TTE314

Template for Science Lesson Plan

Benchmark Assignment
Title of Lesson: Exploring Pollination Materials
Grade Level: 2
Time Needed: Part 1 Prep: 20 min, Part 1 Lesson: 35 min, Part 2 Prep; 20
min, Part 2 Lesson: 60 min
Lesson Overview
This is the 3rd lesson in a 4 lesson unit. We have been completing about 1 lesson a
week. In the first three lessons students learned about pollination, how it works
and what its purpose is. We read a story that introduced a girl who's plant wasn't
producing berries. The class had to figure out why her plant wasn't producing
berries, and how we could solve the problem. The solution that they came up with
was make hand-pollinators like they did in the story. In this lesson we are
exploring and testing what materials will work best in a hand-pollinator design.
Driving Question:What materials and properties of materials work best for
picking up and dropping off pollen.
Ideal Response: Materials with a fuzzy texture or that are most like insects
legs.
Disciplinary Core Ideas LS2.A Plants depend on water and light to grow, and
also depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
Cross-Cutting Concepts students observe the shape and stability of structures of
natural and designed objects are related to their function(s).
Practices
Developing and using models: Students will design and use a model for testing
various materials to see how well they pick up and drop off pollen.
Planning and carrying out investigations: they will carryout this model until they
find the best material for the hand pollinator.
Analyzing and interpreting data: they will record their data and determine which
material will be suited best for a hand pollinator and why
Learning Goals
KNOWING (main idea): Students will know that materials have properties that
make them good choice for some uses and poor choices for others, conducting
experiments helps to determine which materials are the best choices for a given
task, in order to make decisions about which materials work best, it is best to
test all materials in the same way, and experiments can be improved.
DOING: Students will conduct a controlled experiment, observe and compare
the efficacy of different materials for picking up and depositing pollen, and use
the results of the experiment to make decisions about what materials would
work best to create a hand pollinator.

TTE314

Language Learning Goals

Students will make predictions about which materials and properties of
materials are good choices for hand pollinators
Observe and describe the efficacy of different materials for picking up and
depositing pollen
Analyze and compare results of the experiment to inform decisions about
their hand pollinator designs
Review vocabulary, brainstorm properties ahead of time, include visuals
Student Science Toolkits
Students learned about the life cycles of plants earlier in the year and many
have commented on the changed plant life with the new warm weather. Some
students will bring in flowers they find at recess. This lesson goes in depth of
the purpose of these flowers and how these new plants grow during the spring
This lesson connects to family funds of knowledge for any child who has a
garden at home. Some students here help out their parents with yard work on
the weekends, and have commented about the pollen in the air making them
sneeze. This lesson will help them understand how pollen travels from plant to
plant. Also many children like to build things with their friends using legos or
connecting cubes. This lesson will relate to that peer funds of knowledge
because they will be looking at materials and deciding what to build with.
Materials
For teacher: Chart paper, scissors, markers, spoon, science lesson 3 powerpoint
For each pair of students: small plastic bag, small eraser, glass marble (1
diameter), 2x2 square of aluminum foil, pom-pom (1 diameter), 2 pipe
cleaner, 1 roll cellophane tape, 2 3oz paper cups (one with bottom cut out),
teaspoon baking soda, worksheets (1 for each student)
Preparation
There should be one bag prepared for each pair of students that has one of each
of the materials listed (eraser, marble, foil, pom-pom, pip cleaner, and tape).
Teacher should have two paper cups for each pair, and cut the bottom out of one
of each pair of cups. Teacher should have chart paper prepared to record student
responses about the materials and their properties. The driving question will be
introduced and the teacher will ask for initial responses and record them on chart
paper, then the bags of materials will be passed out and the students will be
allowed to explore their materials and write down their predictions. After this part
of the lesson is complete, students will be introduced to the parts of a flower. The
teacher will demonstrate the experiment once explaining how it relates to
pollination, then students will be given the paper cups (which have already been
cut) and baking soda, and they can do their own experiment and record the
results.
Safety
Teacher cuts cups before giving them to students.
Teacher explains that the baking soda is for the experiment, not for eating, and if
any gets on your hands, wash them before eating or touching your eyes.

TTE314

Lesson
1

I-AIM Stage & Function

Question:
Establish
a
question, illicit student's
initial ideas: Reflect on
reading

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what

students do and what the teacher says/does.
1. Review the story Mariana Becomes a Butterfly
(read in a previous lesson). Ask the students
What part of the pollination system was missing
for Mariana's plant? and How did Mariana solve
the problem?
2. Preview the design challenge the students will do
in lesson 4. Make sure to note they will work just
like agricultural engineers and design hand
pollinators.
3. Explain that today we are going to test materials
to see how well the are able to pick up and drop
off pollen, because engineers have to carefully
choose materials based on their properties.
4. Explain what a property of a material is i.e. color,
texture, size, shape, etc and ask students for
examples, brainstorm a list on the board.
5. Post the driving question: What materials and
properties of materials work best for picking up
and dropping off pollen? Record student
responses on chart paper.
Assessment:
We will be looking for students to recognize the missing
part of Mariana's plant to be the insects because the
plant is not getting pollinated. We want them to also
recognize that she pretended to be an insect and
created a hand pollinated to solve her problem. We are
recording all possible answers to the driving question.
Accommodations/Adaptations:
For ELLs and students with special needs the questions
asked should be posted on the powerpoint with
accompanying visuals (pictures of insects or flowers) to
jog ideas. Also, pictures of different materials should be
posted for students to look at while brainstorming
properties

TTE314

I-AIM Stage & Function

Explore and Investigate:
Explore phenomena for
patterns

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what

students do and what the teacher says/does.
1. After students have exhausted all possible
answers to the driving question, show students
the materials they will be testing (eraser, marble,
foil, pompom, pipe cleaner, tape).
2. Divide class into pairs (the usually work with the
people sitting next to them) and give a bag of
materials to each group. Let them explore the
materials.
3. Walk around to each group and guide students to
think about the properties of each material as
they explore (Is it heavy or light?, What color is
it?, Is it smooth or rough?, Is it clear or opaque?,
Is it rigid or flexible?, Is it hard or soft?
Assessment:
As a class, consider each material. Each group should
contribute at least one unique property for each material
and not repeat properties that were already mentioned.
Teacher will make mental notes of properties mentioned.
Accommodations/Adaptations:
For ELLs allow students to describe materials in their
first language and then do your best to translate.

I-AIM Stage & Function

Explore and Investigate
(Identifying Patterns)

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what

students do and what the teacher says/does.
1. After students have had a sufficient time to
explore the materials, pass out the Be an
Agricultural Engineer Worksheet (Do not collect

TTE314

materials yet!) Gain the attention of the class

(1,2,3 Eyes on Me! Works well) and remind them
of the driving question on the board. Show them
the worksheet and tell them they are going to
write what they think materials will work well and
why, what materials they think will not work well
and why, and what properties do they think will
be important in their design and why?
2. Then give time to work on their worksheets
individually, but allow for discussion within small
groups.
3. Guide students with questions: What properties
of materials do you think are important for
pollination? and Remember when Mariana
pretended to be an insect? Which of these is most
like an insect?
Assessment:
We are looking for students to identify the fuzzy
materials as ones that are most like insects, so they will
probably work best for picking up and dropping off
pollen. In their responses they should include a written
prediction and a reason for that prediction in a complete
sentence. As a group predictions will be shared and
recorded by teacher.
Accommodations/Adaptations:
Some students with special needs may need to have
their predictions scripted for them. Some special needs
or ELL students will benefit from a worksheet in which
they can circle the picture of the material they are
predicting will work or not work.

I-AIM Stage & Function

Explaining,
introduce
scientific ideas (Steps 1-5)
Investigating,
identify
patterns (Steps 6-8)

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what

students do and what the teacher says/does.
1. Show students a picture that labels the parts of a
flower. Go over the names and the functions of
each part of the flower.

2. Decide on a material to demonstrate the testing

with. Get out your two paper cups (one with the
bottom cut out). Place the cup with the hole in
the bottom upside down over the center of the
appropriate testing flower. Put pollen (Baking
soda) on the bottom of the other cup (which is
also upside down). Explain how the baking soda
represents the pollen and the cups represent the
stamen of two different flowers.
3. Gently touch the material to the pollen on our
model stamen. Do not push on it.
4. Carefully tap the material on the edge of the cup
over the flower THREE Times so the pollen falls
through the center.
5. Ask students why it is important to tap the
materials on the edge of the cup and why we
should be sure to test each material the same
way.
6. Pass out Testing Flowers worksheets and
Evaluating Pollination Materials Worksheet, as
well as all materials needed for the experiment
i.e. cups and bag of materials
7. Allow students time to test each material in pairs
and record their results on their worksheets. As
you walk around remind students to only tap each
material 3 times. Also remind students that the
material that will work best for a hand pollinator
will both pick up and drop off pollen well.
8. When students are done, have them put their
materials back in their bag and throw away the
paper ups and extra baking soda. You collect the
bags of materials that the students are finished
with.
Assessment:
You are looking for consistent results among groups.
There may be some outliers, but if students performed
the experiment correctly, the whole class should have
similar results. Teacher will make mental note of results
and student data sheets will be collected.
Accommodations/Adaptations:
There are two different worksheets available. For ELLs
or students with special needs you can opt to use the
worksheet in which there is a picture of each material
and they circle yes or no to Does it pick up pollen? and

TTE314

TTE314

Does it drop off pollen? and circle none, some, or a lot

for the question How much pollen was dropped off.
You may need to read questions aloud for some
students.
For students who need more of a challenge they can fill
out a chart using a rating system for how much pollen it
picks up and drops off, and then write answers to
questions on the bottom, addressing what materials
worked well and didn't and why.
Also for Step 1, you could use a real flower to show
parts of a flower.

I-AIM Stage & Function

Explaining,
comparing
student
ideas
with
scientific ideas /Reflecting
on
changing
ideas/
Reflecting
on
doing
science.

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what

students do and what the teacher says/does.
1. After all materials have been put away, gather
class for a whole group discussion. Have them
take out their original prediction (or the ones
recorded on chart paper) and their results from
the experiment.
2. Go around the class asking each pair to share
which material deposited the most pollen and
deposited the least pollen.
3. Address the whole group
some pairs have different
And how could we prevent
These questions should
powerpoint.

and ask why might

results than others?
this from happening?
be posted on the

4. Redirect kids back to the driving question What

materials and properties of materials work best
for picking up and dropping off pollen? (Should
be posted on powerpoint) Have students come to
an answer based on their results. Ask students if
it is the same or different from what they
predicted and why that might be.
5. Explain to students that we conducted a real
experiment like real scientists do, and that we

TTE314

also performed our ask phase of the design

process, because we asked questions and found
out the answers. Tell students that we will be
using this information when we design our hand
pollinators next week! Have them pass in all
worksheets for you to collect.
Assessment:
Students should identify that the materials that worked
the best were the fuzzy ones because they could both
pick up and drop off pollen. Students should also
recognize that if they did not all perform the experiment
in the same way, they would get different results. Each
student should be able to recognize a change (if any)
from their initial response to their experimental results.
A rubric will be used to evaluate students final
responses.
Accommodations/Adaptations:
Have question posted on powerpoint as well as visuals
of insects pollinating flowers.
Give plenty of wait time for student responses.

Lesson Artifacts
Hard copies can be turned in next class, pictures were submitted under
curriculum analysis
Bibliography/Sources
Engineering is Elementary: Bugs are the Best, Designing Hand Pollinators kit was
used.

TTE314

For details on grading categories, please see complete rubric in on D2l.

Category

Lesson Overview
1 point

Driving Question
and Ideal
Response
1 point

Criteria for Exceeds Expectations

Thorough overview that gives the context of the

lesson, how the lesson fits with previous or
following lessons, and any special
circumstances.
Driving question frames the lesson; is relevant,
interesting, and motivating for students,
requires an explanation; and is clearly related to
knowings/ doings.
Driving question is presented to students and
students have an opportunity to share ideas.
Ideal response correctly identifies and describes
important big ideas related to the lesson; is
appropriate for grades level; and clearly relates
to all knowings/doings and driving question.
Driving question and ideal response address
feedback from learning goals assignment.
Identifies and defines relevant Disciplinary Core
Ideas from the Framework for K-12 Science
Education

Standards
1 point

Identifies and defines relevant Cross-Cutting

Concepts from the Framework for K-12 Science
Education
Identifies and defines relevant practices from
the Framework for K-12 Science Education
Disciplinary Core Ideas, Cross-cutting Concepts,
and Scientific Practices are intertwined.
Knowings identify what students will know at
the end of the lesson
Doings identify what students will be able to
do with their new knowledge after completing
the lesson (Knowings)

Learning Goals

All practices are identified and described

accurately and fully.

1 point

Language goals and ELL accommodations are

appropriate, relevant, and complete.
Written in correct format
Sufficient to address driving question

Student Toolkits
2 points

Knowings and doings completely address and

aligned with standards.
Insightful description of how lesson activities
connect to and build on student ideas. Includes
students likely initial ideas.
Insightful description of how lesson activities

Your Points &

Comments

Materials,
Safety,
Preparation
1 point

connect to and build on student funds of

knowledge. Includes identification of categories
of funds of knowledge.
Materials, preparation, and safety issues are
anticipated and thoroughly described.
Materials and preparation completely identify
whats needed for whole class and/or small
groups including quantities.
Experiences with phenomena precede
explanations in the lesson.
Experiences provide students with opportunities
to see patterns. Patterns are clearly identified
and made visible to students.
Activities functions are identified and clearly
relate to I-AIM.

Activity
Sequence
3 points

Includes an opening activity and a closing

activity that reflect the driving question.
Activity sequence provides opportunities to elicit
and probe student thinking.
Activity sequence engages students in scientific
practices identified in learning goals.
Activity sequence includes speaking, reading,
and writing in science.
All activities address the learning goals
Activities described in excellent detail to
understand the activity and guide teaching.

Science Content
1 point

All science content is integrated throughout

lesson, is accurately represented in more than
one form and does not present misconceptions.
Formative assessments included for all
activities.

Assessment

Assessment measures for all activities are

described and are linked to learning goals.

3 points

All learning goals are assessed.

Formative & summative assessments are
described in detail, including complete indicators
of student performance.

Accommodations
1 point

All necessary student needs are accommodated for,

including special needs and ELL for each activity.
Lesson plan demonstrates thoughtful attention to detail
when planning accommodations for special needs and
ELL students.

TTE314

Bibliography and
Sources
1 point
Total = 16
points

Includes complete and properly formatted

bibliography of resources and relevant artifacts
used to prepare the lesson plan

TTE314