Lesson Design Template: MAT/Certification Elementary

CandidateName:MeganFondell
HostTeacherName:Mrs.Bartolaba
School:KeetGooshiHeen
GradeLevel:4th
#ofStudents:22
Date&TimeofLesson:Tue.Oct281:001:50
LengthofLesson:50minutes
TopicofLesson:MakeaCrater
ContentArea:STEM
Materials:Includeallmaterialsincludingtechnology:MeteoritePowePoint,MeteorCraterYouTube
video(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoGvlYCkD6Q),baseball,bouncyball,golfball,orange,
racquetball,flour,5shallowboxesortubs,recordingsheet
Alaska
Standard:

Math Standards: A.6. Collect, organize, analyze, interpret,

represent, and formulate questions about data and make
reasonable and useful predictions.
C.1. Express and represent mathematical ideas using oral and
written presentations, physical materials, pictures, graphs,
charts, and algebraic expressions.
Science Standard: D.2. Develop an understanding of the origins,
ongoing processes, and forces that shape the structure,
composition, and physical history of the Earth.

STAGE ONE
Objective(s):
1. Students will discover how meteorites
impact the surface of other plantes,
specifically earth
2. Students will experiment with how the size
of a meteorite effects the size of the crater it
creates
3. Students will represent and analyze their
findings in a table

STAGE TWO:
Student Assessment:
1. Students will participate in a discussion about
meteorites and craters and their impact on Earth
(teacher observation)
2. Students will complete and analyze a table of
data showing the relationship between the size
of an object and its crater.

STAGE THREE: Opportunities to Learn

Introduction/Hook: Show picture of meteor crater in Arizona from PowerPoint on screen. Does
anyone know what this is? There are lots of small, rocky bodies that travel through space. They
can be as small as grains of sand, or as big as small moons or comets. Some of these pieces of
rocks are called meteoroids. Explain the difference between a meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite
with slide from PowerPoint. Watch video on how meteor crater was formed.
Is it common for meteors like this to hit Earth? Only predicted to happen every 10 million years
or so. There are scientists who study Near Earth Objects (NEOs) to make sure that one is not
going to impact us. Today, were going to work with our own meteoroids to create craters and
see how the size of a meteorite affects the size of the crater it creates.
Processes and products
Differentiation/Accommodations/Modifications
Have students work in groups to
Students who may need extra assistance
complete the experiment (5 groups)
completing their table/graph or
calculating their averages will receive
First, pass out recording sheet and
help from an adult
explain how students are to record their
Students will perform the experiment
data
together as a group, so they will be able
Work as a class to record the diameter
to help each other collect and record the
and mass of each meteorite to be
data
tested

Have students make predictions of which

object they think will have the largest
and smallest crater
Demonstrate how you would create the
first crater and measure and collect the
data.
Have students continue in groups to test
each meteorite and the size of its
crater and record their information on
the table. Rotate the objects around to
each group so they test each one.
When students have finished, collect the
materials and come back together to
analyze the results.
Have each group share their own data so
that other students can record.
Students work in groups to find the
average crater size for each meteorite
from the class data
When students have averages, fill in the
graph to plot the size of the object to the
size of the crater.
Come back together for class discussion:
o How does the size of a meteorite
affect the size of the crater it
creates?
Closure: What other factors do you think we could test that would affect the size of the crater?
(mass, distance from ground, thickness of flour, patting the flour down, how the object was
dropped, etc.). Think about some of these other ideas and make predictions on how it will affect
the crater size.
How is this lesson sensitive to cultural and language issues?
The lesson is presented through a variety of formats (video, pictures, direct instruction) so
students who have difficulty with one format may receive the material another way. Students
may be familiar with meteorites already or seen them in the sky and will be able to apply that
knowledge to the lesson. There is not much reading in this lesson, but if any student needs help
recording their information, they will get assistance.
Reflection:
The students certainly enjoyed this lesson and had fun performing the experiment, but things did
get a little crazy at times. I could have done a better job of organizing the demonstration so that
students knew very explicitly what steps to follow when they performed their experiment. What
happened was that students were unclear as to how to record their results and it took more time
than should have to rotate the materials around the room to all the groups. Students were also
spending more time and distracted by playing with their hands in the flour. These could have
been easily solved by just explaining that the flour is off limits to put your hands in and
explaining more how to record the results and how we are going to rotate around the room. I
would change those things if I were teaching it again.
Also, because it took longer to get things under control and there was a bit of cleanup time, we
didnt have enough time to complete the graph representing our results. However, I was able to
have a short discussion with them at the end of the lesson talking about our results and thinking
about what other things we could do to collect more data and measure other variables. Overall,

it was a fun lesson and the kids enjoyed it, but it could have been executed a little better on my
part.
Attachments: 3 artifacts of student work