Case 4: College Mentors for Kids STEM Lesson Plan

Background:
The College Mentors for Kids (CMFK) is an organization that pairs college kids with at-risk
children (4th 10th grade). Their mission statement is: to motivate at-risk children and
communities to achieve their potential by fostering inspiration to transform lives, education to
change attitudes, and connections to increase opportunities
(http://collegementors.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1147479).
This organization is based on a service being provided by college students acting as mentors.
Recently, the head of this local chapter has asked you and your small group for help in creating
lessons that can be used to help mentor and teach a group of students in relevant subject areas
within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines. The goal is to bring
a large group of these children to our campus to work with students in a STEM afternoon
activity. In order for this to be accomplished, you have been tasked with creating a lesson that
will be used on that afternoon.
Planning:
Product. Before CMFK hires you and your team, they want to see a sample of your work. You
and your small group will research, design, and develop a lesson plan that will focus on teaching
a specific concept in one of the STEM disciplines. You can decide on the topic and age group
(upper elementary, middle school, or high school) of the target students for your lesson plan. The
finished lesson should take approximately 30-45 minutes for the students to complete.
Your lesson should include the following elements:
a. A description of all key elements of a properly constructed lesson planeach of these
sections needs to be fully described (i.e., to the point that someone you do not know will
be able to read your lesson plan and be able to successfully complete the lesson in its
entirety with the desired results).
1. Overview of Lesson
2. Description of Learners, Learning Environment, Intended Learning Goals, and
Lesson Content
3. Learning Objectives
4. Standards
5. Required Materials
6. Procedures
7. Assessment
8. References and Reference Materials
b. A full description of what inspired your lesson including where you found information
about the lesson content, technology, and teaching method (include how you searched
and found the information). Make sure you use proper APA formatting for all references
you access and use as a part of your plan. NOTE: This lesson plan needs to be unique (not
a copy of someone elses) however, you can use others ideas, techniques, procedures as
long as you carefully document where the information was accessed.

-1-

c. As a part of your lesson plan presentation, one or more videos need to be created and
included to show the quality of the work that your group can produce. This video(s)
should demonstrate a key element that is tied directly to your designed lesson plan. For
example, if your lesson plan is about bridge structures and the weight that can be carried
by the different bridge structures, you might include a video demonstrating how to build
different styles of bridges using Popsicle sticks and glue. The video should be between 2
and 5 minutes in length. NOTE: Each group member needs to create his/her own video.
For this case, your video content for each group member can be about the same content
(then you would select the best to submit with the lesson plan) or each member can create
a different video about different elements/parts/content within the lesson plan and all of
the videos can be incorporated in the final case lesson plan submission. This video
assignment is tied directly to the requirements within the Video Production
project/badge. Even though you submit it within the Video Production project/badge,
make sure you include a link to it within your lesson plan.
d. Full APA style references of two different journal articles that discuss research on
teaching within the STEM disciplines. Each reference should be followed by a brief (one
paragraph) description/annotation of the articles content (what each is about and its
value). Specifically, be sure to briefly discuss how the journal articles you found
informed how you designed and developed your lesson (e.g., The journal discussed
strategies for problem-based learning (x, y, z). We used these strategies in the lesson we
developed by).
e. Your lesson plan should be formatted professionally. To give your lesson plan a polished
look, use word-processing options like tables, shading, ClipArt, etc. Note: Your final
lesson plan should follow formatting guidelines found in the reference MSO, Chapter 2
(see BB for a link to MSO, Chapter 2).
Learners, Mentors, Setting, Technology:
Your lesson plan should be designed with the following in mind:
a) Number of students per age group: You get to select whether you want to work with
elementary, middle school, or high school students. You can count on having
approximately 15-20 students during your lesson.
b) Mentors: Each student has a buddy (the college mentor) who will be with them for the
STEM afternoon. You can choose how you incorporate the buddy into your lesson. Use
them as a resource if at all possible.
c) Setting: You can choose your setting here on Purdues campus. Thus if this lesson in
best taught in a chemistry lab, a veterinary operating room, a room similar to our lecture
area, etc. you need to clearly explain the setting for the lesson.
d) Technology: That will depend on the setting to some degree; however, remember you
are at a major university and thus you should be able to use various types of technology.
Dont let technology limit your lesson. Describe clearly what will be needed for this
lesson to be executed correctly and assume that that technology can be obtained within
the university setting. NOTE: An important part of this lesson plan needs to be the
selection and use of specific technology and how it could be integrated and used to
impact the learning of the students within your lesson.

-2-

Things to Consider
Consider who, besides the learners, has a vested interest or cares about the success of the
lesson you create and what the key characteristics are of these individuals and/or groups.
Consider what the ideal lesson would look like (e.g., what specific activities would be
included) from each of these other individuals or groups that have an interest in the success
of the lesson.
Consider how you can design a lesson that meets the needs of all the groups and individuals
you have contemplated.
Consider how the video will creatively and professionally demonstrate a key part of your
lesson.
After you have decided what STEM content and age group you will use to develop your
lesson, consider where you can gather ideas for the lesson you are planning.
Consider how technology can be used as part of this lesson and how you can validate its use.

-3-

Lesson Plan Assessment Guide (Case 4)

Criteria

Possible

Topic of Lesson
Is the lesson topic appropriate for the learners, environment, & case requirements?
Target Audience & Learning Environment
Does the audience description address all relevant student characteristics?
Does the description of the learning environment address all relevant characteristics?
Instructional Objectives
Are all objectives well written and do they each include a condition, performance
and criteria?
Does each objective correspond to the lesson topic and learning goal(s)?
Instructional Procedure
Are the lesson procedures described in a logical, straight forward manner that could
be followed with relative ease?
Are the instructional procedures doable given the class structure and size, as well as
the age, abilities, and characteristics of the audience?
Is the video presentation effectively integrated into the lesson?
Are students given the opportunity to apply lesson content in a meaningful way?
Standards
Are appropriate standards selected and do they align with the learning goals and
objectives?
Motivational Strategies
Are motivational techniques used to maintain attention and enthusiasm throughout
the lesson?
Evaluation
Is the evaluation approach appropriate for the described lesson and goals?
Technology Integration
Does the described technology use enhance the lesson outcomes and objectives?
Is the described technology use feasible (within the class structure, size, &
environment and with learners age/abilities)?
Face Value
Is the lesson formatted in a professional manner?
References
Are summaries of two different journal articles discussing research on teaching in the
STEM disciplines? Does this summary discuss how the articles helped with lesson
plan development?
Total Score

-4-

1
1
1

2
1

2
1
1
1
1

1
1
2
1

2
20

Score