Developmental Lesson Plan
Teacher Candidate: Chloe Katinas
Date: Group Size: 20-23 Allotted Time: 30 minutes
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Subject or Topic: Creating an Ecosystem
Common Core/PA Standard(s):
● Standard - 3.1.3.A2
Describe the basic needs of living things and their dependence on light, food,
air, water, and shelter.
● Standard - 4.1.3.D
Identify organisms that are dependent on one another in a given ecosystem.
Define habitat and explain how a change in habitat affects an organism.
Learning Targets/Objectives:
The 3rd grade student will be able to work with a group to create an ecosystem given to them
and write 3 sentences why their ecosystem matches the one they were given
Assessment Approaches: Evidence:
1. Thumbs up thumbs down 1 Students showing if they understand by
2. Physical model of ecosystem putting their thumb up or down
3. 3-4 sentences explaining their ecosystem
Assessment Scale:
N/A- notes copied the way they were displayed
Completion of the word search/crossword puzzle
Subject Matter/Content: Building an Ecosystem
Prerequisites:
● Understanding of how animals and other living species interact in the wild
● Content about parts of an ecosystem from day #1
● Content from ecosystems day #2, #3, and #4
Key Vocabulary:
● The environment: the living and nonliving things that surround a specific living thing
● A population: a group of the same type of living thing living in the same place at the
same time
● A community: all the populations living in a ecosystem
● Habitat: the home of a population
● Deciduous forest: has trees that shed their leaves every year
● Tropical rain forest: grow in warm, rainy places
● Coastal forest: is like a tropical rain forest but is damp and cool
● Coniferous forest: has trees with needle like leaves that stay green all year
● Desert: an ecosystem with very little rainfall
● Hot deserts: is a part of the world that has high average temperatures and very low
precipitation. These areas need to have less than 250mm of rainfall per year to be
classified as a desert
● Cold deserts: have hot summers but extremely cold winters
● Grassland: an ecosystem made up of large, flat areas of land that are covered with
grass
● Prairies: are are the grasslands in North America
Content/Facts:
● All content that was covered throughout this unit
Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
● “Hey everyone, all week we have been eklanrign about what an ecosystem is. We have
also learned about different types of ecosystems.”
● Teacher will make sure students are broken up into even groups.
● “Today you will work in groups to create an ecosystem I give to you.”
Development/Teaching Approaches
● “Your group will be given either a type of forest ecosystem, a desert ecosystem or a
grassland ecosystem.”
● “Your task is to work with your group using a variety of materials to create what that
ecosystem would look like.”
● “After your group finishes making the ecosystem- you will then write 3-4 sentences
explaining how your model represents the characteristics of that given ecosystem.”
● “You may sue any notes and powerpoints to help you!”
● Teacher will check in with groups and give them the whole class period to work on
this.
● Have students do a gallery walk to see all the models and writings explaining them
● If there is time, give students the unit test- if not do it the next day.
Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
● “ Great work today! I hope you have enjoyed this science unit. Now you should have a
better idea of how living things in the environment interact with one another. See you
tomorrow!”
Accommodations/Differentiation:
Follow all IEPs
● Fill in the blank for the writing portion
Materials/Resources:
● Science textbook
● Pencil
● Graphic organizer
● Cotton balls
● Shoe boxes
● Sand
● Fake trees
● Mini cactus
● Construction paper
● Fake grass
Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels
Remediation Plan (if applicable)
Personal Reflection Questions
Were my students engaged in my lesson? Were they able to apply what they’ve
learned?
Additional reflection/thoughts
The students did really well with today’s lesson and benefited from taking part in the
gallery walk. There definitely wasn't enough time for the unit test so I will have to do
that tomorrow. Having a kinesthetic activity definitely helped students apply their
knowledge of what they learned throughout the week, especially by having an artistic
and writing component to show what they know.
