Emily McDonald

Lesson Plan for Science Placement Classroom on 11/4/2020

a) Background Information

 Subject area: Science, Shadows

 Grade level: 5th

 Number of students: 20

 Allocated time: 10:40-11:30 (50 minutes)

 Special considerations: One student has an IEP, 2 virtual students

b) Goals and Rationale

 (Goals) What are the major purposes for teaching this subject matter to these students:

The major purpose for teaching about shadows and shadow movements is to help

students understand that Earth’s orbit around the sun and it’s rotation on it’s axis cause

observable patterns in the daily changes in length and direction of shadows.

 (Rationale) Why is this important?: This is important for students to be able to identify

and record patterns. It can also be a useful tool in telling the time of day based on

observable features such as the location of the sun in the sky and the direction and length

of shadows.
c) Teacher Objectives / Standards and Benchmarks

 What do I want students to know: I want students to be able to be able to recognize that

the direction of shadow changes throughout the day. They should be able to recognize

that the shadows move from west to east from start of the day to the end because the sun

rises in the east and sets in the west. They should also be to recognize that shadows were

how people used to tell time using sun dials.

 What do I want students to be able to do: I want students to be able to make observations

in the videos and be able to make their own observations about the time of day and

location of the sun through a worksheet.

 What do you want students to value at the end of this lesson: I want students to build

confidence in recognizing the direction of shadows at different times during the day.

 Standards: 5-ESS1-2 Earth’s Place in the Universe (Represent data in graphical displays

to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and

the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky)

d) Teacher Preparation

 What do I need to know to teach this effectively?: For this lesson I will need to know that

shadows change length and direction due to the Earth’s rotation around the sun and it’s

rotation on it’s axis. The length of shadows change as the Earth rotates around the sun

because Earth’s rotation is an elliptical, so the shadows will be shorter when the Earth is

closest to the sun on it’s elliptical and shorter when it is further away. The direction of
 shadows changes as the Earth rotates on its axis. This motion creates night an day as the

Earth spins because the sun is only visible to us when the Earth is turned to face the sun

in our location. The apparent motion of the sun is from East to West because the Earth

rotates from West to East. The shadows therefore appear to move from West to East as

the sun casts its light from East to West. Around midday the shadows appear to be in a

north direction because the Earth is tilted on it’s axis away from the sun. The change in

length and direction occur in a recognizable pattern because the Earth’s rotation around

the sun and on its axis is consistent. Because shadows appear in a recognizable pattern,

they can be used to tell time of day and season. The time of day can be recorded in the

direction of shadows. People used to use sundials to track the direction of shadows and

tell the time of day. The season can be determined from the length of the shadows.

 What materials, resources and technology will the students and I need for this lesson?:

The materials I will need are the following videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=3B7KLstUZbI (shadow and clock) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuDu41-

j4ng (sundials). I will also need a worksheet for students to be able to complete at the end

of the lesson and a space available to keep a log of student ideas. I will also need to make

sure to have the videos and worksheet available online for the virtual students. (If I have

a pdf version of the worksheet then Adrian can use the read aloud feature, but I will give

the students the option to work in groups so someone can help him)

 What do I need to do to prepare for the lesson ahead of time?: I need to watch the videos

to know what is coming. I need to plan a space to log student ideas. I will also need to

write up the worksheet for students to complete. I will also have to ensure that the videos

and worksheet are made available online.

 How will I find out what prior knowledge?: Prior knowledge will be elicited while

watching the videos. After each video I will facilitate a class discussion about what was

observed.

 How will I adapt my lesson accordingly?: I will adapt my language about the video and

my speaking prompts and explanations to fit the prior knowledge demonstrated by the

students.

 How will I know that all students have met my learning objectives?: I will know students

have met my learning objectives if they are able to talk about the videos and complete

their worksheets successfully.

 What are my plans for assessing various kinds of student learning from this lesson?: I

will be able to assess the extent to which the students have met the objectives by how

they complete the worksheets. If they are able to identify approximate time of day based

on shadow direction and location of the sun in the sky then they will have successfully

met the objectives.

f) Instructional Procedures

 Introduce lesson (1 minute)

o Driving question: What can shadows tell us about the time of day and why can

they tell us those things?

 Watch shadow and clock video (2 minutes)

 Return to shadow and clock video and stop the video when the clock reads 11am, noon,

and 3pm. At each time ask students to identify the direction of the shadow. (1-2 minutes)

 Initiate further discussion about observations. Use overhead projector to draw some

diagrams (with compass) to match the observations from the video and come up with

ideas of where the sun and shadows will be at different times. Ask students why they

think the shadows pointed in those directions at those times, what else could be factoring

into the creation of the shadow that isn’t shown in the video, do you think all shadows

move like that, do you think the shadows will be in about the same spot everyday . . . log

student ideas (5-7 minutes)

 Watch sundial video (4 minutes)

 Have discussion about how people are able to tell time based on direction of shadows

using a sundial (5-7 minutes)

 Have students work in pairs to complete worksheets and ask questions for the remainder

of class (20-27 minutes)

Differentiation:

 I am planning on utilizing cooperative learning to help scaffold the instruction. Students

can collaborate with their classmates to share ideas. The beginning of the instruction will

involve a lot of discussion and students can work with their classmates to complete the

activity. Working together will help students address the questions. This will also help

the IEP student to have someone to help him read and complete the activity. My lesson
 plan also includes a variety of auditory, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and visual learning.

The videos will appeal to auditory learners, the drawings in the activity will appeal to

visual learners, and the option to work alone or with classmates will appeal to both

interpersonal and intrapersonal learners.

g) Reflection

 On Student Learning: The students did a really good job at picking up on things. I was

expecting to have to explain more about why the shadows point north (versus “down” or

South) but the students did a good job at relating to prior knowledge and using the

Earth’s rotation around the sun, the rotation on it’s axis, and the Earth’s tilt on its axis in

their ideas and discussion. The students also did a really good job on the worksheet. The

main thing they struggled on is realizing that there aren’t going to be shadows during

certain times of the day because it will be nighttime. This misconception came while they

were working in groups to complete their worksheets. The last question asked them to

pick their favorite time of day and some of them picked 8:00 which (depending on the

time of year) the sun won’t be up at that time to cast a shadow. Other than that, the

students did excellent in this lesson.

 On Teaching: I am happy with how my lesson went. I think that I was organized and

prepared to teach the lesson. The videos didn’t take up much time and were useful at

visualizing the content and eliciting conversation. I did forget to mention the driving/

compelling question at the beginning of the lesson, which was a mistake I hope not to

make in the future. Being more direct about the driving question may have helped

students to think about the lesson more deeply and prepared them more for conversation.
I also think I could’ve addressed the notion of there are no shadows at night and pushing

the students to think about what time of day is using shadows to tell time no longer

possible. I could’ve been clearer about that as well in the final question of the worksheet

where I asked them to pick a time of day and draw what it might look like outside at that

time. There was one other thing that occurred in my lesson that was a challenge for me.

That challenge was that one of the groups started fighting. I think I handled it okay. One

of the students had called the other one stupid because there was a disagreement on an

answer to the worksheet. I had a quick conversation with them about how to handle

disagreements and then told them if they continue to be unable to work together that they

can choose to work individually. They eventually worked individually, so I had a hard

time figuring out if that was a situation I handled well or poorly, but I was glad to see

them come to some sort of agreement and be able to get their worksheets completed.