Lesson Plan 4

Day: M T W T F Date: __12/02/16_________ Time: _1:46

2:50_________ Year: _7_____
Learning Area: _Science____
Topic: _Introduction to Graphs_
Curriculum content description: (from ACARA)
Construct and use a range of representations, including graphs, keys and models to represent
and analysepatterns or relationships in data using digital technologies as
appropriate(ACSIS129)

Students prior knowledge and experience:

(Outline what the students already know about this topic)

The students have been introduced to graphing in Year 6 for Science and
also Mathematics. Some of the students have also been exposed to the topic
during transition classes between Primary School and the start of Secondary
School.
Many of the students would have completed prior science experiments
where they would have included graphing to complete this work.

Learning purpose:

(May refer to the Elaborations of the curriculum content

description here)

Enable an understanding of how to draw and interpret graphs

Learning objectives:

Evaluation:

On completion of this lesson,

students will be able to:

(Explain how you will know that lesson

objective have been achieved / monitor
student learning)
1. Students will be expected to

(What will students know and be able to do

at the completion of the lesson specific,
concise and attainable objectives)

1. Enable students to understand how to

draw graphs and
2. Be able to interpret the results shown
on the graph and
3. Be able to make valid conclusions
based on the graph.

complete a worksheet based

on graphing.
2. Students will need to complete
tests, assessments and exams
that will test their knowledge
on how to draw and interpret
graphs.

Preparation and Resources:

(Detail what resources will be used and what other preparation of the learning environment
will be required)

Students will need

Writing tools
Science notebooks (to refer to previous notes)
Colour pencils
Ruler
Teacher will prepare
A copy of the worksheet for each student
PDF version of the worksheet to display on screen.
Whiteboard markers to draw up graphs for students

Catering for diversity

(detail any adjustments considerations for

educational/resource adjustments)

The worksheet is of a basic level so should be suitable for students of all

abilities. I will also go through the answers as a class to ensure that students
are not left behind in their understanding.
Students that finish the worksheet quicker can continue working through the
remaining questions.
With this lesson I will try to include all students by promoting a positive and
safe environment for them to participate.
Throughout the lesson I will aim to get all students involved by picking out
names of students to answer the questions. I will also get students to come
up to the board to assist me with drawing up the graph.
I will walk around the room while the students complete the worksheet
questions to ensure that all students are understanding the concepts. This
will give me an awareness of the students who may need more assistance or
encouragement.
If students finish one question they are free to move onto the next question.
Once the worksheet has been completed they can move on to textbook
questions about graphing where they can complete slightly harder graphs.

Learning Experiences:
1. Introduction:
5mins

5mins

(How will I engage the learners?)

Before commencing the graphing exercise discuss with students

about the recent discovery of gravitational waves that Einstein
predicted 100 years ago. Discuss how due to lack of technological
advances it could not be proven at the time but has been proven
now.
Introduce the graphing exercise. Ask the students who has done
graphs before and find out from general discussions what they
remember about graphing so I can determine what speed I can
present the material and identify which students will need
additional support.
2. Sequence of learning experiences: (What will you do to help the
students achieve the learning objectives? What tasks and activities will
the students be involved in to help achieve the learning objectives?)

There are a total of 3 examples on the graphing worksheet that the

students will work through. My aim at the moment is not to finish
this worksheet today but look at finishing 2 exercises since I would
prefer to take time to ensure that students have understood the
concepts and have adequate time to think about the process
involved. If students are understanding the concepts and getting
the exercises completed correctly we can then work on the third
exercise. Students who finish early can proceed with the third
exercise and we can go through the answers on Monday in the next
lesson.
20mins

Before commencing the exercises introduce the concepts of

graphing in the sequence below:
Aim: The aim of graphs are to represent the results in the
form of a table from our experiment
Axes: Axes are what two variables we are looking at in the
experiment.
X-axis: Horizontal axis which is always the independent
variable
Y-axis: Vertical axis which is always the dependent variable.
When you write Y the stick points down showing the direction
of the Y-axis.
Label your axes and remember to include any units
Decide what type of graph you are going to do.
Bar graph: to display categorical variables (categories or
groups)

20mins

Line graph: to display continuous data in the form of

numbers.
Scale: Work out your scales for each axis. Look at the table
and work out your maximum and minimum values. Scales
need to be continuous.
Number or label your axes once you have worked out your
range needed.
Plot the points on the graph and draw line of best fit if line
graph.
Draw in each bar if the graph is a bar graph and colour in if
time permits.

Commence exercise 1 explaining each step to the students. Give

the students a minute to write down what they think is the correct
answer and then draw on the whiteboard the right answers so they
can see if they were right or not. Ask the students to raise their
hands if they had a different answer and are not sure why they
were incorrect.
Question: Based on the first exercise can you explain to me what
the difference between categorical and continuous data is?

10mins

Commence exercise 2 but this time get the students to work

through it on their own before I start showing them the right
answers. Walk around the room to make sure that the students are
understanding the work.
Question: In this example we drew a line graph. How did we know
to draw a line graph and not a bar graph?
3. Lesson conclusion: (How will you summarise the learning and relate it
to the lesson objectives?)

5 mins

In the last 5 minutes go through the answers with the students. Get
the students to answer questions related to the exercise and write
these answers on the board so students can check their own work
and correct the answers in their books if needed. Briefly explain
how we will do further exercises in the next lesson for them to
practice more. Ask the students to hang onto the worksheets so we
can stick them in their books for revision for tests and exams.

Lesson Evaluation:
(Reflect on the lesson. What worked? What did not work? What would you change? Why?)

The lesson did not run as smoothly as I expected. This lesson was the last
lesson of the day on Friday so the students were generally restless and it
was very hard to get their attention. The end result of this was that we only
covered the introduction to graphing and the first question before it was the
end of the class.
The main issue that I had was getting the attention of the class when I
wanted to go through the question with the students. There was a lot of
chatting and even the 3.2.1 countdown didnt get their attention. I had
to threaten the students with finishing off the work at lunch time next week
for them to finally but still very slowly pay attention. I found that I was
essentially yelling for most of this class but still the students at the back of
the room and to the side of the room away from where I was primarily
standing mentioned that they had trouble hearing what I was saying.
The lesson itself was structured okay. I explained how to do graphing in a lot
of detail so that students werent so familiar with graphing could catch up to
students who had done a lot more graphing. I felt that my instructions were
adequate since most of the class could get through exercise 1 without too
much assistance.
I structured the lesson around the students having a decent go themselves
before I wrote up the answers on the board and discussed the answers with
the students. On reflection I might have given the class too much time to
work out their own answers since we didnt complete exercise 2 as planned.
There were students who very quickly finished exercise 1 so I got them
started on exercise 2 and even exercise 3 in one case.
I will be teaching this same lesson to another Year 7 class on Monday so I will
aim to speed up the lesson so we at least get Exercise 2 completed.