Thinking About Earth as a Planet

SCIED 411 Lesson Plan Evaluation Form

Component	Description	Max Points	Points
Source Information	The authors of the lesson are clearly indicated, as well as the source of the lesson plan. Sample citations for published lessons: .http://www.nsrconline.org/pdf/EIS_TG_sample_1.pdf (no author apparent)	5	2
Grade level and topic	Is the grade level and general topic of the lesson clearly indicated and appropriate?	5	2
Standards and inquiry	Is at least one relevant State or National science or environmental education standard clearly identified, and is it substantively addressed in the lesson?	5	2
Instructional objectives	Is it clear from the statement of the lesson objectives what a student should be able to do as a result of completing the lesson?	10	5
Materials, equipment, and set-up	Are the materials and equipment needed for this lesson described clearly enough that another teacher could set it up and carry it out?	10	9
Body of the Lesson If evaluating a unit or an entire curriculum, look for the following elements in at least a couple of lessons.
Engagement	Will students’ attention be gained early in the lesson? Will their initial conceptions be solicited?	10	8
Exploration	Can you perceive a clear guiding question/purpose for the lesson? Will the students collect data or retrieve interesting data from elsewhere? Are the instructions for doing this clear?	15	3
Explanation	Will the students be able to make sense of their exploration? Are they asked to report what they learn?	15	5
Elaboration	Are there suggestions for extending the lesson (e.g., for advanced students)?	10	3
Evaluation	Is there a mechanism for evaluating students’ understandings? Does that mechanism match the lesson’s objectives?	15	13
DISCRETIONARY	Any additional points you wish to assign for especially good treatment in any section of the lesson plan (maximum of 10) (2 points for being straight forward and informative)	10	2

This lesson, while informative, leaves room for improvement. As a science teacher, it is often appropriate to demonstrate concepts visually through models and data collection. Simply answering questions and looking at pictures falls well short of this ideal goal. It is easy to have students memorize facts, but in my experience this is not helpful in the long run.

For all of its downfalls, this lesson does do a few things very well. For one, it makes it extremely easy for a teacher to gauge how much a student has learned. All he or she needs to do is check the child’s notebook. Furthermore, the objective of the lesson is quite clear: students will dismiss a variety of misconceptions dealing with astronomy. However, this is not a particularly engaging premise for a lesson.

This lesson does little to adhere to the national and state standards. However, it does support the research findings for inquiry. Particularly, it allows students to dismiss preconceived notions and replace them with the correct ideas. As a science teacher, this is an essential tool to ensure that a student is making strides in the classroom.

Overall, this is a good start towards an effective lesson. If a teacher were to add some elements of data collection and group learning, it could be quite effective. As stated in the lesson plan, the basic ideas learned in this lesson can be easily applied to such other subjects as art, history, and language arts. In my opinion, this would be a perfect lesson for K-5 students for its simple concepts and easy application.