Center for
Environmental Education
Outdoor/Environmental
Education
LESSON PLAN
FORMAT
The following is an outline designed to guide you in
developing lesson plans. The lesson plan is an effective tool used to enhance
your instruction. Please approach it as a tool rather than a burden. Think of it as a road map to guide the
journey!
I. Title—Name it!
Be creative, draw the reader in!
Goals are the general rationale or purpose of what you want
to teach. Goals speak to the broad
outcome of a lesson.
Example: “This lesson
will encourage sensory awareness toward natural objects.”
Objectives are the measurable and observable outcomes of
your lesson. They are the specific reason/s the lesson is created/used.
Example: From this
lesson, students will be able to:
a)
Describe five
different natural objects.
b)
Write their
awareness clearly in a brief essay.
c)
Describe a
different object using each of the human senses.
IV. Audience identified—Your
students.
a)
Age group
b)
Affiliation,
e.g. Boy Scout troop, recreation undergrads, grade 5 class, etc.
c)
Number
V. Duration—Time involved.
a)
How long is
the lesson? (preparation included)
b)
How long will
it take to get to the site? (travel time)
c)
How long will
it take to follow up the field experience or lab experience?
VI. Location—Where?
a)
Where will the
lesson be taught?
b)
How will you
get there?
c)
Any specific
safety concerns?
VII. Content & Methods—The substance of your presentation & how you
will teach it.
This is the major portion of your lesson plan. Take time here to lay out your lesson
properly and it will pay off during your lesson.
a)
Include the
information that is readily usable for your presentation (background), the
information you want to impart to the students.
Content is finding the factual knowledge and blending it into a
conceptual plan so that the receiver can make sense of it. That is, learning
through personal meaning and building on past experiences. This information
must be organized into a usable form for you, the presenter. Further, include
additional background information designed to support other educators preparing
to use this lesson.
b)
Describe,
within the content, the methods that will be use to present that information
and work toward achievement of the objectives.
For example, if you are teaching tree identification, explain how you
will teach tree identification and describe the specific activities that might
be a part of this (games, role-play, experimentation, demonstration,
observation,…).
Provide specific directions of procedure to accomplish the planned
lesson…Step 1, step 2…part a, part b…
A peer educator should be able to pick up your lesson plan,
understand your content and be able to follow your procedural steps to
successfully present the lesson.
Depending upon your audience, you will need to consider different things for management of the group and prevention of injuries.
a)
How will you
manage the group (keeping the group together, rules, discipline, supervision,…)
b)
What are
potential risks at the site you are using with the activities you are
conducting? How will you minimize the
student’s exposure to the risks?
XI. Equipment—What you need!
a)
What equipment
or materials will be needed?
b)
List each
specific item and quantity.
XII. What is a foul weather alternative?
XIII. Evaluation—Assessing
learning.
Provide a specific plan for assessing learning. The plan may be a test, a group discussion, a
rubric, a product completed for the student portfolio, demonstration of
ability, etc. Be deliberate about how
the learning will be assessed, your tool should help you address the following
questions:
a)
How do you
know that the lesson was successful?
b)
Were your
objectives met?
c)
How were you
successful as an instructor?
XIV. Follow up—What’s next?
Each lesson should link to the next lesson of a deliberate
sequence (scope and sequence) within a broader context. This is especially important for all formal
and non-formal educators – lessons are rarely stand-alone, without a connection
to other learning.
a)
What is the
next lesson?
b)
How will you
prepare your students for the next lesson?
XV. Reference materials to support your lesson
a)
Lesson plans
must have some reference source that supports your content. The reference must be valid (books,
journals). Unless a person is recognized
in their field as a leading expert, people are not necessarily valid resources
(ie. the camp director a
b)
Provide any
source information and cite it properly!
c)
List at least
3 references for additional information.
Bates, Beery & Gilbertson 2002