Robin and Maddison

Lesson Plan #1
CONTEXT

Grade(s): Grade 6

Subject(s): Science - Investigation and Evidence

Long-term - This lesson sets the stage and introduces the students to
Sequencing and investigation, evidence through an interactive activity where
Scaffolding: they collect evidence and use it to solve a crime. They will be
able to use knowledge from other experiences to help them
work together, collect evidence, and analyse it critically as a
group.

GOALS

Curricular Organizing Idea: Scientific Methods: Investigation of the physical

Expectations: world is enhanced through the use of scientific methods that attempt
to remove human biases and increase objectivity.

Guiding question: What is the purpose of scientific explanations?

Learning outcome: Students investigate and describe the role of

explanation in science.

Implicit Learning: - Students learn to work together to achieve a common goal

- Students understand that some types of evidence are more
helpful than other types.

MATERIALS & RESOURCES

- Envelopes, photos of evidence, clue cards, powerpoint slides, exit slips, story
script.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES & LEARNING ACTIVITIES

- Interactive evidence scavenger hunt: students work together using the clues
provided to them to find their evidence envelope.

- Class discussion: students briefly describe their evidence envelope and we

breakdown how it helps us to find the culprit.

- Exit slip: students answer two short questions pertaining to the lesson at the end of
class as a means of formative assessment.

TIMING AND SEQUENCING OF LESSON/

KEY PROMPTS & INSTRUCTIONS
 Robin and Maddison

Introduction / Hook Provide an agenda of how the class is structured:

(2 mins) - Intro/explanation of activity
- Evidence scavenger hunt
- Class discussion and powerpoint slides
- Vote
- Final discussion
- Exit slip

(2 minutes Evidence scavenger hunt intro:

reading, 5 minutes - Read the students the story about the crime they will be
explaining) solving. (Grade 6 we need your help to figure out who stole
the missing coffee)
- Talk about the suspects and motives etc.
- QUESTION: “without any evidence, who do you think stole
ms evans coffee?”
- Explain what is expected of them in this activity:
- “When I say go”
- In their table groups they will all be in charge of searching for
their evidence envelope hidden somewhere in the classroom.
- Each table has one clue to help them find it.
- Once they have found the evidence they must return to their
table without opening their evidence envelope until told to.

(5 minutes) - Say go and let the students find their envelopes, give
them time warnings for when they need to be back in
their seats “one minute left”.

(15 - 20 minutes) Evidence Debrief/Discussion:

- Once the students are back at their seats, table by table we
will open their evidence envelopes and discuss how they fit
into the case study and other evidence they may have not
been provided with. (table 1 starts, then 2, then 3, etc.)

- As each group presents their evidence, ask the class these

questions: “How would this piece of evidence help us choose
a main suspect? What makes this evidence helpful, or
unhelpful?” Other questions and statements can be found in
the speaker notes of the slides presentation.

- As we go through their evidence,we will also go through the

powerpoint slides which will have other information to help
the students decipher which suspect the evidence belongs
to.

(30 seconds) Quiet Down the class: “It’s time to vote for who we think stole
the missing coffee”

(8 min) VOTE:
- Have all of the students close their eyes and put their heads
on their desks.
- Ask the students:
- “Based on our evidence and discussion, which suspect do
you think committed the crime?”
 Robin and Maddison

- Have them raise their hand (or not) for each suspect and
count the votes.
- Once they have all voted they can lift their heads and open
their eyes.

(30 seconds) Announce who was voted as the culprit and segue into ending
discussion:

(10 min) Final Discussion:

- If they voted correctly, ask them why they decided on this
individual as the culprit and why the evidence helped to point
them in that direction.

- If they voted incorrectly, ask them how they came to this

conclusion and point out where they went wrong and why.

- Give them a little preview into what we will be doing in the

next class. (types of evidence, scientific method, and tire
print activity)

(30 seconds) Pass out exit slips and put questions on the smart board:

Conclusion / Exit slips

Wrap up ( 8 mins) - Once the students have all been handed an exit slip paper, I
will direct them to reflect on the question on the board and
answer both questions in a sentence or two.
Questions:
Did you know about evidence and investigation before this class, if
so what did you know, if not what is something you learned today?

Which piece of evidence do you think was the most helpful in helping
us solve this crime?

ASSESSMENT(S)

The students will be assessed formatively throughout this lesson by using observation,
and conversation as well as the exit slips they will complete at the end of the lesson.
 Robin and Maddison

GRADE 6, WE NEED YOUR HELP!!

It was a crisp Wednesday morning when Ms. Evans, your lovely sixth-grade teacher,
arrived at her beloved classroom. She had always taken great pride in decorating
her space with educational posters, colorful charts, and always kept few special
personal items that made the room feel like a second home and helped her get
through each day. One of these special items was her thermos, which held her
coffee.

Ms. Evans relied on that cup of coffee to kick-start her day. She knew that, by the
time lunch came around, it would be a delightful pick-me-up to recharge her energy.

As the morning lessons passed by, Ms. Evans looked forward to her lunch break,
anticipating the comforting taste of her coffee. But when lunchtime finally arrived, she
reached for her thermos and discovered it was gone. Her coffee had vanished.

Panicking, she quickly checked the rest of her desk, hoping it had simply been
misplaced. She even peeked under the desk, thinking it might have rolled off, but it
was nowhere to be found. Her heart sank as she realized that her coffee, which she
had been looking forward to, had been taken during lunch.

Ms. Evans took a deep breath and decided to investigate the matter. She knew that
solving the mystery of her missing coffee was vital. She has a few suspects in mind
but needs our help to figure out WHO committed this awful crime!

Our Main suspects are:

Mr. Rosewarn
Motive: Ms. Evans laughed at him this morning and he doesn’t know why!

Ms. Ethier
Motive: Ms. Evans forgot to give her a book that her class needed to read today!

Ms. V (Ms. ethier’s student teacher)

Motive: forgot her morning coffee and was feeling very sleepy when lunch started!

Activity:

Now it’s our turn to help collect evidence to solve this terrible crime and get Ms.
Evans back her coffee!
 Robin and Maddison

There are 6 envelopes hidden around the classroom. Each of these envelopes
contains 1 piece of evidence that will help us pick a main suspect and solve the
crime and get the coffee safely back to Ms. Evans.

In your table groups you will work as a team to find the envelope that has the same
number as the one that’s on the clue sheet, I’m about to hand you. These Clues will
help you find the location of your envelope in the class. When I say Go, you’ll have a
couple minutes to find your envelope and go back to your table. Be sure not to open
your envelope until I tell you to because that would mean the evidence has been
tampered with and is no longer usable to help convict our suspect!

Clues:
1. Your envelope is hidden by things that keep us warm when it’s cold
outside.
2. Your envelope is hidden in a place that is quiet.
3. Your envelope is hidden by something that is green.
4. Your envelope is hidden under a place we do work.
5. Your envelope is hidden near a place we wash our hands.
6. Your envelope is hidden behind something that’s held up by magnets.

Envelope contents:
1. A coffee stain on a desk (photo).
2. Fiber samples from clothing
3. A photo of a strand of hair left at the crime scene.
4. A note left at the scene of the crime.
5. A dirty Footprint photo.
6. Samples of fingerprints left on Ms. Evans Desk.