Dakota State University

College of Education

Name: Miss Sorsen

Grade Level: 3-8
School: Rustic Acres Colony
Date: 04/13/17
Time: 1:00-1:45 pm

Reflection from prior lesson: In the last lesson, my transitions were a little choppy. This, in turn, was a factor in
students acting out. I felt that I could have better executed my transitions, in order to sort of glide students from one
activity to the next smoothly. However, the students still grabbed the taught concept well.

MS-ESS1-3 Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of

Lesson Goal(s) / Standards:
objects in the solar system.
Lesson Objectives: Given pieces of clay and directions from teacher, students will first predict and then actually
construct the planets according to approximate scale.

Materials Needed:

-Clay
-Laptops (camera and Word document)
-Paper
-Pencil

Contextual Factors/ Learner Characteristics: Each student at Rustic Acres is an ESL student. There are 9 students in
grades 3-8. There are 7 boys and 2 girls. There are no students on formal IEPS. However, there is one student who
has to move around in order to concentrate he is permitted to do this to a certain extent.

A. The Lesson

1. Introduction (include time allotment)

getting attention Class will all guess how many earths can fit inside the sun. Closest person gets 3
pieces of candy.
relating to past experience and/or knowledge Scale is reducing something down by equal amounts.
Lets reduce this fraction by a scale of 2. Teacher will do math problem with students.
creating a need to know Finding the planets to scale is just like reducing a fraction by a scale. We
know that the sun is thousands of miles in diameter, and we also know that the sun is the largest thing
in our solar system.
sharing objective, in general terms Today, we will construct the 8 planets to scale, in regards to how
they compare to the size of the sun.

2. Content Delivery (include time allotment & instructional methodologies)

a. Prep Students will get computers out and open their cameras and a blank Word document. Set
computers aside.
 b. Predictions Before any exposure to size of planets beside the sun, the students will predict the size of
all the planets to scale. Take pictures of their predictions with their laptops.
c. Video 0:00 0:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q May watch twice or three
times.
d. Transition and Explanation of Directions
e. Planet Scale Construction Students will listen closely to teachers directions. They will construct
their planets according to the teachers directions.
f. Document When finished, students will again take pictures of their constructed planets to scale.
g. Multimedia Students will transfer both pictures to a blank word document.
h. Questioning Will answer in their Word documents How close are the sizes of your clay planets to
your predictions? and What are some of the discoveries you made regarding the sizes of planets?

3. Closure (include time allotment)

a. Teacher will ask students to share some answers from their two above questions.

B. Assessments Used
i. Completed multi-media Word document with pictures and answered questions.

C. Differentiated Instruction
i. Peer Help The oldest student in each pod will aid the younger students if they are confused or need
help.
ii. Teacher will go around and guide the 3rd grade, as some concepts in this lesson may seem a bit confusing.

D. Resources
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q
ii. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/educ/play_doh_planets

Reflection: This lesson did not go very well. The pictures were not saving correctly, and the
computers were acting up. A whole portion of the lesson had to be cut out because of this. This
lesson taught me to have perhaps multiple back pocket ideas when it comes to working with
technology.