Anja Müller, EDUC 512, November 3
Lesson Plan 2 – Inclusive Pedagogy
Class: Science
(Lesson is part of the ‘Science in the Community” interdisciplinary school project)
Topic: Volcanic landforms
Reference to MA Science Framework and NSES:
 Develop the skills of investigation and the understanding that scientific inquiry is
guided by knowledge, observation, ideas, and questions
 Engage students in identifying and shaping an understanding of the questions under
inquiry
 Communicate scientific information
 Structure of the Earth system: landforms and their causes, plate tectonics
 Map interpretation skills
Reflective Introduction:
This lesson plan is designed as part of the Science in the Community assignment to
evaluate its incorporation into the actual curriculum. The readings “Real-World Learning”,
“Cascades Reservoir Project” (9/15), the ENC articles about “The Urban Classroom”
(10/20), and the article by Bouillon (10/27) all helped to design the project and lesson plan.
The idea to choose the Mt Rainier project resulted from the autobiographical poster
at the beginning of the EDUC 512 class. It also generated the use of a poster presentation
in this lesson plan as a creative way to present scientific findings that leaves a lot of room
for discussion and questions, and is also used by scientists during conferences.
During the first class meeting we discussed “aha” moments. From the resulting list I
chose to integrate the following findings about how teachers can encourage “aha”
moments:
- use different methods/approaches to one problem
-integrate other subjects
-give enough time to concentrate on one project
in the overall project, by expanding it over several disciplines being taught (see “Science in
the Community” assignment).
In terms of using student groups I was influenced by our class discussion on the
article “Student Learning Groups that Really Work” (10/6). Experiences of some of the
class participants showed that assessment in groups can be very difficult due to social,
schedule, and personal discrepancies among the students. Thus I use group work in the
classroom, where I can overlook and help the groups and individuals; whereas for their
homework assignments the students are free to work in groups or individually according to
their preferences.
For the scientific inquiry approach the Mestre article (9/15) was highly inspiring.
Anja Müller, EDUC 512, November 3
Learning Objectives:
 Learn how volcanic eruptions change topography
 Apply knowledge learnt thus far in the course (volcanism, interpretation of
topographical maps and aerial photographs)
 Evaluate potential risk for people living in the vicinity of Mt Rainier
 Formulate next step in the ‘Science in the Community’ project
Description of Lesson:
 Students share their group homework results on the 1980 Mt St Helens eruption
(topics of the 5 groups: type of volcano, tectonic setting, May 18 events, change in
topography, impact on local communities) in a poster session
 Students study aerial photographs and topographical maps of Mt Rainier and locate
communities and valleys (as possible channels for lahars)
 Discuss advances in the ‘Science in the Community’ project in other classes and
formulate next step
Timing:
Teacher Activity
walks through the poster session,
asks questions, takes notes, suggests
further research, discusses
Student Activity
walk through the poster
session, present their work,
ask questions, discuss
10:15 – 10:25
explains exercise, objectives, hands
out maps, helps with the task and
interpretations, encourages
discussions
organize themselves into
groups of three, use aerial
photographs and topo-maps
to locate and outline
communities and valleys,
discuss findings in their
group
10:25 – 10:45
discuss group findings with class, discover relevance to
students project
10:00 – 10:15
lead discussion to formulate
next step
decide upon homework: who is
doing what next for the project
(e.g. one group/individual calls the
CVO, etc.)
Homework:
As decided upon by the students (teacher should assure equal distribution of tasks among
the students.
Anja Müller, EDUC 512, November 3
Lesson Evaluation:
 Posters answer the assigned questions/topics sufficiently and are well organized
 Students participate in the discussions and group work
 Students understand the objectives of the map exercise
 Students listen to and respect other’s ideas
 Students assign their own homework as the next step for the project
Student Assessment:
 Quality of information, organization, and presentation of the posters
 Participation in discussions, group work
New Targets:
 Mechanisms of lahar generations
 Case studies on other lahar producing eruptions to understand their extend
 Eruption history of Mt Rainier
Special Needs:
Make sure everybody understands the objectives of the in-class work and the project and
participates equally (extra explanations, help by other students, use of different media
(hand-out, picture, etc), formulation of questions on index cards, individual talk with the
teacher if needed for students who need more time to understand contexts)
Materials:
 Aerial photographs and topographical maps of Mt Rainier
Safety Concerns:
Group discussions