A couple of years ago, I started writing my lesson plans using the 5E instructional model. IT WAS A GAME CHANGER! Something about scrapping those ‘old school’ teacher terms of “anticipatory set”, “input”, “independent practice”, etc. helped me to plan more fun and interesting lessons. In addition, the 5E model made it easier for me to plan and sequence my science lessons to align with the theory of constructivist learning, which says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
Don’t miss the FREE DOWNLOAD that I’m providing at the bottom of this post!
What is the 5E Model?
Engage
If you’re unfamiliar with this model, it’s easy-peasy to wrap your head around and adopt right away! There are five sections of the lesson beginning with the Engage phase. This phase is where you should pull in your cool phenomenon videos and stories (check out this blog post for links to find interesting, relevant phenomena!).
To engage my kids for our first lesson on inertia, I tell the story about the time that as a waitress, I tripped and spilled a tray of 14 ice-waters down the back of a bride at her rehearsal dinner! Introducing density? Do a quick demonstration of a density phenomenon. Beginning waves? Show a slow-motion video of glass breaking from high-pitched music. Blasting into the solar system? Read off a list of cool facts about the planets (everyone’s mouth drops open when they learn that Venus’s day is longer than its year!).
Explore
The second phase of the 5E model is the Explore phase, and in my opinion, this is the MOST important phase. This is where the constructivism takes shape. This is where (if you haven’t already), you absolutely FLIP your lesson sequence to put your LAB FIRST and any input/direct instruction SECOND. Of course, you will still need to set up the lab, prep the manipulatives, or design the inquiry, but the work is on the front end and the thinking and constructing is on the kids!
Let them go, let them try, let them fail, let them debate, let them wonder! In this post, I will circle back to the Explore phase because I want to share how I use the University of Colorado at Boulder’s fantastic PhET Virtual Labs as an effective engagement tool for my lessons.
Explain
Following the Explore phase is the Explain phase. This is when you can provide direct instruction on those concepts with which the students wrestled during the Explore phase. Provide self-paced structured notes (this is where I incorporate my Cornell Doodle Notes), instruct students to do focused research (provide students a curated list of links where they can find good information), or do a demonstration and explain what is going on by drawing diagrams on the whiteboard.
During this phase, the students will be able to reflect on and draw on their experience during the Explore phase in order to make sense of the new information. The best part for me about adopting the 5E lesson sequence is that the time that I spend providing direct instruction has more than halved! The Eurekas! fire much sooner since the students have been warmed up to the concepts rather than being presented with cold information that hasn’t stimulated their brain pathways yet.
Extend
Sometimes this phase is called the Elaborate phase. However, I stick to calling it the Extend phase just because this word reminds me that the students should be given opportunity to extend their new learning to a higher level. Depending on the content, I suppose that the term elaborate makes sense, but this word also conjures up images of a teacher blabbing! Instead, if they mastered remembering, understanding, and applying, then give them a chance to analyze and evaluate now!
Perhaps this includes another mini-lab for which students can apply the density formula and determine the best wood to be used to make a musical instrument. Maybe they will argue which gas laws are responsible for the phenomena in a ‘playlist’ of videos. When we study the periodic table, this is when I would assign the Design Your Own Periodic Table project and ask the students to apply the concept of periodicity to a theme of their choice!
Evaluate
The last phase of the 5E model is the Evaluate phase. This is the assessment portion of the lesson when you see if your students ‘get it’. Depending on the lesson, this assessment could be a quick formative assessment or a more comprehensive evaluation of the understanding. Sometimes I’ll use my ‘What Stuck With You?’ wall and have the students put sticky notes on it as exit tickets, sometimes the students will need to answer a set of questions or complete a Google Form, and sometimes this phase will occur the following day and I will give a short ‘concept check’ to evaluate whether my students understood the lesson.
But Back to the Explore Phase . . .
The University of Colorado at Boulder’s PhET Virtual Labs cover tons of different scientific topics from Earth Science to Biology to Chemistry to Physics. A few years ago, I used these in my classes occasionally in place of an actual lab. This is especially helpful for some of those tough-to-teach chemistry and physics topics. But, that was also before I switched to writing my lessons using the 5E framework. Over the years, I have found that if I want the topic to STICK with my students, the best placement for the PhET simulations is during the Explore phase.
So when you’ve piqued their interest but you haven’t taught a THING yet, let the students literally play with the relevant simulation. I mean, how cool is it to be able to let kids experiment with chemicals and heat and doing ollies on skateboards without a worry in your mind that they might get hurt!
The Google PhET Form
This year, my colleague had the brilliant idea to create a Google Form with specific questions that the students answer by experimenting with the PhET simulation. If you set the Google Form to be a Quiz in Settings, you can create an answer key and select that the students will get their score/answer feedback immediately after submission. This way, the students will have instant feedback about whether they understood the phenomena in the simulation. You can assign the Form through your Google Classroom.
We have been incorporating these PhET Forms a lot this year and I have a couple to share with you. You can click on the links below and Make a Copy of the Form into your Google Drive. Then, you’ll be able to edit the Form and share it with your students if you’d like!
We have been incorporating these PhET Forms a lot this year and I have a couple to share with you. You can click on the links below and Make a Copy of the Form into your Google Drive. Then, you’ll be able to edit the Form and share it with your students if you’d like!
Build an Atom Virtual Lab PhET Form uses the Build and Atom Simulation
Gas Laws Virtual Lab PhET Form uses the Gas Properties Simulation (this one does run Java, which unfortunately doesn’t with on my students’ Chromebooks so make sure to double check before assigning this!)
It also works just as well to plan a simple exploratory lab sheet that provides directions for performing specific experiments with the PhET. This is what I used this year to allow my students to explore the relationship between temperature and particle motion. After playing with the simulation and performing the experiments on the lab sheet, many students said that they really understood the relationship. This was so great because I could zip through the Explain phase and get right to the Extend phase, for which I did my favorite thermal expansion demonstration.
I am providing a FREE DOWNLOAD of my STATES OF MATTER PhET VIRTUAL SIMULATION LAB that I designed for my students (this uses the States of Matter Basics Sim).
I hope that you can explore the simulations available on the PhET website and find ways to incorporate them into your science lessons! You can check out a few more pre-written PhET Labs here! If you have favorites, please leave them in the comments below!
No Comments