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Lesson Plan Design

Subject: Physical Science Grade: 8 Lesson Topic: Physical vs Chemical Changes

Candidates Name: Shannon Skelton ID # 023168933
Site Supervisor: Tanya MacMartin NU Supervisor: Mary Hassett
Date: ____October 11, 2015______________________________
1. Introduction: (Identify Grade Level K12 Academic Content Standard(s), rationale, focus learner,
create bridges from past learning, behavior expectations)
.
Academic Standards: Rationale:
Reactions: Chemical reactions are processes in which atoms
The unit standards are not written on the
are rearranged into different combinations of molecules. As a
board, however I verbally recap the prior
basis for understanding this concept:
lesson and discuss how todays lesson is
Students know reactant atoms and molecules interact to form
going to build upon the goals of
products with different chemical properties.
understanding physical and chemical
Students know the idea of atoms explains the conservation of
changes and the conservation of mass.
matter: In a chemical reaction, the number of atoms stays the
Stating the standards and learning
same no matter how they are arranged to their total mass
objective at the beginning of the class is
stays the same.
honestly a habit that I could/should get
Periodic Table: The organization of the periodic table is
into.
based on the properties of the elements and reflects the
structure of the atoms. As a basis for understanding this
concept: Students know substances can be classified by their
It is important to bridge prior knowledge
properties, including their melting temperature, hardness, and
so that students are not overwhelmed when
thermal and electrical conductivity.
jumping into chemical formulas and
balancing equations. They are aware of
This lesson lands about a week into our new Physical vs
elements in the world around them but not
Chemical Properties Unit. So far we have talked about
very familiar with writing formulas and
physical changes that you can observe, like ripping a piece of
equations. I aim to repeat examples of
paper in half, crushing a can or melting a popsicle. Students
physical and chemical changes and
have also created posters on physical properties in their table
scaffold their learning and expand the
groups and presented them to the class.
curriculum.
Additionally, students have learned about physical changes,
like the water cycle, for many years as well as learned about
There are not very many ELL students at
chemical changes like photosynthesis last year.
the school, so there is not a huge focus on
making accommodations for them.
My focus students for this lesson are three ELL students in
Additionally, my master teacher feels like
my first period. They are quiet, rarely asking questions when
accommodating ELL and SPED students is
I am addressing the whole class, but they communicate well
one of her weaknesses, therefore she is
with their table groups. Additionally, they all scored low on
encouraged by an effort to focus on our
the last unit test as I feel they did not have proper support to
ELL students and make accommodations.
demonstrate their knowledge.

Behavior expectations will be stressed in this activity since

students will be handling hydrochloric acid. Students must
Student must learn that participating in labs
approach this activity in a highly controlled and mature
manner. Before passing out the materials I will explain the
gravity of the situation and let them know that I am
considering this to be a test of their behavior. Reading the
directions is crucial and must be followed in order to be safe
and success in this activity.
2. Learner Outcome(s)/Objective(s): (What will students learn from this lesson? How will you
measure mastery of the outcome?)
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify
physical and chemical properties that they have learned about
through reading and videos, as well as the reactions that they
have carried out. The worksheet that goes along with the
Minerals Lab asks students to identify the Physical properties
that they observed and investigated in the minerals.
Additionally, the worksheet asks for chemical properties that
they saw, primarily reactivity.
This learning objective is further enforced and assessed
through the follow up quiz. Students have a word bank in
which they need to categorize the words by chemical and
physical and then by properties and changes.
In addition, students will be able to demonstrate an
understanding of the Law of Conservation of Mass. They
will know the concept of the law as well as how it pertains to
balancing chemical equations. This knowledge is
demonstrated both in the minerals lab as well as in the quiz.
Balancing equations requires higher level thought, thinking
of the molecules in terms of the atoms that make them up
and taking into account the subscripts and coefficients.
3. Pre-assessment Activity: (Determine students abilities to achieve the Learner Outcome and
prescribe instruction accordingly. Consider: linguistic background, academic language abilities,
content knowledge, cultural and health considerations, interests and aspirations, physical
development, social development, emotional development. )
There was a local fire that broke out the night before I taught
this lesson, so I began the period by asking pre-assessment
questions that reviewed physical and chemical changes.
What are the 3 parts required in a fire? Is it a physical or
chemical change? What is evidence that it is a chemical
change? Was it a reversible reaction? Heat is an indicator of
physical or chemical change? What might you be able to see
if you were observing a fire? Smell? Hear? These are similar
observations that you guys will be making in your minerals
lab.
These questions are addressed whole class, and I pick on
students to answer. When they are stuck and I am not getting
and demos is a privilege that they need to
learn. There are harsh chemicals that are
involved in many of the processes that we
are getting into this unit, so setting the
precedent at the beginning of the unit and
year is essential for maintaining a safe and
successful classroom.
Rationale:
Students have been becoming more
familiar with the concept of physical and
chemical properties, but the Minerals lab is
an excellent opportunity to put these
learning objectives to test.
The Law of Conservation of Mass is an
imperative concept for students to know to
succeed in chemistry, throughout this year
and in high school. This is the first time
that students are practicing this concept, so
a quiz right after is going to be a challenge.
But I want to see how well they can turn
information around from class and apply it
in another form. Open notes will assist
their needs.
Rationale:
I like to open the period with a story that I
have heard about in the news regarding
current events or scientific findings in
order to engage my student in the world
around them. A fire is something that
students can imagine and visualize whether
or not they read about or saw this particular
fire first hand.
Talking about the ways to make qualitative
observations of chemical reactions will get
feedback and volunteers, I ask students to discuss with their
tables.
4. Differentiation, Adaptation & Accommodation Strategies: (Based on the pre-assessments, modify
Learning Activities based on learner characteristics to meet the needs of ELL & special needs
students, highly achieving students and low achieving students)
Differentiation is mainly incorporated into this lesson
through the assessment quiz. The entire class will be filling
out a graphic organizer, however a couple of the blanks will
be pre-filled out for the ELL students. Additionally, a
sentence starter will be provided for ELL students to answer
the short answer question.
The group setting for the lab will allow the heterogeneous
needs and abilities of the classroom to interact and help each
other.
I have a couple students who are slow note takers, so I print
out my slides for them on days that there is a lot of direct
instruction and new lecture notes to be taken. I still require
these notes to be hand written in their notebook, but they are
not so pressed for time and I can move forward with the rest
of the class.
For the GATE students, I have provided extra credit
opportunities on their worksheet and on the quiz.
5. Resources: (Identify materials needed for this lesson accounting for varying degrees of skill level)
Students have been using their physical science lab manual
for supplemental activities and assignments in this unit. In
their notebook, students will find the directions, materials
and the supplemental questions for the Minerals Lab.
This minerals lab will assist them with their quiz, as some of
the same standards and concepts from the lab will be
reinforced on the quiz. Additionally, students can use their
notebooks for the quiz.
students thinking like scientists, and as I
say the Sherlock Holmes of minerals.
This will activate their prior knowledge
and refresh ways that they know in solving
problems.
Rationale:
The quiz for the general population of the
class looks almost identical to the quiz for
my ELL students and a few students with
IEPs. This will avoid any discomfort
amongst students feeling like they have
different expectations.
Students learn really well from each other
in this class. They help each other read
through the directions and grasp the main
concepts of labs/projects.
Students with special needs should not be
overlooked, but the rest of the class should
not be held up on their part. Providing
them additional materials at the beginning
of the period will minimize questions and
special requests during class.
Many of my students are ready to move
forward with the curriculum quickly after I
let them loose with their individual work.
Extra credit opportunities allow them to
challenge themselves and feel an
accomplishment in achieving higher than
grade level learning.
Rationale:
Our tests and quizzes are typically open
notes, so in addition to the lab and
foldable, students will be able to use their
notebooks as a resource on the quiz, and
their textbook reading and lecture notes
from last week will come in handy. Since it
is a quick turn around from the learning
activity to the quiz, open notes is a fair way
to test how well they comprehend the

The lab requires 5 minerals: Quarts, Calcite, Magnetite,
Graphite, and Magnetite. They will need a sheet of paper to
set up an answer key to label the rocks as they identify them.
Dropper bottles of HCl (hydrochloric acid) are included in
each lab kit. These labs are set up and put away quite easily,
especially with the help of student TAs.
Students need a pencil to complete their mineral lab and their
quiz.
The smart board will be a great resource for projecting class
notes and chemical reactions and working through them to
determine if the equation is balanced. Additionally, the
Document Camera will come in handy when working
homogenously with the class and giving instruction on how
to answer the Minerals Lab worksheet.
questions, understand the content, and are
paying attention in class.
Students appreciate the opportunity to put
their acquired skills and knowledge to use
in the hands-on environment. This also
requires a lot of work and maintenance to
maintain a well-stocked lab supply room,
but hands-on experimentation benefits a
large array of students.
It is important to demonstrate the steps of a
multi-step process like balancing a
chemical equation, so that students
understand the steps involved to reach a
final answer.

6. Learning Activities: Explicit Teacher Instruction - (Explain, Model, Demonstrate, Check for
Understanding)
Explicit teacher instruction will follow through an Rationale:
ActiveInspire flip chart. The lesson covers a review of
Balancing equations and the law of
physical and chemical changes. During this time I will ask
conservation of mass are such crucial
student to look in the back of their books to check out the
aspects of chemistry, that I think it is
Periodic Table of Elements. They will become familiar with
important that I guide them through the
the symbols that represent the elements connect physical
processes and concepts. The conversation
changes with these new chemical symbols, ie. Crushing an
is quite philosophical that it is fun to get
aluminum can is still aluminum, melting H2O ice is still
their minds thinking about where they
H2O. Then we move into chemical changes where the
come from and understanding the gravity
products are different than the reactants, but all of the
of the concepts. Additionally,
elements are conserved: Conservation of Matter. This is a
demonstrating the idea of counting up the
rather philosophical conversation talking about birth and
elements on the reactants side of the
death and that we are created from elements that are pre-
reaction and comparing it to the products
existing in the environment and when we die, the atoms that
side of the reaction to determine if it is
make us up are returned to the universe. I will show them
balanced is something that is best seem
some chemical formulas that many students are already
first hand, where I can check for
familiar with such as the formation of salt; Na + Cl = NaCl.
understanding and answer questions when
The equation is balanced!
raised hands and confused faces arise.

Check for Understanding:

I will check for understanding many times throughout the
direct instruction. When introducing the periodic table, I will
ask students to define an atom versus a molecule. When
showing a chemical equation, students will be asked to point
to the side of the equation that has the reactants then the side
that contains the products. Finally, by a thumbs up or a
thumbs down, students will communicate whether the
equations that I show on the board are balanced or not.
7. Learning Activities: Guided Practice/ Collaborative Practice (Check for understanding and
provide feedback and re-teaching)
The Minerals Lab is the perfect guided learning activity to
follow up the instructional portion of the lesson and give
students to learn the material first hand in small groups.
Students are working as a group to read through the
directions, with limited instruction from me. Additionally,
there is a time constraint, about 15 minutes at the end of the
period, but when they are all working together, they are able
to identify the materials and begin the follow up question
within about 8-10 minutes.
Some of the GATE students will work through the balancing
equation question, but I will let the student know that they
are to finish the concept questions for homework and we will
go over the chemical equation as a class tomorrow.
Check for Understanding:
I will go around as students are identifying the minerals and
check to make sure all students are participating and observe
their progress. When they think that they have come to the
correct conclusion I will stamp their paper. Before moving
on from the table, I will ask them a question in order for
them to take a further look into the minerals on their table.
For example, I might ask them which of the minerals
behaves like a pencil? Can it write on the paper? (The answer
is graphite) Or What did you observe that was an indication
of a chemical reaction occurring? Check out the chemical
equation on the front table, what was the gas that was
produced when you saw bubbles?
8. Independent Practice: (Provide practice that supports the learning outcome. Note: Independent
activities are assigned assuming that students understand the concept well enough to work on their
own.)
The questions on the back of the worksheet will provide an
opportunity for students to reflect on the experiment that they
just did. Before students leave, I will go over part of the
balancing reactions question. I will set up the left side of the
equation (the reactants side of the equation) and work
through counting up the elements. Then I will challenge
them to count/tally up the elements on the right side of the
equation and make the call as to whether or not the equation
is balanced.
Check for Understanding:
While I am solving the right hand of the equation on the
smartboard, I am asking students to tell me how many atoms
are on each side of the equation by a show of fingers.
Rationale:
There are times when I think having a
time constraint is a huge motivating factor
and I think this is one of them. The
students are able to work together to read
out the directions and the properties on the
table to decipher which mineral is which.
However, they are able to refer to the
resources on the worksheet as well as their
own memory of the activity to answer the
questions at home individually.
Students are required to use qualitative
observations with their teammates and
notice the physical and chemical properties
of these minerals to reinforce the ideas
covered in class for the past couple weeks.
By roving the classroom and stamping
their paper, I am able to ensure that each
group accomplished the goal of identifying
minerals before moving on. Additionally, I
am able to scaffold the questions based on
the level at which the students/groups are
thinking about the material in order to
reinforce possibly confusing aspects or
create a higher, broader level of thought on
the subject matter.
Rationale:
Most students will get started right away
on the back of the worksheet, especially
since they know that the rest is for
homework. They will be encouraged to
move through the worksheet on their own,
but some groups of students prefer to
collaborate, which I will not dissuade.
Homework is individual practice.
Show of fingers allows me to gauge the
whole class understanding quickly and
quietly. Many times the answer is
unanimous, but at times there is a
 discrepancy between the answer so I can
reiterate the process involved in
determining the correct value.

9. Assessment and Evaluation: (Describe how you will assess and/or evaluate the students learning.
Describe differentiating assessment strategies you will use for ELL, special needs students, highly
achieving students and low achieving students.)

Classifying terms as chemical and physical is a big portion of Rationale:

the quiz, so the minerals lab review will set them up for
I decided to collet both the lab and the quiz
success on the quiz. Additionally, we began balancing the
in order to correlate student work and
chemical equation last period, but ran out of time, so I will
effort shown in class with achievement of
need to review that in order to give them a fair shot on the
the learning goals. While students have not
quiz.
had very much time to digest the new
I will conduct formative assessments throughout the class
material, they do have all of the resources
period by posing questions to gauge student understanding as
necessary to answer the questions and
well as ask how many elements are present on each side of
succeed on the quiz.
the equation to check for student learning.
The quiz will be administered so that students have enough
The lab and quiz are designed to address a
time to finish before we move onto the sugar demo. The quiz
wide variety of learners; kinesthetic,
is a summative assessment covering the units material for
verbal, and visual, and students are able to
the past week and a half. The quiz is also accommodated to
demonstrate their knowledge through a
the needs of ELL students and students with IEPs. Using
variety of methods.
graphic organizers, sentence starters, and options for visual
representation of their knowledge, student with special needs
The test and lab are accommodated to my
will have a better chance of demonstrating their knowledge
ELL needs but also challenge the gen ed
and understanding of the material. Quiz will be graded on a
and Gate students with extra credit
20 point scale.
opportunities.
The minerals lab will also be collected and graded at the end
of the period as well to check for student effort and
understanding. The minerals lab will be graded mostly for
completion.

10. Closure: (Describe how students will reflect on what they have learned.)

After grading the quizzes, I will allow students to see the
rubric which I used for grading, as well as point out in their
notebooks/ask students to point out where they could
reference the material to successfully answer the questions.
They do not have the opportunity to fix their answers, but
there is opportunity to learn from their mistakes and
demonstrate the lessons learned in follow up activities. The
next activity is a teacher-led demonstration where sugar
mixed with sulfuric acid leaves behind pure black carbon.
The reflection questions ask students to balance the chemical
formula on a larger scale, therefore this minerals lab and quiz
scaffolds learning for success on a larger scale.
Rationale:
We have set a precedence for primarily
open note tests in this class, therefore it is
imperative that students understand that
any class material is fair game and the test
are written fairly, accordingly.
By following up with similar lessons, but
on a larger, more dramatic scale, students
feel that their learning is scaffold. I will
take the results of the test as a way to
monitor my own success as a teacher and
know which students I should invite for a
tutorial or pull aside for additional help.
11. Lesson Reflection/Assessment: (Collect student learning data to determine: What went well?
What needs to be changed? Were learning outcomes met? What activities will you add, change,
modify in the future? What can be done to follow up on the learning from this lesson? Who needs
additional help? Who needs enrichment or higher level work?)

I think student learning occurred on the large scale. A few of my ELL students were low in the results of
their quiz, and I plan to pull them aside when we watch a movie next week and try to pull them up to pace
with the rest of my students. When I pull them aside, I will try to present the material in an alternative
form. Additionally, I am a little frustrated with myself and how I wrote the test. In my lecture slide, I had
students write In a chemical reaction, matter is never created or destroyed. Therefore, many students
answered that the Law of Conservation of Mass applies only in Chemical equations. However, our
discussion talked about ALL times and reactions. I gave them some mixed messages on the answer to that
question. However, I was really pleased as to the outcome of the Minerals lab and the quiz on a whole and
feel like my students are ready and able to progress to the next area of curriculum on the agenda.