INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
LESSON TOPIC:
AMPHIBIAN HIBERNATION AND ITS CONNECTION TO SUSTAINABILITY
GRADE:
CYCLE 2, GRADE 3
K
KNOW
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The definition of amphibian
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The different types of amphibians are
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What a toad hibernation nest looks like
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The components of a toad hibernation nest
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The definition of evolution
U
UNDERSTAND
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How amphibians survive the winter
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Why toad hibernation nests are important
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How evolution influences amphibian hibernation
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How we are all interconnected with the land (indigenous perspective) o How to use scientific language (hypotheses, observations, inferences)
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What an indigenous perspective on nature is
D
DO
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Complete a creative worksheet on an amphibian o describe the process of toad hibernation
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Assemble a toad hibernation nest
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Label a diagram of a toad hibernation nest
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Measure and record the temperature in and outside the toad hibernation nest with a thermometer
Phases of the Lesson
3. Explain
Students will explain the purpose of a toad hibernation nest, describe the objective of each component and discuss the role of evolution in toad hibernation. They will connect this to the larger notion of what will happen if toads do not hibernate; in turn reflecting on the connection to sustainability.
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Analysis of Lesson
The development of this lesson was inspired by the desire to evoke creativity and practice inquiry skills in the classroom. The goal was to shift away from traditional, step-by-step experiments; rather scaffold student exploration through different phases of inquiry. Often, as students reach higher education, they tend to lose the will to think critically and creatively because they have been habituated to following exact processes to acquire the correct solution. To further activate this, the lesson integrates indigenous science to connect to the big idea of sustainability and its cruciality. The students will engage in a sensory experience: smelling the soil, crunching the leaves, and feeling the rocks; they will create visual models to explain the hibernation nest phenomenon. These visuals will pave the way for group discussion, creativity and diversity. As a teacher, I am to press on students thinking by providing guiding questions to evoke peer discussion. The purpose of this is not to lead students to think a specific way, rather inspire new perspectives which will also contribute to my learning as an educator.
5E
Lesson Showcase
Have you ever tried to read under the covers? Could you see in the dark?
This lesson addresses the phenomenon of how light allows us to see in the dark, specifically it explores the question: "how do different mediums influence light's pathway?"
The students' will use light boxes to explore the above mentioned question, and draw connections to light sources within/beyond the classroom.
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
LESSON TOPIC:
LIGHT & ITS' PATHWAY
GRADE:
CYCLE 3, GRADE 5
K
KNOW
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What is light
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What path light travels
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What are sources of light
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What conditions people need to see
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What blocks light
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New vocabulary: reflection, refraction, transmission, absorption
U
UNDERSTAND
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Why we need light to see
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How light interacts with objects to make them visible.
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How light travels (in straight lines)
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How different materials impact ability to see certain objects
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Why different materials make objects visually perceivable to different agreements​
D
DO
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Explain how light bounces off objects and travels through a medium; students will build a visual/ verbal representation to represent this.
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Work collaboratively, discussing their observations and explaining the role of light in helping us see in the dark.
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Create models for the light’s path in relation to the material used
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Draft hypothesis about light’s pathway and its interaction with different materials.
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Recognize connections between their curiosity and real-world applications (e.g., understanding how light impacts daily life, safety, and learning)
Phases of the Lesson
1. Engage
Students will explore different light sources, and mediums which affect light's pathway within and beyond the classroom. The students will count the number of lines while alternating between a transparent (cellophane paper), translucent (wax paper), and opaque (felt) blindfold. As the students participate in this challenge, the goal is to heighten their curiosities about why they can see through some materials and not others. The students will begin to make sense of the role of light in an object's visibility, along with how different mediums' influence its' pathway.
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2. Explore
The students will use light boxes to explore light's pathway, namely how it travels from a source, reflects off an object and reaches the eye. However, the students' will have an extra challenge! As the students will explore how different mediums interfere with light's pathway, as each light box has a different material divider:
1- Light box 1: felt (opaque material)
2- Light box 2: wax paper (translucent material)
3- Light box 3: cellophane paper (transparent material)
Prior to experimentation the students' will create models which outline light's pathway
3. Explain
The students will revise their models and use them to propose explanations for how light travels and how different mediums interfere with its pathway. The class will co-construct models for each Lightbox and collaboratively create a "gotta have it" checklist which helps students' make sense of key concepts explored throughout the lesson. The students' can refer to this list in extension activities, and use it to draw connections to real world phenomena. The class will propose explanations for the following questions:
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How does light travel? How do we know?
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How did the three different mediums affect light's pathway individually? How did the different mediums impact your ability to see in the dark?
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How does light interact with different objects?
Students will be guided to draw connections beyond the lesson, rather connect to real world experiences (sunlight on snow, light travelling through a window, light reaching black clothing)
Inuit snow goggles
4. Extend
The students' will zone in on the object reflection phenomenon which took place in the previous lesson. The students will explore Indigenous ways of knowing and discover the materials and values of Inuit snow goggles. This lesson will take place outside, the students' will explore how sunlight reflects off different surfaces, and how Inuit snow goggles work as protective gear.
5. Evaluate
The students' revised models will be collected and used as a formative assessment, thereby providing insight into their ideas and misconceptions which will help me (the teacher) adapt/tier instruction to students' individual needs.
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As an extension, students' will create their own multimodal models for light's pathway inspired by all previous lessons. Model-inquiry allows students to bring their learning to life, and gives students' a choice on how to represent their learning.
Analysis of Lesson
The development of this lesson was inspired by the desire to promote student inquiry and build students' conceptual understanding of scientific phenomenon, thereby making connections to real world experiences.
This lesson was designed around a model-inquiry approach where students' build their own scientific models to understand light's pathway and its interaction with different mediums. As the students' build their models they will visually represent light's pathway, and reflect on key ideas, rather than simply memorizing facts and terms. As students' build their models, without explicit instruction they are reflecting on the instructional goal/driving question (how light's pathway is influenced by different mediums?). Additionally, as the students' visually represent their learning they will reflect on their daily interactions with light sources, and any questions around the topic. Student responses and questions will be used to differentiate instruction and drive pedagogy.
This lesson may be modified to support students' needs and meet their readiness levels - the model worksheet may be modified to provide more explicit instruction or structured to ask an open ended questions that pushes for deeper understanding.