Science Mini Lessons-Matter

Phase Day 1
AKS
1. obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties of matter and
Grade Level: 2nd changes that occur in objects (GSE S2P1)

1a. ask questions to describe and classify different objects according to their
physical properties (GSE S2P1a) (Clarification statement: Examples of physical
properties could include color, mass, length.)

NETS Standard 1.1 Empowered Learner-

Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving, and
demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.

Prepare Science Journal, Pencil, Laptop

Inquiry Question How can you describe different materials using their physical properties?

Learning Target I can generate questions to classify objects using their physical properties.

Teach Point Students will be able to generate questions to classify objects using their physical
properties.

Students will be able to identify some properties they could use to sort and classify
objects.

Activating Strategy

Present this picture on the Smart Board for students to look over. Do not give them
any additional information/directions besides asking them to write down things they
notice about the objects in the picture and then things they wonder about the picture.

Questions could potentially be:

 What kind of materials is this?
 Do they all taste the same?
 Are some soft or hard?
 Is the sand rough?
 Discuss what they notice and wonder as a whole group and write them on an anchor
chart for them to refer to.

Connect In Kindergarten, you learned how to ask questions to compare and sort objects made
(1–3 minutes) of different materials, such as clay, cloth, plastic, wood, paper, and metal. You also
use senses and tools to classify common objects, such as buttons or swatches of cloth,
Make a connection to the according to their physical attributes. Today we're going to learn to describe different
past/activate prior objects based off these physical properties.
knowledge

Teach **First, I will ask the students to write down on a piece of paper what they know about
(3–8 minutes) physical properties of matter and turn it in. Some may remember a lot from previous
years, others may not. This will be used as a formative later to see how much they
Identify and explicitly learned throughout the lessons. It will be compared at the end.
teach one clearly defined
skill or strategy. Then I will play this video from Youtube: Materials And Their Properties -
YouTube stopping at 1:18

Then I will display an anchor chart describing the different properties of matter.

Then I would hold up 2 different objects that I find in the classroom. I would describe
the objects using various physical properties such as color, size, and texture.

Engage Then I will pass out some mystery bags to each group with objects that the students
(3–8 minutes) will feel without looking and ask them to write down one thing they notice and one
thing they wonder, just like the activating strategy. The students will write these
Have students turn and observations in their journal labeling them “Bag 1, Bag 2…etc”. This will go on for a
few rotations, between 3-4 depending on time. The students are not to share their
talk, try out the strategy,
findings with their classmates because they will be sharing on FlipGrid later.
share thinking, and so on

Link Remember, when you are looking at different objects at school or at home, think about
(1–3 minutes) what physical properties they might have. These objects have a purpose and their
physical properties help determine if they are right for the job.
Remind students to use the
strategy whenever they are
working.

Independent Work **Before completing their independent work, the students will watch a video on
plagiarism. https://youtu.be/7fqInW0F6mc. This will help the students
understand that they need to share their own original thoughts and when they
respond to another classmate, it is important that they do not steal the ideas of
another student who has already responded. On FlipGrid, the students will share
their findings on video. They will talk about what their questions were and what they
observed. Finally at the end, they will share what they think the object is. Then,
students will try and guess what the objects are based on their observations. The
students will then choose one classmate to watch and respond with observations that
were the same or maybe some observations that were different. They will also share
what they think the object is.

After each student is finished, I will reveal what the objects were and they will see if
they were correct.

Science Mini Lessons-Matter

Phase Day 2
AKS
1. obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties of matter and
Grade Level: 2nd changes that occur in objects (GSE S2P1)

1a. ask questions to describe and classify different objects according to their
physical properties (GSE S2P1a) (Clarification statement: Examples of physical
properties could include color, mass, length.)

NETS Standard 1.1 Empowered Learner-

Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving, and
demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.

Prepare Play room Design printout, Pencil, Laptop

Inquiry Question How can you describe different materials using their physical properties?

Learning Target I can generate questions to classify objects using their physical properties.

Teach Point Students will be able to generate questions to classify objects using their physical
properties.
 Students will be able to identify some properties they could use to sort and classify
objects.

Students will be able to ask specific scientific questions that can be tested.

Activating Strategy First I will play this video from YouTube: The Classification SONG | Science for Kids
| Grades K-2 - YouTube

Connect Yesterday, we looked at our anchor phenomenon of a house made of candy. We

(1–3 minutes) noticed things such as ( insert noticings from previous day) and we asked questions
such as (discuss questions you talked about yesterday). Could anyone come up with
Make a connection to the any new noticings or wonderings that we might not have thought of yesterday? We
past/activate prior also used our sense of touch to feel different objects and asked questions about their
properties to try and guess what they were.
knowledge

Teach Discuss and then review the properties of matter.

(3–8 minutes)

Identify and explicitly

teach one clearly defined
skill or strategy.

Engage Today we are going to look at a picture of a messy playroom (project on board). How
(3–8 minutes) many of your playrooms look like this? How many are organized?

Have students turn and

talk, try out the strategy,
share thinking, and so on
 What are some things that you notice about this picture? What are some things you
wonder? Have students think and then turn and talk with their group. Call on a few
students to share and then write them down on an anchor chart.
Now we need to think about a testable question, such as Could we organize by shape
of objects, could we organize by color?

Your task as a table is to determine a testable question and organize your playroom
based off of your question. You will be redesigning this playroom however you think
would best help this child clean their playroom. You will draw and color the new
playroom on your design sheet.

Link Remember, when you are looking at different objects at school or at home, think about
(1–3 minutes) what physical properties they might have. These objects have a purpose, and their
physical properties help determine if they are right for the job.
Remind students to use the
strategy whenever they are
working.

Independent Work On Padlet, the students will share their findings on the page. They will talk about what
their questions were and what they observed. They will then share what their groups
solution was to their testable question. They will describe if they changed their mind
or if they had any trouble making a decision.
Once they are done with this, they will complete a formative on physical properties.
They write on a piece of paper what questions they still have about physical properties
and I will analyze and pull them for a small group later that day. This will be
compared to the formative they did yesterday.
 Mini Lesson Reflection
Gabriella Jacob

The academic concepts that I used to design and develop my mini lessons was inquiry-

based learning in science. More specifically, the lessons focus on properties of matter which is a

big unit studied in second grade. I incorporated 1.1 Empowered Learner from the ITES

standards. I chose this so that the students could show their learning on various technology based

platforms and allow me to review their progress in order to pull small groups for additional

understanding. I feel like my mini lessons are very engaging and give the students and

opportunity to take charge rather than hearing me lecture and practice the concepts after.

My peer review from Gino Howard was wonderful! We had an hour long conversation

about our mini lessons and I got great feedback from her. She told me she loved the visuals I

provided for the students as well as the videos to activate their interest in the topic. She loved the

layout of my plans and how it was broken down into time suggestions to keep the lessons, well,

mini. Her encouragement was very helpful and made me feel like I did a great job on my lessons.

I also provided her with feedback regarding her lessons and based on her peer review, I was also

very helpful to her.

My understanding on information fluency and inquiry based learning by integrating

technology has drastically improved. I feel a lot more comfortable with inquiry based learning
after this semester. I have learned about it before in college, and I was very intimidated by it for

some reason. I also wasn’t comfortable putting the learning in the students’ hands without more

guidance. I feel with the help of technology, I can evaluate students progress long after the lesson

is over and it gives me more of an opportunity to again, pull small groups based on students

needs. I do intend to incorporate these concepts into my classroom this coming year!