Georgia Standards

South Carolina Standards

Key Vocabulary

Materials

• Sound source and music with a steady beat
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Scenarios with heating, cooling and insulation

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

• Begin the lesson by engaging students in movement that introduces students to the Elements of Dance: Body, action, space, time and energy.

• • Have students arrange themselves in the classroom with enough personal space to move freely without touching a neighbor.
  • Turn on instrumental music with a steady beat.
  • First, have students bring awareness to their bodies by leading them through gentle stretches starting from the head and moving to the toes (e.g., head circles, shoulder shrugs, toe touches, etc.).
  • Next, bring students’ awareness to the rhythm of the music by having them march in place to the beat with high knees, swinging their arms side to side.
  • Now, direct students to explore energy variations with different movement qualities such as sharp movements–quick, precise actions like punches or snaps, and smooth movements–slow, flowing actions like waves or circles with arms.
  • Finally, bring students’ attention to levels (high, middle, low) and directions (forward, backward, sideways) with movements such as stretching up high and moving on tiptoes, moving low to the ground and crawling forwards and backwards, and bouncing in place at a medium level.
  • Have students return to their seats.

Work Session

• Begin with teacher-led discussion or review of science concepts of heating, cooling, and insulation.
• Divide students into small groups. Provide each group with a piece of chart paper/poster paper and markers.
• In their groups, students should divide their paper into two sections (or pre-divide students’ paper for them).
  • Students should label the sections Heating and Cooling.
  • In each section, students should explain what heating and cooling are and provide examples of ways heat can be transferred or removed.
  • Allow students to share with the whole class. Students can revise/add to their charts as needed.
• Remind students of the movement qualities and energy variations that they explored from the warm-up.
  • Ask groups to discuss and list which types of movement qualities and energy would show heating and cooling.
    • For example, slow movements to quick movements might represent heating.
  • Facilitate a class discussion around student responses. Students should explain why certain movements and energy levels would communicate different concepts. Students can revise/add to their charts as needed.
• Provide each group with a different scenario involving heating, cooling and insulation.
• Ask students to interpret their scenarios through movement, focusing on energy types and movement qualities. Choreography should include a starting pose, three movements, and an ending pose.

Closing Reflection

• The students will perform their movement phrases for their classmates. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
• Turn up the volume of the music and help students find the steady beat again by tapping their toe on the floor.
• After each performance, ask the audience to identify what happened in the scenario and whether it showed heating, cooling, or insulation. Ask groups to identify which movements in the choreography support their reasoning.

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator; discussion of heating, cooling, and insulation; and group collaboration on brainstorming and creation of choreography.

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can explain thermal energy transfer through the concepts of heating, cooling, and insulation.
• Students can use movement qualities and energy to create choreography that appropriately demonstrates their assigned scenario.
• Students can accurately match choreography and science concepts.

DIFFERENTIATION 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: July 2024 @ ArtsNOW

Georgia Standards

South Carolina Standards

Key Vocabulary

Materials

• Sound source and music
• List of animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates
• Chart paper
• Sticky notes
• Markers
• Pencils

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

• Begin the lesson by practicing a typical call and response with students. Continue the call and response adding body movements.
  • Incorporate some of the aspects of the elements of dance/movement qualities such as levels, pathways, direction, changes in tempo, dynamics, etc.

Work Session

• Review vertebrates/invertebrates and their movements. Discuss examples and characteristics of vertebrates/invertebrates.
  • In groups, have students identify types of animals that would be in each category.
  • Have students assign adjectives that describe each type of animal. Students should write these on sticky notes and then place them on chart paper posted around the room with the animal’s name.
• Discuss some of the elements of dance/movement qualities such as dynamics, tempo, levels, pathways, etc.
• Select an animal to explore and create movement qualities/shapes for as a whole class.
  • Using the poster paper as reference, brainstorm how elements of dance/movement qualities, such as dynamics, tempo, levels, pathways, etc. can be used to express characteristics of the animal, including whether it is a vertebrate or invertebrate.
• Assign each group a different animal.
• Tell students that they will be assigned an animal and will choreograph a three-movement phrase with their groups to express characteristics of their animal.
  • Students should create shapes with their bodies that reflect whether the animal is a vertebrate or an invertebrate.
  • Students should use what they learned about the elements of dance/movement qualities in their choreography (dynamics, tempo, levels, etc.).

Closing Reflection

• Students will perform their dances for the class. Discuss audience etiquette with students prior to performances.
• After each group performs, the audience should discuss how the shapes and movement qualities express the characteristics of the animal and whether it is a vertebrate or invertebrate.

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of concepts by observing students’ discussions of animals and their characteristics in small groups, students’ use of the elements of dance/movement qualities to demonstrate characteristics of animals, and students’ contributions to group choreography.

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can create movements and choreography using the elements of dance/movement qualities that accurately demonstrate the characteristics of their assigned animals.
• Students can accurately classify animals according to their attributes.

DIFFERENTIATION 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

 Ideas contributed by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

Georgia Standards

Grade 7:

S7L2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe how cell structures, cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems interact to maintain the basic needs of organisms. 

1. Develop a model and construct an explanation of how cell structures (specifically the nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplasts, lysosome, and mitochondria) contribute to the function of the cell as a system in obtaining nutrients in order to grow, reproduce, make needed materials, and process waste.

South Carolina Standards

Key Vocabulary

Materials

• Sound source and music
• Cards with cell parts written on them
• Chart paper
• Markers

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

• Begin by playing the Vocabulary Circle Game with your class.  
• Put the vocabulary words (cell parts) on the board and, as a group, discuss adjectives that describe each cell part.  
• Next, have students practice creating a movement or body shape to demonstrate that part of the cell. This can become a guessing game with students.

Work Session

• Next, divide students into small groups. Assign each group a part of the cell.
• On chart paper, students should define the role of their part of the cell and use adjectives to describe its characteristics and overall shape.
• Tell students that they will be using movement to demonstrate their part of the cell.
• Turn on music that has a steady beat.
• Introduce dance elements and movement qualities by practicing a typical call and response with students. Continue the call and response adding body movements.
• Incorporate some of the aspects of the elements of dance/movement qualities such as levels, pathways, direction, changes in tempo, dynamics, etc. (e.g., shake your hands at a high level quickly; now shake them at a low level slowly).
• Debrief the different movements with students asking them how movement can represent meaning.
• Now, tell students to create a short movement phrase to represent their part of the cell. 
• Remind students to use their adjectives as a guide. 
• Students should use two or three dance elements and movement qualities such as body shape and dynamics intentionally in their choreography. 
• Students should be able to explain how they used the elements to communicate characteristics of their part of the cell.

Closing Reflection

• Students will perform their dances for the class. Discuss audience etiquette with students prior to performances. 
• After each group performs, the audience should identify which cell part they see in the dance sequence and what cell (plant or animal) it belongs to.
• Groups should then explain how they used dance elements and movements qualities to show their part of the cell.

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding by observing students’ responses during the activating strategy, ability to identify the role and characteristics of their part of the cell in small groups, contributions to choreography in small groups, and discussion after each performance.

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can choreograph a movement phrase that uses the elements of dance and movement qualities to communicate characteristics of their part of the cell.
• Students can define the role and characteristics of their assigned part of a cell.

DIFFERENTIATION 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

 Ideas contributed by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

Georgia Standards

South Carolina Standards

Key Vocabulary

Materials

• Sound source and music

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Clear desks to have an open space and be tolerant of noise and excitement, but set limits. 

• Have students form a circle.
• Demonstrate the Name Game by stating your name while making a movement or gesture to accompany your name.
• The circle then collectively repeats your name and gesture. Continue with the next person stating his/her name and making a gesture. The circle repeats the new person's name and gesture. Then, starting with the person of origin, repeat all the names and gestures shared to that point. Continue until everyone in the circle is included.

Work Session

• Tell students that using movement and dance, the class will create “machines” where each part is dependent on another for its movement.
• Next, introduce dance elements and movement qualities by practicing a typical call and response with students. Continue the call and response adding body movements.
  • Incorporate some of the aspects of the elements of dance/movement qualities such as levels, pathways, direction, changes in tempo, dynamics, etc. (e.g., shake your hands at a high level quickly, shake them at a low level slowly; twist at a high level, twist at a low level, etc.).
  • Debrief the different movements with students asking them how movement can represent meaning.
• Break students into six groups. Assign each group one of the simple machines (lever, pulley, wedge, inclined plane, wheel and axle, and screw). Have each group develop a movement to demonstrate the machine.
• Allow groups to teach the whole class the movement so that every group is using the same movements for each simple machine.
• Discuss energy with students.
  • Ask students how changing the speed of the simple machine’s movement relates to the energy of the machine.
  • Ask students to consider what would happen if two dancers performing their simple machines collided? What would happen to the energy?
• Tell students that in their groups, they will create a new machine combining at least two of the simple machines using the movements they just learned. Students will generate a name and job for their machine.
  • Students should first sketch out their machine.
  • Students will then create a short movement phrase, “The Dance Machine”, to represent how their machine works.
  • Students should use elements of dance and movement qualities in their choreography.
• Students will perform their dances for the class. Discuss audience etiquette with students prior to performances.
  • Audience members will identify which simple machines were used to create the new machine during the groups’ dance performances.
  • After performances, students should explain the purpose of their machine.

Closing Reflection

Debrief the lesson by discussing how the concept of energy was used in each machine and how potential energy was converted into kinetic energy in their machines.

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding by observing students’ participation with group members to create a movement to represent the function of a simple machine, discussion of the role of energy, and ability to design and represent a new machine through movement.

Summative

• Students can use movements to represent simple machines.
• Students can create machines with a purpose using two or more simple machines.
• Students can use movement to demonstrate their machines.
• Students can explain the role energy plays in machines.

DIFFERENTIATION 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW