Backwards Design Lesson Plan

For class this week, we were to use a method for creating lesson plans known as the Backwards Design. Normally I go with the flow and create my lesson plans as mandated by whatever administration dictates- which is usually either by strand or by benchmark. I rarely look at the State Standards specifically when we create lesson plans using this method, instead I may glance at the Standard and proceed to write my lessons with the textbook and benchmark at hand.


I wrote a lesson plan on Animal adaptation for my Backwards Design Lesson plan that answers the following Essential Question: What are some examples of physical and behavioral characteristics that help an animal survive a change in its environment? The question was based on the State Standard: The student understands the mechanisms of change (e.g., mutation and natural selection) that lead to adaptations in a species and their ability to survive naturally in changing conditions and to increase species diversity.

Initially I wanted to write a lesson about the Air Potato, which is an invasive species that did not need to adapt  in order to thrive in Florida. After considering the State Standard, I changed my plans and decided to create a lesson plan where my students would design an animal along with proper adaptations so it could survive in the desert, a tropical rain forest, the arctic or a fresh water lake. 

My students worked in pairs to create the animal design and then make that animal with its new adaptations out of play-do. The above is an Arctic Tundra Pony. The students wrote that its fur changed to brown in the summer and in the winter it was white. The creature had long thick fur to keep it warm and wide feet so it wouldn't break through the snow in the wintertime.

Once done creating their newly adapted animals, student teams traded and were instructed to discuss in teams what animal they now had and what adaptations were made for survival.

My students loved this lesson- they were able to use prior knowledge along with new knowledge learned in class about animal adaptation. I have many ELL students that are quite bright but struggle with textbooks and language. This lesson worked particularly well with this group, as it was about design and application of knowledge rather than rote textbook memorization. 

I would definitely recommend using the Backwards Design Method when it comes to creating lesson plans. You know you've hit a target goal, and you can get very creative with your lesson (which my students love).