STEPP Lesson Plan Form

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Teacher: Mr. Steele Date: 10/30/17

School: Preston Middle School Grade Level: 6​th​, 7​th​, and 8th Content Area: Astronomy

Title: Where to Search in the Search for Alien Life

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the standard)

-Students will be able to learn and reflect on patterns in order to make connections,
justifications, and to deduce conclusions.

Understandings:​ ​(Big Ideas)

-Students will learn and reflect on the patterns of life in an attempt to make connections about
the ways in which life forms, and there for the ways it may for elsewhere

Inquiry Questions:​ ​(Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction, select
applicable questions from standard)

-How can we use our knowledge of patterns of life to justify where we search in space?

-What are different points of view that we can debate in terms of origin of life and how else it
may exist?

Evidence Outcomes:​ ​(Learning Targets)

Daily Question: ​What kind of hypothesis could we create about life on other planets given our
understanding of life on earth?

Content​: ​I can recognize the basic requirements/necessities that allow for life on earth.

Process: ​Through using the scientific method​, I can connect the patterns of earth to other areas
of the universe.

Product:​ ​By the end of class, I will have composed a letter to NASA​ using my findings to
hypothesize and justify where I think they should be looking for extraterrestrial life

List of Assessments:​ ​(Write the number of the learning target associated with each assessment)

-Towards the end of class (last 5-6 minuets) students will use their new knowledge and findings
in a ​formative assessment​ to construct a hypothesis of where to search in the universe for life in a
pretend letter to NASA, while justifying their reasoning. At the end of the unit, students will take a
summative assessment​, requiring them to explain and apply learning concepts.

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form
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STEPP Lesson Plan Form
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Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson WHERE IN THE UNIVERSE IS LIFE?

Should be a creative title for you and the students to
associate with the activity. Think of the purpose as -The purpose of this lesson is to teach students the ability to use
the mini-rationale for what you are trying to observable observations in making connections and predictions
accomplish through this lesson. through hypothesizing and justification.

Approx. Time and Materials Class period is about 45 minuets, teaching for about 22 minuets
How long do you expect the activity to last and what and running activity for 22 minuets
materials will you need?
Anticipatory Set Hook: Watch Ted-ed Video:
The “hook” to grab students’ attention. These are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2apGYUX7Q0
actions and statements by the teacher to relate the Then respond to this free write in 2-3 minuets:
experiences of the students to the objectives of the -What do you know about space? What do you know about life?
lesson, To put students into a receptive frame of What do you know, or what do you think about where to search
mind. in space for life?
● To focus student attention on the lesson.
● To create an organizing framework for the
ideas, principles, or information that is to
follow (advanced organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a different
activity or new concept is to be introduced.
Procedures uction/Hook: 13-15minuets
(Include a play-by-play account of what students andnts arrive and lesson topic is introduced along with the daily,
teacher will do from the minute they arrive to the content, process, and product question (1-2minuets) ​Teacher
minute they leave your classroom. Indicate the input
length of each segment of the lesson. List actual nts watch video (6mins) ​Other
minutes.) -Students respond to free write question “What do you know
Indicate whether each is: about space? What do you know about life? What do you know,
-teacher input or what do you think about where to search in space for life?”
-modeling (3mins) following a brief discussion and sharing of responses
-questioning strategies (3mins) ​Individual practice
-guided/unguided: er presents interactive presentation through ​questioning
-whole-class practice strategies​, think pair shares, and other brief discussions, ​group
-group practice practice​ ​whole class practice​ (10mins)
-individual practice nts create a pretend letter to NASA writing to where they think
-check for understanding they should look for alien life in a form of a hypothesis along with
-other at least 3 justifications. Then students draw what they think an
alien planet might look like along with what they think other
livings organisms could look like in any creative way they like.
(20mins) ​Individual practice​ / ​check for understanding?
Closure lessen by brief comments about how much we still know so little
Those actions or statements by a teacher that are about space and that through scientific exploration (ie
designed to bring a lesson presentation to an hypothesizing, justifying, analyzing, concluding, etc.) we can
appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring uncover and unveil many of the hidden secrets of the universe.
things together in their own minds, to make sense

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form
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out of what has just been taught. “Any Questions?
No. OK, let’s move on” is not closure. Closure is used:
● To cue students to the fact that they have
arrived at an important point in the lesson or
the end of a lesson.
● To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to consolidate.
Differentiation
To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child,
how will you modify it so that they can be
successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, how
will you extend it to develop their emerging skills?
Assessment
How will you know if students met the learning
targets? Write a description of what you were
looking for in each assessment.
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To modify:
-If the activity is too advance for a student, an overview of the
notes presented will be available on them google classroom
accounts for them to reference, along with guided help for me
myself and Mr. Steele.
To extend:
-If the activity is too easy for a student and they have completed
the activity, I can encourage them to go online, and research
some of the real scientists and organizations looking for
extraterrestrial life along with scientists performing some cool
experiments here on earth that aide in the search for
extraterrestrial life.
-I will collect the ​formative​ letters to NASA a​ ssessment​ along with
their drawings and review them to see 1) if they have a clear
written hypothesis stating where they think NASA should be
looking, 2) if they show connections between the knowledge
about life on earth and other areas of the universe, and 3) if they
have at multiple justifications to support their hypothesis.
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STEPP Lesson Plan Form
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Post Lesson Reflection (Will be completed post lesson)

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? ​(Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)
The entire class had a good understanding of the major requirements for life on earth
and through reviewing the completed formative assignment, almost all students
were able recognize and list at least three necessities that could also potentially
be an indicator for life elsewhere. The majority of the students expressed
thoughtful use of the scientific method in connecting and justifying the patterns
of life on earth to other areas of the universe. In term of the the product
objective, only about half the class had completed letters using full complete
sentences. The other half of the class had almost completed letters that were
largely lacking complete sentences that resulted in a non-complete justification,
reasoning, and hypothesis.
2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?
If I were to teach this lesson again I would have spent more time at the beginning of the
lesson explaining the formative assessment that they would complete at the end
of class. I mostly would have spent time discussing and reviewing with the class
what a hypothesis is, how to write one, and why they are important. I feel this
would have aided them in completing the letter as half the class had incomplete
justifications for their hypothesis.
3. What do you envision for the next lesson? ​(Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)
As the 6​th​ period class that I attend, observe, and instruct in is an enrichment period
focused on astronomy rather than a core class, the lesson I planed was intended
as a one-day lesson only that was taught in between the end of one unit and the
beginning of another. If the lesson was intended to cover multiple lesson days,
the first lesson would have been planned differently as to promote more
thoughtful work. For example, as mentioned above, I would have liked to spend
more time discussing hypothesis writing and if the lesson was planed for
multiple days, I could have easily spent half a period or so reviewing and writing
sample hypothesis. In addition, with more class time/lesson days I could have
gone into more detail about the many requirements for life and how that
influences how real scientists look in the universe.

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