Wilmington University
Pathwise Lesson Plan Format
Teacher/Student
Teacher
Grade:
Subject:
Date:
Katie Todd, Laurel Rockwood, Guy Cooper
5th Grade
Science
February 22, 2010
1. Briefly describe the students in this class.
2. What are your goals for the lesson? What do you want the students to learn?
The objective of this lesson is broken into a few different parts. First, students will engage in
research, using books and internet, to identify different stages of seed maturation. They will be able
to measure and record growth over 5 days. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will be able to
formulate different graphs and charts using Microsoft Excel.
3. Why are these goals suitable for this group of students?
These goals encourage and build upon utilizing the internet and Microsoft Excel.
4. How do these goals support the district’s curriculum, state frameworks, and/or content
standards?
Science 6.1
Plants and animals are living things. All living things have basic needs for survival, including
air, water, food (nutrients), space, shelter and light.
Science Standard 6.2 Life Processes
Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth,
survival and reproduction.
Methodology 3.01.09
Use computers to access and organize information and common symbols to communicate
key ideas.
5. How do these goals relate to broader curriculum goals in the discipline as a whole or in other
disciplines?
6. How do you plan to engage students in the content? What will you do? What will the
students do? (include time estimates).
Describe the steps or components of a lesson that are a part of this lesson. Possible steps
or components are listed below:
 Mindset or “Warm-Up” Activity
o Students will draw and label the different parts of a seed using research found
from the internet.
 State objective or purpose of the lesson
o The purpose of this lesson is to monitor the growth of a seed and record
results using Microsoft Excel
o Because plants are an important part of the ecosystem.
 Provide Instructional Input
o Review the last few weeks of data collected, taking note of weather,
temperature and growth.
o The students will engage in discussion groups. The method of demonstration
will be lecture about Microsoft Excel.
 Model
o The teacher will demonstrate how to use excel, enter data and convert the
information to graphs and charts.
o The teacher will show a finished product of what is expected from the student.
 Check for understanding
o Ask students to repeat the steps on how to use excel and its programs.
o The students will be able answer questions regarding the use of excel and
their data collected.
 Guided Practice
o Students will work in groups to calculate their data collected and formulate the
graphs.
 Closure Activity
o In group discussion the class will compare similarities and differences in their
results using their excel graphs.
7. What difficulties do students typically experience in this area, and how do you
plan to anticipate these difficulties?
Students will have trouble understanding excel and its practical uses. This can be
addressed by giving individual attention.
8. What instructional materials or other resources, if any, will you use?
List all equipment and materials needed. Include:
 Rulers, paper and pencil
 Computer equipment (Microsoft Excel and internet)
 Dirt, pot, seeds, water and window with bright sunshine
9. How did you plan to assess student achievement of the goals? What procedures
will you use? (Attached any tests or performance tasks, with accompanying scoring
guides or rubrics.)
The students will print out their graphs as a group, to be assessed by teacher. They will also hand in a
developed seed.
10. How do you plan to use the results of the assessment?
The results of the assessment will be used to move on to more complex uses of the internet and
Microsoft Excel.