Bryson Michael

ELED-3221-002
11-10-16
Indirect Instruction Lesson Plan Template
Characteristics of Chemical and Physical Change
_____________________________________________________________________________
Central Focus/Big Idea: Chemical and Physical Change
Subject of this lesson: The differing characteristics of chemical and physical change.
Grade Level: 4th Grade
NC Essential Standard(s): PSc.2.1.3 Compare physical and chemical properties of various
types
of matter
Next Generation Science Standard(s): 4-PS3-4 Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine
a device that converts energy from one form to another.
21st Century Skills: Using the 21st Century Skills Map-Science available on Moodle, choose
the two or three skills that apply to your lesson. Explain why you chose these.
Academic Language Demand
Collaboration: students will be working within small groups to conduct mini experiments
representative of chemical and physical change. The ability for students to successfully
participate in small group discussion and complete related discussion questions is a
desired outcome for this lesson.
Communication: Students should be able to demonstrate their understanding of chemical,
and physical changes through whole group and small group discussion. They will use a
chart to represent the consensus of their data interpretation.
Analyze
Interpret

Argue
Predict

Categorize
Question

Compare/contrast
Retell

Describe
Summarize

Explain

Scientific Vocabulary: Chemical Change, Physical Change, Precipitate, Composition,

Matter.

Instructional Objective: Students will be able to analyze the differences between chemical and
physical changes. They will be able to explain why a specific change in the form of matter is
chemical or physical. During the lesson, students will complete worksheets that require them to
organize the information presented by the teacher and discovered during the lesson. Finally, the
students will be assessed at the end of the lesson to gauge understanding.

Prior Knowledge (student): Students should understand the definitions of chemical and physical
change. They should also know the different phase changes of matter.
Content Knowledge (teacher): The teacher should have a clear understanding of chemical and
physical changes. They should also know real world examples of chemical and physical changes.
Lastly, the teacher should know the difference phase changes of matter along with real world
examples.
Accommodations for special needs (individual and/or small group): What will you do for
students with special needs (ELL, ability, etc.)? The teacher will move any students with physical
disabilities to more easily accessible locations close to the front of the classroom. This will
ensure these students receive any necessary intervention or aid during the lesson. ELLs could be
provided with copies of the worksheets or additional instructions in their native language along
with Spanish to English dictionaries to support understanding. The teacher will modify
instruction for students based on comprehension level if needed by including small group
instruction during the guided practice. This will allow the teacher to closely monitor the students
understanding of the lesson while keeping intact the ability to scaffold learning. The teacher will
monitor these student groups heavily during the independent practice to gauge their
understanding. If students continue to struggle with the lesson, the teacher will develop a short
reengagement activity the following day.
Materials and Technology requirements:

20 mini solo cups

15 medium clear plastic cups
5-6 large solo cups
20-25 straws
1 large container of baking soda
1 large container of vinegar
1 large container of water
1 large bag of ice
5 packets of Alka-Seltzer
5 aluminum cooking pans
3 assorted colors of tape
5 markers
1 box of matches
5 sheets of paper
1 box of toothpicks
1 half gallon of milk

Total Estimated Time: 30 60 minutes

Source of lesson:
http://www.myips.org/cms/lib8/IN01906626/Centricity/Domain/8123/PhysicalChemicalChanges
Lab.pdf

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-physical-and-chemical-changes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBGuM1Ci5fM
Safety considerations: Students will wear gloves, follow proper experimental procedures, and
maintain responsible behavior throughout the lesson. The teacher will handle all hazardous
materials and monitor that students are conducting themselves responsibly. The teacher will
make sure each station is properly prepared and set up in the safest possible way. Lastly, the
teacher will go over proper classroom conduct and remind the students not to act with any of the
materials in an unruly manner.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

Engage:
The teacher will hold a discussion in front of the class that recaps what they have learned about
chemical and physical change over the last week. During this discussion, the teacher will show a
simple demonstration of a chemical change and a physical change. For instance, the teacher will
stand at the front of the class holding a match. The teacher will break the match in half and ask
what type of change this is. Then the teacher will strike the match to light a flame and ask what
type of change this is. The teacher will also ask the students to write down the definition of a
chemical change and physical change during this period of the lesson to look back on during
later parts of the lesson. These definitions will also be written on the white board at the front of
class. Lastly, the teacher will discuss the phase changes of matter and how they relate to physical
change.
Questions that will be asked include: What is a chemical change? What is a physical change?
Why is this a chemical change? Why is this a physical change? What are the differences? What
are the similarities? Can you think of real world examples of chemical and physical changes?
Explore:
The teacher will announce that students will be working with the members at their desk to
analyze chemical and physical changes. The students will be given specific scenarios to examine
and determine if a chemical or physical change is occurring. First, students will fill a cup with
ice and let it sit while they complete the rest of their examples; they will return to this at the end
of the explore period. Then, the students will be required to examine a tooth pick, break it, and
determine if this is a chemical or physical change. The students will then rip a piece of paper and
determine if this is a chemical or physical change. The students will blow bubbles in a cup of
water to determine if this is chemical or physical change. The students will observe Alka-seltzer
being placed into water and determine if this is a chemical or physical change. Finally, the
students will mix baking soda with vinegar to determine if this is a chemical or physical change.
Afterwards, the students will return to the ice cup and observe if a chemical or physical change is
occurring.
During the explore section of the lesson, students will be using a worksheet to answer the
following questions: Is this a chemical or physical change? Why? What is occurring during each
of the changes?
The teacher will reinforce the objective of the lesson by asking the following questions: If ice
melts, is this a chemical or physical change? Is a chemical change occurring? If we cut paper, are
we changing its composition? Is a chemical change occurring every time something bubbles? If
we break a toothpick are we changing its composition? If we burn a piece of paper is it still the
same piece of paper or have we changed its composition? Why are these examples of chemical
and physical changes? Can you think of any more examples?
What common concrete experience will the students have that allows all students access to
materials? What questions will you ask to facilitate exploration?

Explanation:
After the students have completed their activities, the teacher will ask: What chemical or
physical changes did you notice during the activities? Why are these examples of chemical or
physical changes? Why was the breaking of the tooth pick a physical change? Why was the
combination of vinegar and Alka-seltzer a chemical change? What is the major difference
between these two changes present in each example? What changed in the matter used? How did
you observe these changes? Following this line of questioning, the teacher will discuss each of
the scenarios the students observed however the students will be leading the discussion with the
answers they found during the explore section.
After this discussion, the teacher will explain that physical change occurs when we change the
physical appearance of an object without altering its composition. The teacher will then explain
that chemical change occurs when the composition of matter is changed thus turning it into a
completely new form of matter. The teacher will also discuss some common features of chemical
and physical changes such as breaking something, tearing something, burning something, or
bubbling that is present in chemical changes vs bubbling present in physical changes.
Elaborate:
The students will be learning about precipitates by completing an experiment using milk and
vinegar. The teacher will begin the lesson by explaining what is a precipitate and how they are
typically formed. The students will mix milk and vinegar together and observe what changes are
occurring during the experiment. The students will discuss whether this is a chemical or physical
change and what they believe is happening.
They will be asked the following questions during this section: What type of change do you
believe is happening? What do you see happening? Is anything changing? Why do you think this
is occurring? Has the composition changed?
Evaluate: How will you assess each students progress toward the stated objective(s)? What
evidence will be collected? What type of assessment will be used (formal, informal, formative,
summative)? You are required to include both your formative and summative assessment here.
To be completed after the lesson is taught as appropriate
Assessment Results of all objectives/skills:
Reflection on lesson:
CT signature/confirmation: _________________________________ Date: ________________

Chemical and Physical Change

Directions: Use the following worksheet to observe what happens during each of the lessons activities.

Item

Melting Ice

Broken Toothpick

Blowing Bubbles in Water

Alka-seltzer in Water

Baking Soda and Vinegar

Ripped Paper

Did the Composition

Change?

Chemical/Physical Change

Chemical and Physical Change

Item

Did the Composition

Change?

Chemical/Physical Change

Scenario 1:
Directions: Read the story and answer the question about chemical/physical change.

Sally and her father are camping in the forest. As

it starts to get dark, Sallys father decides to start a
campfire. Sally begins to observe how her father
builds the campfire. She notices that he has gathered
many wooden sticks together and begins breaking
the sticks so they will fit into a circular area. After
arranging the sticks, Sallys father takes out a match,
lights the match, and uses it to caught the sticks on
fire. Eventually, the wood making up the campfire
burns to ash.

Identify any chemical or physical changes that occurred within the story:

Science Lesson Reflection

After teaching my science lesson, I have come to the consensus there is no better way to
prepare for future science instruction than teaching within the classroom setting. I learned a lot
while teaching my science lesson as a preservice teacher and I believe there were both strengths
and weaknesses during instruction. Structure, classroom management, material inventory, and
preparation are a few of the administrative aspects of the lesson that presented positives and
negatives. My interaction with students, reflection of assessment, and experience both forming
and implementing the lesson were additional aspects that transformed my perspective of science
education within the elementary school setting.
In preparation for the lesson I bought a large portion of materials, organized these
materials, and labeled each per the portion of the lesson they would be used during. I was
surprised with how integral organization was to smooth transitioning during the lesson.
Unfortunately, I believe the organization of the lesson could have been better planned to
accommodate for time. The elementary school I worked with taught science for 30 minutes every
other day which means teachers must be prepared and knowledgeable prior to instruction. I
believe I was prepared for instruction but did not give myself enough time prior to the lesson for
practice. For instance, my independent practice involved analyzing a scenario to determine if any
chemical or physical changes were taking place. There was not enough time at the end of the
lesson to include this portion of the independent practice so students missed out on meaningful
experience. Therefore, I believe that instruction was meaningful but could have been more
effective if better structured. A reexamination of management, organization, and preparation
skills would provide better instruction for future lessons.

On the other hand, students worked well both independently and in groups during
instruction. Students discovered their ability to categorize real world examples of chemical and
physical changes. During the engage section of the lesson, students observed examples of
chemical and physical change. They were challenged to determine whether the examples were
demonstrating chemical or physical change based on their prior knowledge. After this modeling
experience, I had the students utilize definitions to words such as matter, composition, and
physical appearance to categorize real world examples based on chemical and physical change.
The key to getting students engaged was providing them with real world, hands-on examples that
they could experiment with themselves. The students used first person perspective to learn how
to categorize chemical and physical changes while reflecting on their knowledge during periods
of discussion. Student groups work with the same examples and worksheets so that students
would be on the same page during the discussion portions of the lesson. This created an
environment of deeper thinking within the classroom however I believe the assignment could
have been more open-ended.
My lesson provided the students with multiple examples of real world scenarios relating
to chemical and physical change. The students observed the lighting of a match, breaking of a
stick, dissolving of medicine, melting of water, and reaction of baking soda and vinegar. I wanted
to provide students with examples of real world chemical and physical changes so they could
make connections with background knowledge. I attempted to take advantage of this during the
independent practice of the lesson by giving students a real-world scenario containing chemical
and physical changes they had to identify. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and replaced the
scenario with a period of discussion on how examples presented in the independent and guided

practices related to the real world. I believe this was important to helping the kids conceptualize
the content of the lesson for meaningful use later in the year.
The students also learned how to use new vocabulary and tables to categorize
information. I asked the students to use the definition of composition to determine whether a
chemical or physical change occurred. The students were required to answer this question in a
yes or no format for each of the examples they observed. If they listed that the composition of
the object had changed then they knew they were observing a chemical change. This made it
very simple for students to deduce the type of changes they observing throughout the lesson and
reflected in their success during the independent practice.
The students extended the investigation during discussion periods of the lesson. These
periods included approximately 5 minutes placed aside for students to make connections,
challenge what they observed, and clarify understanding of content being covered. I was unable
to reach the elaborate of my lesson due to time constraints but it was during this period that I
wanted to challenge students understanding of chemical and physical changes. Therefore, I used
discussion to extend the students investigation of the examples they examined but I would have
liked more time to further challenge their understanding.
Overall, I believe the lesson taught me a lot about being a teacher. The lesson provided
me with management, preparation, and instructional experience. The instructional period of the
experience provided me with a better understanding of teaching science in the elementary school
setting. I learned how students think through scenarios during a lesson, how I can direct their
thinking to improve time management, and how I can reflect on my experience with the lesson to
better future instruction.