STEPP

Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Lindsey Todd/Heather Hawkins

Date: 4/1/15

School: Lincoln Middle School

Grade Level: 7th

Content Area: Science

Title: Geological Time Line

Lesson #: 1 of 1

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the standard)

Life Science Standard 2: Students will understand mulGple lines of evidence show the evoluGon of orga-
nisms over geologic Gme.
Life Science Standard 3: Geologic Gme, history, and changing life forms are indicated by fossils and suc-
cessive sedimentaGon, folding, faulGng, and upliMing of layers of sedimentary rock.

Understandings: (Big Ideas)
The big idea is that students will understand small life came before larger life and be able to give an
example of an early form of life and a more recent form of life.
Inquiry Ques?ons: (Essen>al ques>ons rela>ng knowledge at end of the unit of instruc>on, select appli-
cable ques>ons from standard)
Give an example of an early form of life and the era it is from.
Give an example of a more recent form of life and the era it is from.
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to: (Create your own lesson objec>ves from the standard, follow the ABCD
format, using student voice)
I can: I can look at a geologic ?meline of the eras and understand smaller life forms came before larger
life forms.
This means: I am able to analyze a chart of the eras and grasp the dierences between earlier and la-
ter species to indicate the sequence of geological ?me.
List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with each assessment)
Fill in the blank notes. (LT 1 and 2)
Diagram geological Gme on the work sheet provided. (LT 1 and 2)

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Ac?vi?es

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a crea>ve >tle for you and
the students to associate with the
ac>vity. Think of the purpose as the
mini-ra>onale for what you are
trying to accomplish through this
lesson.
Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the ac>vity
to last and what materials will you
need?

An?cipatory Set
The hook to grab students
aRen>on. These are ac>ons and
statements by the teacher to relate
the experiences of the students to the
objec>ves of the lesson, To put
students into a recep>ve frame of
mind.
To focus student aRen>on on
the lesson.
To create an organizing
framework for the ideas,
principles, or informa>on
that is to follow (advanced
organizers)
An an>cipatory set is used any >me a
dierent ac>vity or new concept is to
be introduced.

What Came When?

The purpose of the lesson is for students to understand
geological Gme and be able to indicate which forms of life
came when.

The lesson will take approximately 80 minutes. Materials

needed include pictures of life forms with magnets on the
back. A notes work sheet with ll in the blank vocabulary
informaGon.

Students will come into the classroom and there will be a

diagram of era secGons drawn on the board. Each table will
have two or three cut out fossils with magnets on the back and
will be instructed to place the pictures on the board to the best
of their ability before the lesson is given.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Procedures
(Include a play-by-play account of
what students and teacher will do
from the minute they arrive to the
minute they leave your classroom.
Indicate the length of each segment
of the lesson. List actual minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
-ques>oning strategies
-guided/unguided:
-whole-class prac>ce
-group prac>ce
-individual prac>ce
-check for understanding
-other
Closure
Those ac>ons or statements by a
teacher that are designed to bring a
lesson presenta>on to an appropriate
conclusion. Used to help students
bring things together in their own
minds, to make sense out of what has
just been taught. Any Ques>ons?
No. OK, lets move on is not closure.
Closure is used:
To cue students to the fact
that they have arrived at an
important point in the lesson
or the end of a lesson.
To help organize student
learning
To help form a coherent picture and
to consolidate.
Dieren?a?on
To modify: If the ac>vity is too
advanced for a child, how will you
modify it so that they can be
successful?
To extend: If the ac>vity is too easy
for a child, how will you extend it to
develop their emerging skills?

Class will begin as usual with a journal quesGon that usually

reects their last class period. Then they will listen to the
announcements. AMer the announcements, the journal
quesGon will be discussed and we will move into the lesson. All
of this usually takes the rst seven to ten minutes of class.
Students will then parGcipate in an unguided acGvity placying
fossil cut outs on the era chart diagramed on the board. This
acGvity will be Gmes four minutes for discussion about where
to place the fossils as a group at the table. Then each table will
be given an opportunity to place the cut outs on the board.

To close, the students will be asked quesGons such as when
most of the life formed on the geologic Gmeline. This will show
that they understand that life formed recently in comparison
with the age of earth. They will also understand the
progression of life, from small life to the larger, more complex
life we have today.

The acGvity porGon of lesson will be done on the board as a

class. However, the informaGon for the acGvity will be provided
on the handout. Students who are advanced can work on the
worksheet on their own, or they can follow the acGvity as a
class.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Assessment
How will you know if students met Students will understand more complex life formed aMer
the learning targets? Write a
simple life was already formed. They will understand that
descrip>on of what you were looking though Earth is quite old, life is not nearly as old.
for in each assessment.

Post Lesson Reec?on

1. To what extent were lesson objec?ves achieved? (U>lize assessment data to jus>fy your
level of achievement)
a. I believe the students achieved each of the lesson objecGves. Every student com-
pleted the handout and the geologic Gmeline. They were also able to explain with
their own words the take away message from the lesson. Overall, I think the les-
son was very successful.

2. What changes, omissions, or addi?ons to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?
a. Next Gme I would have students come to the board to draw and label the work-
sheet as we went over it as a class. This would keep students more engaged as
well as give them a chance to move around the room, eliminaGng some of the sit
and get.

3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Con>nued prac>ce, reteach content, etc.)
a. For the next lesson I think it would be best if students were more acGvely in-
volved in the learning process. Not as many students parGcipated in the iniGal
acGvity as I had hoped for. But overall the informaGon was easily learned by all
students.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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