Hana Syed

MST Lesson #2

I. Title or Topic of the Lesson and Grade Level

Hurricane Season, 3rd Grade

II​. Lesson Essential Question(s):

● What is a hurricane?
● What are some of the impacts of this storm?

III. Standards

RI.3.1​- Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text,

referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

W.3.1- Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with
reasons.

3-ESS2- Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the
world.

3-ESS3- Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a
weather-related hazard.

IV. Learning Objective(s) and Assessment(s):

Learning Objectives Assessments

1. Students will be able to design a stable 1. Teachers will test students designs for
structure,which withstands the conditions stability by applying weight, wind,
of a hurricane. and water.

V. Materials:

● Marshmallows
● Popsicle sticks
● Masking tape
● Garbage bag(Teacher)
● Spray Bottles(Teacher)
 ● Blow dryer/Fan(Teacher)
● Rubber Bands
● Straws
● Toothpicks
● Q-tips
● Paper towels
● Towel

6 . Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: Describe the prior knowledge that you
believe your students bring to the lesson. This may include relevant background knowledge,
possible misconceptions, or prior lesson content. Consider student readiness. ​(10 points)

● Students need to know what type of damage can occur with a hurricane
● Students will be asked to activate knowledge of building different structures and
should recall experiences using blocks or legos.
● Students will have knowledge of which material is sturdier than the others

7. Lesson Beginning: Teacher will read chapter 1 of “I Survived: Hurricane Katrina, 2005.”
Then, the teacher will ask the class what they think the topic of the lesson is based on the
reading.

8. Instructional Plan: Break down the activities by giving a detailed description of what you
and the children are going to do in each part of the lesson. Consider how you will engage
students in the learning activities. The following elements also need to be considered.
INCLUDE TIME ESTIMATES! (40 points)

Instructional Plan:

1) The students will be prompted to sit on the carpet facing the front. The teacher will start
out reading Chapter 1 of ​I Survived: Hurricane Katrina, 2005​ by Lauren Tarshis with no
introduction besides, “Now it is time for Science!” After the short chapter is read, the
teachers will ask for a student volunteer to predict what the lesson will be about. (As
noted above) ​5 minutes

2) After gathering student responses, the teacher will confirm the students predictions by
stating “This is going to be a lesson about hurricanes and their impact.” ​3 minutes

3) The teacher will then read the book Book- ​Hurricane Watch ​by Melissa Stewart. The
teacher will ask questions throughout the reading. ​10 minutes

4) The students will return to their desks and be introduced to the stability design challenge.
The second teacher will pass out all materials and the ​Stability Design Challenge
worksheet. Students will be informed of the rules verbally. ​5 minutes
They are as follows: Students will have 15 minutes to create a structure they believe can
withstand the “conditions” of a hurricane. Each table is a group. Each group will receive a pile of
each of the following materials- marshmallows, popsicle sticks, masking tape, rubber bands,
straws, toothpicks, and Q-tips. The students will only be allowed to use the materials allocated to
them. The students can use as many or as few of the given materials as they want to create the
strongest and most stable structure possible.

5) The students will answer the first two questions on the ​Stability Design Challenge
worksheet.
5 minutes

6) The teacher will place 15 minutes on the clock and instruct students to design! ​15
minutes

7) After the time is up, each structure will be tested one by one on the carpet on top of a
garbage bag. The teachers will manipulate the structure with water from a spray bottle,
wind from a blow dryer, and weight from a book. The class will observe and record what
happens to their structure as it is being tested against the mock conditions. ​10 minutes

8) The students will return to their desks and finish the worksheet. The teachers will clean
and collect remaining materials from the lesson along with completed worksheets. ​7
minutes

● Differentiation:​ The lesson will progress through a variety of different activities and
locations in the classroom so students are engaged and not in one spot for too long. The
students will work in groups from their tables so they are familiar with each other. The
instructions will be on the worksheet for students who need to re-read or did not
understand at first. All classroom teachers will be walking around during the design
challenge. Students with specific needs will receive more materials to calm anxiety. Early
finishers will be challenged with adding another material to their structure that they have
not used yet. Students with hearing or vision disabilities will be placed in the front row on
the carpet.

● Questions:

Predict what the lesson is going to be about today based on that reading.
What are two environmental aspects of a hurricane?
What are the dangers of a hurricane?
Do you think winds would are strongest in the eye of a storm or outside of the eye? Why?

● Classroom Management:​ Students will work with the group of students who already sit
at their table to save time and maintain order. The teachers will distribute and collect all
materials to ensure fairness. The teacher will time the design challenge and display a
ticking timer on the board so students are all aware of time during the challenge.
 ● Transitions:​ Students will be on the carpet for reading, at their desks for the design
challenge, and back on the carpet to test their design. To connect the design challenge to the
reading, the teacher will explain how hurricanes are such powerful storms that they can
seriously impact communities. The students have to use their creative thinking to build a
structure they think is strong enough to weather conditions of a hurricane.

● Differentiation:​ Explain how you are going to make this lesson work for the range of
students you have in your class. Describe the different ways that you will provide input
and differentiate instruction so as to give students access to the content. Describe
accommodations and adaptations you are going to make for specific students with
special needs. Identify extra work that you will give to early finishers.
o Children who finish early will work on worksheet with group and see if they can
modify structure in anyway

● Questions:​ List key open-ended questions you are going to pose in each activity.
Consider Bloom’s Taxonomy as you write your questions.

● Classroom Management:​ Consider strategies such as grouping, distributing

materials, and identify potential behavioral problems.
o Each group is made up of students from each table
▪ 5 groups in total
▪ Materials will be distributed on a plate to each table

● Transitions:​ Describe how you will transition and make connections between activities
o Transitioning will occur from hook, to book about hurricane watch
o Then we will introduce activity and have students go to table to work on problem
1
o Then children will have to start working with group for 30 minutes on project
o After finishing, they will have some time to work on problems 2 and 3
o After lunch we will test projects and then they will go back to table to finish
problems 4 and 5

9. Closure: Describe how you will bring your lesson to a meaningful closure that summarizes
the lesson and provides you with information on what your students have learned and need to
learn in the future.
● Class is asked to sit in a circle and discuss what they could have changed or what
they liked about the lesson. The students will discuss what they learned from the
activity and the books.
Reflection
 Throughout this lesson, I feel that the introduction was very successful and engaged the

students with the hook from the “ I Survived” book. This introduction was a story from a child’s

perspective in hurricane Katrina, which the kids were able to relate to since they would be scared

and devastated if they were far from their family as well. After introducing the book, we were

able to hold a conversation about the terrors of a hurricane and what disasters have occurred that

they know of. The second book was very informative and the students were able to follow it

really well. I think our lesson was successful and was well planned except for a few minor

details. In order to build the structure the way the students wanted to, I would allow them more

time in the future to plan out a list of materials they want to use to build it. If each child were

allowed to brainstorm an idea or a visual of the structure they wanted to build, everyone would

be able to incorporate and share thoughts,which would cause less arguments and more time to

work on the project. I also feel that I would stick to a certain amount of materials and stay stern

with the rules. In the beginning, the children seemed to need more materials, but then they

started using excess materials, which were becoming a waste since they were just piling on the

popsicle sticks instead of building an actual structure. The feedback we received in the end from

the students was that they enjoyed it a lot and they got a lot out of the project. Each student was

able to tell us one thing they learned from the lesson and they were able to visualize how wind,

weight and water affect structures during hurricanes. Our teacher recommended the extra time

for the structures as well as allowing them to plan ahead of time before they start building.

Overall, I feel that the children enjoyed this lesson and I feel that it would be great to incorporate

this in my future class when learning about severe weather and hurricanes.