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3/5/19
Fifth Grade
Nervous System
Discipline Content Area(s): STEM
Time Required for Lesson: 40 minutes
Class Description
The class participating in this lesson consists twenty fifth grade students, six of whom are
special education students and fourteen of whom are general education students. One student
possesses an IEP that allows the use of speech to text technology when composing a piece of
writing. Another student also possesses a 504 plan that allows him to use a reader strip when
reading, as well as have him repeat directions back to me. Many of these students also possess
a reading level that is below grade level for fifth grade.
Student Needs Assessment
At the moment, the students have been introduced to basic information about the human body
through occasional conversations, such as a discussion about sneezing, as well as their own
experiences, such as feeling sick or injured. They have also been exposed to basic information
about the human body during the introduction lesson they participated in during break.
Students have also learned about the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and digestive systems
through discussions and kinesthetic activities. In this lesson, students will begin learning about
the nervous system. By the end of this lesson, the students will have completed multiple
activities that require the use of their nervous system. Students will have also constructed a
web of information they learned throughout this lesson.
Central Focus and Purpose (rationale) for the Lesson
The central focus of this lesson is to construct a web of at least three pieces of newly acquired
information regarding the nervous system. In order to accomplish this, students will first be
discussing the role of nervous and movement nervous in the nervous system. They will also be
discussing how the nervous system takes in information about the human body’s surroundings
through its senses, and uses this information to make decisions on how to react. These
discussions are paired with three activities, one completed independently and two completed
in pairs, so that students may associate these concepts and ideas with experiences throughout
the lesson. After participating in discussions, completing activities, and viewing relevant video
clips, students will be constructing a web that includes the new information they learned
throughout this lesson.
Common Core State Standard(s)/NYS Standard(s)
NGSS 5-LS2-1: A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
NGSS 5-PS2-1: Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain
change.
Objectives
After discussing the nervous system, students will construct a web of at least three pieces of
information they learned about the nervous system.
Multiple Assessment Strategies:
Prior Knowledge: Students should have prior knowledge about various body parts, as well as
the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and digestive systems. Students should be aware that the
brain is an internal organ that controls the human body as well as what humans think.
Pre-Assessment: For a pre-assessment, I will be asking the students what they know about the
brain, how it works, or how it’s protected. This quick exercise is to tell me what the students’
prior knowledge is regarding the brain and the nervous system.
Formative Assessment: For a formative assessment, I will be asking the students
comprehension questions that correspond to the video, such as “Why does it look like there’s a
hole in your hand?”, “Which task was harder – reading the words, or saying the colors? Why?”,
“What are the pathways or cords that connect the senses to your brain?”, and “What set of
nervous leads outward from the brain?” and “Why are movement nervous important?” I will
also conduct a fist to five assessment to gauge students’ perspectives regarding their overall
understanding of the nervous system.
Post-Assessment: For a post-assessment, I will be having students construct a web that
includes at least three pieces of information they learned regarding the nervous system.
Academic Language:
Language function: construct a web of at least three pieces of information
Discourse: In this lesson, students will be engaging in the discourse of discussing how the
nervous system and its nerves connect to the five senses and how humans react to changes
around them. It is important for students to be participating in this discourse because they are
able to both share their thoughts, as well as hear ideas and learn from their peers’ perspectives.
Participating in these discussions also allows students to bounce ideas off of each other, which
may help them think of ideas they wouldn’t have thought of yet independently. In addition, it is
important for students to use the content vocabulary below while engaging in discourse
because specificity will create a clearer understanding of what each student is talking about
when sharing their thoughts. Using the content vocabulary directs students to speak as a
scientist would, as well as solidifies the concepts we are discussing in this lesson.
Content vocabulary: nervous system, senses, sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch, nerves,
movement nervous, illusion, reaction
Materials Needed