Science

Tips for Planning a Science Lesson

Tamsin Hart

A flexible plan is important to enable you to respond to the changing situation in the classroom, but how do you create this flexible plan in the first place?

Lesson planning for an experienced teacher becomes a skeletal framework. The deep planning is in the mind. When you enter the class, the pulse of the class tells you what is really desired and the lesson flows.

S. Kavita – a teacher on the Cambridge Panel

Here are three simple steps to help your lesson planning:

1. A useful first step is to create a mind-map:

Creating a mindmap

     An example of a long-term planLong term plan

2. Unit by unit

  • For each unit write down the key ideas covered and the learning objectives.
  • Look for opportunities to cover objectives within handling information and problem solving, experimental skills and investigations.
  • Split the learning objectives into blocks which build upon one another.
  • For each block give recommendations for teaching and learning approaches and identify opportunities for assessment, to assess both prior knowledge and learning after teaching.

3. Pacing

Now you’ve divided the syllabus and the units, you can work out how much time you are going to allocate to both. Your syllabus or examination board will have recommended how many guided learning hours should be provided. Now is your opportunity to include your differentiation and inclusion strategies.

In our lesson planning we include learning objectives, vocabulary, terminology and phrases, previous learning by students…planned activities and resources needed, differentiation, (How do you plan to offer more support? How do you plan to challenge the more able learners?), assessment (How are you planning to check learner’s learning?) and health and safety checks.

S. Kavita

This blog contains ideas from Approaches to learning and teaching Science by Mark Winterbottom