Dakota State University

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Name: Makayla Neill

Grade Level: 7th
School: MMS

Date: 3/7/24

Time: 12:33-1:13 (40min.)

Reflection from the prior lesson:

● Students need help during the transition to get back on topic. Some students need help expanding on
their answers by asking questions. Students are more engaged in the topic when they have something
to relate to that helps them grasp the content. Addressing the class with a good volume gets their
attention and gets them ready to start a class for the day.

Contextual Factors/ Learner Characteristics:

● 17 males
● 11 females
● 6 students in the gifted program
● 2 students on 504 plans
● 2 students on IEPS

Lesson Goal(s) / Standards:

● MS-LS4-2 Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for similarities and differences among
modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. (SEP:
6;DCI: LS4.A; CCC: Patterns

Lesson Objective(s): (The objective(s) should be measurable).

● MS-LS4-2 - I can describe the similarities and differences between the different types of fossils.

Assessment: (The assessment should directly measure the objective).

● Formative: I will be making observations of the students' discussion and how they explain the
similarities and differences of the fossils in their small groups and as a large group as we work through
the PowerPoint. As I circulate the room I will also be looking at what the students are writing down
when they have independent thinking time.

Materials Needed:

● Paper

● Pencil

Connection(s) to Research & Theory:

 ● Active Prior Knowledge: Ask the students what they may have learned about fossils before the start
of our unit so as we move forward as a group we can build off of what was shared in class.

● Provide meaningful context: Provide updated and current events into the lesson to make a better
connection to the content. For example, include the recent fossil that has recently been in the news and
TikTok called the “Chinses dragon” that was recently discovered and has been in the news.

A. The Lesson

● Introduction (5 minutes)

○ getting attention: Display an image of a fossil and an animal on the screen with no context. Ask
the students to take a minute to study the images and think about “what they notice and what they
wonder”.

○ Have the students talk with their tables before sharing with the large group about what they
notice and what they wonder about.

■ Question: How do you think the images are related to each other?

○ Explain this is the “ Chinese Dragon” that has been in the news.

○ relating to past experience and/or knowledge: Have the students share their knowledge of
fossils and past experiences they have with fossils from previous classes.

○ (Students are just starting the unit and have not yet talked about types of fossils)

○ creating a need to know: Explain how fossils are a window to the past that can help us better
understand the past.

○ sharing objective, in general terms: Explain to the students we are going to take some time to
understand the different types of fossils and the characteristics that make them different. Let them
know that this will help them on an assignment we will be doing in the unit.

● Content Delivery (25 minutes)

○ Have the students get a writing utensil and paper out as they will be taking some notes that can be
helpful when studying for their unit test at the end of the unit.

i. The first slide that the students will be looking at is two pictures from their pretest. Explain
that these photos should look familiar to them as they should have seen them on the pretest
they took Monday.

1. Have the students take some independent thinking time and write down two
characteristics of each fossil and one difference between the two on their paper.
a. After students have things written down students will be asked to talk with
their tables about what they have down before I ask them to share with the
whole group (think pair share )

○ Slide 4 of the PowerPoint is when students will start taking notes.

i. (Ask the students what they think a fossil is)
ii. Explain what a fossil is
 ○ Slide 5 reflects on the student's pretest and shares a common theme that students thought fossils
could only be of animals
i. (the content of slide five is three things that could be a fossil)
○ Slide 6 lists the five types of fossils on the slide
i. ask students what they think each type of fossil could be
1. Give students time to think about it before calling on them.

○ Work through slides 7-11 going over each type of fossil. (allow students time to write down
information from the slides before moving on to the next.)
i. Check on the understanding after going over each slide allowing time for questions or
comments about the slide.

○ Show the students to take what they have learned from the slides and again describe the images
they see and now name the types of fossils they are looking at.
i. Ask students to share their information on the two pictures.

● Closure (10-15 minutes)

○ Students will help go over a recap of what we learned through the lesson
i. Answer any questions the students may have left after the lesson.
ii. Inform the students they should hold on to their notes as it will help them study for the unit
test.

○ Students at the end of the lesson will get the remainder of time to finish up their group timelines and
get them turned in.

○ Groups that have submitted their timeline on Canvas may work on the unit choice points until the
end of class time.

B. Differentiated Instruction

● Adaptations for students with special needs or not meeting expectations

○ Students may have aids in the classroom for support
○ Check in on the students as they work on writing their thoughts down and help them as needed
to share their ideas and thoughts they have during small group.

● Adaptations for those exceeding expectations

○ Encourage students to be the leaders of their small groups and share their knowledge with their
groups and share during whole group dissection to help keep them engaged.

● Language Support (IF you have ELLs (English Language Learners))

○ Read aloud on Edge available for the PowerPoint. Learners also have access to Google
Translate.

C. Resources
● Fossil PowerPoint