Name: Caroline Chiusano

Class: ELED 3221

Date: 4/7/15
edTPA Indirect Instruction Lesson Plan Template
Animals
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Central Focus/Big Idea: The big idea of this lesson is to teach students that animals have to
adapt to their surroundings to survive. To what big idea/unifying science concept does your idea
align? Think about how you would teach this standard in multiple lessons- how would it build?
Subject of this lesson: Science
Grade Level: 4th Grade
NC Essential Standard(s): 4.L.1 Understand the effects of environmental changes, adaptations
and behaviors that enable animals (including humans) to survive in changing habitats.
Next Generation Science Standard(s): What K-5 performance expectation is addressed?
Please list the full code (i.e. K-PS2-1) and the statement. The NGSS are located here:
http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards.
21st Century Skills: Collaboration- because each group had about 4 to 5 people butt there was
only one bowl at each station, the students had to be patient and wait for classmates to get food
out of the bowl.
Initiative and Self-direction- the students worked on their own and came up with their own ways
to pick up the food.
Productivity and Accountability- the students were responsible for recording how many pieces of
each food they were able to pick up and they were responsible for doing the right thing so that
they could collect the correct data.
Academic Language Demand
Language Function: In the table below highlight the one most important language
function for your lesson. Explain why you chose these.
Analyze
Interpret

Argue
Predict

Categorize
Question

Compare/contrast
Retell

Describe
Summarize

Explain

Scientific Vocabulary: Adaptation, Survival of the fittest

Instructional Objective: Students are expected to learn that certain birds have to adapt to their
environment based on where they live and the type of beak they have.

Prior Knowledge (student): Students should know that all animals are different. Depending on
types of animals and their environment, they may gather food differently. After reading in the
textbook one day prior, they are familiar with what it means for an animal to adapt to their
environment.
Content Knowledge (teacher): The teacher needs to know what types of birds are being
compared to the utensils. The teacher also needs to know what ways animals adapt to their
environment in order to survive.
Accommodations for special needs: Chosen utensil based on fine motor skills. Estimation chart
for those who struggle counting so the students are not spending all of their time on how many
pieces of food they picked up.
Materials and Technology requirements:

Salt- per group

Beans- per group
Popcorn- per group
Rice- per group
Marshmallows- per group
Spoons- one student per group
Clothespin (tweezers)- one student per group
Chopsticks- one student per group
Toothpicks- one student per group
Bowls for items to go in- 5 per group

Total Estimated Time: I expect my lesson to take about 45 minutes

Source of lesson: Textbook (B65-B72)
Safety considerations: I will make sure my students are safe by not poking anyone or
themselves with the utensils they are using. I will also make sure it is clear that none of the items
we are using go in anyones mouth.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

In your procedure, be sure to include all of the following 5 Es. Your procedure should be
detailed enough for a colleague to follow. If you will be relying on technology (e.g., a YouTube
video), describe your back up plan thoroughly. Imagine your most novice colleague needing to
teach from your plan. Dont just answer the questions. Additionally, I expect you to include
possible questions you could ask for each section. This needs to include higher-order questions.
Engage: Do you think the size and shape of a birds beak determines the way they get their
food? What are some birds that you are familiar with? We eat food with our mouth and we dont
really have to adapt to the environment to eat, but for a few seconds, I want everyone to imagine
having a beak instead of a mouth before we get started today.
Explore: Distribute a cups filled with either salt, beans, rice, popcorn, rice, or marshmallows to
each group of students. Now give out various utensils to students (spoon, clothespin, chopsticks,
and toothpicks). Each student in the group will be given a different utensil use. Have the
students spread the contents of the cup on their desk. Tell them that they will have twenty
seconds to pick up what they can with their utensil and put it into the cup. Time students for
twenty seconds. Have students count what they have in their cup. Some students will have more
items in their cups compared to other students depending on the utensil and item they have. After
20 seconds, the students will switch their utensil with the other students to see if it is easier or
harder to gather items with certain utensils. The utensil represent the type of beaks that birds
have. These are:

Spoon Spoonbill/long flat bill with tip like a spoon.

Clothespins Dowitchers have bills like tongs.
Chop Sticks Hawaiian Duck/uses chopstick bill
Toothpicks Woodpeckers have thin, pointed bills to eat insects.

As the students are doing this activity, I will remind them to pay attention to which food item
they are able to pick up the best with the utensil they are using. Also, remind them to pay
attention to the food item they were not able to pick up as much with the utensil they are using.
Go around and ask students why they think their utensil pick up some foods and not others. Ask
them to keep in mind that the utensils are representing bird beaks and the food is the type of food
that birds may find in different environments.
Explanation: As students are completing this lab, they will fill in a data chart to show how
many of each item they picked up with each utensil. Depending on their results, the data chart
will show which utensil represent the bird beak that can adapt to the environment better and
which bird struggles adapting to their environment. I will be walking around the room as the
students are doing this activity and I will ask students questions as to why they think the utensil
they have picks up some food items but not all food items. Ask students which food item they

struggled picking up. Students will also talk with the people in their group to compare how many
of each food item they picked up with their utensil. The students will observe their chart to see
which utensil worked best for which food and which utensil worked least for which food.
Elaborate: If there is enough time in the lesson, the students could do another round of rotations
to each station an come up with ways that they could pick up their food instead of trying what
they did the first round. This will show them that adapting to an environment is hard but can and
must be done somehow. I would ask the student what other ways they could pick up the food.
What they would do if they were in a situation that they had to adapt to an environment to
survive.
Evaluate: The formative assessment are the questions that I will ask throughout the lesson. The
summative assessment is. The student will fill out a chart as they rotate to each station and
answer the questions as the bottom of the worksheet.
To be complete after the lesson is taught as appropriate
Assessment Results of all objectives/skills: The whole class seemed to understand what I was
trying to teach from this lesson. They understood that adapting to an environment is important
and the worksheets that I graded showed that 20 out of 24 students mastered the objective.
Reflection on lesson:
I was extremely pleased at how well this lesson turned out. This was the first science lesson I
have ever taught and the students paid attention and followed directions the way that I explained
them. There were a few students who did not do what they were told to do but I was able to
handle that quickly and get them on the right track.
CT signature/confirmation: _________________________________ Date: ________________