Inquiry Lesson Plan Template (with Four Ways of Thinking

connection)
Teacher:
Content & Title:
Grade Level:
Syndi Flores
Science
4th Grade
Standards:
PO 1. Describe how natural events and human activities have positive and
negative impacts on environments (e.g., fire, floods, pollution, dams).
PO 2. Evaluate the consequences of environmental occurences that happen
either rapidly (e.g., fire, flood, tornado) or over a long period of time (e.g.,
drought, melting ice caps, the greenhouse effect, erosion).
Objectives (Explicit & Measurable):
Students will be able to see what they can do to help out the ocean and the
ocean life.
Students will be able to use their previous knowledge and create a presentation
that will be about a specific marine animal and how litter affects every aspect of
that animal and what they can do to help.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):
Students will learn about organizations that are currently working to help the
ocean and ocean life.
Students will be able to present what they found about litter affects on life and
their soultions/what they can do.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (steps that lead to completion of objective; sequence from
simple to more complex):

Students will be able to work with a partner or a small group and gather
information.
Students will be able to create a powerpoint, poster, etc. to showcase the
information they gathered and their ideas.
Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information about what
students are doing. Justification why is this lesson being taught)

In this lesson plan, students will be learning about what they can do to help reduce the
litter in the ocean. They will be learning about organizations that are currently taking
action and addressing this issue. By creating the powerpoint, poster or anything else,
they will be able to showcase their knowledge and be able to share with their
classmates ideas that they believe are ways to help reduce the litter in the ocean. This
is important that the do so that they become aware of what can happen when our
trash/litter goes to places that it shouldnt. This can prepared them for an everchanging future as well.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know prior to completing this
lesson)
Before completing this lesson, students will have already learned about what littering is, how it reaches
our ocean and who/what is affected by the litter being in our ocean.
Misconception: (what possible misleading thoughts might students have?)
Students may think that cleaning up the ocean is something easy or that a lot of people can do/are
doing that when in reality there are so many that are figthing to raise awareness of this issue and trying
to get others to join the cause of cleaning our ocean.
Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing)

Listening/Watching: Students will be watching a video(s) and listening to what

others are doing to help clean the ocean and listening to the information given
to them.
Researching: Students will be doing their own research about the topics they
have choosen (which animal/marine life) with a group or partner.
Communicating: Students will be able to communicate their research and their
ideas/solutions to this issue of littering.

Four Ways of Thinking connection: (Provide a complete explanation of how your

lesson plan connects to futures, system, strategic, or values thinking. Define the way of
thinking you selected and used in this lesson plan. Remember, this should be included

meaningfully in the lesson plan.)

This lesson incorporates Strategic and Futures Thinking. Strategic Thinking is being
able to develop a strategy or a plan to achieve a particular vision. Futures Thinking is
when the people think about how the past and the present will affect the future.
Another way to think it is that Futures thinking is more like cause and effect. With access
to the internet and by showing them videos of what others are doing, this can help them to come up with
some solutions/ideas to help. They can start thinking about how the litter problem can either increase or
decrease over the following years and see how much it can change the world (ocean and ocean life).
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?)
Students will need to be careful with the technology they use and if they are using markers, crayons,
color pencils, scissors, etc. they need to be careful with how they use them as well.
Inquiry Questions: (testable in the here and now.)
1. (to explore) What do you think is being done to clean up the ocean from the litter that is
currently there?
2. (to elaborate) What do you think may happen to the humans if we continue to throw our trash
into the ocean?
Key vocabulary: (list and define)
Materials: (list item and possible
1. Recycle:
quantity)
to treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to 1. Technology (computers/laptops)
make suitable for reuse
2. Poster Paper
2. Carbon Footprint: the amount of carbon diocide 3. Glue
or other carbon compunds emitted into the
4. Markers
atmosphere by the activities of an individual,
5. Colored Pencils
company, country, etc.
6. Crayons
3. Sustainable: of, relating to, or being a method of 7. Scissors
harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is
not depleted or permanently damaged
4. Organization: an administrative and functional
structure (as a business or a political party)
5. Derelict: in a very poor condition as a result of
disuse and neglect: the cities were derelict and dying

Engage - In this section you should activate prior knowledge, hook student
attention, pose a question (IQ#1) based on your lesson objective that students
will seek to answer in Explore.
Teacher Will: (hook)
Students Will:
Teacher will play the video, Divers
Students will be actively listening
Against Debris, to show students what
to the video and to the teacher
they will be talking about.
after.
Teacher will ask What are some
Students will be able to share
things we can to do help without
what they think is the answer.
actually going to the ocean
Students will be taking notes as
everyday?
the teacher goes over things they
Teacher will then pull up the website
can do.
that breifly goes over what anyone
can do to reduce litter in the ocean.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
For ELL students or students with an IEP, they will be able to discuss with a small
group or with a partner what they have learned and what would be a good resposne to
the question that was asked. Then they can share as a whole (those who want to share
their responses).

Explore - In this section students should take the lead and actively use materials
to discover information that will help them answer the question posed in
Engage. Teachers may choose to give steps to follow, especially for younger students,
but the goal is for students to discover some or all of the sub-objectives of the lesson.
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #1)
Students Will: (list all steps)
Teacher will show the second video
Students will watch the video and
that is present.
write down anything they find
important or useful.
Teacher will show the students the
Students will go over chart with
image called 10 Things You Can Do
For Trash Free Seas.
teacher and then turn to discuss
with a partner.
The teacher will ask the students to
Students will try to answer the last
discuss one of the 10 that they found
interesting and also ask How do you
question asked and if they can,
think that by doing one of these
support it with details.
things can help reduce the litter going
into the ocean?
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
For ELL students or students with an IEP, the teacher can do this activity as a whole
class and have one student write down what is shared or have them individually go up
to write their answer and then discuss them.
Explain In this section students share what they discovered, teacher connects
student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations, students
articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the lesson sub-objectives
by answering the question from Engage before moving on.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Teacher will hav students write down
Students will share their answers
their answer to the question.
on a piece of paper.
Teacher will then explain what they
Students will listent to what they
are going to be doing to showcase
are going to be doing.
their learning.
Students will listen to how the
During this time, the teacher will
vocabulary fits into the lesson
connect the vocabulary with they
topic.
have learned so far.
Students will begin to be placed
Teacher will explain in detail what
and groups to start their work.
they are to do and what they are
looking for.
Students will then be put into groups
to start their work.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
For ELL students or students with an IEP, there will be at least one fluenet English
speaker in each group so that those who may be limited in their proficiency can
practice and learn/grow their proficiency.
Elaborate In this section students take the basic learning gained from Explore and
clarified in Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of
this learning at a deeper level. Students should be using higher order thinking in this
stage. A common practice in this section is to ask a What If? question. IQ #2
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #2)
Students Will:
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes

Evaluate In this section every student demonstrates mastery of the lesson

objective (though perhaps not mastery of the elaborate content). Because this also
serves as a closing, students should also have a chance to summarize the big
concepts they learned outside of the assessment.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Teacher will walk around and make
Students will work with their
sure students are on task.
group on finding information to
accomplish the assignment.
Teacher wil help those who ask for
Students will work together to
help or have questions.
come up with a way to
Teacher will make sure that there
showcase their research and
will be time to present.
ideas.
Once its time to present, teacher

Once its time to present,

will write down their own notes on
students will actively listen to
what the students are sharing.
their classmates who are
sharing.
If theyd like (Highly
recommended) the students will
be taking notes on what their
classmates are sharing.
Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)
Teacher will ask the question that was asked at the beginning which was, What are some things we can
to do help without actually going to the ocean everyday? Students will share this with a group and do
a quick wrtie about what they learned. The quick write, as well as their projects, will be turned in.

**Best Practices List the Best Teaching Practices you will use to enhance
the learning outcomes. In each section where prompted, list the best
practice, how the practices will be used and the purpose.