Unit/Lesson Plan Title:
Primary Subject
Integrated Subjects
Grade Level
Length of Unit/Lesson
Unit/Lesson Summary
Key Vocabulary
LohmeyerAlesha
Science- Movement and Properties of Materials
ELA
RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions
about key details in a text.
RL.K.2 With prompting and support, retell familiar stories,
including key details.
RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters,
settings, and major events in a story.
Math-weight
K.MD.A.1 Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as
length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes of a
single object.
Kindergarten
5 days
This will be part of a school wide PBL. It will be focused around the
crater PBL. In kindergarten, we will analyze what the object was that
created the crater, how it was moving, and what kind of ground that it
fell into.
movement, fall, direction, up, down, zig-zag, straight, fast, slow, back
and forth
Essential Standards/NCSCOS
K.P.2.1 Classify objects by observable physical properties
(including size, color, shape, texture, weight and flexibility).
K.P.2.2 Compare the observable physical properties of different
kinds of Materials (clay, wood, cloth, paper, etc) from which
objects are made and how they are used.
K.P.1.1 Compare the relative position of various objects
observed in the classroom and outside using position words
such as: in front of, behind, between, on top of, under, above,
below, beside.
K.P.1.2 Give examples of different ways objects and organisms
move (to include falling to the ground when dropped):
Straight
Zig Zag
Round and Round
Back and Forth
Fast and Slow
Essential Questions
How does weight, shape and the height from which an
object is dropped determine the path of its movement and
its indention?
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:21:32 AM ET
Materials/Resources Needed
Books
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Chicken Little
Other Resources KSoundandMotion Student Resources and Flipchart
Experiment 1
Objects to drop: feather, paper, rock, fishing weight, bouncy ball & golf
ball
Experiment 2
5 pie pans, scale/balance
Materials to drop objects into: sand, dirt, wet clay, rocks, water
Objects to drop: feather, paper, rock, fishing weight, bouncy ball & golf
ball
Experiment 3 (Check food allergies before doing this experiment)
chocolate pudding divided in cups (1 per student)
chocolate chips, marshmallows, hershey kisses, M&Ms etc.
Exploration/Engagement
Activities
Lesson 1PBL Announcement will come across the intercom system from the
principal announcing the mysterious crater.
Teachers can then play the PBL Trailer on the Activboard or it could be
broadcasted into the classroom.
Discuss what a crater is and how they are formed. (see day 1 Crater
flipchart)
Take a class visit to the site of the crater. Teachers may want to
measure the crater and discuss possible objects that could have made
the crater.
Return to the classroom and create a KWL chart about craters.
Write a class prediction about what they think fell from the sky
Finally, have students create individual journal entries about the crater.
Lesson 2Show pictures of things that have fallen from the sky (see Day 2 Crater
Flipchart.)
Discuss objects that could fall from the sky. Write down any new
predictions.
Discuss and Compare different objects that we will drop by attributes,
hard, soft, light, heavy.
Fold a paper and draw one object that would make a large crater on
one side and one that would make a smaller or different crater on the
other side.
After discussing and describing the objects that the students will drop,
tell them they are going to hear a story about a town that had strange
things fall on it every day.
Read Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs.
Discuss the setting, characters, problem and solution in the story.
Decide if the story was fiction or nonfiction and discuss why.
LohmeyerAlesha
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:21:32 AM ET
Exploration/Engagement
Activities
Lesson 3Review the PBL challenge.
Experiment 1-Test dropping the objects just to see how they fall to the
ground.
Drop each object and watch how it falls.
Verbally make predictions about the trajectory of the objects decent.
Record the actual trajectory of objects on a flip chart.
Send students to their seats to record the trajectories of each object on
personal recording sheets
Lesson 4Review the PBL Challenge.
Describe and compare the weights of the different objects with class
balance/scales.
Experiment 2-Test dropping the objects into different materials to see
what kind of crater is made.
Drop each object into each of the pie pans.
Chart results on the Crater flip chart.
Discuss which objects made the biggest, smallest, deepest, shallowest
craters.
Discuss why the students think each object made its crater.
Discuss the importance of size, shape, weight, and the material that the
object is being dropped in.
Students should make a new prediction or tell why he or she had a
good prediction in a new journal entry.
Lesson 5Tell the students that there once was another story character who had a
problem with things falling from the sky. She thought the sky was falling.
Read Chicken Little.
Retell the story and discuss the characters, setting, problem and
solution.
Tell the students that it is time for us to come up with a solution to our
Crater problem.
Discuss our findings from our experiments and review our flip charts.
Determine from our data which object most likely made the crater.
Teacher will write up a quick class report of the findings to send to the
principal.
End the PBL by making pudding craters.
Students will each get a small cup with pudding in it.
Give each child a couple edible items, (chocolate chips, hershey kisses,
M&Ms, marshmallows etc.)
Discuss which will make the largest, smallest, deepest, shallowest
craters and why.
Drop the items in, observe the craters made and then pass out spoons
and enjoy!
LohmeyerAlesha
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:21:32 AM ET
Accommodations for
Differentiated Instruction
In this unit, students will be engaged in hands on activities and problem
solving.
Cross Curricular
Integration
Math- weight
ELA- Literature- Story Elements
Science- Movement and Properties of Materials
Journal entries of predictions and final decision about what made the
crater
Recording sheet for object movement
Assessments:
•Performance-based
•Formative
•Summative
Extension Activities
Books about or additional pictures of craters
Creative movements to show how the objects fell
Created by
Email
Spring Lohmeyer
lohmeyeras@rss.k12.nc.us
Resources
Barrett, J., & Barrett, R. (1982). Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.
New York: Atheneum.
Kellogg, S. (1988). Chicken little. Harpercollins Childrens Books.
LohmeyerAlesha
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:21:32 AM ET