about the rice husks
without being given any information about them beforehand. They will be
asked to write down observations about these objects, and we will
emphasize the importance of keeping records in scientific practice.
Dimension 2: Crosscutting Concepts
Structure and function. We will teach the structure of both the rice plant as
a whole and of an individual seed. We will ask open-ended questions
about the functions of the different parts of the plant, enabling students to
learn about the relationship between structure and function.
Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation: We will incorporate
the life cycle of a rice plant into our lesson, using this as a bridge for
zooming in from the entire rice production process (taught last week) to
the specific parts and layers of a single grain of rice.
Dimension 3: Life Sciences
In ways described above, we will address the following core ideas in the life
sciences:
LS1.A: Structure and Function
LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Common Core:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or
gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on
sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
Students will be asked to draw upon information learned in the previous
weeks lesson and to build on it by gathering information from physical
materials and a digital and verbal presentation. The practice of taking
notes will be heavily scaffolded, as our students have not yet developed
note-taking skills. A worksheet will provide spaces for organizing
information gathered.
Materials
1 lb. of rice husks

12 plastic bowls

Moved (insertion) [1]
Comment [7]: I think that this is the
better match. You might want to put it first.
Comment [8]: This makes sense. The
order has been changed.
Moved up [1]: Structure and function. We
will teach the structure of both the rice plant as
a whole and of an individual seed. We will ask
open-ended questions about the functions of
the different parts of the plant, enabling
students to learn about the relationship
between structure and function
<#>.
Comment [9]: Are you really getting
into this? If not, the two above are quite
adequate and very good fits.
Comment [10]: Actually, I will not really
be getting into energy transfer, as we will
not cover photosynthesis or go into detail
about what plants need to grow. The focus is
more on structure, function, and growth.
Comment [11]: This second bullet point
does not belong here. But I do think that this
is the clearer explanation I was looking for
above.
Comment [12]: Understood; this has
been incorporated into the Why section.
1 lb. of brown rice

Sandpaper
Plant structure worksheets
SmartBoard
Learning Environment and Management Issues

Students will sit in their table groups for the entirety of this lesson. Working in
these groups is a normal part of their classroom routine and we anticipate appropriate
cooperation and collaboration. We will remind students in the beginning of the lesson
that we expect them to be responsible when listening to and talking with their groups, that
we are going to do some fun interactive things today, but when we ask for their attention
up front they are expected to stop what they are doing or saying and listen. We will
employ the help of our classroom teachers to pass out the materials, as students need
them. Students will begin with their own pencils and sticky notes. Then, one member
from each table will be asked to take the team folders and organizers from the center of
each table group and place them on the ground under their desks. This way, the center of
the table will be clear for the bowls containing the husks and later the bowls containing
the brown rice. Our classroom teachers will also distribute worksheets at the appropriate
time.
Before and during the lesson we will draw attention to students who are meeting
our expectations and participating in constructive ways by using language such as, I
really like the way Joey is showing me he is listening by giving me his eyes, looking
forward, and not talking. Additionally, if students are excited by the materials and are
interacting with them at inappropriate times we will say things to the effect of, Id like
to see everyone with a pencil in their hand ready to take notes and looking up here,
instead of Joey, put the rice down and look up here! This way, we will not give extra
attention to students who are being disruptive or are distracted. Rather, we will be
abundantly clear about our expectations and confidence that our students can be
responsible (one of their five classroom rules).
We will remind students that they can earn stars (individual incentives) or marbles
(group incentives) during the lesson. If appropriate, we will also remind students that we
would not like to have to remove marbles or move color cards due to disruptions or
distractions.
Plan
Introduction (10 minutes)
Students will be in their table groups.
Ask each student to take out one pencil and two sticky notes.
We will use one sticky note now and one at the end of the lesson, so please
post them somewhere on your desk where you can get to them easily.
Tell students that we will be bringing something to each table from them to observe and
think about.
I want you to think about the different things we learned last week in
social studies, about the different processes rice goes through before it
gets to our table.

Comment [13]:
Use one of the groups rice timelines as a visual aid to recall the planting, harvesting, and
production steps.
Instruct students to write down one question and two observations on their sticky notes.
Id like you to write down a question you have about what I bring around
and, two observations. Remember, observations are anything you observe
or take in about the object so it can be using any of your senses. How does
it look? Smell? Feel? Sound? Were not going to taste today, so please
keep that in mind.
Pass out the husks and give students seven minutes to observe, interact with, and write
about them.
After seven minutes, we will ask students to put the husks back in the bowl in the center
of the table and direct their attention forward.
Ask students to report out on different questions and observations.
We will keep these in mind as we go through the science lesson today and
I want you to be thinking about your questions and observations while we
learn more about the rice plant because at the end of the lesson, hopefully,
we will have some answers.
Body of the lesson (25 minutes)
Show the time-lapse video from last week of rice growing in the field over 112 days.
Were going to break down what weve just seen into four distinct stages
of growth. Just as we saw in social studies, there is a distinct sequence
that we can follow and understand when it comes to the rice plant life
cycle just as there as for rice production: from planting, to transplanting,
to harvest, threshing, polishing, packaging, and shipping.
Talk through the four growth stages of the rice plant using PowerPoint slide (see
appendix).
Now, given what you know about the different growth stages of rice, what
stage do you think the material you were working with came from?
After gathering student responses, discuss that we are going to focus on the last stage of
development, the Late Season Stage, where rice is ready to be harvested and processed
for eating.
In this last stage, the rice plant looks like this (show blank rice diagram
worksheet on the board). We are going to talk through the different parts
of the plant. In doing so, I think we will answer some of your questions.
Pass out the blank rice diagram worksheets to each student.
As we talk through the different parts of the plant I would like you to take
notes at your desk. So, as I fill my diagram up here on the SmartBoard Id
like you to fill yours in as well. I want everyone to make sure to get down
the actual names of the parts as I write them, but if you want to add extra
notes about the plant to your diagram that will help you remember what it
is or what it does, you may. But I dont want to see people drawing
doodles or pictures on the side.
Discuss each part of the rice plant: roots, stem, leaves, panicle, and tiller, while giving
students adequate time to follow along, fill in their diagrams, and ask questions. During
this time, frame questions around the roles of each part:

Comment [14]: Put these 3 sentences on
one of the sticky notes.
Comment [15]: Except taste

Comment [16]: OK.
Comment [17]: I made revisions to this
piece in my lesson because of a class-wide
ban on sticky notes enacted the previous
day. I gave my students worksheets to begin
filling out during this activity and to finish
during the final exploration. This revision is
reflected in the revised lesson plan.
Comment [18]: Nice!


Comment [19]: Nice!

Comment [20]: Do they have to write
exactly what you do?
Comment [21]: I added the following
clarification and statement of expectations
in my revised lesson plan.
Can anyone tell me what they think the job of the roots are? the leaves?
the panicle?
Use these questions to discuss how the plant gets nutrients and works as a system.
Then, discuss parts of the rice seed: husk, bran, white rice, and germ, while giving
students time to follow along, fill in their diagrams, and ask questions. During this time,
anticipate that students realizing that the materials from before were rice husks - the outer
layer of the grain.
Why does the husk have to be removed before we eat the rice?
What purpose do you think the husk layer serves?
Talk through the different layers of the rice grain and remind students about the social
studies lesson where we learned about the difference between white rice and brown rice.
Does anyone remember the difference we learned between white rice and
brown rice last week?
Collect responses and support where needed to help kids understand that white rice is rice
with the bran layer removed, and brown rice is rice with the bran layer still intact.
Go back to students questions and observations about the husks and relate them to the
lesson.
Did you answer your question?
What do you still wonder?
What are some further observations you have made?
Introduce the second hands-on activity.
Now that youve had a chance to interact with the outer layer of the rice
grain, the husk, I am going to give you a chance to interact with the bran
layer again. Im going to collect your husks and give each table their bowl
of brown rice from last week. Im also going to give you each a piece of
sandpaper.
Can anyone tell me what sandpaper is used for? Why might we need
sandpaper with brown rice?
Collect responses and discuss the idea of polishing, or removing the bran layer, in order
to expose the white rice underneath.
While youre working with you rice I would like to you keep your diagram
out and be looking at the different layers weve identified. Keep in your
mind as youre sanding that you are going from one layer of the grain to
next, just like your diagram shows.
Collect husks; pass out brown rice and sandpaper.
Give students five minutes to sand their rice and create white rice.
Conclusion (5 minutes)
Ask students to put rice and sandpaper back in the center of their tables and direct their
attention to the front. Ask students what they observed while polishing their rice. Ask
students to write a question they still have on their sticky notes or something they would
like to learn more about with rice.
Conclude by recounting what we have learned, the rice plant life cycle, the parts
of the rice plant and the layers of the rice grain. Complement students for being great
scientists today by making observations, recording questions and wonderings, gathering
information, and then reflecting on their questions.

Comment [22]: Good
Comment [23]: This is a great point
(below). During the lesson, I made efforts to
acknowledge all student responses as valid
and asked other students to add to
thinking or offer another possibility.
Comment [24]: Remember that if you ask
them what they think whatever they say is
correct, it IS what they think. So in your
responses you need to find a way to support
the thinking without saying that incorrect
answers are right.

Comment [25]: I really like the way you
have formatted this.

Comment [26]: Have you tried this? How
hard is it.
Comment [27]: I did try this, and it
turned out to be impossible with the brown
rice we had available. I revised the second
hands-on activity to one in which students
explored husks, white rice, and brown rice.
This is reflected in my revised lesson plan.
Assessment of goals
Emphasis will be placed on paying close attention to discussions, questions, and
comments in order to assess students understanding and progression from wondering to
knowing. With less emphasis, we will assess students rice diagrams for accuracy, noting
any misrepresentations or misunderstandings. Further, we will analyze students sets of
sticky notes to access their thinking before and after the lesson and get an idea of their
scientific thinking and process of inquiry.
During the Introduction:
Do they understand the idea of scientific observations?
What kind of activities are they engaging in to explore the rice?
What questions to do they write down?
What follow up questions are asked about the husks, observations, or
questioning?
During the Body:
What stage do they think the husks come from?
What do they identify as the roles of the roots? leaves? panicle?
What purpose do they think the husk serves?
Why do they think the husk needs to be removed before eating?
How do they reflect on their questions? Do they use new information as well as
prior knowledge? What connection do they make between the lesson and their
wonderings?
What further observation do they offer post-lesson?
How do they explain the use of sandpaper for the bran removal activity?
During the Conclusion:
What observations do they report after sanding their rice? Do they reference parts
of the grain or plant?
Post-lesson
Are their diagrams accurate?
What are similarities and differences between their beginning and end questions?
Anticipating Student Responses
Management Issues
We will make clear that our expectations are the same as the classroom teachers
and thus reinforce already established classroom routines and norms. Rewards and
consequences that are normally in place in both of our classes will be mentioned if
needed, namely star cards for individual incentives and a marble jar for whole class
incentives.
For Emilys class specifically: Students will be reminded that if I need to remind them
several times to follow classroom rules, I will have to move their individual cards from
green to yellow or from yellow to orange.
Response to content of the lesson

We expect to hear the buzz of interest and exploration in the classroom during the
opening activity. A few students may realize what the husks are when reminded to think
about the processes we learned last week, and this will likely be reinforced by showing a
groups rice sequence poster as a visual reminder
During the presentation, we anticipate that some students may need significant
prompting to draw connections between last weeks lesson and this new information, and
we will therefore give explicit reminders and verbalize the relationships we aim to
demonstrate. In many cases, we will ask questions prior to giving a full explanation, as
we anticipate that some students will benefit from the chance to make these connections
independently.
When students are asked to record on sticky notes while exploring rice husks, we
anticipate observations such as, they are light brown, dry and fragile, they are very
light, and they are shaped like rice, and questions such as, Is this part of the rice
plant? Do these go around the pieces of rice? and Can you eat these? We will
encourage students to keep their questions in mind during the lesson, as we expect
several of them will be answered.
When we ask open-ended questions during the lesson, we anticipate most students
will understand the prompts and formulate responses. We believe it is possible that a few
students will raise their hands and questions about rice to which we do not yet have the
answers. In this case, we will thank them for asking great questions, and we ask them to
remember them for the end of the lesson. We will then collect these on sticky notes and
include answers to their questions in a subsequent lesson during the unit on rice.
During the sanding activity, we anticipate that students will be energized by
another hands-on opportunity and will be excited to find the white rice hiding inside.
Accommodations
For students who may find the material too challenging
Students who are struggling to form questions, record observations, follow the
diagram, or perform physical activities during the hands-on experiences will be
encouraged to use their table group as a resource. We will remind students that science is
a collaborative field of study so discussing questions, thoughts, and observations are
encouraged, as well as asking for help and clarification from the group and working on
physical tasks together.
For students who may need further challenge
Students who need greater challenge beyond responding to our questioning are
free to offer more in-depth or complex connections or questions. By posing open-ended
questions, it is our intention that even students more advanced in their scientific thinking
will not find the discussion or lesson uninteresting.
Works Cited
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind,
experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Comment [28]: I have been wondering
that too. Maybe they are perfectly edible,
but people just choose not to eat them.
Certainly they do not have the nutrition of
the brown rice, but that does not mean they
are not edible.
Comment [29]: I actually did not see this
question in the first round of questions, butI
did hear a student asking what would
happen if you ate them. I will look this up
and share the information with the class.
Comment [30]: Couldnt they just write
them down then?
Comment [31]: Rather than call on
students and respond to their questions by
telling them to save them for later, I
acknowledged hands and asked all students
to save their questions for the end. The
worksheet included another space for still
wondering questions at the end of the
activity, and all students were asked to fill
this in.
Bybee, R., Taylor, J. A., Gardner, A., Van Scotter, P., Carlson, J., Westbrook, A.,
Landes, N. (2006). The BSCS 5E Instructional Model: Origins and Effectiveness.
Colorado Springs, CO: BSCS.
Appendix
10
Rice diagramming worksheet key. Labels will be blank for students.

Images retrieved from:
http://discovermagazine.com/~/media/Images/Issues/2013/October/Rice.jpg and
http://www.somastruct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ricegrain-283x300.jpg

Comment [32]: Do you have a source for
this diagram?
PowerPoint slide and accompanying notes for rice life cycle.
11

Comment [33]: The notes for the power
point slide need some editing.
Comment [34]: I agree. Changes to the
notes, with efforts to improve clarity and
accessibility of language, can be seen in the
revised lesson plan.

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Elizabeth Kahn and Emily Strupp

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:29 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:32 PM

1 lb. of rice husks

Emily Strupp 12/5/2014 2:57 PM

1 lb. of brown rice

Learning Environment and Management Issues

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:41 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:43 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:45 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:46 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:47 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:52 PM

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:51 PM

Response to content of the lesson

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 7:57 PM

Rice diagramming worksheet key. Labels will be blank for students.

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 8:00 PM

PowerPoint slide and accompanying notes for rice life cycle.

NancyLee Bergey 11/17/2014 8:01 PM

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