Artifact #4: Science Lesson Plan

My fourth artifact is my Science Lesson Plan. The topic of this Lesson Plan was the Water Cycle. I
completed it in a group setting, in the course Education Methods: Mathematics and Science at Medaille
College. For this lesson plan I was in a group with three other colleagues. As a group we decided on the
water cycle, and were interested in the four stages. These stages include evaporation, condensation,
precipitation and runoff or collection. To test this theory we allowed our colleagues to place ice cubes above
plastic bowls, between thin sheets of plastic wrap. Included in our lesson plan were instructions, discussion
questions, and a science journal to record the steps throughout the process.
Why did you include this artifact?
The reason I included this artifact is because I thoroughly enjoyed preparing information, and gathering
materials for this lesson plan. I had the opportunity to work with some amazing colleagues, and we all put
forth a solid effort on this lesson plan, during both the written and implementation of it. Science is also a
common core subject in the field of education. I feel that it is necessary to highlight the importance of this in
the portfolio project. It is also on the topic of water. Water is something that is taken for granted every day.
Therefore, I feel that including this artifact it will demonstrate the process of where water comes from, and
the importance of its use for our environment.
How does this artifact show evidence that you are prepared for a career in education?
This artifact shows evidence that I am prepared for a career in education because I was able to assist
colleagues to put together a lesson plan. Working with others demonstrates that I am prepared for a career in
education. In this field you are constantly sharing ideas, and planning with colleagues. You are not
necessarily teaching in a group setting, but it is very important to be able to communicate positively, and
professionally with others around you. This artifact demonstrates that I have knowledge on a topic that is
very important in our every day lives. We need water to survive, and our environment would not be able to
thrive without it. This lesson plan also provides various ways to give the information to students, which
shows that as a beginning teacher I am taking into consideration the different learning styles of students.
What curriculum and professional standards were used?
InTASC: Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium

Standard #10 - Leadership and Collaboration: The teacher seeks appropriate leadership roles and
opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues,
other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession.
(b) The teacher works with other school professional to plan and jointly facilitate learning on how to meet
diverse needs of learners.
(e) Working with school colleagues, the teacher builds ongoing connections with community resources to
enhance student learning and well being.

New York State Code of Ethics for Educators

Principle 2: Educators create, support, and maintain challenging learning environments for all.

Educators apply their professional knowledge to promote student learning. They know the curriculum and
utilize a range of strategies and assessments to address differences. Educators develop and implement
programs based upon a strong understanding of human development and learning theory. They support a
challenging learning environment. They advocate for necessary resources to teach to higher levels of
learning. They establish and maintain clear standards of behavior and civility. Educators are role models,
displaying the habits of mind and work necessary to develop and apply knowledge while simultaneously
displaying a curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. They invite students to become active, inquisitive, and
discerning individuals who reflect upon and monitor their own learning.
Principle 4: Educators collaborate with colleagues and other professionals in the interest of student
learning.
Educators encourage and support their colleagues to build and maintain high standards. They participate in
decisions regarding curriculum, instruction and assessment designs, and they share responsibility for the
governance of schools. They cooperate with community agencies in using resources and building
comprehensive services in support of students. Educators respect fellow professionals and believe that all
have the right to teach and learn in a professional and supportive environment. They participate in the
preparation and induction of new educators and in professional development for all staff.

ISTE Standards for Students (International Society for Technology in Education)

2. Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a
distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and
formats

Science Lesson Plan

George Covley, Ashley Farina, Miranda Laufman, Trina Moretton
Medaille College
EDU 502 Education Methods of Teaching Science, Math, and Technology
Dr. Susan Dunkle
Sunday, October 18th 2015

The Water Cycle

I.

II.

Lesson Data
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)

Teacher Candidate: George Covley, Ashley Farina, Miranda Laufman, Trina Moretton
Subject Content Area: Science
Grade Level: Grade 4 (NYS) Grade 2 (Ontario)
Unit Topic: Weather
Lesson Topic: Water Cycle
Duration of the Lesson: 40 minutes
Materials:
1. 4 Large Glass Bowls
2. 4 Small Glass Bowls
3. Ice Cubes
4. Saran Wrap
5. Kettle
6. Hot Water
7. Salt
8. Journals
9. Water Cycle Worksheet (from NYS Standards)
10. Visuals of Water Cycle
11. White Board Markers
12. Writing Utensils
13. Computers/Tablets for Kahoot.it

Instructional Process
A. Standards:
1. Ontario Standards
Overall Expectations
By the end of Grade 2, students will:
2. Investigate the characteristics of air and water and the visible/invisible effects of and changes
to air and/or water in the environment
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which air and water are used by living things to
help them meet their basic needs.
Specific Expectations
2.3 Investigate, through experimentation, the characteristics of water
2.4 Investigate the stages of the water cycle, including evaporation
3.3. Describe ways in which living things, including humans depend on air and water
2. NYS P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard 4: The Physical Setting
Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the
physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in
science.
Key Idea 2 Many of the phenomena that we observe on Earth involve interactions among
components of air, water, and land.
Performance Indicator 2.1c
Water is recycled by natural processes on Earth.
Evaporation: changing of water (liquid) into water vapor (gas)
Condensation: changing of water vapor (gas) into water (liquid)
Precipitation: rain, sleet, snow, hail
Runoff: water flowing on Earths surface
Ground water: water that moves downward into the ground

3. NYS P-12 ELA Common Core Standards ELA and Literacy

Standard Strand: Writing Standards K-5
Grade 4
Topic Strand: Text Types and Purposes
Item Number and Statement
2. Write informational explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization and analysis of content.
B. Central Focus:
Students will be able to explore the different parts of the water cycle and associate it with the
different aspects of weather. They will be able to identify and construct their own water cycle model
using materials provided. The students will be able to establish what role water plays in weather and
what the various uses of water are.
C. Objectives:
By the end of the lesson students will be able to:
1. Understand the key ideas of the water cycle through constructing and conducting a model
resembling the water cycle.
2. Explain the key vocabulary words surrounding the water cycle, and describe them by writing a
science journal.
3. The students will be able to identify the uses of water through contributing 1-2 uses of water in a
class discussion
4. Students will be able to identify the stages of the water cycle with a labeling activity.
D. Assessment Plan:
1. The teacher will formatively assess the students ability to understand the key ideas of the water
cycle through a class discussion while constructing a model demonstrating the water cycle.
2. The teacher will formatively assess the students science journals to ensure they are grasping key
concepts including vocabulary.
3. The teacher will formatively assess the students through the discussion of the uses of water.
4. The teacher will conduct a summative assessment based on the students ability to identify the
stages of the water cycle through a labeling worksheet.
E. Opening/Anticipatory Set
1. The teacher will welcome the class and introduce the special guests in the classroom for the day.
The teacher will explain to students regarding the change in class structure.
2. Teacher Talk: Hello everyone! As you can see we have some special guests in our class today. I
have invited my friends from the science department to join us for a special project today.
3. The teacher will open the lesson by engaging students thoughts on prior knowledge
4. Teacher Talk: You will find out shortly what we are going to do, but we will give you a hint. We
want you to think about the weather yesterday, does anyone remember what was happening
outside?
Student Talk: It was raining outside!
Teacher Talk: Youre absolutely right! I want you to keep that in mind as we move into our
activity. I also want you to think about what we use water for and how we get the water we need,
just like we talked about in our lesson last week.
5. The teacher will transition students thinking to the classroom rules of respect to ensure students
are working together towards a safe environment for everyone regardless of differences between
one another.
6. Teacher Talk: Before we take a dive into science, we are going to first make sure we remember
our rules of respect in our classroom. Who can tell us what the rules of respect we need to
remember?

Student Talk: Listen when someone is talking, use equipment safely, and raise your hand if you
have a question.
7. The teacher will break students into pre-assigned groups that were chosen at random to ensure
there is no bias of ethnicity, gender, race etc. Groups will be posted on the white boards around
the room. The gifted learners in the classroom will be assigned the added leadership role within
the groups. Their added responsibility will be to read the step-by-step instructions for their peers
who may struggle with reading.
8. Teacher Talk: As you will see your names have been written on a board around the room. Near
the board you will see some bowls and other materials on the tables near each board. When we
say go, we want you to go to the table that is near the board where your name is written. Please do
not touch anything on the table until we give you permission. You may move now.
9. Teacher Talk: Since I have my friends from the science department here today they are going to
join us at each station to help with our project.
10. Teacher Talk: On the table you have an instruction sheet. Please follow the instructions on the
paper. Your teacher will help you with the hot water because we dont want anyone hurt. Go ahead
and get started. Building and constructing the model with engage the kinesthetic learners in the
classroom with the hands on building.
11. Once students have constructed their water cycle model. The group teacher will hand out their
science journals.
12. The teacher will ask the students to make a hypothesis on to what we just created.
Teacher Talk: Based on the rain we saw yesterday and what we just built, we want you to create a
hypothesis based on what you think is going to happen with what you have just constructed.
13. The teacher will then instruct students back to their desks to draw the picture of their model and
write the list of materials they used to build their model.
F. Main Body/Procedure
1. Once students are seated back at their desks, teacher will begin to get students thinking by posing
questions.
2. Teacher Talk: Lets talk about your hypothesis. If we think about all that rain yesterday, and we
worked with water today in our groups, what do you think we constructed today?
Student Talk: We made something that makes rain.
Teacher Talk: Youre very close! We made a model of the water cycle to show the movement of
water from land to air. So in a way, we are going to make rain!
3. Teacher Talk: Lets play a little guessing game! Its okay if you dont know the answers because
by the end of this class, all of you will know and be experts! Can you take a guess what energy
source that starts the water cycle?
Student Talk: Clouds, Lakes, Mountains, Sun.
Teacher Talk: We heard some great guesses! Whoever said the sun is correct! You will found out
why in a moment!
4. Teacher Talk: Can you guess, what percentage of the worlds surface is covered with water? We
will give you a hint, its over 60%.
Student Talk: 66%, 70%, 82%, 75%
Teacher Talk: Great guessing! All of you are so close! The worlds surface is covered with 75% of
water! Thats a lot of water we have here on Earth!
5. Teacher Talk: Heres another question! Remember we are only making guesses! Its okay if we
dont know the answer. What percentage of the human body is made up of water?
Student Talk: 45%, 20%, 80%, 60%
Teacher Talk: Again, great guesses! Our body is actually made up of close to 60% of water. That
is a lot of water we need to survive, thats why its important we drink throughout the day so our
body gets the water it needs to keep us healthy and keeps us growing!
6. Teacher Talk: Who can tell us what we use water for?
Student Talk: Drinking, showering, swimming, cleaning.
Teacher Talk: You are all absolutely right! We use water for many things!

7. Teacher Talk: Who can tell me where they think fresh water stored on the earths surface or how
do we get clean water to use?
Student Talk: Lakes, rivers.
Teacher Talk: Yes we do get clean water from lakes and rivers. Water is stored also in something
called underground aquifers which cleans water underground and delivers it to our taps in our
home for us to use.
8. After questions have been asked and answered, the teacher will explain the water cycle at the front
board using visuals. At this time vocabulary will be introduced and defined;
a) Evaporation-liquid water changes to a gas (water vapor/steam).
b) Condensation-water vapor (a gas) turns back into liquid water (clouds).
c) Precipitation-any form of water that falls from the sky (sleet, snow, hail
or rain).
d) Runoff- water runs off the land surface and stored (fresh water, lakes,
aquafers and rivers).
9. By defining the above vocabulary and using visual aids, this will allow those
students who are auditory and visual learners the opportunity to grasp
difficult concepts more readily. Struggling readers will also benefit from the
use of visuals. Pairing visuals with language will help further understanding of
the mentioned novel concepts. Kinesthetic learners will benefit from this part
of the lesson as they will be invited to the board to place the visuals in the
correct areas of the diagram being constructed by the teacher on the board.
10. Once the discussion of the water cycle is complete the teacher will instruct the students back to
their group tables to observe what is happening with their water cycle models. The movement in
the classroom to the water cycle models will allow the kinesthetic learners the opportunity to
apply their knowledge more readily with the concrete materials.
11. Once students have returned to their tables with their group the teacher will begin to discuss the
water cycle model. The discussion with the model will help teacher assess any misconceptions
they may have regarding the terminology and steps within the water cycle.
12. Teacher Talk: Now that you are sitting in front of your models, what do you see happening just
by looking at it?
Student Talk: I see water on the saran wrap, or condensation
13. Teacher Talk: Great! Lets talk about what each part of our model is doing to create the water
cycle. Who can tell me what the hot water and salt represents?
Student Talk: The Ocean.
14. Teacher Talk: Thats right, so we have our Ocean surrounding the small bowl. What does the
small bowl represent?
Student Talk: Land.
15. Teacher Talk: You guys are experts at this! Great job! So we have our body of water the Ocean
surrounding the land. Above the water and land we have the saran wrap. What does that
represent?
Student Talk: The clouds.
16. Teacher Talk: You got it! The clouds are in our sky and then we have the ice. Can someone tell
me what the ice represents?
Student Talk: To cool air or wind in the atmosphere.
17. Teacher Talk: Excellent! You guys are doing so well at this! Now lets go back to what we see
happening with our bowls. The condensation that we see represents our precipitation within the
water cycle. Whats happening is, the ocean evaporates and hits the cool air. The precipitation
collects within the clouds which causes it to rain. (The teacher will refer to the diagram on the
board that was covered in the discussion.) If we remove our saran wrap, what do you think we
will find in our bowl that is representing land?
Student Talk: Water!

18. Teacher Talk: Lets find out. I would like our group leaders from each group to raise their hand.
Our leaders are going to carefully take off the saran wrap. You need to watch that the precipitation
on the top of the saran wrap does not drop into the bowl. Your teachers are going to take out the
small bowl just in case the water is still hot, remember we dont want anyone to get hurt. When
your small bowl is out of the big bowl, tell me what you see. Group leaders will be those who are
gifted learners or individuals who display strong leadership skills in the classroom.
Student Talk: There is water in the bowl.
Teacher Talk: Yes! The precipitation in the clouds built up so much that it began to rain and
release the rain back onto land and in the oceans. That completes our water cycle! Great job
everyone!
19. Teacher Talk: You guys did so well with our water cycle models, you can take the instructions
home with you if you want to try and build one at home with an adult. Please lets head back to
our seats so we can wrap up before the end of class.
G. Closure/Ending
1. Teacher Talk: You all did an amazing job building your weather water cycle model, to finish
today we are going to take all that we learned and play a game. You are going to get out your
computers and go to kahoot.it The gifted students will be allowed the opportunity to sign onto
their computers independently as well as help their peers where needed.
2. Once all the students are back into their seats with their computers, the teachers will begin the
Kahoot.it game. Visuals will be used in the Kahoot.it game to help those who are struggling
readers, auditory or visual learners understand the questions being asked more easily since
questions are time sensitive.
There will be five questions in the Kahoot.it game;
a) What is not part of the water cycle?
b) What is a way we do not use water?
c) What does evaporation means?
d) What does condensations mean?
e) What does precipitation mean?
3. The students will complete the game with their peers as a celebration to the end of the class. Once
the game is over it will be time to complete their assessment on the water cycle. The teacher will
hand out the water cycle worksheet and students will have to complete. Once all students are
done, they will receive their homework.
4. Teacher Talk: We saw some amazing work today. Great job I want you to give yourself all a pat
on the back for all the hard work you did today. For homework, we want you to take your journals
home and complete what you havent filled out yet. You all did a fabulous job! Its time for recess
so lets get lined up! Have fun outside!
III.

Reflection
1. Culturally Responsive Teaching:
The students have been divided randomly into four work groups to ensure there is no bias towards
ethnicity, gender, race, socio-economic background, and learning needs. The water cycle is imperative
for students to learn because water is an item that all individuals need in order to survive on a daily
basis regardless of their cultural background. During the lesson we will reinforce respect for the
equipment being used, and others in the classroom to ensure that all students have a safe and caring
learning environment since we arent fully aware of what happens outside of the classroom. We also
will encourage students to participate, and remind them it is okay to make mistakes, this is what
experimenting is all about. All supplies will be provided so that all the students will be able to
participate with no stress of buying any materials respecting their social economic status.
2. Accommodations:
During our lesson we will provide both auditory and kinesthetic opportunities for learning. For those
students who are auditory learners we will provide those students with written instructions throughout

the experiment including definitions of appropriate terminology. Visual aid will be used throughout
the lesson to help struggling readers pair novel language they may struggle with. For those students
who are kinesthetic learners, they will be able to apply their knowledge through the implementation
of building the structure of the experiment. Throughout the remainder of our lesson we will provide
the students with visual aids, a graphic organizer in their individual journals, and a picture of the
water cycle within our summative assessment. Lastly, for those students who are gifted learners they
are welcome to take initiative to deliver the step-by-step instructions to their peers on to construct the
model while working together during the experiment.
3. Pre-requisite Skills:
The pre-requisite skills that the students would have to master to be successful in this lesson would be
to follow general directions in the classroom. This would include knowing the rules of the classroom.
The students should be able to work co-operatively in a group setting, and therefore, this would lead
to the students following directions during the experiment.
4. Anticipated Misconceptions:
Possible misconceptions the students may have during the lesson would be confusing the definitions
of terms. These terms can include evaporation and precipitation. Along with confusing the terms, the
students may also confuse the sequential order of the water cycle. This can include such steps as
condensation and precipitation. Finally, the students may incorrectly assess the water cycle and
experiment in general. We will attempt eliminate these misconceptions by working closely with the
students during the experimentation process and regular formative assessments.
5. Academic Language:
The academic language that is central to the lesson is new vocabulary. This includes key words such
as condensation, evaporation, precipitation and run off. The students will also be familiarized with
vocabulary list through written definitions that include corresponding images of the definitions.
Finally, English New Learners will have hands on experience with new vocabulary they might not be
familiar with.

Sources
www.nysedregents.org/grade4/science1.html
https://quizlet.com/9773130/grade4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3NeMVBcXXU
www.kahoo.it

Instructions:

1) Place small glass bowl in the middle of the larger glass bowl.

2) Pour in hot water around the small glass bowl.

3) Place plastic wrap over the big glass bowl.

4) Place ice in the middle on top of the

Lesson Plan: The Water Cycle

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think that we constructed today?

Model of the water cycle
2. What do you think is the energy source that starts the water cycle?
The Sun
3. What percentage of the worlds surface is covered with water?
75%
4. What percentage of the human body is made up of water?
Up to 60%
5. What do we use water for?
Drinking, Showering, Swimming, Cleaning
6. Where is fresh water stored on the earths surface?
Lakes, Rivers, Underground Aquafers