Before Strategy/Engage: 10 minutes
1. The students will need a blank sheet of paper and a pencil for the first part of the lesson.
2. The teacher should explain to students that they will have five minutes to draw a picture to show how plants create their own food. The students can add words to their picture, and students can add color to their picture as well. The teacher should be sure that students understand that this is their “before” drawing, so it is perfectly acceptable if they don’t know much about this process.
3. The teacher should use a timer to time students for five minutes as they create their drawing. The teacher should encourage students to continue to add to their picture until the five minutes have elapsed.
4. After the time expires, the teacher should instruct the students to flip their papers over and to put down their pencils.
During Strategy/Explore & Explain: 25 minutes
1. The teacher should present the Google Slide Presentation, “Photosynthesis: Let’s Talk About It".
2. As the teacher presents the information, the students should draw the diagram on the blank side of their paper. The teacher should be sure to encourage students to add additional notes or other important ideas to the drawing.
Note: The teacher should be sure to thoroughly explain to students what to draw, while also explaining the scientific concept of photosynthesis. The teacher should feel free to add to and expand upon the basic explanation of photosynthesis depicted in the slide show.
Example script: "First, draw a line going across the middle of your paper. Color everything below this line brown. This represents the soil that plants grow in. Now, draw a picture of a tree. Be sure to label the roots and the leaves of the tree. Now, this process that we are going to learn about today, called photosynthesis, happens with any green plant, but our picture is going to focus on this orange tree."
After Strategy/Explain & Elaborate: 45 minutes
1. After the teacher has presented the slide show, the teacher should ask the students to flip over their paper and examine the drawing they completed at the beginning of the lesson. Then, the students should flip their paper over to review the drawing they just created. After comparing and contrasting their two drawings, the students should write five things they learned about photosynthesis during this activity on their "before" drawing.
2. Next, the teacher should allow students to meet with a partner to discuss the five things they learned. The teacher can allow students to choose their partner or assign students to partner groups. During this time, the students can add to their written information or change any of their information, if needed.
Note: If the teacher determines that students require additional instruction on the concept of photosynthesis, the teacher can show students “Vegetation Transformation” by Crash Course Kids on youtube.com.
3. Lastly, the students should write a five-sentence paragraph describing how plants use light energy to change carbon dioxide and water into a storable fuel (carbohydrates) and a waste product (oxygen). In addition to writing a five-sentence paragraph, students should also add a diagram or drawing to their writing piece to aid their explanation of photosynthesis. Before students begin writing their paragraphs, the teacher should discuss the Photosynthesis Writing and Illustration Checklist with students to clarify the requirements of the writing and illustration piece.
