5-E Lesson Plan model

Jason Boyer
April 27, 2015

Topic: __Flight___________
Objectives: __The students will design a flying object using a predetermined set of material.__
Standards and Benchmarks addressed: 3-5. Engineering Design: Define a simple design problem

reflecting a need or a want that includes specific criteria for success and constraints on materials,
time, or cost.__
Action

Phase 1: Engage
Capture student attention, activate student prior knowledge, stimulate thinking, raise key questions, etc.

The teacher will start off the lesson with a question.

What is something that flies or glides?
This is important to get the students on the track to think about more than one object that flies
or glides. The students will be given opportunities to answer the question.
The teacher will ask the students,
What would happen if we did not have these things (airplanes, helicopters, etc)?
The students will be given time to answer.
The teacher will ask,
How would be solve the problem of not having flying or gliding machines?
At this point, I will show the students an example of how I wanted to make something that glides
but only had a certain amount of materials. I used cardboard, glue, and duct tape and made a
large, gliding Frisbee.

Phase 2: Explore
Allow students to observe, record data, isolate variables, design and plan experiments, create graphs,
interpret results, develop hypotheses, and organize their findings.

The students will be given a certain amount of material and asked to construct something that
flies, floats, or glides. The students will paired into groups of two and instructed to think about
how they could make their own flying, floating, or gliding object. The students will be given time
to brainstorm together before they begin and can write their ideas on a piece of paper.

Phase descriptions adapted from Eisenkraft, Arthur. Expanding the 5 E Model. http://www.its-abouttime.com/htmls/ap/eisenkrafttst.pdf, accessed 1/4/08

Materials:

One full trash bag.

Clear tape
Glue
Kabob sticks
cardboard
Scientific Method Worksheet

Phase 3: Explain
Introduce laws, models, theories, and vocabulary. Guide students toward coherent generalizations, and
help students understand and use scientific vocabulary to explain the results of their explorations

The students will be allowed to ask the teacher questions at this point. Is there something they
would like to know that may spark their thought process and help them reach more ideas? The
students will be given the chance to explain their creation. Because many will be different, the
students will be asked several different questions such as,

Tell me about your design? Why did you choose it?

Have you ever flown a kite? What do you remember about the design?
What materials have you chosen to use? Why?
How will this make the design better?
How will the air flow affect the object's ability to fly?
Would you use a lot of tape on your creation?
How will you attach your string to your flyer?
Will your design be strong enough?
What would happen if you attach weight to the bottom of your kite?
What might happen if you place smaller holes in the plastic?
What do you need in order for your object to fly?
How will you attach the dowel rods to the plastic?

The questions will be related to this scientific process, What was your hypothesis after you built
your flyer?
The students will be given the opportunity to take their objects outside to test their ability to fly.
During this time, the students will be asked to think about ways to make their objects a better
flyer. To get the students thinking, they will be asked questions such as,
Do you think the object may be too heavy? What could you do to lighten it?
Is there a way to improve the airflow over the wings to make it glide longer?
Is you object flying like you thought it would? Why? Why not?
The students will then be instructed to go back into the classroom and write their conclusions
down on the conclusions portion of the scientific method table. They will be instructed to write
down what they thought might make their objects ability to fly better.

Phase 4: Elaborate
Provide students opportunity to apply their knowledge to new domains, raise new questions, and explore
new hypotheses. May also include related problems for students to solve.

The students will be allowed to apply their findings to their creation. Are there changes that you
want to make? What are they and how will it change your objects ability to fly?
The students will be told that this is not the time to start completely over on their creation but to
improve their original design using the ideas they thought of during the initial test flight.

Phase 5: Evaluate
Administer formative assessment (although checking for understanding should be done throughout the
lesson)

Have students discuss their hypothesis with the results of their conclusion. Were they correct?
What did they do to change their design to make it a better flying object?
Have students think about ways they can make flying objects using more than the materials that
they had today. This can be done while they are at home.

These are pictures taken on the day of April 27, 2015. This lesson was taught to 5th grade at Irving Elementary
in Wichita, Ks.