Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Exploring Organisms and the Environment

Objectives:
Students will be able to… demonstrate an understanding of organisms found in the environment
and how these organisms depend on the environment to meet those needs. 
Students will be able to… conduct structured investigations to determine what plants need to live
and grow (including water and light).
State Standards: K.L.2A. Conceptual Understanding: The environment consists of many
types of organisms including plants, animals, and fungi. Organisms depend on the land, water,
and air to live and grow. Plants need water and light to make their own food. Fungi and animals
cannot make their own food and get energy from other sources. Animals (including humans) use
different body parts to obtain food and other resources needed to grow and survive. Organisms
live in areas where their needs for air, water, nutrients, and shelter are met.
Context: Why are you teaching this particular lesson? What comes before this lesson in the
larger unit? What previous knowledge will students be bringing into the lesson? What comes
after this lesson in the larger unit? What are you teaching in order to prepare students for the
next lesson topic? I'm teaching this particular lesson so my students will be able to understand
how organisms make their own food, and how they are able to live, grow, and survive. What
comes before this lesson in a larger unit is science and engineering practices. The previous
knowledge that my students will be able to bring into this lesson is to be able to understand and
solve problems through the "why" mindset and wanting to experience things hands on. The
lesson that comes after this in a larger unit is called Earth Science: Exploring Weather Patterns.
What I'm teaching in this lesson that will prepare my students for the next lesson is how
organisms adapt to life.
Data: How will students be grouped in this lesson? What hypothetical data will these groupings
be based on? How will data be collected in this lesson for future groupings and teaching?
Students will be grouped based on their strengths and weaknesses. Each group will be diverse
between a strong leader, an extrovert, an introvert, an artist, and someone with prior knowledge
about the animals. Students will be grouped based on data from activities from the first day of
school that shows me what kind of student they are. The activities that I had on the first day of
school was for the students to share what they are excited about in kindergarten; during this
activity I had some students talk more than others, I had some who shared complete sentences
and you could tell that they had schooling before kindergarten, I had students who just cried, I
had students who just stared into space, and I had students who rambled off about randomness. I
also had students draw me a picture of how they were feeling on the first day of school and
during this activity I had some students who drew more well than others, I had students draw
things that wasn't even school related, I had some students draw them with a sad face, and I had
students that didn't even bother to take part in the activity. Data will also be based off of an exit
ticket that I gave out after yesterday's lesson introducing organisms and the environment. I had
5/25 students who actually knew some information prior about organisms and the environments.
Materials: List all materials used (i.e. websites, apps, pencils, iPads, computers, worksheets,
diagrams, textbooks, etc.) Smartboard, Teacher's Laptop, DailyMotion Website, Kahoot
Website, Children Scissors, Pencils, Crayons, Chromebooks, Photosynthesis Worksheet, a
pitcher of water, 2 bags of gardening soil, 25 zip-lock bags, 25 Flower Pots, and 25 Sunflower
seeds packets.
Detailed paragraphs from here on down.
Procedures:
Introduction (30 minutes): Students will enter the classroom and put their things away in
their cubbies and find their seats. After they find their seats and get situated, students will be
directed to get out their chromebooks and log in to access their online textbook. The online
textbook would read to them Chapter 2 which is about organisms and the environment. Once
they have finished reading they will then grab a zip-lock bag full of gardening soil, a flower pot
that already has their name written in sharpie, and a sunflower seeds packet and take it back to
their seats. (My Teacher Aide will be there to help the students get their materials after they have
finished reading Chapter 2 of their textbook) They will then read a library book until further
instruction is given. Once I checked everyone's agendas and homework folders from the day
prior, I will then tell the class what they are expected to do at each rotated station.
Teacher Directed (30 minutes): In this group I will have the students bring their
chromebooks to my back table and we will do a Kahoot! together about photosynthesis.
https://play.kahoot.it/v2/?quizId=22394440-437d-41b8-a351-1cafd8d32d98 During this Kahoot!
I will read to the group the questions and the answer choices from my computer screen. Once
I’ve finished reading, I will then have them click the answer that they think is correct. Once I see
that everyone has answered we will then discuss why the correct answer is the correct answer.
Collaborative (30 minutes): In this group the students will group real tree leaves based
off of color and shape. They will then discuss why they think the leaves are different colors as
well as different sizes. The students will have magnifying glasses where they will be able to look
closer at the leaves and analyze them more in depth.
Independent Digital (30 minutes): In this section the students will grab their assigned
chromebook and a pair of headphones and return to their desks and watch this Magic School Bus
video about photosynthesis https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6vejxv that will be linked on
their Google Classroom account. After they have finished watching the video, they will then cut
out the answers on this worksheet and glue them to the correct spot. Once they have finished
they can color the flower.
 Closure (30 minutes): I will go around the class and answer any questions that the
students may still have about photosynthesis or allow them to share anything that they learned,
already knew, or what they enjoyed from today. Before the class goes to their special area for the
day, the exit ticket will be to take their flower pots outside for them to grow and experience
photosynthesis first hand. Once they have picked a spot on where they would like their flower to
grow, I will then pour some water into their pots. We will have the plants grow for the next two
weeks and come out to water them 10 minutes before recess each day. Once the two weeks are
up, we will examine how much their flowers had grown and discuss how we just did
photosynthesis.
Rationale:
(Multimedia 1= App or website): Why this piece of multimedia? How does it support
student learning and your standards and objectives? How do you know it is of high-
quality? Refer to the 8 bullet points in the Evaluating Multimedia PowerPoint to support
your rationale. How does this multimedia choice differentiate instruction for all learners
(consider differentiation and assistive technologies)? https://play.kahoot.it/v2/?
quizId=22394440-437d-41b8-a351-1cafd8d32d98 I decided to use the app Kahoot, as the
first multimedia because the students are able to interact with the app in a fun learning
way. This Kahoot game will support student learning because they are able to learn
interactively on their level. This supports my standards because it teaches them
photosynthesis in a way that they understand. For my visual students- they are able to
look at their screens and see what I’m reading to them, there are also pictures to help
them figure out the correct answer, for my auditory students- I’ll be reading to them for
them to hear and understand, and for my kinesthetic students- they are able to click the
correct answer that they think is right on their own chromebooks. I know that using the
app Kahoot! is a high-quality choice because it has a total of 7.5 ratings by teachers
found at this link on Ap ED Review. https://appedreview.com/app/kahoot/

(Multimedia 2= App, website, video, educational game, song, podcast, etc.): Why this
piece of multimedia? How does it support student learning and your standards and
objectives? How do you know it is of high-quality? Refer to the 8 bullet points in the
Evaluating Multimedia PowerPoint to support your rationale. How does this multimedia
choice differentiate instruction for all learners (consider differentiation and assistive
technologies)? https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6vejxv I decided to allow my class
to watch a video about The Magic School Bus because it’s not only entertaining to their
young minds, but it’s also educational in a way that they would understand without
thinking that they are “learning.” This supports my standards because it teaches them
photosynthesis in a way that they understand. For my visual students- they are able to
look at their screens and watch the video, for my auditory students- they will be able to
listen to the video at the level that they are comfortable with the most, they will also be
able to stop the video and rewind if they didn’t hear what the video was saying, and for
my kinesthetic students- they are able to do a hands-on cut and paste activity once they
finished watching the video. I know that my video choice is high quality because The
Magic School has been around since 1995 and teachers have been using it ever since to
bring in a fun way of learning into the classroom. At this link you’ll be able to find all the
good reviews that were left by teachers and parents about how The Magic School Bus has
helped them reach their students/children. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108847/reviews