Title: Why Are the Temperatures Changing?
This Physical Science lesson contributes to students’ understanding of the reasons for the temperature changes and peculiarities of thermal energy transfer. It helps students familiarize themselves with the scientific idea that energy is transferred from hotter objects to colder ones. This lesson has a well-developed structure: it can be conditionally divided into several parts, each of which corresponds to the main elements of the 5E Instructional Model.
At the beginning of the lesson, a teacher asks the students to answer what happens after mixing hot and cold water in one container. Students can also try to simulate the movement of water molecules in a cup on paper. This element is called the Engagement phase and is designed to arouse children’s interest. The Exploration stage consists of collecting information, conducting an experiment related to water temperature changes, and exploring thermal energy transfer. These investigations let students not only imagine the process but “visualize it” (Daily Do, n.d., para. 24). The Explanation phase means that having conducted several experiments, students can answer the main lesson’s question without a teacher’s assistance and account for why the temperatures change. During this lesson’s part, a teacher can ask children to tell what they learned or even offer them to act out the movement of cold and hot molecules. Therefore, the lesson’s structure is well-grounded for providing children with knowledge.
The 5E Model also includes the Extension and Evaluation phases. Although they are not emphasized in this lesson plan, they can have a place in it. The Extension phase may be involved in students’ homework when they should make a presentation or report related to the studied theme. The Evaluation stage, which includes assessment, can be a part of the Explanation phase: the teacher observes their students when they explain the concept and sees if they have a complete understanding of it. Therefore, this lesson plan organized according to the 5E Instructional Model can help give the information to students and awaken their interest in Physical Science.
Reference
Daily Do: Why are the temperatures changing? (n.d.). National Science Teaching Association. Web.