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  • Lesson Plans

    Page | March 2020

    Daily Dos are sensemaking tasks teachers and parents can use to engage their students in authentic, relevant science learning.  Students actively try to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design…

  • Lesson Plan 3: Swinging Pendulums

    Book Chapter | September 2018

    In this lesson, students continue to explore the forces acting on swing set equipment and the motion that results. Science activities focus on balanced and unbalanced forces as demonstrated by pendulums. Lessons learned…

  • Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and the 5E Lesson Plan

    Journal Article | November 2021

  • Lesson Plan 1: Earth’s Sensational Seasons

    Book Chapter | October 2018

    In this lesson, students explore the concept of the four seasons and how the changing seasons affect plant development. They will begin to understand that seasonal changes are caused by Earth’s tilt as it rotates around…

  • Lesson Plan 1: Forces Push Back

    Book Chapter | September 2018

    This lesson introduces students to the module and the culminating challenge of the module, the Swing Set Makeover Design Challenge. A video, discussions, and a trip to the school playground help students connect to the…

  • Lesson Plan 2: Slippery Slide Design

    Book Chapter | September 2018

    In this lesson, students investigate Newton’s laws of motion and apply their learning to make a more efficient ramp on which a car will travel. This learning activity is directly connected to the final challenge in…

  • Lesson Plan 2: Our Container Garden–Design Time

    Book Chapter | October 2018

    This lesson introduces students to the engineering design process (EDP), the process they will use to design and create their container garden. In this lesson, students work through the first steps of the EDP to develop…

  • Lesson Plan 3: Our Container Garden–Planting Time

    Book Chapter | October 2018

    In this lesson, students continue to use the engineering design process (EDP) to create the class container garden. Students move into the Try phase as they construct the garden. Through the construction and planting of…

  • Lesson Plan 4: Swing Set Makeover Design Challenge

    Book Chapter | September 2018

    This lesson serves as the capstone of the module and challenges students to complete their swing set makeovers. The science and mathematics activities guide student teams through building a model of the proposed designs…

  • Authentic Assessment: Using 5-E Lesson Plan Development to Evaluate Science Content Learning With Preservice Teachers

    Book Chapter | February 2009

    In recent years, the value of using authentic assessments to evaluate student learning has been discussed at all levels. The use of authentic assessments, in the use of lesson plans, has proven to be a valuable tool for…

  • Designing Units and Lessons

    Page | March 2020

    Designing Units and Lessons Select lab experiments, readings, discussions, lectures, and other learning activities based on what students should learn and explicitly link them together in the unit. One example architecture for designing integrated instructional units is the BSCS 5E model, explained in Translating the…

  • A Lesson in Geospatial Inquiry

    Page | November 2019

    A Lesson in Geospatial Inquiry Geospatial Inquiry is an educational framework that offers students an opportunity to engage with, and become curious about, geospatial data for a defined purpose. We define Geospatial Inquiry as: “Asking and answering a question through the analysis and communication of data that is…

  • Pinning and Planning

    Journal Article | January 2021

  • How Were the Scablands Formed?

    Lesson Plan | September 2020

  • Why Do Fireflies Light Up?

    Lesson Plan | June 2021

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