LESSON PLAN: YEAST BLOW UP EXPERIMENT

Name:

Katie Zarogoza

Date: December 3, 2015 Grade Level: 6th

1. Content Objective(s)/State Standards:

Science 6th grade
Standard 5 Objective 2: Demonstrate the skills needed to plan and conduct an
experiment to determine a microorganisms requirements in a specific
environment.
Behavioral Objectives:
Students will conduct a science experiment working in groups by following the
procedures previously discussed and written in their science journals.
Language Objectives: Students will be able to respond to discussion questions
about microorganisms and their experiment with peers and as a whole class.
Academic Language/Vocabulary:
- Fungi
- Microorganism
- Bacteria
- Hypothesis
- Experiment
- Conclusion
- Control
- Independent Variable
- Dependent Variable
2. Introduction/Background knowledge:
The students are currently learning about microorganisms in science. Prior to this
experiment, they have set up their science journals for this experiment. They
have formed a hypothesis, written down the materials needed, written and
discussed step-by-step procedures, as well as control, dependent, and
independent variables.
For this lesson, they will be conducting the yeast blow up experiment. Students
will be working in teams and will gather all materials needed, measuring the
yeast, the water, and the sugar. They will be taking and recording the
temperature of the water, measuring and recording the height or circumference of
the balloons, and recording/plotting the data into a graph.
ELLs might have a difficult time understanding all of the tasks of the experiment.
Students will be working in teams, so they will be working together to conduct
this experiment. ELLs can learn a lot from working with other peers. Since this is
a hands-on science experiment, it provides ELLs with great visual support of what
is really going on during the experiment. When recording their data, students are
also going to be drawing pictures of what they see happening during the
experiment. This will be a great way for ELLs to show us what is going on, even if
they arent able to verbally explain the changes that they are seeing.
3. Interesting Texts/Materials for Instruction
What text(s)/materials are you using for your lesson?
For each team:
- Glass measuring cup

2 Balloons
Measuring spoon
2 plastic bottles
Yeast
Sugar
Thermometer
Cool and warm water
Measuring tape/string
Scientific journal to record observations
Computer/Projector to type the instructions and project them on the board
so that if students forget, or need something to look back on, they may see
the instructions on the board. ELLs may also have other peers read the
instructions to them if needed.

4. Student Engagement: What engagement principle(s) are you choosing for this lesson?
________choice, ____X_____collaboration, ____X____building concepts, ____X____relevance
real world interaction
I will engage students in this lesson by:
Students will be working together and collaborating as a team during this
experiment. Each student in the team will have a job they will be in charge of
(measuring yeast, measuring sugar, recording water temperature, gathering
materials, etc.).
Students have previously about living and non-living things, microorganisms, and
the scientific method. Students will be building from these concepts and
conducting an experiment to determine what environment yeast will thrive in.
Students will be able to link this experiment to real-world interaction by
discussing their conclusions with their peers and as a whole class.
5. Student Activity/Differentiation. What will your students be doing to meet the
purpose of your lesson? (listening, reading, searching, writing, strategy instruction, group
work, etc.)
What my students are actually DOING: Before, During, and After.
Before: Students have previously been listening and writing the expectations, and
procedures they need to follow during this experiment. Before beginning this
lesson, we will review the expectations and procedures as a class.
During: Students will be conducting their own Yeast Blow Up experiment. They
will be using math to measure the yeast, sugar, and water and recording the
temperature of the water. Students will then place the balloons over the top of
the plastic bottles and observing any changes in the size of the balloon. Students
will write down their observations as well as draw a diagram of any changes they
see happening. Students will write down and record the size of the balloon, the
temperature of the water and will plot this data on a graph.
After: Students will write conclusions to the experiment based on the data they
have collected. We will have a class discussion at the end of the experiment to
give the students a chance to discuss their findings with other teams, other
peers, and as a whole class.
Lesson Modifications/Adaptions:
By having my students work in teams, I am differentiating the instruction for
struggling learners, so they can all work together and support one another. If
there is a question, they are able to ask their other team members for help.
Gifted learners may help their other team members, and provide the team with a
group leader to guide the rest of the group with the experiment. Gifted
learners may possibly provide insight and ideas to other students who are

struggling with the concepts.

All students will be drawing diagrams of their findings, and supporting their
teams in times of need. This is especially important for English Language
Learners and making sure that they are understanding the concepts as well as
English speaking students.

6. Writing/Communicating/Assessment: How will you know students have met the

purpose of the lesson? What will students do to record their understanding?
At the end of the experiment, students should form a conclusion in their science
journals on their observations and findings. By having them write their
conclusion, I will know if they have understood and met the purpose of the lesson.
We will also have a class discussion on their findings, and all their data that they
have collected during the experiment will be plotted on a graph that they will
glue into their science journals.
Assessment Strategies specifically for ELL students: Some students might not be
able to write complete sentences into their conclusion to document their
understanding of the concept. For these students, I would like to have a small
community circle, and all discuss what their findings were. If they have a hard
time explaining it, they may use pictures or diagrams to explain their findings.
This does not mean they are exempt from filling out their science journals with
the data, I will provide extra support in that area if needed.

School/Home Connections: I would like to encourage my students to do this same

experiment at home with their parents. All of the materials are easy to get and
manage. When students do this experiment a second time at home, were the
results the same? Different? Why or why not? I would like to have students come
back with a reflection paper explaining the process they took and any noted
changes that were involved.