I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Vanilla Ice Cream!

Contributor
Jeri Faber, educator
Type Category
Instructional Materials
Types
Lesson/Lesson Plan
Note
This resource, vetted by NSTA curators, is provided to teachers along with suggested modifications to make it more in line with the vision of the NGSS. While not considered to be "fully aligned," the resources and expert recommendations provide teachers with concrete examples and expert guidance using the EQuIP rubric to adapted existing resources. Read more here.

Reviews

Description

In this lesson students design a vanilla plant pollinator.  This is an end-of-the-unit task, taking about 3 days to complete.  The students will view an amazing video that tells about the problems with pollinating vanilla by hand.  The students pretend to be employees of Ben and Jerry's ice cream company and help to plan and design a pollinator for the vanilla plant so that the great vanilla flavored ice cream can continue to be produced. (This is the first of several lessons created by Jeri Faber on plant pollination at:  betterlessons.com/ )

Intended Audience

Educator
Educational Level
  • Grade 2
  • Elementary School
Language
English
Access Restrictions

Free access with user action - The right to view and/or download material without financial barriers but users are required to register or experience some other low-barrier to use.

Performance Expectations

K-2-ETS1-2 Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Clarification Statement: none

Assessment Boundary: none

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.

Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
Students will develop a sketch of their pollinator model. Encourage students to use labels for each part of the drawing.

K-2-ETS1-2 Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Clarification Statement: none

Assessment Boundary: none

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.

Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
Students will develop a sketch of their pollinator model. Encourage students to use labels for each part of the drawing.

2-LS2-2 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

Clarification Statement: none

Assessment Boundary: none

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.

Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
Teachers should start out with the video. The video is quite powerful. It enables the students to see the difficulty of vanilla bean plant pollination, and in this way, their task of developing a vanilla plant pollinator takes on more meaning for them.

Science and Engineering Practices

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this science and engineering practice.

Comments about Including the Science and Engineering Practice
Because the students will be building on prior knowledge of pollinators and the pollination process to help them create their model of a pollinator, previous lessons about pollination are needed. The students will discover that the shape of the object also relates to the function of their design, so conversations about how animals help with plant pollination is necessary.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this disciplinary core idea.

Comments about Including the Disciplinary Core Idea
Books read aloud,videos, and class discussions before this lesson should focus on how plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.

Crosscutting Concepts

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this crosscutting concept.

Comments about Including the Crosscutting Concept
Class discussions on how animals help with pollination or to move their seeds around are necessary before this lesson. A great book to support this concept is: Animal Pollinators (First Step Nonfiction- Paperback) by Jennifer Boothroyd

Resource Quality

  • Alignment to the Dimensions of the NGSS: Because this lesson builds on prior learning, the students have the background knowledge necessary to design a vanilla plant pollinator. All dimensions of the NGSS are addressed.

  • Instructional Supports: The creator has provided all of the necessary steps and tips for walking teachers through this lesson on designing a vanilla plant pollinator. All of the video, website, and photo links work properly. All student sheets are attached to the lesson.

  • Monitoring Student Progress: Although no formative or summative assessments are included in this lesson, a teacher could keep anecdotal notes for each student's pollinator design progress.

  • Quality of Technological Interactivity: Although students do not interact physically with the websites, the students are observing and analyzing different means of hand pollination for plants as they view the websites, photos, and videos.