Unit 3.7 Unit synthesis and lesson plan project

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

• Apply comprehension of density to conceptual problem-solving
• Synthesize comprehension of NGSS principles with density concepts and apply these density concepts to real world phenomena
• Communicate density concept(s) at an audience appropriate level

This is the culminating project for this unit and should be used to assess the students' comprehension of the materials in Unit 3. While this material is specifically written with education majors and NGSS standards in mind, this lesson plan project is a great summative assignment for all majors because it tasks your students with explaining and applying class-relevant concepts in their own words. Individuals teaching in places with standards different than NGSS will be able to easily swap out the relevant standards needed for their students. Lesson plans are used at the conclusion of Unit 2, 3, and 4.

Plan for these materials to take between 1.5-4+ hours of class time depending on how much of the Lesson Plan preparation you want to leave for out of class and whether you want students to present in class. This is the summative assignment for a month-long course and a typical class would have a midterm at this point.

This type of summative assignment works well in just about any format (large/small, in-person/remote, synchronous/asynchronous). Lesson plans are a great way to allow your students to demonstrate their learning without testing, and you don't need to be an education major to benefit from them.

Teaching Materials:

All Slides: U3.7 All Slides.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 1.6MB Aug28 24)

Lesson Plan Template and Grading Rubric: Tides_lesson_plan_template v5 (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 242kB Aug30 24)

Sample Student Lesson Plans from Pilot: Density Lesson Plans Redacted.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 3.3MB Jul11 24)

Lesson Plan Scaffolding document (instructor notes on how all 3 lesson plans fit together) tides_lesson_plan_scaffolding.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 1MB Aug30 24)

Other Materials: computer and projector, white board or chalk board with markers/chalk.

Pre-Class Assignment(s):

Choose an activity from Unit 3 to focus on for your lesson plan.

In Class: Lesson Plan Assignment (90 min - 240+ min)

These instructions are written assuming 4-5 hours time in class. If that is not feasible, then assign lesson plan work time as homework.

Whole class, In class (20 min): Deep dive on Assessment

• The secondary focus for this lesson plan is assessment. The intention behind the assessment plan in the lesson plan template is to get the students to identify how they would evaluate their students from their lesson plan. Students should think about the "deliverables" part of their assessment plan as a grading key - the ideal example of what they would use to compare their students' work to. The rubric is more challenging, and within the structure of this course, focusing on how to write a good rubric is really beyond the scope. Students should plan to use a rubric for assessment if they are making a lesson plan that deliberately evaluates their students through actions (e.g., working in teams, oral presentation, participation within the class, etc.). In this regard, the rubric should be written as a set of guidelines that a teacher can use to evaluate while silently observing their classroom.
• Begin with a rubric discussion with some general rubric guidance
  • Use 4 tiers for scoring. This eliminates a gray area in the middle between success and failure. The example uses the following 4 tiers (but other language can be used)
    • Beginning level of understanding (e.g. "getting started")
    • Emerging level of understanding (e.g. "making progress")
    • Competent level of understanding (e.g. "meeting expectations")
    • Mastery of understanding (e.g. "exceeding expectations")
  • Always relate the rubric directly to the learning objectives
  • Describe each scoring level with tangible language that is either the expected language students might use in the deliverable or are specific actions the teacher can observe
• Rubrics for participation evaluation (assessed via observation)

Work time, Lesson plan Part 1 (60 min)

• Working time for their lesson plans - part 1 - emphasis on assessment
• Students should use the time allotted to choose deliverables their students might produce from their lesson and workshop their assessment plans, peer review, and collaboration

Whole class check-in (20 min): Hollywood density discussion as module synthesis and lead in to next unit

• Hollywood and Density? Break up the lesson plan working time with this quick math activity from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • On the factory tour, Charlie and his grandpa sneak some of Willy Wonka's fizzy drink and float up into the air like bubbles. Let's examine what is (allegedly) happening here. How could this be possible? What would Charlie and his Grandpa's density have to be in order to float?
  • Here we can also lead into the next unit by mentioning that they are overcoming the force of gravity and floating due to buoyant force.
• Return to the lesson plan allotted work time

Work time, Lesson plan Part 2, (60 min - 120+ min)

• Students should use this time to complete and refine their lesson plans. They may also wish to have another round of peer review and collaboration.
• Optional: Students give 5-minute presentations of their lesson plan. Since time is short, they should focus on communicating the following:
  • Activity
  • Deliverable(s)
  • Assessment

Whole class wrap up (15 min):

• Whole class final discussion and sharing:
  • What did you learn from the exercise of writing the assessment plan for this lesson plan?
  • What did you learn from your peers through workshopping and critiquing as you wrote your lesson plans?

Students should use allotted class time to peer review and ask instructor questions to help them polish lesson plans, not to "research" activities - this part (research) should be done as homework.

These instructions are written assuming 4-5 hours of time in class. If that is not feasible, then assign lesson plan work time as homework.

Film activity should be assessed for participation and/or completion.

The lesson plan in this unit is a summative assignment. A complete grading rubric is included in the assignment file. Students are assessed based on specific details related to their Integration of NGSS, Introduction, Objectives, Assessment Plan, and Completeness.

Verb wheel depicting action words at different levels of learning, each associated with types of activities/deliverables. This resources is from Arizona State University's "Teach Online" article Aligning Assessments with Learning Objectives

Videos on YouTube:

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsbvCp6bv2o
• "Rollin' Wild" spherical animals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yltlJEdSAHw