LESSON PLAN

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

LESSON ORGANISATION
Year Level: 4 Time: 11-12 Date: 15th October Students’ Prior Knowledge:

Learning Area: • Students have previously learnt about life

Design and Technology & Science cycles

Strand/Topic from the Australian Curriculum • They know about the life cycle of a few specific
Design and Technology: animals which they have researched and

Knowledge and Understanding – Technologies and Society: shared in class

Ways products, services and environments are designed to
meet community needs, including consideration of
sustainability (ACTDEK010)
Processes and Production Skills – Designing:
Develop and communicate design ideas and decisions
using annotated drawings and appropriate technical terms
(WATPPS23)
Processes and Production Skills – Collaborating and
Managing:
Work independently, or collaboratively when required, to
plan, safely create and communicate ideas and information
for solutions (WATPPS26)
Science:
Science Understanding – Biological Sciences:
Living things have life cycles (ACSSU072)
Living things depend on each other and the environment to
survive (ACSSU073)
Science as a Human Endeavour – Use and Influence of
Science:
Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of
their actions (ACSHE062)
• Students know about endangered species
• Students know that certain animals depend on
their environment to survive
• Students know ways which animals depend on
their environment
• Students know what a design brief looks like
and how to complete a project based on a
design brief
• In year 3 science students could distinguish
living things from non-living things and group
them based on their observable features
• In year 3 design students knew how to select
and safely use suitable materials, tools and
equipment to create design solutions

General Capabilities (that may potentially be covered in the lesson)

Literacy Numeracy ICT Critical and Ethical Personal and Intercultural
competence creative behaviour Social understandin
thinking competence g
Cross-curriculum priorities (may be addressed in the lesson)

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Asia and Australia’s engagement Sustainability
Islander histories and cultures with Asia Sustaining the lives of living things –
Blue-tongued lizards
Proficiencies:(Mathematics only)
Lesson Objectives (i.e. anticipated outcomes of this lesson, in point form beginning with an action verb)

As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:

 Perform appropriately independently, in pairs or in groups on planning for design
 Review previous lessons and knowledge orally in order to complete design
 Complete description for project

Teacher’s Prior Preparation/Organisation: Provision for students at educational risk:

– White board and markers
– Pop sticks in a cup with students’ names on them to
use for student accountability
– Questions ready to assist with brainstorm
– Working projector
– Design brief
– Plain paper for students to start planning on, ensure
there is a range of sizes as some students may like
to create their plan on A3 paper.
– Checklist to ensure students competed work
• Students who are gifted are able to help the
others around them. They will be paired with
students with learning difficulties to assist
those students.
• Students with a learning difficulty will be paired
with a gifted student for assistance. Teacher
can provide some guidance with ideas and
what the student can contribute.
• Student with ADHD will generally remain on
task if they enjoy the task or know they will
need to give an answer/show something.
Encourage student to stay on track by saying
to them “I can’t wait to hear what you came up
with.” Teacher can also spend time with
student to hear their ideas and guide them to
ensure they stay on track and complete the set
work.

LESSON DELIVERY (attach worksheets, examples, marking key, etc, as relevant)

Resources/References
Time Motivation and Introduction:
Align these with the
11am 1. Invite students down to the mat to begin the lesson
segment where they will
be introduced.
2. Tell students what this lesson is about

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 “Today we’re going to be doing a little bit of revision of what we have been
doing within science, and then we are going to begin our design projects on
this topic.”

3. Start by creating a brainstorm as revision, ask students about the life Whiteboard and markers
11:02am Pop stcks
cycle of animals, what they know about animals and their
environment and what it means by endangered species.

“We’re going to start by creating a brainstorm about what we already know.

Can anyone tell me what we have been learning in science over the last few
lessons? What do you know about the life cycle of animals? What do we
know about animals and their environment? And what does it mean by
endangered species?”

A few specific questions to help answer some of these big questions are
below, use these if students are not putting their hand up to answer the
question. If students do not put their hand up and you use these questions to
help with the brainstorm, use the cup of pop sticks and select students to
answer questions by pulling out a pop stick and seeing whose name is on it.
What is a life cycle?
What is the life cycle of a specific animal?
Do they depend on their environment to survive?
What animals need certain things within their environment to stay alive?
What animals can go almost anywhere in the world?
What does it mean by endangered species?
If I said that blue-tongued lizards were endangered would I be correct?

Lesson Steps (Lesson content, structure, strategies & Key Questions):

11:10am 1. After completing the brainstorm, teacher will explain the design
activity.
“Using all the content you have learnt over the last few lessons, we are going
to put our design skills to work to create a ‘Lizard Crossing’. I am going to put
the design brief up on the board for you all to see as I go through it.”

2. Project the design brief on the board as teacher reads off of it.

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 Design brief is attached (appendix 1), read from this adding in a reminder of Projector
what each area means, as described below: Design brief
Introduction, Brief and Generating Designs do not need further explanation
Project specifications – “These are the constraints for the design and
materials you may use, ensure you listen carefully to this section and include
everything that is required.”
Project management – “this is just a brief description of what we will be doing
each lesson.”
Evaluation – “This section is very important as it will ensure you have included
everything that needed to be included and that the project is made to the
standard required.”
Presentation – “how you will present your project”
Time – “this section states how many lessons you have to complete your
lizard crossing.”

11:20am 3. Allow students who wish to work with others, time to get into groups
or pairs.
Ensure students who suffer learning difficulties are paired/grouped with
students who are high achievers. If students cannot pair themselves, teacher
can pair them instead.

4. Once students are grouped, explain what they will be doing today.
11:25am “Today we will begin our planning, I will be walking around to help you all. By
the end of the lesson today I want a brief description of your idea, if you have
a brief drawing of your idea that needs to be handed in as well. Ensure your
drawings are all labelled and annotated. You may use your iPads to research
anything that may help you with your design, you may also ask for my
assistance.”
Plain paper
5. Allow students time to make a start on their planning, ensure teacher
is walking around and helping where necessary. Especially watch the
high achieving students that they do not want to create something
that is going to be difficult for their group to complete. Also ensure the
students with learning difficulties can have an input and are with
someone who will assist them.

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 Lesson Closure:(Review lesson objectives with students)
11:53am
1. Pack students up and bring them to the mat.
“Okay, it is now time to pack up, make sure you have the names of every
group member on your work, please bring your description of your idea and a
drawing (if you have one) to me, pack up your belongings and join me on the
mat.”

2. Revise lesson objectives.

Ask students what we did at the beginning of the lesson. Answer should be
revised previous lessons. Then ask students to tell you some things we
talking about at start of the lesson. Ensure students have handed their
planning in to teacher.

3. Students will continue planning in the next lesson,

“Next lesson will just be continuing on the planning of your projects. Start
thinking about materials to create your designs but do not bring them in yet.
Next lesson each group will create a list of the materials they need to start
collecting.”

Transition: (What needs to happen prior to the next lesson?)

12pm
1. Students to ensure everything is packed away, collect their books and
line up for music.
2. Double check teacher has received everyone’s planning so far.
3. Tell students to start thinking about what materials they will use.

Assessment: (Were the lesson objectives met? How will these be judged?)
• Teacher will assess students by observing the lesson as well as
looking through their planning.
• Teaching can use the checklist attached (appendix 2) to record
whether students have completed the set work or not.
• Teacher can also assess by observing students when they contribute

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 References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018) Cross Curriculum

Priorities: Sustainability. Retrieved from https://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/cross-curriculum-

priorities

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018) Cross Curriculum

Priorities: Sustainability. Retrieved from https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/cross-

curriculum-priorities2/sustainability

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018) Foundation to Year 10

Curriculum: Design and Technology. Retrieved from

https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/technologies/design-and-

technologies2#year-4-syllabus

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018) Foundation to Year 10

Curriculum: Science. Retrieved from

https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/science-v8#year-4-syllabus

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 Appendix 1 – Design Brief

Design Brief:
Introduction:
The local council has noticed an increase in the amount of Western Blue-Tongued Lizards being run over
along multiple main roads in our area. Blue-tongued lizards use the road when they need to get to the
other side for shelter or food, but they also use the road as a source of heat. The council has asked for the
assistance of the year four students to solve this problem.

Brief:
The council has requested that the year four students to come up with some ideas of what they can build
to let the blue-tongued lizards cross the road without getting run over. In pairs, groups of three or
individually, year fours are to design and construct a way for blue-tongued lizards to safely cross the road.
In order to create a safe way for lizards to cross the road students will need to use their knowledge of
what they have just been taught about animals within their environments, as well as doing some of their
own research about Western blue-tongued lizards.

Generating Designs:
Students can work in pairs, groups of three or by themselves. They must design and plan their idea before
creating a simpler, three-dimensional version of it. Once finished we will have a class vote on our
favourite designs and present them to the local council during our incursion.

Project Specifications:
Design must be created using as many recycled materials as possible, at least two forms of recycled
materials must be used. You may use sticky tape, straws, ribbon, glue, hot glue gun (with assistance of
teacher), anything you can think of to hold your masterpiece together. There must be some form of heat
for the lizards, try to come up with a proper way to heat your design within your planning, however when
creating your masterpiece, you must speak to the teacher before including any form of heat supply within
your design. It must be big enough for a lizard to comfortably move through.

Project Management:
In order to design and construct our ‘Lizard Crossing’, students need to learn about animals and their
environment and the dependence they have on certain things within their environment to survive. The
rough lesson organisation and plan to create the Lizard Crossings is below:
1. Explicit teaching and discussion about life cycles and how animals depend on each other and the
environment. Within this lesson, the teacher will explain that there will be a design activity based
on this topic.
2. Continuing with the previous lesson, students will look at specific animals that rely on the
environment and other animals and humans to survive.
3. This lesson will be a brief revision and then the discussion of the design brief and how the next
few lessons will go, as well as beginning planning for the design brief. This lesson is described in
more detail in the lesson plan.
4. Students will continue planning and the teacher will discuss with them what they can use to
ensure their design meets the specification of being a warm place for the lizards.
5. Planning will be finished in this lesson for those still working on it and students will begin
creating their Lizard Crossing.
6. Students will continue creating their Lizard Crossing.
7. Students to continue creating their Lizard Crossing and finalise all work ready to be presented
next lesson.

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 8. Students present their ‘Lizard Crossing’. For those students who have not quite finished they will
be allowed to have 20 minutes at the start of the lesson to finalise everything.

Evaluation:
Some questions to consider to ensure students have completed the design to the standard of the council:
 Is there some form of heat within the Lizard Crossing?
 Will the lizards be able to fit through?
 Have at least two forms of recycled materials been used?
 Is it a practical solution to the problem?

Presentation:
Once students have created their Lizard Crossing they will present to the class. Teacher will have a fake
blue-tongued lizard, that represents the average size of a real lizard, to move through the students designs
and test them out. Once each student/group of students has presented their Lizard Crossing we will have a
class vote to decide on our favourite three designs which will then be presented to the local council at our
incursion.

Time:
Students will spend eight lessons on this topic and their designs. Two of those lessons will be content
based learning about the context of this activity. They will then spend two and a half lessons planning
their Lizard Crossing and gathering materials. Students will then spend the last 3 and a half lessons
creating their Lizard Crossing and presenting it to the class.

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 Appendix 2 – Checklist

Assessment Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

1. Students can work independently, in pairs
or in groups to plan their design.
2. Students review previous lessons by
participating in class discussion.
3. Students complete description for project
and submit to teacher.
4. Students recognise design briefs, know
what they mean and how to complete a
design based on the brief.