Modern Living
15 Days
Science
Lesson Plan
Grade:
7th Grade Science
Teacher:
Science Teacher
Lesson Title:
“Being Modern is not as simple as it sounds, it takes energy.” – The relationship between Modern Living, Simple Machines, and Energy.
STRANDS
Engineering & Technology
Motion
Earth
Summary of the task, challenge, investigation, career-related scenario, problem, or community link.
LESSON OVERVIEW
This week’s lesson will introduce students to the study of Modern Living. The seventh grade team will anchor this unit in the traditional holiday literature, “A Christmas
Carol.” This series of lesson, as well as all other lessons in this unit, will build and focus on the creation and production of the Culminating Event, “A Christmas Carol: A
Nod to the Mod.” The students will create sets, scripts, along with all other materials for their community production of this play. Students will investigate and explore
the relationship between energy, resources, work, force, machines, mechanical advantage and Modern Living. Students will begin by transitioning from the study of cell
division and the spread of disease in the previous unit, Medicine and Vaccines, to our new unit by “diagnosing Tiny Tim”. The students will then work in small groups to
complete an Energy Audit. These groups will research how industrialization and urbanization has modernized the process of heating our homes, looking at both the
energy source and the way that construction, architecture, and engineering has affected the efficiency of this process. The students will construct model homes that
are representative of each era that will be incorporated in our play. The students will then experiment, collect, and analyze data regarding the energy efficiency of their
model homes. At the end of the week students will work on designing and constructing parts of the set using simple machines to illustrate work and force.
Hook for the week unit or supplemental resources used throughout the week. (PBL scenarios, video clips, websites, literature)
MOTIVATOR
The students will be introduced to this unit in a seventh grade team meeting. The introductory meeting will begin with a video montage of the various versions of The
Christmas Carol through the years. This meeting will also include a power point that will explain the culminating event, “The Christmas Carol: A Nod to the Mod”.
During this meeting students will be able to ask any questions and discuss their thoughts on this exciting new unit.
DAY
Objectives
(I can….)
Materials &
Resources
Instructional Procedures
Differentiated
Instruction
Assessment
1
 I CAN
demonstrat
e my
understandi
ng of work
and energy
 I CAN use
previous
knowledge
along with
research to
determine
the most
likely
medical
diagnosis.
 KWL Chart
 Diagnosing Tiny
Tim PDF
containing
directions
 iPad
Essential Questions:
 How can modern medicine be used to treat and prevent disease?
 What are simple machines and how are they used?
1. Bell Work
- Students will fill out the K and W of a KWL chart on the topic “work
and energy.”
2. Direct Instruction
- Students will receive instruction on their “Diagnosing Tiny Tim”
assignment and ask questions about their task
3. Group Practice:
- Diagnosing Tiny Tim
a) Students will research four possible conditions that Tiny Tim
could have suffered from: Tuberculosis, Renal Tubular Acidosis,
Polio, and Rickets.
b) Students will work in pairs to create an informational foldable
about the four possible medical conditions and a diagnosis letter
to the Cratchit family that will include a treatment plan for Tiny
Tim.
4. Individual Practice:
- When students complete Tiny Tim’s diagnosis assignment, they will
research energy and work to prepare for their study of energy, work,
force, simple machines, and mechanical efficiency.
5. Summary:
- Exit ticket
Students will fill out the “L” portion of their KWL chart using the
information gathered from their research.
Homework—Students were assigned Frayer Models for the following
vocabulary terms: Simple Machines, Mechanical Efficiency, Longitudinal
Waves, Transverse Waves, and Velocity.
Adapted from:
Goodman Theatre Education
http://education.goodmantheatre.org/resources/a-christmas-carol/lessonplan-diagnosing-tiny-tim/
Remediation
Formative
assessment
 Prompting on
KWL chart will
KWL and
provide
research
information on
 Heterogeneous
what students’
grouping
previous
knowledge and
Extension
what they
 Heterogeneous
learned from
grouping
their research.
 Peer tutoring
Summative
Assessment
Summative
assessment at
the end of the
unit will cover
waves, forces,
energy,
mechanical
efficiency, and
simple machines.
2




I CAN
explain
the
relationsh
ip
between
force,
distance,
and work.
I CAN
correctly
calculate
work.
I CAN
explain
the
difference
in
mechanic
al
advantage
and
mechanic
al
efficiency.
I CAN
provide
examples
of how
machines
are used
for
constructi
on.






iPad
Forces PPT
“Forces” ppt
“Work” ppt
“Waves” ppt
Concept map
E Essential Questions:
 What is the relationship between force, distance, and work?
 How do simple machines make work easier?
 Provide examples of what type of simple machines we can use to
construct the set of our play.
 How do you differentiate between mechanical advantage and mechanical
efficiency?
1. Bell Work:
- Students will respond to the lesson’s essential questions in the form
of an entrance ticket.
- The students will respond to the following questions to recap the
material from the student teaches:
a) What is the relationship between work and power?
b) How do you calculate work?
c) What is mechanical advantage?
d) How do you differentiate between mechanical advantage
and mechanical efficiency?
- Students will have five minutes to complete the task.
2. Direct Instruction:
- Simple Machines and Mechanical Efficiency Review
- Forces and Work Review
- Waves Review
- Students will take notes in their Science Notebooks
- Students will ask questions and discuss the concepts presented in the
notes.
3. Individual Practice:
- Students will practice calculating work and power.
- Students will practice calculating mechanical efficiency and
mechanical advantage.
- Students will research various ways in which modern technology has
increased the efficiency of machinery.
- The class will discuss the answers and methods for solving the
practice problems.
4. Summary:
- The students will answer the following questions as an exit ticket
a) How do you differentiate between mechanical advantage
and mechanical efficiency?
Remediation
 Prompting on
bell work and
exit ticket
 Teacher
guidance
during
independent
practice
Extension
Additional
questions during
individual
practice.
Formative
Assessment
 Students’
answers to the
essential
questions will
assess what they
learned from
student teaches
and what needs
to be the focus
of today’s
review.
 Teacher will view
students as they
are completing
calculations to
determine which
areas may need
to be reviewed.
Summative
Assessment
Summative
assessment at
the end of the
unit will cover
waves, forces,
energy,
mechanical
efficiency, and
simple machines.

b) How are simple machines utilized in the process of
construction?
c) How are work and force related?
d) What is the difference in a longitudinal and transverse wave?
I CAN
explain
how
modern
technolog
y has
increased
the
efficiency
of
machines.
3
Refer to Unit Plan for Days 3-15
“A Christmas Carol: A Nod to the Mod”
Identify what you want to teach. Reference State, Common Core, ACT
College Readiness Standards and/or State Competencies.
STANDARDS
Embedded Technology & Engineering
Conceptual Strand
Society benefits when engineers apply scientific discoveries to design materials and processes that develop into enabling technologies.
Guiding Question
How do science concepts, engineering skills, and applications of technology improve the quality of life?
Grade Level Expectations:
GLE 0707.T/E.1
Explore how technology responds to social, political, and economic needs.
GLE 0707.T/E.2
GLE 0707.T/E.3
GLE 0707.T/E.4
Know that the engineering design process involves an ongoing series of events that incorporate design constraints, model building,
testing, evaluating, modifying, and retesting.
Compare the intended benefits with the unintended consequences of a new technology.
Describe and explain adaptive and assistive bioengineered products.
Checks for Understanding
0707.T/E.1
0707.T/E.2
0707.T/E.3
0707.T/E.4
0707.T/E.5
Use appropriate tools to test for strength, hardness, and flexibility of materials.
Apply the engineering design process to construct a prototype that meets certain specifications.
Explore how the unintended consequences of new technologies can impact society.
Research bioengineering technologies that advance health and contribute to improvements in our daily lives.
Develop an adaptive design and test its effectiveness.
State Performance Indicators
SPI 0707.T/E.1
SPI 0707.T/E.2
SPI 0707.T/E.3
SPI 0707.T/E.4
Identify the tools and procedures needed to test the design features of a prototype.
Evaluate a protocol to determine if the engineering design process was successfully applied.
Distinguish between the intended benefits and the unintended consequences of a new technology.
Differentiate between adaptive and assistive engineered products (e.g., food, biofuels, medicines, integrated pest management).
Standard 7 – The Earth
Conceptual Strand 7
Major geologic events that occur over eons or brief moments in time continually shape and reshape the surface of the Earth, resulting in continuous global
change.
Guiding Question 7
How is the earth affected by long-term and short term geological cycles and the influence of man?
Grade Level Expectations:
GLE 0707.7.5
GLE 0707.7.6
Differentiate between renewable and nonrenewable resources in terms of their use by man.
Evaluate how human activities affect the earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere.
Checks for Understanding
0707.7.8
0707.7.9
Determine the impact of man’s use of renewable and nonrenewable resources on future supplies.
Evaluate how human activities affect the condition of the earth’s land, water, and atmosphere.
State Performance Indicators
SPI 0707.7.7
Analyze and evaluate the impact of man’s use of earth’s land, water, and atmospheric resources.
Standard 11 - Motion
Conceptual Strand 11
Objects move in ways that can be observed, described, predicted, and measured.
Guiding Question 11
What causes objects to move differently under different circumstances?
Grade Level Expectations:
GLE 0707.11.1
GLE 0707.11.2
GLE 0707.11.3
GLE 0707.11.4
Identify six types of simple machines.
Apply the equation for work in experiments with simple machines to determine the amount of force needed to do work.
Distinguish between speed and velocity.
Investigate how Newton’s laws of motion explain an object’s movement.
Checks for Understanding
0707.11.1
0707.11.2
0707.11.3
0707.11.4
Compare the six types of simple machines.
Compete an investigation to determine how machines reduce the amount of force needed to do work.
Summarize the difference between the speed and velocity based on the distance and amount of time traveled.
Recognize how a net force impacts an object’s motion.
State Performance Indicators
SPI 0707.11.1
SPI 0707.11.2
SPI 0707.11.3
SPI 0707.11.4
Differentiate between the six simple machines.
Determine the amount of force needed to do work using different simple machines.
Apply proper equations to solve basic problems pertaining to distance, time, speed, and velocity.
Identify and explain how Newton’s laws of motion relate to the movement of objects.