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    Science Lesson Analysis

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    This document summarizes Nicole Hester's analysis and modification of a first grade science lesson plan about the sun. Nicole analyzes the original lesson plan's inclusion of science content, process skills, and nature of science. She then proposes five modifications to better incorporate the "three legs" of science: 1) starting with a video of scientists studying the sun, 2) having students observe the sun outside, 3) having students record observations before instruction, 4) using exit slips to assess learning, and 5) having students discuss the sun at home. The modifications aim to make the lesson more student-centered, hands-on, and reflective of how science is actually done.

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    Science Lesson Analysis

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    api-254772783
    188 views9 pages
    This document summarizes Nicole Hester's analysis and modification of a first grade science lesson plan about the sun. Nicole analyzes the original lesson plan's inclusion of science content, process skills, and nature of science. She then proposes five modifications to better incorporate the "three legs" of science: 1) starting with a video of scientists studying the sun, 2) having students observe the sun outside, 3) having students record observations before instruction, 4) using exit slips to assess learning, and 5) having students discuss the sun at home. The modifications aim to make the lesson more student-centered, hands-on, and reflective of how science is actually done.

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    This document summarizes Nicole Hester's analysis and modification of a first grade science lesson plan about the sun. Nicole analyzes the original lesson plan's inclusion of science content, process skills, and nature of science. She then proposes five modifications to better incorporate the "three legs" of science: 1) starting with a video of scientists studying the sun, 2) having students observe the sun outside, 3) having students record observations before instruction, 4) using exit slips to assess learning, and 5) having students discuss the sun at home. The modifications aim to make the lesson more student-centered, hands-on, and reflective of how science is actually done.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    188 views9 pages

    Science Lesson Analysis

    Uploaded by

    api-254772783
    This document summarizes Nicole Hester's analysis and modification of a first grade science lesson plan about the sun. Nicole analyzes the original lesson plan's inclusion of science content, process skills, and nature of science. She then proposes five modifications to better incorporate the "three legs" of science: 1) starting with a video of scientists studying the sun, 2) having students observe the sun outside, 3) having students record observations before instruction, 4) using exit slips to assess learning, and 5) having students discuss the sun at home. The modifications aim to make the lesson more student-centered, hands-on, and reflective of how science is actually done.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 9

    Nicole Hester

    Modified Science Lesson Plan


    Professor Davis
    October 16, 2014
    Science Lesson Analysis & Adaptation
    During my experience as a student of the Urban Teacher Resident Partnership Program
    (UTRPP), I have been gathering many resources to teach lessons to my students. Many resources
    I find are in textbooks, curriculum maps, or online. Before I started implementing more and more
    lessons I thought these lesson plans were curriculum materials that claimed to be ready to use,
    hands on, or inquiry based lessons. As I am lesson planning with a close analysis of these
    activities, I realized that quite the opposite might be true in an abundance of lesson plans.
    Teachers must reflect on their education practices and adapt lesson plans for students needs. The
    course Teaching Elementary Science has taught my how to analyze and adapt science lesson
    plans. The lesson plan I have found is from a first grade science textbook with the title of the
    lesson called The Sun. I am going to analyze this lesson to make sure it is a hands-on and
    ready to use lesson. After analyzing I am going to modify it to have the three legs of
    science!
    Science Content:
    One of the Three Legs of science is science content. The science content for this first
    grade lesson is about the sun. The Next Generation Sunshine State Standard for this lesson is,
    SC.1.E.5.4- Identify the beneficial and harmful properties of the sun. From finding the 20132014 First Grade Science curriculum map from Hillsborough County it also states the essential

    question, how is the sun helpful? The lessons objectives are that the students will be able to:
    recognize that the sun can only be seen during the day and to identify and describe characteristics
    of the sun as a star. By referring back to the Hillsborough Science Curriculum map for Grade 1
    this science content is appropriate for students background knowledge because during the month
    of December students will learn about space and stars. This content knowledge prepares first
    grade students class for this lesson on the sun. As I continued to research the benchmarks and
    found the content standards to be derived from the American Association for the Advancement
    of Science, AAAS website. The Next Generation Science Standards, NGSS, and the National
    Science Teachers Association, NSTA, differ in their wording of the similar standards but overall
    address the same content. Therefore, I believe that the content is appropriate for first grade
    information of the Grade Level Expectations and NSTA standards.
    The activities help students understand the sun can be only seen by day, the
    characteristics of the sun, and beneficial/harmful properties of the sun. Students will learn that
    sun can only be seen by day by pointing to the sun outside, viewing it in pictures (located in the
    text), and by having a class discussion of when students see the sun (making a personal
    connection). Students will learn the characteristics of the sun by creating a class anchor chart and
    their own individual sun in their science notebooks by drawing a picture of where they see the
    sun. Students will learn the beneficial and harmful properties of the sun by watching a video on a
    candle, having a class discussion that the sun is hot and by understanding why we are point at the
    sun instead of looking at it directly. The lesson plan strengths were that it gives a lot of content,
    such as vocabulary words, sun, and star, dealing with the lesson and extension ideas. Overall, I
    believe that the science content of the sun first grade science lesson is complete, accurate, and
    appropriate for this specific grade level.

    Science Process Skills:


    Another of the Three Legs of science is teaching the science process skill. The second
    NGSS standard for the first grade lesson on the sun, which was included in the Hillsborough
    Science Curriculum map, states, SC.1.N.1.3- Keep records as appropriate -such as pictorial and
    written records of investigations conducted. This was the only text that I found, for the sun
    lesson, which mentions a type of a science process skill. As I continued to modify the sun lesson
    plan I noted there are more opportunities to teach science process skills. The main skills students
    are focused on using for this lesson plan are observing, describing, and discussing. The students
    are observing the video of the fireplace. They are focusing on what the fire looks like and what it
    would feel like if it were real in our classroom. Also, they are describing the sun by designing
    and labeling a picture in their science notebooks. While teaching that the sun is a star students
    are having a classroom discussion about why the sun is different than others stars they see in the
    night sky (much closer, appears to be bigger and brighter, harmful to look at the sun, etc.)
    Students are observing, describing, and discussing for scientific purpose, but are they
    doing science? I believe that students were almost doing science in this lesson. There can
    always be modifications to be made. I believe this lesson was more of an activity than an
    experiment. Students could of observed the sun outside and the students could of made a
    starting point has to be their (students) ideas, not the scientific ones (Harlen, 57). Students
    would have observed the actual sun, of course not by looking directly at it, but by feeling the hot
    Florida heat and seeing the brightness! After observing outside students can collect their
    observations in their science notebook by their choice (picture, sentences, labels, etc.). A quote
    from How do you Know Science is Going on? by Sullenger, states, When children connect their
    understanding and interests in the world with the understanding and interest of the science

    community. (Sullenger, 26) I believe this quote connects to the classroom discussions in the
    classroom, which influence the classs science community. I would not change the science
    process skill of discussing because I believe children learn from each other by making
    connection with communication from their peers.
    The Nature of Science:
    The last part of the Three Legs of science is the nature of science (NOS). I think this
    lesson did a really great job of addressing that science is a complex social activity and that
    science explains and predicts. The social aspect of science is when children get to discuss and
    question each others claims, just like real scientists. In this lesson students are discussing with
    their peers about why the sun is different than others stars they see in the night sky. Also, I
    believe this lesson addresses the nature of science concept that science explains and predicts.
    There is reasoning behind the sun rising every morning and disappearing every night. There is an
    explanation of why the sun can be harmful/beneficial. Students will learn these concepts through
    the Science Misconceptions part of the lesson. The science misconceptions addressed in the
    lesson plan are about the changing sun. It addresses that students may think the sun in colder in
    with different seasons of that it changes in colors/size but it is in fact the same all year round.
    The teacher must teach students that the earth rotates while the sun stays the same. It is the
    brightest star because it is the closest star. Addressing these science misconceptions, while
    including two components of the nature of science, I believe this first grade science lesson on the
    sun is prepared the teach the NOS. As stated in the article De-Cookbook It! , the Three Legs of
    science helps the teachers role becomes more that of a facilitator of scientific research,
    (Shiland).

    Lesson Modifications: The Sun

    1. I would enhance students background knowledge by starting class with a video, that shows
    real-life scientists engaging in science process skills about studying the sun. Next, I would have a
    classroom discussion on questions students have about how they want to study the sun in class
    today. This relates back to the nature of science aspect that The world is understandable
    because children will be able to see a real-life scientist studying and understanding the world
    around them.

    2. Instead of introducing the lesson with asking, What is the flame of a candle like? for
    students to have a connection to what the sun is compared to, I would have my class go outside
    and observe the sun. I would first conduct a mini lesson on how the sun is harmful to our eyes
    and to not look at it directly, then I would have them go outside and explore why the sun is
    beneficial. Students will be able to discuss and explain their observations with peers as they
    relate back to the science content, which supports that Science is a complex social activity
    from the NOS.

    3. I would continue to later in my lesson model a diagram of the characteristics of the sun but
    before we begin the lesson, and our outside exploring, I would have my students bring their
    science notebooks outside and tell them to put what they believe is important to know about the
    sun for our science community. This would modify the note taking section of the science lesson.
    I believe this supports the notion that Science is not authoritarian because Im letting my class
    come up with their science note taking.

    4. I would make a formative assessment of a post card exit slip where students would send to a
    family/friend/scientist and share what they have learned or ask their wonderings. This way the
    teacher can see what students learned and what they want to know. These would be great
    questions to discuss next class.

    5. I would ask students to discuss with their caretakers at home what the sun looks like during
    the day and what stars look like at night. Together with their caretakers they can continue
    learning about space by comparing/contrasting and making connections at home. Students will
    be scientists in their own backyard! This supports the nature of science that Science demands
    evidence and in order to find evidence, we first must have wonderings to explore and study.
    During science time they can record their findings at home on our Youre a Scientist! bulletin
    board.

    References
    Access the Standards by Topic. (n.d.). NGSS Hub. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from
    http://standards.nsta.org/
    Harlen, W. (2001). Primary science: taking the plunge. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
    Project 2061. (n.d.). AAAS. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from
    http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/
    Shiland, T. (1997). DeCookBook It!. Science and Children, November/December, 14-18.
    Retrieved October 14, 2014, from the Canvas Course Reserves database.
    Sullenger, K. (1999, April) How do you know science is going on? Science and Children: 22-26

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