Culturally Responsive Lesson Plan
Heather Newton 1
Life Cycles
Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand that life on earth occurs in cycles
and that all living things change during their lifetimes. Plant and animal life cycles repeat
themselves, beginning with birth, growth, reproduction, and finally death. Many living
things begin as a seed or egg and continue changing as they grow. The lesson has been
adapted to be culturally responsive to Hindu students and also to connect science with
language arts as a cross-curricular lesson.
Inquiry Question:
How do living things change?
Objectives:
Students will understand that living things change.
Students will understand that all living things begin life, grow, and change until they die.
Students will understand how the people who practice Hinduism view life cycles.
Students will be able to observe nature using most of their five senses.
Students will be able to identify the stages of life of various living things.
Students will be able to use adjectives and other descriptive words when writing.
Grade:
2nd grade
Time:
Teacher preparation: 10 minutes to gather materials; print off enough copies for each
individual student of Science ThinkMat2 and directions for Nature Walk.
Student involvement: 15 minutes for pre-assessment, 40 minutes for Nature Walk
(observation, recording, drawing, and discussing findings with group/class).
Overall: Lesson should be split into two 40-50 minute class periods, with the first day
including the introduction, pre-assessment, and background information about Hinduism
beliefs of life cycles, and the second day including the nature walk, recording and
discussion of findings, and post-assessment paragraph writing.
Science Content and Culturally Relevant Background Information:
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All living things go through a life cycle, in which they begin life (are born), grow
and change, and finally, die.
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Life cycles for different living things vary greatly, such as the fishfly who’s
lifespan can be one-seven days long, or Japanese cedar trees that are rumored to
live for thousands of years.
Life cycles of organisms play an important role within an ecosystem, as living
things rely on other living things for food and other things.
Many organisms change their appearance as they grow and develop. Think of
human babies and adults and the difference in their appearances (size of body
parts, facial hair, etc).
Hindus believe in the life cycle of humans, that after death, a human’s soul is
reborn in another body of either a human, animal, or plant and begins a new life
as that organism.
Within Hinduism, respect for all life forms is very important, as humans, animals,
and plants are all part of the cycle of life and are equally significant. Hindus
believe that all living things have souls.
Hinduism promotes vegetarianism as another way to show compassion to all
living things.
The life cycle of organisms is connected to the rock cycle in the way that it
repeats continuously and rocks slowly transform, or change, into new rocks as a
result of various things, such as erosion and decaying plant and animal materials.
Living things develop as a result of water, food, sunlight, shelter, etc.
Vocabulary
1. Life cycle: a set of changes a living thing goes through from birth to death;
it repeats on new generations of living things.
2. Ecosystem: community of living things and the environment in which they
live; organisms within an ecosystem rely on one another for survival.
3. Vegetarian: People who choose not to eat any type of animal meat.
4. Larva: youth stage of an organism.
5. Adult: fully developed stage of an organism.
Grade Level Content Expectations:
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S.IP.02.11 Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the
appropriate senses.
S.IA.02.13 Communicate and present findings of observations.
S.RS.02.11 Demonstrate scientific concepts through various illustrations,
performances, models, exhibits, and activities.
L.OL.E.2 Plants and animals have life cycles. Both plants and animals begin life
and develop into adults, reproduce, and eventually die. The details of this life
cycle are different for different organisms.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects
(e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science
observations).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1e Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between
them depending on what is to be modified.
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Materials:
For teacher:
 Science ThinkMat 2 key (completed by teacher)
 Pictures of life cycles of various living things; chicken, human, tree, frog, flower
For each student:
 1 copy of the Science ThinkMat 2 (for pre-assessment)
 Scissors
 Writing utensils – pencils, crayons
 Directions for the nature walk
 Blank piece of paper to draw and record observations
 Clipboards
 Hand lens/magnifying glass (plastic)
 Lined paper or Science Notebooks for written work
Safety Concerns:
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Students should be warned not to touch plants or animals while on nature walk.
Touching living things in their natural habitats can disturb their development or
even hurt them. Remind students to be compassionate of all living things, like
Hindus, who believe all organisms are equal.
Proper use of the hand lenses must be reviewed; students should understand that
they are used for making objects look larger for easier visibility of details.
While on a nature walk, it is important to use as many of the five senses as
possible. Touch should be used with caution, as certain plants and animals could
be poisonous or bite. Taste should never be used for these reasons, as well.
Lesson References:
Barrow, Mandy. (nd). Information on Hinduism. Retrieved from
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/religion/hinduism.htm
Hinduism Facts. (nd). Revealing Facts about Hinduism religion. Retrieved from
http://hinduismfacts.org/
Life Cycles. (nd). A-Z animals. Retrieved from
http://a-z-animals.com/reference/life-cycles/
Michigan Department of Education. (2007). Science grade level content expectation
(v.1.09). Lansing, MI: Author. Retrieved from
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Complete_Science_GLCE_12-1207_218314_7.pdf
Ranniger, Jacqueline. (2005). Life Cycles. 2005 Colorado Unit Writing Project.
Retrieved from
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http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/lesson_plans/1189/2_Life
Cycles.pdf
Scholastic, Inc. (1995). Life Cycles. New York, NY. Instructional Publishing Group.
Engage
Pre-Assessment:
1. Distribute pre-assessment, scissors, and pencils to students while they are at their
desks. The pre-assessment is the worksheet labeled Science ThinkMat 2.
2. Read over directions with class and emphasize that students must put the pictures
in order of each organism’s life cycle.
3. Encourage students to try their best. Explain that grades are not for correct
answers, but for completed life cycles.
4. Provide 15-20 minutes to complete the pre-assessment, including the cutting and
pasting. For students who finish faster than others, encourage them to color the
pictures in if they would like.
5. Collect completed papers and evaluate what students know about life cycles from
the order in which they placed the pictures. Some students will be able to identify
the stages of life of animals, but not plants, or vice versa. Use this as a guide to
the introduction and discussions of life cycles.
6. Show pictures of the various stages of a frog’s life cycle; ensure they are in order.
7. Discuss how the frog changes as it grows. Ask students to point out the changes
they notice.
Explore
Procedure:
1. Using the pictures of various living things in different stages of life, define and
discuss a life cycle.
2. As a class, compare and contrast the appearances of different organisms in the
beginning stage of life (infant, seed, larva) and the last stage (adult). How do
human infants compare to young chicks when they are born? How does the seed
of a sunflower compare to the larva of an insect?
3. Introduce the Hindu belief of life cycles; that all living things follow a cycle of
birth, growth, death, and rebirth.
4. Hinduism also promotes the respect and compassion of all living things, as every
organism has a soul. Ask how students can show respect and compassion to all
types of living things.
5. Distribute the directions for the nature walk, clipboards, blank sheets of paper,
pencils and crayons, and hand lenses. Go over the directions with the class,
emphasizing the safety concerns and how to use most of our senses (not taste and
a cautious touch).
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6. Direct students to quietly observe the living things surrounding them outside and
draw and write notes on their blank papers. They can color if they would like and
if time allows.
7. Guide students outside (the schoolyard, a nearby park or nature trail are all
appropriate for this lesson) and supervise their observations. Students will have
20-30 minutes to observe and record.
Explain
8. Once students are brought back inside, allow for a 5-10 minute discussion as a
class of what types of living things they observed outside.
9. Did the students observe living things that were young or full grown? How could
they tell? How do they think these plants or animals will change as they grow?
Were any dead things observed, such as dead plants, leaves, etc?
10. Have students share their drawings and notes on their observations with each
other.
Elaborate
11. Prompt students to identify the living things they observed on their nature walk.
Ask what these living things look like when they are born or when they reach
adulthood.
12. Allow for time researching the organisms found, using the internet or books from
the library.
13. Further understanding of Hinduism beliefs with books such as Englightening
Tales by Sri Swami Satchidananda, Diwali by Kate Torpie, and The Broken Tusk
by Uma Krishnaswami.
Evaluate
Assessment:
1. Collect the clipboards and papers with students’ drawings and
notes of their observations. These will be used to understand how
students are viewing the natural world and if they can use
drawings to illustrate the concept of life cycles.
2. Distribute lined paper or Science Notebooks and instruct students
that they will be writing a paragraph (3-5 sentences) about a
particular living thing they observed while on the nature walk.
3. Students must use at least 2 adjectives to describe the living
thing. Define adjective (a descriptive word to describe a noun)
and write on the board, giving some examples (green leaf, small,
brown beetle).
4. Students must also write include some type of information about
the Hinduism belief system regarding life cycles.
5. Allow 10-20 minutes for students to complete their paragraphs
and collect.
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6. Rubric:
Sentences
Student has 3-5
complete
sentences
Word Use
Student uses 2 or
more adjectives
correctly
1
Student has at
least 3
sentences, may
not be complete
Student uses 1 or Understanding of
2 adjectives
life cycles is
somewhat clear
0
Student did not
write complete
sentences
Student did not
use any
adjectives
2
Science Concept
Understanding of
life cycles is
clear
Understanding of
life cycles is not
clear
Cultural Concept
Correct
information
about Hinduism
included and
connected to
concept
Some
information
about Hinduism
included, but not
connected to
concept
No cultural
information
included
Overview:
Overall, this lesson was very well written and easy to understand. The first change
I made was to simplify the title from How Do Living Things Change to Life Cycles to fit
in with the GLCEs. I also changed the materials used, taking out the Science PlaceMat 2
in favor of a blank sheet of paper. The worksheet PlaceMat 2 did not give enough space
for students to draw and record their findings and also was to directive with its visual
directions. I wanted to leave the directions somewhat open for students on their nature
walk to leave as much room for inquiry as possible.
I also added to the safety concerns of the lesson, adding a culturally relevant
component to the concept of touch in nature. Hindu belief on the preservation of living
things is a great concept for students to learn. I also added more vocabulary words to the
lesson, including the life cycle definition, but also defining the words I would use while
explaining the Hindu belief system and giving background information to the students.
The objectives were also worded differently than the original lesson plan, which were
previously listed as Grade Level Concept, Subconcepts, and Lesson Concepts. They all
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were repetitive in the original lesson, so I focused them more using the terminology from
the UbD model (“students will be able to..” and “students will understand that..”).
The final changes made to this lesson were the time limits and the added crosscurricular components. I lengthened the lesson by splitting it between two days or two
class periods to leave more room for exploration and explanation. I also expanded the
lesson by allowing for students to come up with their own questions based off of their
observations and further exploring the Hindu way of explaining life cycles through texts
and articles. The final assessment of writing a paragraph was a way to incorporate a
language arts component into the lesson while also evaluating the students’ grasp of the
scientific concepts of the lesson.