02 Mar SCIENCE EXPERIMENT MINI-LESSON PLAN ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT MINI-LESSON PLAN ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

OVERVIEW

Perhaps there was no greater day in school than the day you walked into class and saw tons of stuff on the desk.  You knew you were going to be doing an experiment!  Anticipation was in the air!  Everyone was excited!  What were we going to do today?  What were we going to discover?  Would it be like last time when we turned our hands green and it smelled like rotten eggs for weeks?  

There is no better subject than science to utilize hands-on, inquiry-based learning!  Experiments give us an easy way to make our content come to life.  We have an opportunity to make abstract concepts read about in a textbook have real-world application in our classrooms.  Do not discount the power of a simple experiment or demonstration.  For this assignment, you will have the opportunity to design and conduct an experiment for an elementary or middle-grade level of your choice.  The experiment must fall into one of the four core science areas—Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics—and relate to a Virginia Science Standard of Learning.  The experiment must have an independent and dependent variable.  You are highly encouraged to utilize the Internet to find fun, engaging experiments for your future students.  This assignment allows you to practice what you might one day do in your classroom!  

INSTRUCTIONS

Download the Science Experiment Mini-Lesson Plan Template. Open the template and review the requirements.  The template is very detailed and intended to guide you through this project.  

This template is divided into four sections.  Each section outlines a specific portion of the assignment. 

Part One – Design the Experiment

For this section of the template, you will need to know the title of the experiment, grade level, Virginia Science Standard of Learning, Core Science Area (either Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics), your experimental question, experimental design, variables (independent, dependent, and controlled), hypothesis, materials, and procedures.  The template provides an explanation for each of these items and the exact structure for how you need to report these items.  Please follow the template.  

Part Two – Conduct the Experiment

For this section of the template, you will need to conduct the experiment.  During the experiment, keep a log of your observations, take at least ten photographs showing the progression of the experiment, create a graph of the results, and write a conclusion paragraph.  Your conclusion paragraph should be based on your observations and results and relate back to your hypothesis.  As in all good paragraphs, your writing should include full, complete sentences with at least five sentences.   

Part Three – Application to Your Classroom

For this section of the template, you will create or find a worksheet to assist students in designing and reporting this experiment.  The worksheet must be grade-level appropriate.  At a minimum, the worksheet must include the question, hypothesis, materials, procedures, observations, and conclusion.  The higher the grade level you select, the more detail you can require of your students.  In addition, think about how you might use multiple worksheets to assist your diverse learners!  You will need to explain how you plan to adapt your instruction and/or experiment to address the needs of diverse learners.  There are six identified groups of diverse learners on the template.  You will need to address your plan to differentiate for each group.  Lastly, you will need to articulate your safety plan for your classroom to ensure this experiment is carried out safely.  This section should be one paragraph with five full, complete sentences. 

Part Four – Reflection

For this section of the template, you will respond to five questions aimed to assist you in reflecting on the experiment, your classroom, and the assignment.  All answers must be at least two full complete sentences.