Observation of a Science lesson
I observed a 5th grade science lesson on ecosystems. The students were just beginning the biome unit and this was the second day of instruction. The teacher started the lesson by telling the students about a project on ecosystems they needed to complete at home and bring in in two weeks. The teacher went over the project, a shoebox ecosystem, in detail and answered all of the students’ questions. After all the questions were answered, the teacher passed out the rubric and went over the expectations she had for them. She made sure the students knew what would get them a “good” grade on the project and told them to refer to the rubric when completing the project. Once the teacher answered all of the questions on the biome project, she showed the students a video on what an ecosystem is. The video was short and kept the students attention. Once the video was finished, she told them they were going to create a biome foldable. The students were instructed to use their textbook to research the different biomes and to use a bubble map on each of the pages of the foldable, one page per biome. The teacher showed them an example of what she wanted them to do, name of the ecosystem in the middle with 4 bubbles around it: plants, animals, characteristics, and abiotic things. Then she passed out construction paper so they could make their booklet. The students were then instructed to start on their foldable.
The students were given class time to work on their booklets. Most students started working on the foldable right away but a few were more interested in other things. The students that began working immediately created a bubble map and found the information needed for the bubbles in their textbook. The students were instructed to read the pages that contained the ecosystem information and to pull the information from those pages for the bubble map. A lot of students used the summary page to find the information instead of using the passages. The summary page listed each of the ecosystems with bullet points about the plant and animal life, the ecosystems characteristics, and other items. The students were getting the information needed for the foldable but weren’t getting the whole picture.
During the time the students were working on their foldables, the teacher was in the back of the room grading papers. If students had questions they were able to go to her and ask them. The students were allowed to talk with their table groups while working on this assignment. The teacher did have to remind them to keep the noise level down a couple of times, but overall the students worked well together. The students were obviously used to working in groups because it showed in the way they worked together.
The students were given class time to work on their booklets. Most students started working on the foldable right away but a few were more interested in other things. The students that began working immediately created a bubble map and found the information needed for the bubbles in their textbook. The students were instructed to read the pages that contained the ecosystem information and to pull the information from those pages for the bubble map. A lot of students used the summary page to find the information instead of using the passages. The summary page listed each of the ecosystems with bullet points about the plant and animal life, the ecosystems characteristics, and other items. The students were getting the information needed for the foldable but weren’t getting the whole picture.
During the time the students were working on their foldables, the teacher was in the back of the room grading papers. If students had questions they were able to go to her and ask them. The students were allowed to talk with their table groups while working on this assignment. The teacher did have to remind them to keep the noise level down a couple of times, but overall the students worked well together. The students were obviously used to working in groups because it showed in the way they worked together.