Aimee McGillis
Mrs. Young
Educational Technologies
Thursday, 12th December, 2019
Final Lesson Plan
GENEVA COLLEGE
BEAVER FALLS, PA
LESSON PLAN FORMAT
NAME: Aimee McGillis DATE: Thursday, 12th December, 2019
COURSE: Educational Technologies GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade
I. TOPIC AND GENERAL GOAL
Students will identify the roles that plants and animals play in various food chains
during interative play. Students define vocabulary terms such as decomposer and
producer and use those terms in class discussions as well as activities.
REFERENCE TO PA OR COMMON CORE STANDARDS
[Link].4.7 : Interpret information presented visually, orally, or
quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive
elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an
understanding of the text in which it appears.
II. LESSON OBJECTIVES -
● TSWBAT: Identify the roles that plants & animals play in various food
chains during interactive game play
● TSWBAT: Define vocabulary terms such as decomposer and producer, and
use those terms in class discussions and activities
III. MATERIALS
● Interactive whiteboard (or just a projector)
● Internet access for BrainPOP
● Computers for pairs of students to use
● Photocopies of any printable worksheets
● Online vocab quiz (for food chain; food web; herbivore, omnivore,
carnivore, producer, consumer, predator, prey, decomposer)
IV. LESSON DEVELOPMENT (ACTIVITIES, PROCEDURES)
*Preparation : Preview the BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. movies/features
mentioned in the lesson plan below and determine which are most
developmentally appropriate for your students. Try out the Food Chain game
yourself and plan discussion points and ways to incorporate game play into your
unit of instruction. You might also want to explore the Sheppard Software Food
Chain page to learn more about the game and view additional resources from its
developer.
1. (Optional first step for students in grades K-3): Project the BrainPOP Jr.
Talk About It feature for the class to see and build background knowledge
about food chains. Type students' responses directly into the graphic
organizer.
2. Project the Sequence Order Game for students to see. Talk about the
correct order of events in the food chain shown and have student
volunteers sequence the cards. You may want to use the Vocabulary page
during the discussion to display and define key terms.
3. Pair students up and give them about 5 minutes to explore the Food Chain
game together. Ask students to stop after they finish completing the fifth
food chain.
4. Bring the class back to a whole-group discussion. How did the mushrooms
fit into the fifth food chain--was anyone surprised that they were not first
or second? Project the Bigger Food Chains page on the Sheppard Software
site and introduce the term decomposers.
5. Show students the other terms listed on the lefthand side of the screen,
and discuss them as a class. Click on each term to reveal an image that you
can use as a talking point as students construct definitions.
6. Allow students to finish playing the game in pairs. When they are done,
they can watch the BrainPOP Food Chains Movie or the BrainPOP Jr.
Food Chain Movie and take the accompanying quiz.
7. For an assessment, have younger students complete the Food Web
Activity. Older or more advanced students can complete the Graphic
Organizer.
*Extension : Have students explore the Producers and Consumers Game to learn more
about these roles in the food chain. Challenge students to construct a model of their own
food chain using paper and pencil, digital tools, or three dimensional objects. Encourage
students to label the role of each plant and animal. Students may want to mix up the
order of their food chain and have their classmates try to reconstruct it.
V. EVIDENCE OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (CONTENT,
PROCESS, PRODUCTS,LEARNING ENVIRONMENT)
Allowing group/partners to team up for this game, provding note cards so that students
have a word bank of possible answers, limiting questions, or asking more in depth
questions based on performance.
VI. CLOSURE (SUMMARY)
This lesson is an appropriate midweek assessement for students, which allows them to
adjust the concluding lessons to accommodate according to where student
understanding is after today’s lesson.
[Link] AND/OR ACCOMMODATIONS
Students struggling could be given choices (word bank), have limited options, or less
questions.
Students exceeding expectations can be asked further questions, asked to present
material.
*found on brainpop educators*
Weekly Plan
Topic : Ecosystems
Overall Objective : By the end of this unit, students will have an understanding of what
an ecosystem is, how animals and plants interact within it, and be able to identify
examples of different types of ecosystems.
Monday: Introducing the Lesson
● This unit will be introduced with direct instruction concerning the essential
information concerning what the vocab words mean.
● Gradual release of responsibility will be demonstrated, so that as students begin
to establish understanding, guided practice is initiated as students practice with
the online vocabulary quiz. *terms listed in lesson plan
● Environmental writing journals will be introduced at the end of this lesson,
so that students can work on their individual journals during their free time
throughout the week. (lots of partner/group work means a lot of different paces
of completion, this is an alternative to busy work)
● Also throughout the week, use short educational films on ecosystems as a
classroom management tool
Tuesday: Making a Classroom Ecosystem
● Student understanding will be assessed in performance in today’s lesson, as the
class participates in large group insturctuion during a food chain game.
Based on the information introduced to them in yesterday’s lesson, students will
begin to consider how species operate relationally within ecosystems, and
connect them together in order to understand that every species is essential for
an ecosystem to stay healthy.
○ Quick review with four corners, each representing a term (ex: herbivore,
omnivore, carnivore, producer, consumer, predator, or prey)
■ Use music here as a timer, so that students know when time is up
○ Instructions: Start the game by throwing the ball of yarn to one student
and explaining how your species is connected to theirs. He or she, in turn,
chooses someone else in the circle. After explaining how their species is
connected to the species represented by the student they chose, toss them
the ball of yarn. Continue until every student is linked into your classroom
ecosystem. (at the end, explain the symbolism/ask a student to)
○ *use science journals if there is time remaining
Wednesday: (Today’s lesson is detailed in the lesson plan above)
Thursday: Ecosystem in a bottle project
*This lesson is placed at the end of the week because there are many constituents
involved (if time allows, if materials are available, if understanding has been
demonstrated)
● Ecosystems are more than food chains or food webs. For students to really
understand how ecosystems work, it’s important for them to realize that energy
and moisture cycle through ecosystems in ways that we may not be able to
immediately see. In addition, some of the most important members of
ecosystems are microscopic, invisible within the dirt. This project will
demonstrate these elements of ecosystems.
Friday: Jeopardy Review Game
● Review the week’s lessons with a jeopardy game
● Ask students to present a page of their science journal, ask them how it made
them feel
*some activities inspired by Project Learning Tree material
Reflection Sheet
Higher Order Thinking:
● Environmental journals with prompts that probe questioning and encourage the
application of knowledge in relatable terms.
● Creating visual representations in journals (multi media)
● The creation of their own ecosystem forces students to adopt an understanding as
they recreate it themselves
Engaged Learning:
● Journals to be completely outside/at home/in various locations, extending
beyond the classroom
● Collaboration during group/partner work, the large group instruction game as
the class creates an inclusive ecosystem
Authentic Connections:
● Recording observations throughout the week in journals allows room for real
world relevance in the classroom
● The short films demonstrate knowledge applied outside of the classroom
● The ecosystems they create have a purpose beyond the classroom, as they are
entirely self reliant, and representative of the outside world functioning
Technology Use:
● Vocabulary game online (matching/quiz style/crossword options)
● Jeopardy through smart board
● Music use as a timer
● Lesson plan’s game
● Short films
