Hannah Sedlock

SCIENCE LESSON
LESSON RATIONALE
Practicing making hypotheses and answering questions in a group setting will help
students in their skills of working together to come to a desired outcome.

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)—
a. By working in a small group, students will be able to share ideas and agree
upon one idea to test.
b. By using few materials, students will be able to work together to come to a
final product that closely matches their design.
c. After reading the story, students can make observations on a problem that
needs to be solved.
B. Objective(s)—
a. By completing this activity, students will be able to build a solution from a
posed question.
b. By discussing as a class and doing the activity, students will understand the
importance of building a hypothesis and plan before building the activity.
C. Standard(s):
K-2.E.1 Pose questions, make observations, and obtain information about a situation
people want to change. Use this data to define a simple problem that can be solved through
the construction of a new or improved object or tool.

SEPS.1 Posing questions and defining problems A practice of science is posing and refining
questions that lead to descriptions and explanations of how the natural and designed
world(s) work and these questions can be scientifically tested. Engineering questions
clarify problems to determine criteria for possible solutions and identify constraints to
solve problems about the designed world.

D. Management Plan-
a. Time per lesson element—Anticipatory set (10 minutes), whole group
instruction (10 minutes), group work time (15 minutes-set a timer for
group work time), closure (5 minutes)
b. Use of space—Students will meet in the family room for the read aloud and
whole group instruction. During their working time, groups can pick spots
around the room to work at. Students will return to their seats for the
closure questions.
c. List of materials—

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 i. Book: “Iggy Peck, Architect” by Andrea Beaty
ii. Set of building materials for each group: popsicle sticks, pipe
cleaners, one strip of masking tape.
iii. One worksheet for each group (4 groups)
iv. Example worksheet that I’ve completed.
d. Describe expectations and procedures—As students are still sitting in the
living room, I will make clear my expectations that students stay seated and
quiet until their group is dismissed to start. I will also explain the
procedures of the activity and ask if any clarifications need to be made. My
expectations for group work is that each group member is included and
participates equally. Group members will stay on task and use inside voices
when working together. They will be given a set amount of materials to use
in their project and may not ask for more or use other materials from other
groups or from around the classroom.
II. Anticipatory Set
- Call students over to the living room for a read aloud
- “We are going to start our time today by listening to a read aloud. We are going to
read the book “Iggy Peck, Architect” by Andrea Beaty. A couple weeks ago we were
working on making predictions in our reading. Who remembers what a prediction is?”
Allow students time to think, call on one or two students for the answer, or provide
the answer if students are not sure.
- “By just looking at the title and the picture on the cover, what predictions do we have
for the story?”
- Allow students to share their ideas for predictions. Choose 3-4 students to give their
ideas.
- “Now that we made our predictions, pay attention to what is happening and what
problem the characters are faced with.”
- Read story and follow up with a few questions: “Did our predictions come true in the
story? What was the problem they faced at the end of the book? How did they solve this
problem?”
- Prompt answers from students about the problem and solution in the story.

Purpose: “Today we are going to make our own solution to the problem that Iggy and his
classmates faced during this story. By the end of this lesson we will become engineers and be
able to answer the question ‘how can we build a bridge using few materials to get Iggy and his
friends across the river?’”

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

III. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners—Students will be working
in small groups, I will put them in four groups of five, with diverse learners in each

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 group that can help each other during the designing and building process. Each student
will be given a job to do while they work in their group. High achieving students will be
given the job of facilitating the group work, and students who struggle with group work
will be participating in building the bridge. With each group, I will give them a paper
with step-by-step instructions to help them follow along as they go.

IV. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

 Make observation:
o After reading the book, students will stay on the rug as I teach the mini-
lesson.
o “Now that we read all about Iggy and his class and how they had to figure out
how to build a bridge when the other one broke, let’s make some observations
on what went well as they worked together to build the bridge.” If students are
raising their hands already, call on some to hear their observations, if no one
is volunteering yet, prompt them with questions.
o “How did they work together to design the bridge?”
o “Did they discuss and take time to think about their design before they started
building the bridge?”
o “Why do you think it is important to discuss your plan before you build it?”
o For each of these questions, allow students to answer by raising their hand,
they can make their own observations outside of these questions as well.
 Ask a question/Form a hypothesis:
o “Now we are going to help out Iggy’s class by designing and building our own
bridges. A few weeks ago in my math lesson, we discussed what it means to be
an architect? Does anyone remember what that means? Wait for students to
think about the answer and call on one or two students. If no one answers
correctly, provide an explanation.
o “An architect is someone who builds all sorts of things that we see in our towns
or cities. They build buildings, towers, or bridges. But before they build these
things, they make a plan for what it is going to look like and how they are going
to build it. Today we are going to be bridge architects. I am going to place you
in groups, and together you are going to first make a plan to answer the
question: how can we build a sturdy bridge using the materials we are given to
help Iggy and his classmates cross the river?
o Have students repeat “How can we build a bridge to help Iggy’s class cross the
river?”
o “In your group, you are going to think about how you are going to build your
bridge. Your group will draw a plan of what your bridge will look like before
you start building it. When you have drawn your plan, think about if it is a
design that will allow Iggy’s class to cross safely or not. Once you have your

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 plan drawn that answers our question, bring your plan to me to get your
building materials.
o Students will bring their drawings to me and then get their materials. This
way they have to work together to make a plan, and all students have to focus
on that before they can play with the materials I will give them.
 Test prediction:
o “Each group is going to receive a building kit containing popsicle sticks, pipe
cleaners, and masking tape. You have limited resources, so make sure you use
them wisely in your group. Once your group receives the materials from me,
take them back to your spot and discuss with your group how you can use these
materials to build your bridge design.”
o “Once you are ready, start building, but make sure that everyone is included in
the building process. Each architect in your group is important to the building
process.”
 Record results:
o “As your group finishes building your bridge, one group member will start
recording what the finished product looks like. Then, as a group, answer the
question ‘will our bridge work to get Iggy and his classmates across the river? If
so, why?’ When you are finished, your worksheet will have a picture of your
original idea, the finished product, and the written answer to the final question.
When you have finished all these steps, turn your worksheet into me.”
o Show an example of a worksheet that I filled out.
 Dismiss students by calling the people in their group. To help with managing the
class, only students whose names are called may get up and take a worksheet from
me. Once they have taken their seats, I will dismiss the next group.
 Each group will get one worksheet with a list of the directions for the activity.
 Before students are dismissed to their group, I will ask if there are any questions,
and I will go back to clarify anything that was missed or confusing to the students.
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Jenner Hunter Charlie Jude
Haylee Wyatt Dominic Olivia
Riggs Kennedy Addie Hayden
McKinley Jade Kyler Maci
Emily Marley

V. Check for understanding.

a. After reading the story, I will ask specific questions to make sure everyone
understood what happened what is the problem that we are trying to solve.

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 b. I will ask the initial question, reword the question in a shorter sentence, and
have students repeat the question back to me. I will be observing to make
sure students know the question that we are trying to answer.
c. As students are working in their groups, I will be walking around the room
offering help where needed and observing how the groups are working
together and if each member understands the activity.
VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure
- “We have all build bridges that I think will work great to get Iggy and his classmates
across the river. We all worked hard in our groups to create a design and build our
bridges. Why was it important for us to discuss and make a design before we built our
bridges? Or do you think you could have built a bridge as a group without coming up
with a design first?”
- “So the question we asked at the beginning of this lesson was: how can we build a
bridge using the materials that we have to help Iggy and his classmates cross the
river? Can I have a volunteer from each group present their bridge and answer why
you think your bridge would be the best choice?” Call on one spokesperson from each
group to present their design and reasoning.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

- Students will repeat the question back to me, I will be observing to make sure
that everyone participates in repeating the question.
- I will ask students to raise their hands if they remember what an architect is, I
can tell if I need to explain more what an architect is based on how many hands
are raised.
- With their group, students will show me their plan for their bridge before they
build it. I will be assessing whether or not they understand what materials they
are using and if they know what they are building.
- As the students work in their groups, I will be walking around to observe the
different groups and the progress they are making.
- I will collect the worksheets at the end of the lesson.
- Students will share the final product of the bridge that their group built with the
whole class.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why
not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?

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6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
7. Did each group stay on task when designing and building their bridge?
8. Did the students work well in small groups?
9. Did the students understand the question and were they able to come up with a
solution that answered the question?

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Names of Architects:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LET’S BUILD A BRIDGE!

DIRECTIONS:
1. Design your bridge.
2. Bring design to Miss Sedlock to get building materials.
3. Build your bridge using ONLY the materials you are given.
4. Draw a picture of your bridge and answer the final question.

FIRST DESIGN FINAL BRIDGE

Will our bridge get Iggy’s class across the river? Why or why not?

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