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| Breadfruit leaves |
1. Objectives - stated in terms of what the students should be able to recall or do at the end of the lesson. Objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based.
2. Related requirements (I will refer to this later on).
3. Materials. In science, this will include equipment.
4. Procedure – a detailed description of what the teacher and students will do to meet the objectives.
5. Assessment - whatever method you intend to use, such as quizzes, students writing in journals, getting feedback from students.
6. Reflection – after the class is finished, it’s important to record whether the objectives were met and, if not, what should be done in subsequent classes.
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| Spanish needle |
I have written several blog posts to explain why I think the National Standards Curriculum is overloaded with content. Teachers are required to write lesson plans based on a template which looks extraordinarily complicated to me. Primary school teachers are expected to write 25 or more such lesson plans a week. To help them, the Ministry of Education provides 'ready to use' lesson plans. I decided to look at one. The full text of it is at the end of this blog post.
I chose “Functions of different plant parts – leaves” from the Science Units of Work, Grade 4, Term 1, Unit 3: Plants and Animals. 7 weeks (14 hours) are allocated to this unit, so 1 hour is a reasonable time for this topic. However this plan contained more material than could possibly be covered in one hour. Attainment targets and Benchmarks are included in the lesson plan. Do they need to be stated here, as they are general and apply to the whole unit? The specific objectives, and the learning outcomes given are not specific to this lesson either – they apply to all the lessons on plants in the unit. They could be classified as related requirements.
Now to Procedure Activities:
1.
“Take the children to the school yard
for a Nature Walk, on which they should collect leaves and complete an
observation sheet with names of plants and numbers, colours and shapes of their
leaves.”
This activity might be possible with a small class
but not with 40 students. If a school has very few plants, or even a well-kept
garden, it couldn’t supply 5 streams of 40 students.
It would be more manageable to ask students beforehand to bring leaves from common weeds such as broomweed, morning glory,
guinea hen weed, cerasee, coral vine, duppy gun (Ruellia), water grass, and Spanish needle. (The teacher
could bring a bunch of these for students who don’t bring.) 
Cerasee leaves
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| Morning glory leaf |
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| Coral vine leaves |
2. Students should observe the leaves and make
leaf impressions in their notebook by placing a piece of paper over a leaf and
rubbing with a pencil or crayon to make an outline of the leaf. They are then
to make posters and categorize leaves according to mathematical shapes.
Mathematical shapes? I
couldn’t do that and it tells you nothing about the function of the leaf.
3.
Students should construct bar graphs of
numbers of leaves on plants, from data on observation sheet.
The range of numbers of leaves on plants would be huge and difficult to plot. If you want children to represent data on a bar graph, it is better to use something with a smaller range of numbers, such as the number of peas or beans in a pod, or number of petals on a flower.
Students will plan and carry out an investigation to determine the function of leaves.
Finding out that a
plant dies if you take off all the leaves, as suggested, would not indicate to a student that leaves make food for the plant. Many
plants are deciduous and produce new leaves after a cold or dry season, or
survive as underground storage organs.
I have taught 8-year-olds and classes of 40 students aged 14 and over, but never a class of 40 8-year-olds, but here is my suggested lesson plan for this
topic:
Objective: that
students should know that plants make their own food; and be able to explain
how the structure of a leaf is suited to its function.
Related requirements:
attainment targets and benchmarks as stated in the curriculum.
Materials: leaves from
a variety of plants, brought by students and teacher.
Procedure: Revise the characteristics of living things and differences between animals and plants.
Ask students if they know how plants make their food. Students should record in their notebooks the fact that all plants including seaweeds, mosses and ferns flowering plants make their food from carbon dioxide (a gas in the atmosphere) and water, using the energy of sunlight. The function of the leaf of the flowering plant is to make food.
Students should examine the leaves and state the features all leaves have in common - they are green, they are flat and thin and they have veins. How are these features related to their function of making food? How does water get to the leaf? Where does the water come from? Where does carbon dioxide come from and how does it get into the leaf? What feature of the leaf traps the energy of sunlight?
Assessment: Students should make a labelled drawing of a leaf, with a scale to indicate its size.
If time permits, students will make leaf impressions in their notebooks by placing a piece of paper over a leaf and rubbing with a pencil or crayon to make an outline of the leaf.
As far as they are able they should record in their own words how features of leaves help them to make food. However, the many children who will not be able to do so should be assisted to make notes as follows.
Leaf stalk and veins
carry water to the leaves, and carry food made by the leaves to other parts of the plant.
The green colour of
leaves comes from a pigment called chlorophyll which traps the energy of the
sunlight.
Leaves are flat and
thin to allow carbon dioxide to get to all the cells and for oxygen to get out.
The leaf stalk holds
the leaf so that sunlight falls on it.
Reflection: Since I didn't teach this lesson, I have nothing to reflect on. However, I hope that the objective would have been fulfilled.
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| Duppy gun |
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| Tropical Primrose |
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| Gully root |
GRADE: 4
DATE: June 2019
DURATION: 60 minutes
UNIT: Plants and Animals
TOPIC: Functions of different plant parts - leaves
ATTAINMENT TARGET:
Recognise the variety of living things, their interdependence and their inter-relationship with the environment.
Gain an understanding of and apply aspects of the scientific method.
Begin to appreciate the influence and limitations of science.
Demonstrate a positive attitude towards the use of scientific language.
BENCHMARKS:
Devise and carry out a fair test in a familiar context.
Predict the outcomes of events based on their knowledge
Display curiosity, objectivity and perseverance in their approach to activities
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
Identify and name a variety of common plants
Investigate the functions of different structures of plants (root and shoot systems)
Construct graphs and analyse data collected from investigations on plants
Make labelled drawings of the external parts of plants
Show concern by being responsible towards plants and animals
Show curiosity in exploring plants and animals in the surroundings
KEY SKILLS: Observing, record, report, construct graphs, analyse, create, communicate, collaborate, plan and design, draw conclusions,
KEY VOCABULARY: leaf, make food, shoot, leaf vein,
MATERIALS/RESOURCES: leaves of different colours and shapes, pencil, crayon, plain paper, marker, cartridge paper, scissors, glue, tape,
CONTENT OUTLINE:
Leaves come in a variety of shapes and colours and form part of the shoot system of a plant. Leaves play an important role as they make food for the plants and other animals. Leaves contain a green substance which help them to use the light energy from the Sun to make food. Plants would eventually wither and die if they had no leaves.
PRIOR LEARNING: Check that students can:
Classify plants as living things
Describe the characteristics of living things
5 E L E S S O N P L A N T E M P L A T E P a g e | 2
Prepared by Science Section, CCU, MoE June 2019
LEARNING OUTCOME: Students who demonstrate understanding can:
Explain the functions of the basic structures of plants
Make labelled drawings of the external parts of flowering plants
Appreciate the need to care for plants
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
Accurate observations noted
Observation Sheet contains accurate information
Correct mathematical shapes identified
Leaf impressions are neat and accurate
Investigation plans reflect a fair test
Conclusions supported by evidence
PROCEDURES/ACTIVITIES Engage - How can I get students interested in this? Use of an interesting picture. (15 min)
Students will participate in a Nature Walk. They will collect leaves from different plants (or use phone/ tablets to take pictures), noting the name of plant and the number of leaves observed on each plant examined. The information collected will be recorded on the Observation Sheet provided.
Students will be asked to handle plants with care and why this is important.
Teacher will clarify any misconceptions and direct students to form groups to carry out the next activity. Explore - What tasks/questions can I offer to help students puzzle through this? Use of a simple investigation. (15 min)
In groups, students will carefully examine samples or pictures of the leaves collected, noting their colour and shape. Students will use a magnifying glass to note the structure of the leaf. These structures will be identified as veins and midrib.
Students will make leaf impressions in their notebook by placing a piece of paper over a leaf and rubbing with a pencil or crayon to make an outline of the leaf.
Teacher will assess how each group is carrying out the activity and offer guidance as needed. Explain - How can I help students make sense of their observations? Class presentation and discussions. (15 min)
Leaf impressions will be placed on charts/ posters for display in the class. Students can also arrange pictures taken for presentation using poster or PowerPoint.
Students will present their posters and discuss the different leaf shapes and colours. The leaves will be categorized using mathematical shapes. Students will recall the function of leaves and will suggest why leaves are important to plants.
Poster will be assessed using a teacher-prepared rubric.
5 E L E S S O N P L A N T E M P L A T E P a g e | 3
Prepared by Science Section, CCU, MoE June 2019
Teacher notes information presented by students on the board and offers clarifications of any misconceptions held and provides additional information to students. Elaborate - How can my students apply their new knowledge to other situations? Application of what they learned. (10 min)
Students will use information on the Observation Sheet to construct graphs showing the number of leaves present on different plants (or use Microsoft Excel to generate graphs)
Students will be introduced to a scenario where two similar plants are presented (or using pictures). One with leaves and the other without. Students will predict what would happen to the plant without leaves. Students will plan an investigation to determine the function of leaves. Students will discuss what will make it a fair test and present plans to the teacher.
Students will carry out the investigation over a number of weeks and present their findings using spreadsheets/ graphs. Students will make conclusions as to the importance of leaves to plants.
Teacher offers guidance during the process of planning the investigation and instructs students to use the Designing Investigation Template. Misconceptions will be clarified by the teacher. The need for proper care of plants will be highlighted and discussed. Evaluate - How can I help my students self-evaluate and reflect on the teaching and learning, and how can I evaluate the students learning of concepts and skills. Assessment (10 min)
Leaf poster will be assessed using a teacher-prepared rubric.
Observation Sheet will be assessed for accurate observations and information.
Plans for investigation will be assessed to determine if they reflect a fair test.
Bar Graphs constructed using data from the Nature Walk will be assessed for correct labelling and display of information.
EXTENDED LEARNING: Students will use Internet to research plants which do not have leaves and determine how the plant makes food for itself.
LINKS TO OTHER SUBJECTS:
Visual Arts, Mathematics
POST-LESSON REFLECTION:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5 E L E S S O N P L A N T E M P L A T E P a g e | 4
Prepared by Science Section, CCU, MoE June 2019
Activity 1: Plants and their leaves
Aim: To determine the number of leaves on plants in the school environment
Skills: Observing, manipulating, calculating, collaborating
What you will do:
Go on a Nature Walk in your school yard.
Explore the environment and note the names of plants and the number and colour of their leaves.
Complete the Observation Sheet below.
Observation Sheet
Plant Name
Number of leaves
Colour of leaves
Shape of leaves
Questions:
1. What number of leaves is most common on plants?
2. Which is the most popular leaf colour?
3. Which leaf shape is the most common?
4. Use the information to construct bar graphs when instructed by your teacher.
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