Science Lesson Plan Template

Grade: 5th Grade

School: Susan B. Anthony
Teacher: Mrs. Beverly
Goals & Objectives
Students will be able to analyze and classify minerals based on properties including color,
relative hardness, cleavage, streak and magnetism.
Next Generation Science Standard Practices:
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information
5-PS1-3. Make observations to identify materials based on their properties. [Clarification
Statement: Examples of materials to be identified could include baking soda and other
powders, metals, minerals, and liquids. Examples of properties could include color,
hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic
forces, and solubility; density is not intended as an identifiable property.]
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw
on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under
discussion.

Comment [NRB1]: Please add a cross-cutting concept.

Comment [Office2]: Yes, I agree. Below are two
additional cross-cutting concepts.
(5-PS1-2 & 5-PS1-3) Scale, Proportion, and
Quantity: Standard units are used to measure and
describe physical quantities such as weight, time,
temperature, and volume.
5-PS1-4 Cause and Effect: Cause and effect
relationships are routinely identified and used to
explain change.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.D
Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and
knowledge gained from the discussions.

Materials
Station Directions
Geologist Observation Chart Graphic Organizer
Paper bags
3 Penlights
3 Hand lens
3 White Streak Plates
3 Steel Nails
3 Pennies
Magnets
6 Labeled Minerals (I, G, F, B, D, L)
6 Clipboards
Notebook paper
Post-Its
Index Cards
Blank Chart Paper
Talk Moves Anchor Chart
Mineral Identification Flow Chart
Highlighter
Investigation Stations & Geology Conference Presentation Rubric
Assessment Tracker: Geologist Observations Table

Comment [NRB3]: The others only wanted 4. I have one

of each from the kit on my desk if you would want more
variety (your students are older.)
Comment [Office4]: Thank you for your offer to
help. The kit I received had exactly 6 minerals so
each student was able to have their own mystery
mineral.
You are right, I wanted more than 4 minerals
because I wanted a larger mineral variety. Also,
my lesson was set up differently than the 3rd grade
geology lessons; my students will rotate around to
different stations because my students are older.

Classroom Arrangement & Management Issues

I will start our lesson by meeting with my students at a small group table in the
hallway outside our fifth grade classroom.
I will launch the lesson with everyone sitting around the small group table and
before dismissing students to their investigations, I will explain how the area is
divided up into five stations with corresponding materials at each station.
When it is time for the students to begin their investigations, I will divide the students
into partners and have the students to spread out to the different stations.
I am allowing the students to have a choice which station they will visit first
because I want them have voice and choice in where they will begin their
investigation.
After each student picks their first investigation station, I will closely watch the
students and if I see that two students are distracting each other and not focused
on their work I will talk with the student about where they can move so that they
will be more successful.
After about 10 min. of work time at the investigation stations, we will then all come
together as a group to hold a geology conference at the small group table in
the hallway outside our fifth grade classroom.
After our geology conference, I will encourage the students to spread out; this
time, the students will have the option of either sitting at the small group table or
sitting on the floor within our fifth grade designated hallway area.
I am allowing the students to have a choice where they will sit during this time
because I want to give students the responsibility of picking an area where they
will be free of distractions. My goal is to give students the opportunity to be able to
decide where they will be most on-task. (The students are able to pick where they
want to work during writing workshop, so they already have a foundation of selfmanaging where they sit in the classroom.)
At the end of the lesson, we will come back to the small group table together to
discuss our findings.

Plan
Launch: 5 min.
Hello geologists!
QUESTION: What do you predict is in this bag? [Pass around paper bags with the
minerals inside. As students pass around the bag, they can feel inside the bag, but
they cannot see the minerals, yet.]
I have some mystery minerals from all across the world in these bags. Your
challenge today is to try to figure out what type of minerals are in these bags.
Remember, scientists investigate and collaborate all the time so today we are
going to investigate and work together to solve this challenge.
QUESTION: Before we begin, we must think about what we already know about
minerals. So, geologists, what do we already know about minerals? [Record
answers on chart paper.]
QUESTION: What categories can we, as geologists, use to describe minerals? What
properties might we look at in order to categorize these minerals?
As you work on todays challenge, you will visit five Investigation Stations. Each
Investigation Station will give you a clue to help you to better understand the
properties of your mineral and will take you one step closer to figuring out the
name of your material.
[Give an overview of the directions and materials at each Investigation Station.]
As you visit each Investigation Station, you will record your observations in your
Geologist Observation Chart. [Pass out the clipboard and graphic organizers.]
You will have 10 min. to complete this first round of investigations.
QUESTION: Who can put the directions into their own words and restate the
directions for the group?
After 10 min. we will come back together as a group for a geology conference
to share our findings with one another. [Share with the students a copy of the
rubric so that they can see the areas I will be focusing on during their
investigations.]
[Dramatically, give each student a paper bag. On each bag are the words Top
Secret and inside each bag is a mineral and a label where the mineral is from.]
Investigation Stations: 10 min.
Teacher will partner students into mixed ability partner groups.
Each pair of students will start at a different Investigation Station and rotate
through all five stations.
As students analyze the different mineral properties, they will record their
observations on their Geologist Observation Chart.
Note: Directions are at each Investigation Station as a reminder for the students.
As students work, I will circulate around the room to first clarify the directions and
any questions the students have about the task itself.
Then, as I circulate around the room a second time, I will look at the students
observations and ask follow up questions. As I rotate around to each student, I will
be looking to see what observations each student is making and I will ask them
why and how they made that observation.

Comment [NRB5]: Infer. Since it is already there, and

they are allowing them to handle the back to get an idea, this
is inferring from observations. (Observation in science is not
only visual, as I am sure you know.)
Comment [Office6]: Excellent point! Yes, I will be
asking my students to observe. I made this
correction when I taught the lesson.

Plan (Continued)
Potential questions:
o What are the directions asking you to do? Put the directions into your own
words. (If students need more guidance to start the task.)
o What observation did you make at this station? Why?
o What details led you to this observation? What patterns are you noticing
and why?
o What is important about the observation you are making?
o What is this called in geology? (If students are not using vocabulary such as
streak, cleavage, etc.
Geology Conference: 10 min.
[After 10 min. have passed, the students and I will meet together again as a group
for a Geology Conference.]
Now, we are going to continue with our work as geologists.
Geologists from around the world gather together every year to share their
findings with other geologists. Geologists learn from one another!
[Explain how my sister is a geologist and has traveled around the world collecting
mineral samples from Kenya, Madagascar and Armenia and presents her findings
at conferences.]
[Explain how each student will stand up for 1 min. and share out their findings with
the group while all the other geologists record their findings on their Geologist
Observation Chart.]
[As students share, record their observations on chart paper so that students have
a chance to understand the information on both an auditory and visual level.]
SELF REFLECTION: Give each student a copy of the Investigation Stations &
Geology Conference Presentation Rubric and have them give themselves
feedback, highlighting each area of the rubric.
Classification: 10 min.
[After our Geology Conference, I will then have the students work in partners
again. They will analyze their findings and work together to classify each mineral
by using the Mineral Identification Flow Chart.]
Wrap Up Discussion: 10 min.
[Before opening up the conversation, I will review our Talk Moves anchor chart
with the students and encourage them to use these sentence starters during our
discussion.]
o So youre saying? Can you repeat what ____ just said in your own words?
o Do you agree or disagree and why? How did you reach that conclusion?
o Who would like to add on?
o Does anyone have the same answer but a different way to explain it?
o Do you see a pattern?
o Can you think of a counterexample?
o What would happen if . . .?

Comment [NRB7]: Good. I was hoping you would do

this! Do you have a picture of her from the field? That would
be a great addition.
Comment [Office8]: Great point! Yes, I have a
photo of her from her field research. I will show my
students this photo when we get to this part of the
lesson.

Plan (Continued)
Potential questions:
o What observations did you use to make this classification? What
properties did you use to make your classification?
o After observing at each station, which property was most helpful in
helping you make a final classification? Which station helped you the
most in your classification? Why?
o How has our thinking about minerals changed from when we started to
now?
o What is one question you still have about minerals?
After this discussion, I will ask each student to reveal their mineral prediction and
why. Here, it will be very important for the students to explain to the group how
they arrived at that answer.
Then, the students will build off each others ideas by agreeing or disagreeing. The
students will have the opportunity to revise their thinking as they listen to each
other.
Students will then be asked to complete an exit ticket writing reflection.
Anticipating Students Responses
1. What strategies and skills are students are likely to use?
Students will likely use the materials at each station to classify each mineral.
Students will likely make predictions and revise their answers as they spend time at
each station. Also, students are likely to make their observations more specific the
longer they observe their mineral at a given station.
Students will need to use speaking and listening skills during the Geology
Conference.
2. What students are likely to be confused by or find difficult?
Students are likely to find the cleavage investigation station difficult because it
may be a new concept for the students.
3. What aspects of the lesson might present particular managerial challenges?
It may be challenging to keep each student highly engaged in the investigation
stations because students may work at different speeds as go through each
station. As a result, students may finish at different times.

Assessment
See below for copies of my assessment trackers:
Classifying Minerals Assessment Tracker
The purpose of the Classifying Minerals Assessment Tracker is to help organize my
notes as I observe each students working at the investigation Stations.
As I walk around listening to the students at each investigation station, I plan to use
this tracker to take notes on the students understandings.
Investigation Stations & Geology Conference Presentation Rubric
The purpose of the Investigation Stations & Geology Conference Presentation
Rubric is to allow the students the opportunity to pause and reflect on their
investigation and presentation midway through the process.

Comment [NRB9]: Is there something you could give

early completers to do while they wait?
Comment [Office10]: Yes. Students will be
traveling through the stations in pairs so if two
students finish early, then I will have them
compare all of their answers in preparation for the
Geology Conference. As the early finishers share
their findings with one another, I with talk with the
other partners to check and see how much more
time they need to finish.
Of course, I will want to give the students still
working the time to finish without being rushed.
Once I know how much more time each group
needs, I will make an announcement to everyone
one that, We have x number of minutes left
before the Geology Conference begins. This way,
all students will know we will transition together to
the Geologist Conference.

Accommodations
Too Challenging?
Change the length of the process: ask the students to rotate to a fewer number to
stations
Provide a word bank: give the students a word bank for each station to help guide
their observations and give them choices on how to describe their mineral
Give the students a partner: allow two students to use the same mineral so that
they can discuss their findings at each station and work collaboratively
Too Easy?
If students finish early, give them the opportunity to observe the properties of
another mineral.
If students finish early, give them the opportunity to be a geologist expert and
help the students at the cleavage investigation station. (I anticipate this station will
be the most challenging.)

Comment [NRB11]: Yes. I did not pick the minerals to

borrow back from the school on the basis of cleavage.
Here again, if you want some different minerals, I have
them.
Comment [Office12]: Thank you again for the
offer, but I like the fact that most of these minerals
do not have cleavage.
Here, it is more important to me that the students
are able to identify whether or not their mineral
has cleavage; I am less concerned with the
students identifying if a mineral has cleavage in
one, two or three directions.

Student Name: ___________________________

Date: ______________

Geologist Observation Chart

Mineral
Type

Mineral

from
Brazil

Mineral

from
Canada

Mineral

from
China

Mineral

from
India

Mineral

from
New
Zealand
Mineral

from
France

Color

Magnetism

Relative
Hardness

Streak
Color

Cleavage

Mineral Prediction
(Leave Blank until
after Geology
Conference)

Please note: The following instructions will be posted at each Investigation Station.

Investigation Station #1: Color

Examine your mineral sample with and without the hand lens.
Examine your mineral sample with the penlight.
Record the color(s) and luster (shine) in your Geologist Observation Chart.
Sample Descriptions:
Dark Green
Pink
Grey

Cooper-red
Colorless
Clear

Milky White
Metallic Silver
Brassy yellow

Investigation Station #2: Magnetism

To examine the magnetism of your mineral sample, try to pick up the
mineral using the magnet.
Record your minerals magnetism in the Geologist Observation Chart.

Investigation Station #3: Relative Hardness

To examine the relative hardness of your mineral sample, scratch your
mineral using a fingernail, penny, and nail.
Remember that if a mineral scratches an object, the mineral is harder
than the object. If an object scratches a mineral, the mineral is softer than
the object.
Using your findings, determine your minerals hardness based on Mohs
Hardness Scale below.
Record your minerals relative hardness number in your Geologist
Observation Chart.

Investigation Station #4: Streak

To determine the streak of a mineral, gently drag it across the streak plate
and observe the color of the powdered mineral. If a mineral is harder than
the streak plate, it will not produce a streak.
Record the streak color for your mineral in your Geologist Observation
Chart.

Investigation Station #5: Cleavage

Definition of cleavage: minerals break to create flat, shiny surfaces; these
surfaces are known as cleavage planes
To examine the cleavage of your mineral sample, compare the flat, shiny
surfaces the cleavage chart below.
If your mineral does not look like the cleavage in one of the following
examples, then your mineral does not have cleavage.
Record your minerals cleavage in your Geologist Observation Chart.
Cleavage in One Direction

Cleavage in Two Directions

Cleavage in Three Directions

Cleavage in Multiple Directions
Station #5 Directions: Streak

Classifying Minerals Assessment Tracker

Student
Name

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

What assumptions
and/or
background
knowledge does
the student have
about minerals?

What is the
student
noticing at
the color
and luster
station?

What is the
student
noticing at the
relative
hardness and
streak station?

What is the
student
noticing at
the cleavage
station?

What questions
do the students
have?

Geologist Name: _______________________________

Investigation Stations & Geology Conference Presentation

Rubric & Assessment Tracker
Points

Category

Developing

Proficient

Advanced

Preparedness:
Come to group
discussion prepared with
complete observation
notes.

Observations
notes are
complete for
1 to 2 stations.
(1 point)

Observations
notes are
complete for
3 to 4 stations.
(2 points)

Observations
notes are
complete for
all 5 stations.
(3 points)

Thinking and
Investigation:
Used critical thinking
during investigations. Can
explain why they have
made each observation
with supporting
evidence.
Observation Accuracy:
Correctly identifies
mineral properties

Uses critical
thinking when
at 1 to 2
stations.
(1 point)

Uses critical
thinking when
at 3 to 4
stations.
(2 points)

Uses critical
thinking when
at all 5
stations.
(3 points)

Correctly
identifies
properties in
1 to 2 stations.
(2 point)

Correctly
identifies
properties in
3 to 4 stations.
(4 points)

Correctly
identifies
properties in
all 5 stations.
(6 points)

Precise Vocabulary:
Uses geology vocabulary
and terminology when
presenting findings.

Uses
appropriate
vocabulary
when
describing
1 to 2 stations.
(1 point)

Uses
appropriate
vocabulary/
when
describing
3 to 4 stations.
(2 points)

Uses
appropriate
vocabulary
when
describing
all 5 stations.
(3 points)

Clear Communication:
Explains observations in a
clear and concise
manner so that everyone
can hear their findings.

Student's voice
is low and
audience
members have
difficulty
hearing
student speak.
(1 point)

Student's voice
is clear and
most audience
members can
hear student.
(2 points)

Student uses a
clear voice
and all
audience
members can
hear student.
(3 points)

ANSWER KEY: Geologist Observation Chart

Mineral
Type

Color

Magnetism

Relative
Hardness

Streak

Cleavage

Mineral

clear, white,
gray

no

colorless
(harder
than the
streak
plate)

none

white,
colorless, gray,
red, green,
blue, yellow,
brown, orange

no

white

three
directions

iron-black to
steel-gray,
metallic

no

1-2

black

one direction

black to steelgray to silver;

red to reddish
brown to black

no

5 to 6 1/2

red to
reddish
brown

none

dark gray to
black

yes

5.5 - 6.5

black

none

white, beige,
gray, yellow,
brown, pink,
purple, blue,
green, greasy,
waxy, pearly

no

white

one direction

Quartz
Brazil

Mineral

Calcite
Canada

Mineral

Graphite
China

Mineral

Hematite
India

Mineral

Magnetite
New
Zealand
Mineral

Talc
France