FOSS Curriculum Balance Lesson Report

This lesson is a balance lesson adapted from the FOSS Curriculum's Balance and Motion Unit. This lesson was created for a second grade classroom. The instructor teaches this lesson to her group of second grade children. However, the science standard taught during this lesson is actually a third grade standard. Therefore, this lesson could be taught to a third grade classroom as well as a second grade classroom. This standard is a third grade physical science standard regarding forces and interactions. The particular standard being taught is “Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object” (3-PS-1) (NSTA, 2023). This project is taught by an instructor using accommodations

Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition National Professional Development Program. ELLISA addresses a critical challenge in education: the preparation of pre-service teachers to provide effective instruction to English learners (ELs) to support these vulnerable student populations’ acquisition of academic language, literacy and content knowledge (ELLISA Project, 2023).

Two focus questions emphasized during this lesson are “How can you balance objects?” and “How do I know when something is balanced?” Students collaborate to speak of a time in their life where they have practiced balance. The instructor then provides a definition of balance for her students. Her definition of balance means “not falling down.” She asks students to repeat the definition of balance, and they do so. She then provides examples of things that are balanced and things that are not balanced. She frequently practices speaking about balance in order to accommodate ELLISA

She has her students create a “crawfish” out of paper. She then has her students try and balance this object on the tip of their finger. The students are fascinated once they are able to achieve perfect balance with their paper crawfish. She then begins to ask her students questions about balance. She asks them what would happen if she were to put her finger at a corner of her crawfish. She then asks what would happen if she put her finger at the edge of the crawfish. Her students can all agree that if she were to do so, her crawfish would not be balanced. She asks her students to think about why this is the case. After speaking with their peers, her students agree that this is due to the fact that in order to achieve balance, there must be a center of balance. She then goes on to describe how this center of balance is called the balance point. After this is taught, she reviews her objectives with her students. She asks them the same questions that she asked them prior to completing the lesson. “How can you balance objects?” and “How do I know when something is balanced?” Her students now know the answer to these questions. The instructor has achieved her goal of teaching her students learning target 3-PS-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an