Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s) Courtney Carver See screencast summary at
Name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU9hL21AxiI

Position STEM Coordinator and Instructional Coach

School/District Martin Technology Academy of Math and Science/Hall County

E-mail Courtney.carver@hallco.org

Phone 770-965-1578 ext 7114

Grade Level(s) 4th Grade

Content Area STEM (Science and Mathematics Integration)

Time line 2 weeks

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.
S4P3 students will identify simple machines and explain their function. Students will also
be able to explain how force effects speed and motion.
3-5-ETS1-1 Engineering Design- Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a
want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2 Engineering Design - Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a
problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the
problem.
3-5-ETS1-3 Engineering Design - Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are
controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that
Content Standards can be improved.
4 Innovative Designer - Students use a variety of technologies within a design process
to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
6 - Creative Communicator - Students communicate clearly and express themselves
creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital
NETS*S Standards: media appropriate to their goals.

Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

4th grade students will work through a combination of online tasks and hands-on experiments to learn the
content needed to complete their culminating engineering task. Students will do their online work in their
learning management system, Canvas. They will watch content videos, test out some online simulators, and
participate in online discussions. Students will work in groups to use their knowledge about simple machines to
create a marble roller coaster that includes more than one simple machine in the design. When students have
completed their roller coaster, they will create a Voki talking about how they worked as a group through the
engineering design process and upload this to their canvas course.

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Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple yes or no and should have many acceptable answers.

What forces do simple machines have on other objects?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

Students will have multiple opportunities in this lesson to show mastery of the standards. They will be
assessed formatively with their discussion posts in their canvas course. These discussions will not be taken for
a grade, but will be closely monitored by the teacher for accuracy and understanding. Students final projects,
the marble roller coaster and reflection voki, will be assessed with a rubric (see attached). Due to the nature of
this project, differentiation comes naturally. Students are able to come up with their designs and
implementation in any way that they can to show mastery of the standard.

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etchelp elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)

The majority of content for this lesson will be delivered through technology. Students will need to be familiar
with navigating their online learning management system. Students will also need to be familiar with discussion
post etiquette. Students will be watching online videos, trying out online simulators, and participating in
discussion posts, as well as creating Vokis which is a new tool for them.

Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)

This project is already a high-interest project for students because of the creation of the roller coaster.
Students will need to be familiar with the Engineering Design Process in order to complete their project, as well
as be very clear about the constraints and expectations of the project. Students may have difficultly
transferring thoughts and ideas from the information they consume and implementing those ideas into their
designs. The teacher can support students with this by modeling her thought process as she works through
the EDP. Keeping students focused on the requirements of adding simple machines to the coaster design, and
not just building for fun will be a challenge for the teacher. The teacher will need to make sure her expectations
are clearly communicated to the students prior to working on the assignments, and that she has evidence of
student accountability along the way.

Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.

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 Students in this school have a 1:1 device ratio, so all students will have access to an internet connected device
as they need it. Students will work through various STEM stations in the classroom including 2 that are more
math focused and teacher guided, one that is a makerspace, and then the two stations that encompass this
lesson. They will move through these stations in small groups of 4 5 students. Prior to providing the lesson
to students, the teacher will use student view in the online course to trouble-shoot and ensure that all links are
visible and working. Teacher will also make sure to check these links at school, prior to instruction, to ensure
none of them are blocked by the school firewall. If an internet connection issue should arise, the teacher will
troubleshoot by first checking the wireless button hasnt been switched to airplane mode, then making sure
students are on the correct local wifi access point, then if necessary putting in a call to the media specialist for
support or to enter a work order for repair to the machine. The teacher has 3 back-up devices in the classroom
for students to use if an issue should arise on their particular device.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

A few of the research-based instructional strategies that will be used in this lesson include accountable talk
from the students (via discussion boards), discovery/inquiry based learning (via online videos and simulators,
as well as working through the EDP), flexible/strategic grouping (heterogonous groups will move together
through the stations to support each others learning), hands-on learning (through the building, testing, and
improving stages of the roller coaster engineering challenge), and integration of content areas (this lesson
takes place in a STEM classroom, during STEM block time, and math - measurement will also be
incorporated in other stations during this rotation time).

The role of the teacher in this classroom is of a facilitator. The teacher will provide instructions and
expectations up front, but students will work through the lessons at their own pace. The teacher will facilitate
discussions within groups, provide deeper questioning where applicable, and formatively assess students along
the way. The students role in this lesson is the creator of knowledge. Students are pacing themselves to learn
new content and then apply it to the engineering challenge.

By working through the engineering design process to create a marble roller coaster based on their knowledge
of simple machines and force and motion, students will be working in the highest levels of Blooms Taxonomy.
When students are in the test and improve stages of the EDP when building their roller coasters, they will be
working at the analyze level of Blooms Taxonomy. When students are working as a team to decide on which
design to implement, and using supporting evidence from videos and simulators to make their arguments, they
are working in the evaluate level of Blooms Taxonomy. When students are designing and constructing their
roller coasters within the constraints provided, they are working at the highest level of Blooms Taxonomy,
create.

The use of technology is an integral part of this lesson. Without the videos and simulators, students would be
getting their facts from teacher presentation or the text books. This doesnt not provide students with enough
visuals and real-world examples for them to justify the decisions they are making about their roller coaster
designs. Technology is more than just an engagement piece in this lesson. Having students discuss their
struggles through a discussion post will help them think deeply about solutions. This discussion board is the
most critical communication and collaboration component of this lesson.

Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)

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 Content will be differentiated for students through the variety of online materials that they will use to gather their
research/knowledge. Multiple videos and articles on different reading levels will be provided. The process will
be differentiated by allowing students the opportunity to record their discussion posts instead of typing them, as
well as having different options available for students to create their roller coaster designs (google Draw, pencil
and paper, Lego 3-D online, etc). Students that are interested in the topic or show mastery quickly and need
enrichment opportunities, will be provided with a challenge of incorporating more than 2 simple machines in
their design and/or completing an independent roller coaster at home that can be brought in and shared with
the class. For assistive technology, students will have the option to use text to speech to have directions read
aloud, and to also have their discussion posts read aloud to them before submitting.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
In what ways was this lesson effective?
What went well and why?
What did not go well and why?
How would you teach this lesson differently?)

For closing, students will present their roller coaster designs, and then reflect on the essential questions and
answer those questions in a Voki that will be shared on a discussion board with their class. The teacher will
include some further probing questions in the Voki assignment such as Did you think that building this roller
coaster helped you to better understand simple machines and force and motion? What were the parts you
liked about the lesson and what would you change? Based on the completed roller coasters, student
observations, and Voki reflections, the teacher should have enough evidence to answer the reflection questions
above.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.
In order to implement this lesson successfully, it is imperative that the teacher already has routines and
expectations solidly in place for working in STEM rotations. This lesson requires that the students do a lot of
work independently, so classroom management procedures need to already be in place for this type of work to
be successful. I would advise teachers to make sure their directions for each station are very clearly explained
by the teacher before starting the process, and also clearly written out either at the station and/or in the online
course directions for students. If this is the first time the teacher has tried to implement a lesson like this, it
would be beneficial for her to not assign herself a group to work with during this time. There are many
scenarios where students may need support academically, technically, or even working with peers in a group
and it would be very beneficial for the teacher to be free to be a true facilitator of the classroom learning
environment. The teacher will need to understand that with this lesson there is a lot of formative assessment
that will take place outside the classroom, such as discussion posts, and time should be allotted for this. The
students are highly engaged in building their roller coasters, but it is very important for the teacher to continue
to have students reflect on the engineering design process, and the requirements of the project, so it doesnt
turn into a free-for-all coaster build. Possibly adding a checklist would help guide some students through the
process who may tend to become distracted, but the teacher needs to be careful of not providing too much
guidance to the build. Students should be using the coaster build to prove what they know. Overall I felt that
this lesson was a great way to have students apply their knowledge of simple machines and extend their
learning, instead of just simply identifying them.

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 Marble Roller Coaster Rubric

Task/Engineering 0 1 2 3
Principals
Questions are
Evidence of Questions are directly linked to
No evidence of concrete, directly linked to engineering
ASK
questions procedural engineering design process
questions design process and the clients
needs
Sketches reflect
understanding of
Sketches reflect the engineering
No evidence of
Limited and understanding of design process
IMAGINE schematic
vague sketches; the engineering and are
designs
design process beginning to
include
constraints
Reveals an Reveals an
understanding of understanding of
Limited and/or
No evidence of the EDP and the EDP and
PLAN lacks attention
a plan includes either a includes at least
to details
loop or a simple 1 loop and 2
machine simple machines
Has a working Model illustrates Model illustrates
model; yet a moderate level a high level of
No evidence of limited in design of sophistication sophistication in
CREATE a working and operation; in design and design and
model may not stay operation and operation and
within all stays within the stays within all
constraints constraints constraints
Changes made to
model were
Changes made to informed by
Minor changes model were structural
No evidence of
IMPROVE performed on informed by limitations and
a re-design
redesign structural were supported
limitations by evidence of
need from the
student

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