5E Lesson Plan

Teacher: Cynthia Trejo

Date: November 23, 2015
Subject / grade level: 4th grade science
Materials:
Arctic tundra animal pictures
Animal pictures
Tactile materials
Fur
Bucket
Ice
Zip block bags
Lard
Fake feathers
Oil
Cotton balls
Thermometer
TEKS
4th grade
(10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have
structures that help them survive within their environment. The student is expected to:
(A) explore how adaptations enable organisms to survive in their environment such as comparing birds'
beaks and leaves on plants;
Lesson objective(s):
The student will be able to identify 8 out of 10 organisms that live in the artic tundra, according to their
characteristics.
Rationale:
This is important because it will help students learn about how animals interact with their environment in
order to survive. The student will use zip lock bags filled with different items and a thermometer to explore
different characteristics that will survive in the Arctic Tundra. By exploring different characteristics that will
survive in the Arctic Tundra the student will be able to understand how animals adaptations and their
characteristics help them survive the environment they live in.
Resource:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/life-arctic-tundra
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/blubber-gloves/
http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/arctic/Awildlife.html
Preparation:
Teacher will cut and laminate animal pictures. Prepare the zip lock bags with the different items. Have four
buckets with ice cubes.
Background Knowledge:
The student will know different characteristics of the Arctic Tundra. They would know how structures and
functions of animals help them survive in their environment.
Safety Issues:
Zip lock bags are to remain closed
Students must only insert the zip lock bags with the thermometer in middle in the bucket of ice
Students will use walking feet
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5E Lesson Plan
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs (special needs):
Modification:
The teacher will make modifications for an English Language Learner (ELL) the teacher would provide
specific vocabulary words for the lesson and investigation in English and the students native language. This
will help the student understand the scientific concept they are developing in English. Students would write
their hypothesis, findings, conclusion, answers, and the paragraph in their native language and would translate
it in English.
ENGAGE
Create Interest
Good Morning, young scientist we are going to take an adventure to the Arctic Tundra. Put on your
big coats and your gloves and get ready to start your adventure. Today you will be exploring different
zip lock bags with different items that act as insulators. These insulators will act as animals
characteristics that will help them survive their environment. You will be using lard, oil, cotton balls
and fake feathers zip lock bags with a thermometer around it.
Students will ask themselves what insulator will stand the cold temperature of the ice cubes in the
bucket which represents the Arctic Tundra weather. Students will know that the average temperature in
the Arctic Tundra is around 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. They will also know the different animals
that live in the Arctic Tundra and their characteristics.
Raise Questions
What kind of insulator would you use to keep your self-warm, oil, lard, feathers, or cotton balls?
Do you think oil or lard will be a better insulator and why?
Do you think fake feather or cotton balls will be better insulator and why?
Which insulator do you think will help an animal living in the Arctic Tundra survive?
Provide Instructions and Modeling
When students are using the zip lock bags filled with oil, lard, fake feathers, or cotton balls the teacher
will walk around asking probing questions such as which insulator do you think will keep the
thermometer the warmest? write down your ideas before you test them. What have you have you
observed so far from the zip lock bags you have tested. Do you think if you were in the Arctic Tundra
right now with a jacket filled with oil, cotton balls, fake feathers, or lard that you would be able to
survive the freezing weather? After the teacher asks the probing questions, they will instruct the
students to think about different question that they can answer using the material provided.
EXPLORE
Investigation Plan:
Which zip lock bag will act as the best insulator?
First, we will take the temperature of the bucket of ice. Then we will test every single zip lock bag,
wrap it around the thermometer, and put in the bucket of ice. We will check the thermometer after we
leave the zip lock bag with the thermometer in the bucket of ice for one minute. After we finish testing
every insulator, we will record the degrees that are shown on the thermometer. From what are
recording show, we will write down which zip lock bag acts as the best insulator. We will conclude
that the recording that demonstrates the insulator kept the thermometer warm enough to withstand the
cold temperature of the bucket of ice will be the best insulator. Once we conclude, we will write down
the scientific reason behind our recordings.
What if we use two zip lock bags to act as insulators, will it act like a better insulator than one zip lock
bag?
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5E Lesson Plan

First, we will take the temperature of the bucket of ice. Then we will choose the zip lock bag that has
oil and the one with lard, wrap around the thermometer, and put in the bucket of ice. We will check the
temperature of the thermometer and then we will record the degrees. From our recordings, we will
conclude if two zip lock bags act as better insulator than on zip lock bag. We will know if two zip lock
bag act as better insulator than one by comparing our results. Once we conclude, we will write down
the scientific reason behind our recordings.

Supervising Groups:
Once students start to explore their question and conduct their experiment, the teacher will walk
around to make sure the students experiments and hypothesis are going in the right direction. The
teacher will walk around again and ask the stations about their observation and if their recording have
helped them prove their hypothesis.
Every group will have a material manager. The material manager will come up and get the materials
that they need to conduct their experiment. The teacher will also review their expectation during the
experiment they will make it clear that the zip lock bags are to kept sealed, students must use walking
feet when moving around the room, if a bag breaks they will inform the teacher, the teacher will
replace the bag.
EXPLAIN
Teacher Explanation:
The teacher will explain to the students how the different zip lock bags were acting like different types
of insulators that they were able to explore to find out what would keep the thermometer the warmest.
The teacher will explain that the zip lock bag with the lard should have been the bag that kept the
thermometer the warmest because lard is a fat, which keeps heat in and cold out. Fats work well as
insulator because of its high density and low thermal conductivity relative to cold weather.
The teacher will also explain that the fake feather could have hypothetically been a good insulator if it
were an actual piece of fur from animal that lived in the Arctic Tundra because several animals that
live in that environment keep themselves warm with their think fur coats that have hollow hairs which
keeps heat in and cold out.
Students Recording:
Students will record their findings in their journal. They will state their question and hypothesis on
their notebook. They will discuss their hypothesis as a group and create a systematic way to test their
hypothesis. Once they have tested their hypothesis they will write down their finding in a chart that
states the zip lock bags that they use and the temperature they recorded. They come up with an
explanation as to why their findings were what they were. After they have finish writing down their
finding they will present as a group to their class. They will present their observations and their
conclusion.
ELABORATE
Application to other situation:
The experiment that the students finished and their conclusions can be used to understand how
animals adapt to their environment in order to survive. They will also know how different
characteristics an animal has can helped them survive their environment. Knowing this will help the
student understand and tell the difference between which animals live in certain environments. They
will also know that adaptation and different characteristics are crucial for any species survival.
Alternative Explanations
The teacher can give further explanation of how animals go through different adaptations in order to
survival extreme weather or environments. They would go on to explain how depending on the time
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5E Lesson Plan
period animals have to go through different adaptations in order to withstand their environment.
Possible Extension Lesson
The students exploration can be used to in a real life situation to figure out what kind of substance
would be the best insulator to keep them warm in cold weather. Students can start a new investigation
with their findings and come up with which substance would be the best one to make a jacket that
would keep them warm. When they record their findings, they can come up with pinch sale to sale
their invention to a company of their choosing.
EVALUATE
How will students assess and reflect?
Students will be given a work sheet called The Arctic Tundra Animals with ten different animals
they should be able to identify the animals that would survive by doing research and what they learned
from their exploration. The students would write a paragraph of hypothetically situation of how they
would survive in the Arctic Tundra using the materials given in the exploration part and a jacket.
Assessment Rubric
Activities
Meets Expectations
Does Not Meet Expectations
The Arctic Tundra Animals
The student will correctly
Student did not identify the
Worksheet
identify 8 out of 10 animals.
animals correctly and gave no
They will give an explanation as
explanation.
to why the animals they choose
would survive in the Arctic
Tundra.
Paragraph
The student will write five to six The student only gave two
sentences of what they would do sentences about what they would
in order to survive in the Arctic
do to survive in the Arctic
Tundra.
Tundra.
Specific Key Questions:
What type of insulator would you use to keep warm?
Which animals characteristics would survive the Arctic Tundra?
Would lard or oil be a better insulator?
Personal Reflection:
I learned a lot from this inquiry lesson. Writing an inquiry lesson takes a lot of preparation and time.
It is important to know what is going to be taught in order to develop a well taught out lesson. There
is a lot of work that goes into developing any lesson plan but when developing a inquiry lesson you
have to have a mind set of both a teacher and student in order to make sure that the inquiry part is
well developed. This inquiry lesson made me realize that it is important to develop science lesson in
a way that students would come up with their own investigation. Lastly, I am excited to continue to
write inquiry lesson for my future students because I think it is important for students to be given the
opportunity to explore and investigate their ideas and world.

5E Lesson Plan
Horizontal Alignment within the Grade chosen for the 5E lesson
What other TEKS can be aligned to this lesson (what will this lesson build upon and build for)?
(9) Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an ecosystem
interact with one another and with their environment. The student is expected to:
(B) describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in
the ecosystem affect the food web such as a fire in a forest.

This TEK can be used to create a follow up lesson about how animals used their different adaptation
skills in order to survive. Which they do in order to survive in their environment, after they talk about
different adaptations the teacher can start an investigation about how adaptations affect the
environments food webs.

Vertical Alignment within the Grade Chosen for the 5E lesson

Prior Grade
What other TEKS can be aligned to this lesson (what will this lesson build upon and build for)?
How would you integrate this foundational knowledge for developed 5E lesson?
rd
3 grade
(10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have
structures that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to:
(A) explore how structures and functions of plants and animals allow them to survive in a particular
environment;
Throughout the lesson, the teacher will explain how characteristics of animals as well as the
adaptations they go through help animals survive their environment. Students will use their background
knowledge in order to investigate the different substances with prior knowledge.
Next Grade
What other TEKS can be aligned to this lesson (what will this lesson build upon and build for)?
How would this aid their knowledge in future grades?
5th grade
(10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have
structures that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to:
(A) compare the structures and functions of different species that help them live and survive such as
hooves on prairie animals or webbed feet in aquatic animals;

The teacher in the following can talk about how different types of feet also help animals survive
different environments. The teacher can make connection to prior knowledge students will have of how
different furs or insulators an animals has keep them warm.