Maddie Koontz

EDUC 424A
Dr. McKenzie
Unit Plan: 1st Grade
2/11/2016

Unit Plan: Life Resources

1st Grade
S.O.L. 1.4 a,b,c and 1.5 a,b,c
Rationale:
Teaching science can be very difficult. Although it leaves you a variety of lessons,
science has never been my strong suit throughout school. Now having to teach to an entire class
and making sure they not only understand the concepts but also actually get something out of
each lesson can be overwhelming. The point of creating a strong unit is making it exciting for
students. Hooking them into the lesson is important because its what will set the foundation
for the rest of the lesson. For each unit you want students to be able to make connections with the
materials being taught. My goal is to make the lessons appropriate for first grade, challenging
each student so they can push themselves to their best potential but also expanding their thinking
processes to learn as much as they can. I also hope as a teacher that this unit plan is creative and
will do a good job intriguing the students to ask many questions using thinking skills to process
the material being taught to them. My hope is that the material being taught to them will not be
forgotten months down the road. The lessons I remembered most when I was in elementary
school have stuck with me all the way to college. As a teacher, I hope my students will remember
these lessons and retain the information rather than just learning it because it is apart of the
curriculum or that they have to. The go1al of this unit is to introduce new information but make
it intriguing for students to be interested in the topic for each student but on a level that all
students will be able to understand and retain.
Major Goals or Objectives:
The objective for S.O.L. 1.4 is to teach students about the life resources. This means that
the student will investigate and understand that plants have basic life needs and functional parts,
which can be classified according to certain characteristics. They will learn how plants need
nutrients, air, water, light and places to grow. They will also learn about the basic parts of plant
and how they can be classified based on characteristics. In S.O.L. 1.5 the student will investigate
and understand that animals have basic needs and certain characteristics leading to their
classification. They will learn how these basic needs include air, food, water, and shelter.
The major goal for this unit is to help students create a further understanding of living vs.
nonliving things and helping them create the classifications using characteristics learned between
the two.
Overview:
The overview of this lesson is to provide students with an understanding of living vs.
non- living things, plants vs. animals and their basic needs, characteristics, and categorization of
each of these concepts. They will learn about the basic parts of the plant. The students will also
learn about key characteristics of animals and how they can be classified a long with the key
characteristics of plants and how they can be classified as well.

Materials:
Day 1 Lesson:
Worksheet
Day 2 Lesson:
Paper
Ziploc bags
Markers
Pencils
Day 3 Lesson:
Worksheet
Cabbage leaves
Food coloring
Water
Jars
Day 4 Lesson:
Different Habitats:
Box filled with mulch and plastic farm animals
Box filled with water and plastic aquatic animals
Box filled with sand and plastic desert animals
Box filled with dirt and grass and forest animals/insects
Day 5 Lesson:
Worksheet
Assessment:
Test booklet
Safety Concerns:
The only safety concerns with the students will occur when we go outside. The students may trip,
play with rocks or other objects they may not. This can cause the students to get dirty, fall, and
potentially get a cut. When the students also use cut and paste worksheets the scissors can be a
hazard too. Also when use the food coloring it can get on clothes or hands so before using it have
the students put a smock on and place newspaper down on the desks so it does not get messy. It
is important to show your trust in the student so that they feel confident to behave well but it is
important before any project, experiment, or outdoor activity to set rules and guidelines so the
student knows what is being asked of them. It is important to be cautious with the students while
still allowing them to explore and have fun.

S.O.L.s Being Covered: (Taken from doe.virginia.gov)

Life Processes
1.4

The student will investigate and understand that plants have basic life needs and
functional parts and can be classified according to certain characteristics. Key
concepts include
a) Plants need nutrients, air, water, light, and a place to grow;
b) Basic parts of plants; and
c) Plants can be classified based on a variety of characteristics.

1.5

The student will investigate and understand that animals, including humans, have
basic needs and certain distinguishing characteristics. Key concepts include
a) Basic needs include adequate air, food, water, shelter, and space (habitat);
b) Animals, including humans, have many different physical characteristics; and
c) Animals can be classified according to a variety of characteristics.

Day
1

S.O.L. 1.4 a

1.4b

1.4c

2
3

1.5a

1.5c

x
x

4
5

1.5b

Day 1 Lesson:
This first lesson will be an introduction day. The students will observe items that are
considered living and non-living. It can include pictures, real life examples, and things around
the classroom just to get their minds in that type of thinking process. The teacher will ask
questions as to what characteristics they think make up living vs. non-living groups. After some
information is taught and the key characteristics between the two such as air, water, space, food,
etc. After this is explained to the students they will then go on a walk around the school and
outside of the school. The student will use the worksheet listed below to help them process the
information. This worksheet is a guide to help the students decide living vs. non-living.
Day 2 Lesson:
The second lesson will deal with classification. Now that the students know some
characteristics of living vs. non-living things the students will learn about how to classify these
characteristics into groups. For this lesson the teacher will explain how you can classify. For first
grade the concepts need to be simple. The teacher could suggest that you can group based off of

size, color, location, width, height, shape, etc. The class will then go outside. The teacher will
have previously marked three Ziploc bags for each group so they understand where they are
retrieving the items. The students will explore a specific area and pick up items from different
locations such as the playground, front entrance of school and sports field. The students will
classify the items once back in the classroom based off of size, shape, color etc.
Day 3 Lesson:
The third lesson will consist of teaching students the different parts of a plant. The
teacher will also demonstrate how a plant grows by absorbing water and nutrients. First the
teacher will use the worksheet Parts of a Plant. This worksheet has students cut and paste the
correct words and match them with the correct part of the plant. They will do this as a class.
After the teach will do an experiment with the students showing how the plant absorbs water. For
this experiment the teacher will have jars filled with water and a large leaf of cabbage placed in
that jar. The students will add a few drops of food coloring to the jars and let it sit overnight.
Experiment found on: http://pagingfunmums.com/2013/07/09/fun-science-experiment-learninghow-plants-absorb-water/
For homework the students will complete this booklet to test their knowledge of what they
learned about the plant: http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Life-Cycle-Of-A-Plant.pdf

Day 4 Lesson:

When the students return in the morning they will be eager to see what happened to their
cabbage overnight. The picture above shows what the students will find when they come into
class. To transition from plants to animals the teacher can hook the students by explain how
plants and animals can be similar. Animals need air, space, room to grow, food, and nutrients just
like plants. To help the students understand how different animals can be classified I used a
lesson plan from the website agclassroom.org. This lesson has students classify and sort plastic
animals from different habitats such as a forest, desert, farm, and aquatic area. This will be a
class discussion and can allow me to evaluate their classification skills using the way they
processed the information.
Homework: Start reviewing for test
Day 5 Lesson:
To wrap up the unit, the fifth day will be a combination of plants and animals. The
students will fill out a quick worksheet for me to assess where the students stand with the entire
concepts being taught to them. This worksheet will have students compare plants to animals and
which is categorized as which.
Homework: Study for test that will be tomorrow. Read over the booklet you made Life Cycle of
a Plant and review worksheets of non-living vs. living things.
**All worksheets done in class on this unit and will be reviewed by the teacher before sent home
with them in the study folder. A study folder will have the important information for students to
review in and practice at home before any quiz or test.
Assessment:
There will be a test given to the students about this unit. There will be three pages to the test. The
first will have students label the plant, the second page will have students circle the living things,
and the third page will have students match the animals to their habitats. All of these concepts
have been discussed throughout this whole week.

Assessment Rubric:
Name?

Labeling of
Plant. Total
Possible
Points:6

Living vs. Non

Living. Total
Possible
Points:9

Animal Habitat.
Total Possible
Points: 12

Total Grade:
Out of 27 points

Extension Activities/ Diverse Learners:

These extension activities and lesson plans may be changed due to diverse learners. This
unit offers a variety of lessons to meet to every student. There are class discussions, outdoor
activities, experiments, worksheets, coloring and filling out a booklet, cutting and pasting, and
simple worksheets such as circling the living item compared to the non-living item. All of these
lessons offer a variety of methods for students to help them. Sticking to the same type of lesson
can be a) boring b) repetitive and c) only offer one method of assessing your student. By offering
a variety of options allows me to assess my students at different levels and to hopefully meeting
their best learning style.

Sources:
S.O.L.s were found at http://www.doe.virginia.gov
Day 1:
Living or Nonliving Worksheet: http://snippetsbysarah.blogspot.com/2011/09/living-ornonliving.html
Day 2:
Lesson came from: http://www.monstersciences.com/living-things/living-things-scienceexperiment-plants-school/
Day 3:
Different Parts of a Plant Worksheet: http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Parts-of-a-plantworksheet.pdf
Homework: http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Life-Cycle-Of-A-Plant.pdf
Experiment: http://pagingfunmums.com/2013/07/09/fun-science-experiment-learning-howplants-absorb-water/
Day 4:
Lesson Idea using animal classification:
http://www.agclassroom.org/teacher/matrix/search_result.cfm
Day 5:
Worksheet: http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Living-Things-Sort-Pictures.pdf
Assessment:
Test: http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Plant-Worksheet.pdf
http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Circle-the-living-things.pdf
http://worksheetplace.com/mf_pdf/Animal-Habitat-Worksheet-1.pdf

TEST ON
LIFE
RESOURCES