TCNJ Lesson Plan

Suns Effect on Earths Surface

Student Name: Victoria Lai School Name: Hopewell Elementary

Grade Level: Kindergarten Host Teachers Name: Chelsea Bradshaw

Guiding and/or Essential Questions:

How does sunlight affect different materials?
Why does sunlight warm different materials more or less?

Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge (ex. background knowledge,

possible misconceptions, prior lesson content)
Students know general facts about the sun (hot ball of gas, bright, yellowish-orange)
Students might not know that dark materials absorb more warmth than light colored
materials, and solids absorb more warmth than liquids.
Students might not know the terms observe, conclude, or data.

Standards:

Next Generation Science Standards:

SCI.K-PS3-1:Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earths surface

Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessment

Students will make observations about the Teacher will verbally assess by asking
materials left outside from yesterdays class. about information on data sheets, and later
collect students data sheets.

Students will compare the effects of sunlight on Teacher will ask questions and listen for
different materials. accurate examples of comparisons.

Materials/Resources: (List materials, include any online or book references and resources)
Materials in trays
o Water
o Grass
o Ice
o Sand
Data sheets, pencils (on clipboards)

Plan for set-up/distribution/cleanup of materials:

Students will be provided data sheets after discussion-papers and pencils will be on clipboards.
Experiment materials will stay on 4 designated desks until observations are done, then will be
put on side table. Students will put pencils back in caddies, and clipboards back in basket at end
of lesson.

Step by Step plan (numbered):

1. (Transition from prior lesson/activity) As snack is ending, I will say Macaroni Cheese!
Everybody freeze! to get their attention.
2. I will say The other day, Miss Bradshaw told me that you were doing some pretty cool
stuff in science, and I was SO EXCITED. I love science! I will say I heard that you
were doing some experiments using the Sun, and I am so interested to see what happened
to all these materials. I know you put these materials in the sun a few hours ago, so lets
see what happened to them!
3. I will tell students While two of you help me carry in the materials, everyone else can
come to the window by the rainbow rug to see us carry them in. But after you cant see us
in the window anymore, everyone should be sitting on their rainbow rug seats. I will
choose two students (predetermined) to come help me get the materials from outside.
4. Back inside, the trays will be at 4 different tables. Students should all be sitting on the
rainbow rug. I will explain the activity: Earlier today we put out four trays of stuff to
represent different things; water was the ocean, grass was the rainforest, sand was the
desert, and ice was the North Pole. Today were going to see how the sun might have
affected our materials-or, those parts of the world!
5. I will display data sheet and say This is our data sheet. On the top, we write our name, as
always. It says, What Does the Sun Do? I will read directions on top of paper. The first
section says Rainforest, grass. And on the right there are four pictures. Can someone look
at these pictures and tell me what they are? I will choose four students to say what the
four pictures are. I will explain the images, saying The fire means that the object got
warm. The snowflake means it got cold. The melty ice cream means it melted. To test
these, you can touch it with one finger, feeling if it is warm, cool, or melted. The last
image is a question mark-check this in if something interesting happened to the material.
Anyone can check this off, as long as you can explain whats interesting.
6. I will say, Everyone will get a chance to see the materials up close. When looking at
these materials, can someone tell me what we are not going to do? Call on respectful
students to answer, should be like squish them, eat them, etc. I will say, We are going
to pass out data sheets and pencils to everyone on clipboards. While looking and touching
the materials, check or color in the box of what you observed about the materials. Do not
check off everything, only what you observed.
7. I will call students up one by one, and hand them a clipboard with a data sheet and pencil.
8. After all tables have observed the materials (or after 8 minutes) call the students
attention: Hocus pocusthat means focus! I will say, Now that everyones observed
our experiment, youre on your way to becoming scientists! And scientists are all about
facts and data, like the sheets you have in front of you. Lets return to our seats to go
through what our data sheets have on them. Teachers will collect the trays of materials
and put them to the side.
 9. I will go over the data sheet: What things got warmer? What things got cooler, if any?
What things melted? What else interesting happened to our items? Pause after each
question and call on one or two students to answer each question.
10. These are interesting observationsour big conclusion, or final observation, seems to
be that the sun warms things. That makes sense, because in the middle of the day, when
its really sunny, its warmer. Hm...but it warms different things differently, like the dark
materials got warmer than the light colored materials. Can someone make an observation
and compare two materials? I will model an example if needed, like The ice cube
melted, but the sand did not. Have at least two students provide examples.
11. Closure-Short: After students have provided comparison examples, tell the class that the
tables sitting most respectfully will be called to put away clipboards and pack up.
Closure-Long: After students have provided comparison examples, I will tell them, I
am so proud of you; you all became scientists today! We observed our experiment,
recorded data on our data sheets, and concluded that the sun warms the earth, but it
warms differently things differently. Now my role-model scientists will be sitting in their
seats, hands not distracting anyone, ready to pack up! The tables sitting most
respectfully will be called to put away materials and pack up.

Key Questions (that you will ask):

When looking at these materials, can someone tell me what we are not going to do?
What things got warmer?
What things got cooler, if any?
What things melted?
What else interesting happened to our items?
Can someone make an observation and compare two materials?

Logistics:
Students will begin seated at their desks. Tables will be called up to view materials one by one,
and teachers will hand out data sheets to those tables that are viewing the materials. Students will
stay seated during the lesson, and respectful tables will be called to pack up first.

Timing: 20 minutes
Intro, Explanation 4-5 minutes
Observation 8-10 minutes
Review, Comparisons 2-4 minutes

Transitions:
Students will begin seated on rainbow rug
Students will observe materials as a whole class
Students will return to table seats to end lesson

Classroom Management:
If the conversations during observation get too loud, I will say Hands on topthat
means stop! and whisper to the students that if they cannot have conversations using
inside voices, we wont use any voices at all until everyone is done observing.
 Watch J and C for behavioral control.
Ensure that side conversations are appropriate.

Differentiation
All students should be able to color in/check off data sheets.
The majority of the lesson is whole-group, so it is mostly question-answer and
discussion, which all students can participate in.
I will ensure that each student understands how to fill in the data sheet. I will pull aside
confused students and explain this again if needed.
I will encourage higher students to provide more detailed comparisons of two materials.
EDITED VERSION (Post-Rain Additions made in red)

Step by Step plan (numbered):

1. (Transition from prior lesson/activity) As snack is ending, I will say Macaroni Cheese!
Everybody freeze! to get their attention.
2. I will say The other day, Miss Bradshaw told me that you were doing some pretty cool
stuff in science, and I was SO EXCITED. I love science! I will say I heard that you
were doing some experiments using the Sun, and I am so interested to see what happened
to all these materials. I know you put these materials in the sun a few hours ago, so lets
see what happened to them!
3. I will tell students While two of you help me carry in the materials, everyone else can
come to the window by the rainbow rug to see us carry them in. But after you cant see us
in the window anymore, everyone should be sitting on their rainbow rug seats. I will
choose two students (predetermined) to come help me get the materials from outside.
4. Back inside, the trays will be at 4 different tables. Students should all be sitting on the
rainbow rug. I will explain the activity: Earlier today we put out four trays of stuff to
represent different things; water was the ocean, grass was the rainforest, sand was the
desert, and ice was the North Pole. Today were going to see how the sun might have
affected our materials-or, those parts of the world! And even though it rained, we can still
observe what happened to everything.
5. I will display data sheet and say This is our data sheet. On the top, we write our name, as
always. It says, What Does the Sun Do? I will read directions on top of paper. The first
section says Rainforest, grass. And on the right there are four pictures. Can someone look
at these pictures and tell me what they are? I will choose four students to say what the
four pictures are. I will explain the images, saying The fire means that the object got
warm. The snowflake means it got cold. The melty ice cream means it melted. To test
these, you can touch it with one finger, feeling if it is warm, cool, or melted. The last
image is a question mark-check this in if something interesting happened to the material.
Anyone can check this off, as long as you can explain whats interesting.
6. I will say I know its been raining for a little while. Even though rain is very different
from sunlightit gets you soaking wet, after all!we are still going to observe what
happened to the materials. Afterward, we can talk a little more about how the rain might
have affected our experiment.
7. I will say, Everyone will get a chance to see the materials up close. When looking at
these materials, can someone tell me what we are not going to do? Call on respectful
students to answer, should be like squish them, eat them, etc. I will say, We are going
to pass out data sheets and pencils to everyone on clipboards. While looking and touching
the materials, check or color in the box of what you observed about the materials. Do not
check off everything, only what you observed.
8. I will call students up one by one, and hand them a clipboard with a data sheet and pencil.
9. After all tables have observed the materials (or after 5 minutes) call the students
attention: Hocus pocusthat means focus! I will say, Now that everyones observed
our experiment, youre on your way to becoming scientists! And scientists are all about
facts and data, like the sheets you have in front of you. Lets return to our seats to go
through what our data sheets have on them. Teachers will collect the trays of materials
and put them to the side.
10. I will go over the data sheet: What things got warmer? What things got cooler, if any?
What things melted? What else interesting happened to our items? Pause after each
question and call on one or two students to answer each question.
11. We all know that it rained recently. While sunlight is usually dry and warm, rain is the
exact opposite-its usually wet and cold. Raise a hand if your think the rain affected our
experiment. Acknowledge hands but do not call on anyone. Our materials were
definitely affected by that cold, wet rain instead of the dry, warm sunlight. The rain made
everything pretty wet and cold, and even filled our tray of sand up like the ocean! Now,
turn over your papers and write down, in one or maybe two sentences, what you predict
might have happened to the materials if it didnt rain. What would happen to the ice? The
sand? Write down how a sunny day might affect our materials differently.
12. Closure-Short: I will say Hands on top-that means stop! to stop their writing. The
tables sitting most respectfully will be called to put away clipboards and pack up.
Closure-Long: I will say Hands on top-that means stop! to stop their writing. I will
tell them, You all became scientists today! We observed our experiment, recorded data
on our data sheets, and even made some predictions. Now, my role-model scientists will
be sitting in their seats, hands not distracting anyone, ready to pack up! The tables sitting
most respectfully will be called to put away materials and pack up.