Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability

Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science

Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 1

COMMON COMPONENTS OF LESSON AND ASSESSMENT PLAN

Lesson and Assessment Plan Context

The disciplinary content area is Environmental Science. Today’s lesson

content will cover Sustainability. It is the concluding aspect of a series of

topics which we have been treating since the beginning of the semester.

This is a course which is taught to everyone – Grades 9 to 12. The lesson is

being taught to highlight the importance of sustaining the environment. A

lot of man’s activity has affected the environment negatively and unless we

Overview take steps to regulate and correct them, we run the risk of totally depleting

the environment. The students will be shown a short movie clip to create

extra awareness about the effect of man’s activity on the environment. We

would also watch ‘The Lorax” to help bring that awareness home, answer

relevant questions and discuss the different scenarios highlighted while

watching this movie. The students’ answers will help determine how much

they have learnt.

The students in my class are mainly Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

Student although I have 2 freshmen as well. The class’s culture is influenced by

Background, their diverse culture and their different social attributes. Most of them are

Culture, and African American with a few White, and Hispanic representations. I also

Context have a student in the JROTC program and a few others who are athletes. I

have been able to determine that most of the students in this class have
Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 2

diverse family structure arrangements. Majority are from single-parent

homes and the few that are not, have a mixture because we have them being

parented by the one parent available and a grandparent as well. The

economic level is very low. My school has a 100% participation in the free

and reduced lunch program. In spite of all the above, the classroom is

peaceful and we are able to sit down and get our work done in peace and

harmony. All my students have the same opportunity to learn the content.

Of course, provisions are made where necessary. Equal opportunity and not

fairness is being stressed. Colarusso et al. (2017). The students know a lot

about this particular topic because we have been working on it for a while

now. They will also be given an opportunity to show what they know

during the class with intermittent questioning by the Teacher.

There are no issues of power and equity. My students understand that

although it is our classroom – the teacher is in charge but this does not

preclude the fact that they are allowed to respectfully make requests and

comments that help us maintain the prevalent culture and a positive learning

environment.

My students are always willing to learn and they have learnt not to be shy to

speak up in class. I do see a few deficiencies when it comes to reading,

understanding and interpreting passages or texts in the class as well as using

Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 3

the correct terminologies where necessary and we are working on that using

the Newsela website. I am able to assign articles for the students to read and

the accompanying questions. Newsela, gives the students articles based on

their reading levels and adjusts it as time goes on. It also gives their Lexile

scores and I have been able to use this to explain what the score means and

how they can improve their scores ultimately.

This specific lesson was developed for these particular students because it

would further help to facilitate their grasp of the current unit – Biomes,

Biogeochemical cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability. It is a fitting

conclusion to what we have been learning. The students will be able to

relate the characteristics of a biome, the different biogeochemical cycles,

how they occur and the ultimate effects they have on the environment to

food webs and the way they occur in different ecosystems. They have to be

made to realize that the environment will not last long unless people help to
Rationale
look after it. All these acts are determined by the action of human beings –

you and I ultimately. They have to learn to be the change they wish to see in

the world - Mahatma Gandhi.

The effects of the environment needing sustenance can be seen in almost

everything that exists. The current events that we have experienced can be

attributed to the activities of man such as forest fires, hurricanes, etc. in the

environment.
Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 4

There is no time like the present. With all the hurricanes, that have

happened recently, it is imperative my students learn about the various

ways man’s activity can negatively impact the environment. The needs of

the various students in the class will be met by the different activities that

we will carry out in the course of this lesson. The Newsela article we will

read, will bring home the fact that we as individuals are also wasting a

resource without realizing it. It is also a great link to our next topic – which

is to design and defend a sustainable energy plan based on scientific

principles for our location.

Lesson and Assessment Plan Learning Objectives

• How does Biodiversity within an ecosystem signal health and

vitality?

Purpose of the • What is the role of recycling and energy conservation in

Lesson: Central sustainability?

Focus • Why, if the Earth’s surface is covered 71% with water is it

considered a threatened resource?

• Causes of natural and manmade contamination.

• Distinguish renewable energy from nonrenewable energy

Learning
• Relate the Lorax, the Truax, and the tragedy of the Commons to
Objective(s)
environmental sustainability.
Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 5

• Explain how our resources are threatened and how human activity

has contributed to changes in the Earth.

Academic Students will demonstrate their understanding of Sustainability by

Language – answering correctly all questions posed during the class and while

Language we are watching the Lorax.

Function

SEV3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to evaluate

GSE - Georgia
types, availability, allocation, and sustainability of energy resources.
Standards of
c. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate data to predict the sustainability
Excellence
potential of renewable and non-renewable energy resources.

Commentary Prompts

a. The methods used for formal assessments include oral response, and

a quiz. For the summative we had a test at the end of the unit.

Monitoring students learning improves instruction because the

teacher can determine a students’ current level of performance and

Monitoring
on skills that would be taught that school year and establish how the
Student Learning
student will achieve that goal either through testing weekly,

biweekly or monthly. Safer and Fleishman, (2005)

b. Some differentiation strategies used here include the provision of

visuals. The worksheet was printed to help those who prefer to have
Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 6

it printed. I also gave a little extra time for those who needed it to

get their work done.

Student A: I classified the student thus because even though they failed the

test. There is room to deduce that they could have done better with better

understanding of the concepts we were learning.

Student B: For this student, I classified as proficient because they passed

the quiz. It was a borderline performance but they made the cut.

Student C: This student is classified as such because they had a score much

higher than the passing grade.

a. The specific learning objectives measured by the chosen

assessments include but are not limited to the ability to distinguish

renewable and nonrenewable energy.

ii. Ability to relate the Lorax, the Truax and the tragedy of the

Commons to environmental sustainability.

iii. Explain how our resources are threatened and how human
Analyzing Student
activity has contributed to changes on earth.
Learning
b. In our assessment, some of the common errors I encountered had to

do with distinguishing between a food chain and a food web as well

as recalling or interpreting the ten percent rule. Another source of

confusion was seen in the direction of energy flow in a food chain or

food web. The arrows were pointing in the wrong direction. The

need for a greater challenge should come from the students in this
Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 7

case because a lot of them did not perform too well in the overall

assessment.

Student A: For the emerging student, analyzing the students learning

would go a long way to help with applying information learnt in class. This

is because the results obtained helped with clarifying understanding and

Assessments for the student.

Student B: For this student, the results obtained would be used to re-teach

the topics where the failures occurred.

Student C: Discussions may be necessary if there is visible room for

improvement.

a. Feedback was both oral and written. The main thing I emphasized

was the method used to marshal their thoughts and the best way to

write it on their answer sheets.

b. The feedback provided addresses individual needs and strengths

Feedback to guide because they were specific to each individual and

further Learning explanations/clarifications were made based on the answers and

how accurate they were.

c. Support for each of these students will be ongoing. Based on what I

have seen from their answers I know where to lay emphasis on their

work. For one of them, it is helping the student to be able to

Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 8

pinpoint the correct answer to a question either from the passage or

movie/text – as required/necessary.

Student A: The feedback I provided is explicit. In order to give answers

that are relevant in an exam, one has to be able to decipher the message in

the texts/notes or movie provided as a guide. I would use this fact to

highlight the answers expected in that situation.

Student B: To be advanced is the goal here so I explained the answers that

would lead to this goal and the reason why to this student.

Student C: Extra work is needed because even though the student is

advanced; they are not at the zenith. I will emphasize that this is achievable

and give guidance towards that regard.

The use of selected language function was very low in some of the focused

students. I am able to determine this because they did not answer the

particular questions concerned. Seeing this trend will help to guide them

Evidence of towards answering questions correctly in order to show their ability to

Language understand and apply feedback correctly.

Understanding and For language use the same amount of work is needed for all categories here

use (Emerging, Proficient and Advanced) and I will continue to help them

understand by encouraging them to study the vocabulary for this unit and

look for the correct answers with all resources at their disposal when they

are studying.
Lesson Title: Biogeochemical Cycles, Food Webs/Sustainability
Grade and Subject: 11- 12 Environmental Science
Week of: October 15, 2017
Page 9

a. The first thing we did was test corrections. Here I got a copy of the

test script showing the wrong answers for each student. After that

they were to look at their answers, correct them and write out the

standards that they were aligned to.

Using assessments Lastly, they were to state the reasons why those answers were the

to Inform correct ones – thereby forging a connection to feedback between

Instruction teachers and students. Sherdan et al 2014. For others, I had to make

sure they attended the tutorial in order to ensure that the parts they

did not understand were re-taught. This strategy I applied to all

categories because they all had room for major improvement in

their scores.

REFERENCES

Colarusso, R.P., O’Rourke, C.M., & Leontovitch, M.A. (2017). Special education for all
teachers. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

Safer, N., & Fleischman, S., (2005). How student progress monitoring improves instruction.
Educational leadership.

Sherdan, D., Anderson, A., Rouby, A., LaMee, A., Gilmer, P.J., & Oosterhof, A. Including
Often-Missed Knowledge and Skills in Science Assessments.