Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Lauren Mosser Date: 3/5/21

Group Size: 15 students Allotted Time: 50 minutes, 2 days Grade Level: 3

Subject or Topic: Forests

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

Standard - 3.1.3.A3 Illustrate how plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that
include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.

3-LS3-2 Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.

Learning Targets/Objectives:
● After learning about the 3 different types of forests, the 3rd graders will be able to
define what a forest is.
● After learning about what a forest is, the 3rd graders will be able to define the
characteristics of an evergreen, coniferous, and deciduous forest.
● The third grade students will describe the types of characteristics of the forest by
completing a project on a tree of their choosing and stating what forest it is from and 1
characteristic about it.

Assessment Approaches: Evidence:

1. What type of forest? Sorting activity 1. Sorting trees from the different types of
2. My favorite forest forests based on characteristics
3. Thumbs up, Thumbs down 2. Completing a tree project by using outside
…. materials, naming the forest the tree can be
found in, and 1 characteristic about the tree.
3. If the answer is yes, thumbs up, if the
answer is no, thumbs down
Assessment Scale:
1. Sorting Activity
● 7-9 cards correct- proficient
● <7 cards correct - below proficient
2. My Favorite Tree
● 8-10 points on rubric - proficient
● <8 points on rubric- below proficient

Subject Matter/Content:
● Forests

Prerequisites:
 ● An understanding of where forests are located
● An understanding of the different types of seasons
● A basic understanding of different plants

Key Vocabulary:
● Forest- A complex living system made up of thick trees, bushes, vines, and other
plants
● Evergreen Forest- forest made up entirely of mainly evergreen trees
● Deciduous Forest- forest that has trees that lose their leaves at the end of the growing
season
● Coniferous Forest- forest that mostly consist of small trees with needle-like “leaves”
and stay green all year round
● Growing season- the part of the year during which rainfall and temperature plants to
grow

Content/Facts:
● What is a forest
○ A forest is a complex living system made up of thick trees, bushes, vines and
other plants.
○ Forests are homes to mammals, birds, insects, and many other animals - all of
these things depend on each other to survive.
● The different types of forests
○ Evergreen
○ Deciduous
○ Coniferous
● What is an Evergreen forest?
○ A forest that consists entirely or mainly of evergreen trees that stay green all
year round.
○ They take up 7% of the Earth's surface and are home to more than half of the
world’s plants and animals.
○ Evergreen forests can be found in India, Canada, Africa and many other
countries around the world.
● What is a Deciduous forest?
○ A forest where a majority of the trees lose their leaves at the end of the typical
growing season.
○ Deciduous forests can be found in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
○ Some trees in this forest include oak, maple, and hickory trees.
○ Deciduous forests are well suited to deal with extremes in temperatures, and
after losing their leaves in the winter, are able to regrow once the weather starts
getting warmer.
● What is a Coniferous Forest?
○ A forest that is made up mainly of cone-bearing trees that have small,
needle-like leaves that stay green all year round.
○ Some trees that can be found here are spruce, pine, and fir trees.
○ These forests thrive where summers are short and cool, and winters are long
and harsh.
 ○ This type of forest can be found in northern parts of Asia, Europe, and North
America.
● Why are forests important?
○ The air we breathe
○ Materials for building
○ Home for millions of different animals and insects

Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
● To get students excited to learn about forests and trees, have all of the students stand up
and make sure they are arms length away from the members of their tables or desks.
Explain that today they are going to be learning about forests, but it is important to first
warm up, and remember what we know about trees. Tell the students that they are
going to be learning about some different types of forests, but first are going to learn
about how trees move.
● Play the video A Tree Song/Action Dance Song/ Song For Kids on Youtube, and dance
to the video with the students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8PJyLaUBW4 Play
the video twice and make sure the students are singing along to the words the woman
in the video is as well.
● Tell the students to return to their seats and to get their thinking caps on and start
thinking about what a forest is. Ask the students what they know, and call on a few
students that are raising their hands. Before moving into the content, leave them with
the question, “What do I know about forests?”

Development/Teaching Approaches
● After the students are seated from their warm up dance, pass out the KWL chart
worksheets.
● Tell the students that they are going to be learning about Evergreen, Deciduous, and
Coniferous forests. Before we go over new content, explain that they are going to track
their learning throughout the lesson with a KWL chart.
● Tell the students that they are going to fill out the K and W part, and explain that they
will be filling out what they know and what they want to know about the different
forests. Tell them that they will be finishing the worksheet at the end of the lesson.
● Give the students 5-7 minutes to fill out their sheets.
● After they are done, collect their sheets.
● Tell these students to take out their science notebooks, and write down any important
information they hear in the BrainPop video.
● Play the BrainPopJr. Video (4:53) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/habitats/forests/
● After the video is played, ask students to share 1 fun fact from the video that the
students thought was important. Pick on students that are raising their hands.
● Refer back to the video and ask the students if they remember why forests are so
important to us?
● Call on a few students that are raising their hands.
● Explain to the students that forests are essential to our survival because they provide us
with the air we breathe everyday, home to thousands of different animals, and give us
materials to make buildings and the homes we live in.
 ● Explain to the students that you are going to say an object and tell the students to give
you a thumbs up if it is made from a forest, and a thumbs down if it does not come
from a forest.
○ A car?
○ A house?
○ An iPad?
○ A grocery store?
○ A table?
● Before moving on each of the objects, make sure all of the students know why each
object would, or would not come from a forest.
● After the students share, explain to them that they are going to learn some
characteristics about each of the forests.
● Explain to the students that they will be split into 3 groups and each group will be
exploring a different forest. There will be 2 books with sticky notes at the important
parts they will be taking notes on. After the students collect their notes, they will be
filling in the facts they found on the big anchor paper on the board.
● Put up the different forests’ characteristic anchor charts on the board.
● Split up the students into different groups and give them 15 minutes to read the books
they have and take notes in their science notebooks.
● After all of the groups are done reading, have one person as the “recorder” come up to
the board and fill in the information that is missing.
● As each one is put on the board, read over what is written, and answer questions that
the students may have.
● Introduce the sorting activity. Explain to the students that they will be sorting the
different trees and plants based on the characteristics that are listed on the board. The
students will be put into pairs at their tables, and sort the plants and trees accordingly to
it.
● Pass out scissors and have the students cut out the images of trees.
● Give the student 15 minutes to complete their sorting activity.
● As the students finish, have each pair of students share 1 of the things they sorted. Go
around the classroom and have each pair of students share.
● If one of the pairs is incorrect, make sure that you correct it.
● After collecting the sorting activities, go through and justify why each tree was sorted
where it was.
● Transition by telling the students that it is time for some creativity.
Day 2
● Explain to the students that they are going to be collecting materials from outside to
make a picture of their favorite trees from one of the different types of forests. Explain
that after they make their favorite tree, they will have to list what type of forest it can
be found, and some characteristics of it. Tell the students that they can collect sticks,
grass, leaves, or anything that can represent their desired tree.
● For example, if the student wants to make a pine tree, they can use pieces of grass to
represent the pine needles that are on the tree. They would then say that pine trees can
be found in coniferous forests, and grow pine cones. For the pine cones, they could use
small rocks of sticks to represent them.
 ● Show the teacher example and explain to the students that it is an oak tree because of
the leaves on it, and the acorns. Explain that oak trees can be found in the deciduous
forest, and lose their leaves in the winter, and regrow in the growing season. Tell the
students that sticks, leaves and acorns were used to make this.
● Keep the model project posted on the board to allow the students to look back and refer
to.
● Transition to this part of the lesson by having the students put their jackets on. Have the
students start thinking about what type of tree they want to make, and tell them they
will have 15 minutes to collect their materials outside.
● Pass out brown paper bags to the students so that they can put their materials in it.
● Take the children outside and give them 15 minutes to collect materials. Make sure to
walk around and make sure students are getting non-harmful materials from outside.
● Have the students come back into the classroom and put their jackets back. After the
students are seated, give them the template and pass out glue bottles and glue sticks.
Before the students begin, have them write what type of tree they are making, what
type of forest it can be found in, and 1 characteristic about it.
● Explain to the students that after they write this, they can begin gluing their materials
on and creating their trees!
● As students complete their projects, have them place them on the front table.
● After all of the students have placed their projects on the front table, pass out their
KWL charts again.
● Explain to the students that this is their time to fill out the learn part of the chart. This is
where they can write something they learned from the different activities and videos
they watched during the lesson. Explain that the students can write any fact they
learned.
● Post questions on the board that the students can write if they cannot think of a fact that
they learned.
● Example: What is an evergreen forest?
● What is a coniferous forest?
● What is a deciduous forest?
● What types of trees can be found in deciduous forest?
● Why are forests important?
● Have each of the students go around the room and share what their fact was that they
learned.
● Have the students put their KWL charts into their science notebooks.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
● Call the students up table by table, and have them look at their peers’ “favorite trees”
● Pass out sticky notes and have the students write one compliment about their peer’s
artwork.
● Have the students stick it to their classmate’s artwork.
● To bring the lesson to a close, tell the students that tomorrow we will be focusing on
one type of forest that is around us in PA. Call out each type of forest (evergreen)
(coniferous) (deciduous) and take votes on what the students think is in PA.
● Hint: Oak trees are apart of this forest
 ● After the students make their guesses, tell them that they will have to wait till
tomorrow to find out the answer!

Accommodations/Differentiation:
Student X has an IEP that states the student needs extra time on activities, and trouble
retaining information during lessons. To accommodate this, the student will be able to take
their sorting activity home, along with the answer key to practice at home. The student will
also be able to complete their “My Favorite Tree” activity at the beginning of the next lesson
to get the same opportunity as the other students in the class.

Materials/Resources:
● A Tree Song/Action Dance Song/ Song For Kids on Youtube, (.51)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8PJyLaUBW4
● Projector to play videos/computer
● White board
● KWL charts (15)
● Pencils (20)
● Students’ Science Notebooks
● BrainPopJr. Video, Forests (4:53) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/habitats/forests/
● Evergreen forest anchor chart
● Coniferous forest anchor chart
● Deciduous forest anchor chart
● Sorting Activity worksheet (15)
● Picture sheet for sorting activity (15)
● Scissors (15)
● Brown paper bags (15)
● My Favorite Tree template (15)
● Glue sticks (20)
● Glue bottles (20)
● Model of My Favorite Tree
● Idea for the tree activity from:
https://www.learningandexploringthroughplay.com/2018/09/fairy-hat-autumn-tree-craft
.html
● My Favorite Tree rubric (15)
● Post-it notes (3 packs)
● Let’s Visit the Deciduous Forest
○ Boothroyd, J. (2017). Let's visit the deciduous forest. Minneapolis: Lerner
Publications.
● Explore the Deciduous Forest
○ Tagliaferro, L. (2007). Explore the deciduous forest. Mankato, MN: Capstone
Press.
● The Coniferous Forest Biome
○ Grady, C. (2017). The coniferous forest biome. New York, NY: Enslow
Publishing, LLC.
● Coniferous Forests
 ○ Andersson, F. (2005). Coniferous forests. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
● Let’s Visit the Evergreen Forest
○ Silverman, B. (2017). Let's visit the evergreen forest. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner
Publications.
● Where would I Be in an Evergreen Tree?
○ Blomgren, J. (2011). Where would I be in an evergreen tree? Sasquatch Books.

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Remediation Plan (if applicable)

Personal Reflection Questions

Additional reflection/thoughts
 Sort the Trees! Place the
pictures of the trees under the
correct forest category.

Evergreen

Coniferous

Deciduous
★ Cut out these pictures, then match them to what forest
they belong to!
 KWL CHART
Forests!

What I Know:
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

What I Want to Know:

_________________________________________
_________________________________________

What I Learned:
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Name: ________________________________

My Favorite Tree

Type of tree: ___________________________

1 Characteristic:
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
 Evergreen Forest

★ A forest that consists entirely or

mainly of evergreen trees that stay
green all year round. Christmas
trees are Evergreen trees!

★ They take up 7% of the Earth’s

surface and are home to more than
half of the world’s plants and
animals.

★ Evergreen forests can be found in

India, Canada, Africa and many
other countries around the world.
 Deciduous Forest

★ A forest where a majority of the

trees lose their leaves at the end of
the typical growing season.

★ Deciduous forests can be found in

North America, Europe, Australia,
and Asia.

★ Some trees in this forest include

oak, maple, and hickory trees.

★ Deciduous forests are well suited

to deal with extremes in
temperatures, and after losing their
leaves in the winter, are able to
regrow once the weather starts
getting warmer.
 Coniferous Forest

★ A forest that is made up mainly

of cone-bearing trees that have
small, needle-like leaves that stay
green all year round.

★ Some that can be found here

are spruce, pine, and fir trees.

★ These forests thrive where

summers are short and cool, and
winters are long and harsh.

★ This type of forest can be found

in northern parts of Asia, Europe,
and north America.
 Model of My Favorite Tree

This is what I would have prior to teaching this lesson,

to show the students an example of what they could
create. I did not have the materials to do it while at
school, but this is almost exactly what I would do. This is
from
https://www.learningandexploringthroughplay.com/2018
/09/fairy-hat-autumn-tree-craft.html
Name:___________________________________________________________________

My Favorite Tree Rubric

Excellent (4) Good (3) Satisfactory (2) Needs

improvement (1)

Followed the The student The student The student The student
project listed the name listed the name listed the name completed the tree
directions of the tree,what of the tree and 1 of the tree but did not list any
type of forest the characteristic details on it
tree belongs in,
and stated one
characteristic

Behavior outside The student was The student The student The student was not
while collecting respectful and behaved well for misbehaved respectful outside
materials well-behaved most of the during most of and behaved poorly
outside time the outside time

Effort put into The student took The student The student put The student rushed
the project their time and worked hard for small effort into through the project
worked hard on most of the time the project and did not put any
the project effort into it.
entirely