1. 5 E’s Science Instructional Delivery Model
The 5 E’s Science Instructional Delivery Model is a research-based model for planning and delivering science instruction. It is endorsed by the Florida Department of Education and is used in professional development modules for implementation of the Next Generation Sunshine State Science Standards.

2. 5 E’s Science Instructional Model for Multiple-day Lessons
Engage
Explore
Explain
Extend
Each E enters on clicking.
Note: in some versions of the 5 E’s, EXTEND is called ELABORATE.
Evaluate

3. Science 5 E’s Instructional Model for Lessons
A lesson is developed around a concept, based on one or more benchmarks from the Sunshine State Standards.
A science lesson may extend over two or more days. Additional days may be required depending on the concepts.
Examples of lesson length:
The initial lesson on properties of matter may last five days in one grade, while a review lesson might be two days in a later grade.
A lesson on weather might last six or seven days in order to teach the basic concepts, with data collection extending over a month or longer.
The 5 E’s is NOT a model for daily lesson planning. All 5 E’s are NOT covered in one science class period but extend over time.

4. Flow of the 5 E’s Model The 5 E’s drive planning and instruction.
Instruction flows from Engage through Extend, with informal assessment occurring during and after each E.
It may not be a linear flow through the E’s if you realize that students do not understand a concept. For example, you may need to create an additional opportunity for exploration to build conceptual understanding before moving on.
Emphasize the flow of the 5 E’s model. What a teacher is doing in the class does not determine which E is being done. The E determines which instructional activities are planned and implemented.
For example, having students read the textbook does not mean that the teacher is implementing the Extend. Something in the textbook may, however, lead to the Extend by challenging and deepening students’ conceptual understanding and skills.

5. Science 5 E’s Instructional Model
All science instructional periods should begin with
a brief opening that includes a review of the previous day’s work and
a preview of the work for the day.
All science instructional periods should end with a short 3-8 minute
assessment of what was just done in class and
a preview of the next day’s work.
Think of the opening and closing as “bookends” for the period.
The opening and closing are NOT part of the 5 E’s. They are the connections that link the 5 E’s over all the days of instruction. Best practice has always recommended an opening and closing to an instructional period.

6. Opening to review and preview Closing to assess learning and summarize
Science 5 E’s Instructional Model (Compared to the Workshop Model) Sample Day 1
Opening/Mini-lesson
Opening to review and preview
Engage
Work Session
Explore
Here is a sample lesson of the 5 E’s compared to the workshop model.
Closing to assess learning and summarize
Closing

7. Engage (Similar to a Hook or a Launch)
Students engage by:
Demonstrating background knowledge on a topic or
Viewing and questioning a discrepant or novel (surprising) event or
Pondering an essential, open-ended question or problem-based scenario or
Participating in a discovery activity
Teachers help students engage by:
Checking students’ background knowledge:
-with the K of K-W-L,
-a preconception quiz,
-an anticipation guide,
-a Think-Pair-Share, or
-other research-based strategy
Demonstrating a discrepant event or
Providing an open-ended question, problem-based scenario, or discovery activity
Engage initiates the unit of study. The activity should make connections between past and present learning experiences, anticipate activities, and focus students’ thinking on the learning outcomes of current activities. The student should become mentally engaged in the concept, process, or skill to be explored.
Information gathered during the Engage assists teachers in constructing appropriate learning opportunities for students.

8. Explore (Directed or Guided Inquiry)
Students explore by:
experiencing an inquiry activity introducing one or more concepts and
sharing ideas and
building common knowledge base, and
identifying further questions and
analyzing and interpreting data from inquiry activity
Teachers help students explore by:
planning and preparing a directed or guided inquiry activity and
organizing how students will get, use, and return materials safely and
clarifying procedures and
monitoring student interactions, and
monitoring data interpretation and asking questions and
identifying students’ misconceptions
Explore provides students with a common base of experiences that allow them to identify and develop concepts, processes, and skills.
During Explore, students actively investigate their environment or manipulate materials.
Remember: Activity before Concept and Concept before Vocabulary (AbC-CbV)!
How will you informally assess the Explore?

9. Science 5 E’s Instructional Model Sample Day 2
Opening to review and preview
Explore
Since Explore is a carefully planned activity based on a benchmark, it may extend from the previous day and may continue to the next day. How long Explore lasts depends on the concept(s) and skill(s) being taught.
Closing to assess learning and summarize

10. Opening to review and preview Closing to assess learning and summarize
Science 5 E’s Instructional Model Sample Day 3
Opening to review and preview
Explore
Explain
When Explore continues to Day 3, it is used for students to complete their written records of the activity before they Explain what they have learned. They may also do a final trial of their investigation.
Remember that the length of time in any one E depends on the concept being taught.
Closing to assess learning and summarize

11. Explain Students explain by:
sharing interpretations of data with other students and the teacher and
constructing scientific concepts and
building mental and/or concrete models and
writing about concepts and
creating vocabulary maps
Teachers help students explain by:
directing whole group discussion of data interpretations and
determining levels of understanding and
clarifying concepts and
addressing students’ misconceptions and
providing pertinent information through direct instruction and
connecting the investigation to the concept and
using the “teacher as expert reader” strategy when using the textbook or leveled reader to improve text comprehension
Explain is the time for students to provide an explanation of what they understand from their exploration and data collection. Students should explain using their notes, data, and diagrams from the activity. Teachers should use this time to identify students’ misconceptions and to teach and reteach concepts and vocabulary.
Remember: Activity before Concept and Concept before Vocabulary (AbC-CbV)!
Explain leads to the essential next step, Extend.
How will you informally assess the Explain?

12. Science 5 E’s Instructional Model Sample Day 4
Opening to review and preview
Explain
Extend
Explain may continue to Day 4. This is the time for teachers to check students’ understanding again and clarify concepts after reflecting on the previous day’s instruction. Extend should be clearly connected to the concepts learned in the previous E’s to allow students to apply their new knowledge and skills.
Closing to assess learning and summarize

13. Extend Students extend by: making connections to related concepts and
developing testable questions that apply what they have learned to new problems or situations and
Implementing their newly designed investigation and
clarifying concepts and explanations with teachers and other sources of scientific knowledge by reading, researching, and discussing
Teachers help students extend by:
asking high level questions that encourage transfer and application of concepts and
making science materials and tools available for students’ testable questions and
guiding further explorations in or outside of the science class
guiding connections to related concepts and
posing new problems or situations and
providing textbooks, trade books, periodicals, reference materials, and technology resources to support deeper knowledge.
Extend is an essential E because it allows students to apply what they have learned. It helps students move into a higher level of cognitive complexity and allows them to practice their skills.
Students will develop a testable question and carry out an investigation with the support of the teacher. Some investigations might involve the collection of data during a few minutes of succeeding days (e.g., plant growth data) while other investigations would require more class time to implement.

14. Science 5 E’s Instructional Model Sample Day 5
Opening to review and preview
Extend
Evaluate
Extend gives students the opportunity to use previously learned information to support additional learning. Students are encouraged to apply or elaborate on new concepts and skills.
Although teachers are assessing student understanding throughout all phases of the 5 E’s, Evaluate is the time for summative assessment of the concepts and skills of the unit of study.
Closing to summarize

15. Evaluate Students evaluate understanding by:
reviewing what they have learned and
completing short-answer and extended response items and scoring them with a rubric and
organizing information needed for the unit performance task and
discussing written items and performance tasks with others and the teacher and
taking quizzes and tests
Teachers help students evaluate by:
providing written practice with concepts, including short answer and extended response items with rubrics and
allowing students to discuss rubrics and self-score selected items and
providing opportunity to organize information related to the unit performance task and teacher-developed rubric and
observing and questioning and
giving quizzes and tests, including District Progress Monitoring Assessments for Grades 3-5
Evaluate can be informal (teachers observations and questions) or formal assessment (performance task, district formatives, teacher quizzes and tests).
District Progress Monitoring Assessments (PMAs) are designed to determine students’ understanding of concepts and benchmarks taught in the lessons and clarify for teachers what may need reteaching.
Teachers should meet by grade level to develop the rubric for the performance tasks before the assignment is made to students.
Teachers need to work collaboratively to discuss student work on the performance tasks as well as on the short and extended response items on the formatives.

16. Middle School Science Example
In Grade 6 the unit on natural disasters in Florida could take one 5 E cycle, while the lesson on energy transformations could take three 5 E cycles.
In Grade 7 energy flow through ecosystems may be broken down into three 5 E cycles.
In Grade 8 the lesson on stars and galaxies may take five 5 E cycles.

17. Example of a Lesson for Grade 1 on Plant Parts Using the 5 E’s
Developed during a coaching cycle at an elementary school
Based on benchmarks
SC.1.L.14.2 Identify the major parts of plants, including stem, roots, leaves, and flowers.
SC.1.L.17.1 Through observation, recognize that all plants and animals, including humans, need the basic necessities of air, water, food, and space.
SC.1.N.1.2 Using the five senses as tools, make careful observations, describe objects in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion and compare their observations with others.
Illustrates the flow of the 5 E’s through a concept (parts of a plant)
The following slides give an example of a unit of study using the 5 E’s instructional model.

18. Engage
Observe two different plants and record how they are alike and different. or
Go outside to a preselected area and dig up a few small plants to compare when back in the classroom.
Go outside for a scavenger hunt to record different kinds of plants on the school grounds.
Sort premade picture cards of parts of plants.
Listen and look for evidence of students’ prior knowledge about plant parts.
These are some possibilities for engaging activities. Teachers would select an Engage based on what they know about their students and the materials and options available at their schools.

19. Explore
Students planted bean seeds in clear plastic cups a week ago. Seeds were placed in the soil to be clearly visible through the sides of the cups.
Use hand lens to observe roots. Measure and record length of roots. Draw sprouted seed and label roots. Write about changes in the seed. Predict changes.
and
Observe and compare roots of different kinds of plants, including those we eat (carrots, turnips, radishes). Draw and write about these roots.
Look at what students recorded to assess their ability to observe and compare differences in plant roots.
An Explore provides all students with a common base of experience by actively investigating the parts of different kinds of plants. Students build their observing, recording, writing, and communicating skills during this stage.
This is an example of a lesson that will return to the same Explore later when teaching about stems, leaves, and flowers.

20. Explain
Students use their drawings and writing to explain their observations about plants.
and
Teacher asks probing questions and notes misconceptions that students have about plants, their roots, and what roots do to help plants meet their basic needs.
Teacher reads an appropriate text selection to make connections to the concept explored (roots of plants), clarifying vocabulary.
Assess understanding of plant roots with a new labeled drawing.
The Explain provides students an opportunity to verbalize their conceptual understanding. It is an appropriate time to connect formal science vocabulary to the informal vocabulary students use to describe concepts and phenomena.

21. Extend
Enrichment
Teacher provides materials and resources to help students ask a new testable question, control variables, and collect data during the new investigation.
Remediation in small group
Teacher guides students in examining plants for different kinds of roots and discusses how roots are alike and differ and what roots do for plants.
The Extend phase allows an opportunity for students to further develop and broaden their conceptual understanding through new experiences.
For example, teacher might bring in two of the same type of plants (i.e.: marigolds, parsley, petunias, etc.). After observing the roots, the students may wonder what would happen if the roots were smaller on one plant than the other.
Or…What would happen if one of the plants was planted in soil and the other in sand?
Or…What would happen if one of the plants was planted in soil and the other in water?
Or…What would happen if one of the plants was planted in soil and the other in rocks?

22. Evaluate Teacher have been informally assessing each day by
listening to and observing students as they work,
reviewing students’ notebooks for understanding, and
questioning and redirecting student thinking about plants.
Students use their observations and data about plants and roots to answer their own questions and often pose additional questions.
and
Teacher assesses formally by
reviewing students’ notebooks for understanding of the roots of plants, and
evaluating student work on the plant parts performance task.
This example provides opportunities for teachers to Evaluate student progress toward achieving the educational objectives of the unit of study. Students should also have an opportunity to reflect on, measure, and evaluate their own learning and skill development.
In Grades 3-5, reviewing students’ performance on the district progress monitoring assessments (PMAs), especially on the SR responses, provides another form of formal evaluation.

23. Sample 5 E’s Lesson for Grade 5
SC.E The tilt of the Earth on its own axis as it rotates and revolves around the Sun causes changes in season, length of day, and energy available.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Opening: Pre-conception quiz EQ: What causes the seasons?
Engage:
Internet visualizations of Earth rotating on its axis around the Sun.
Explore:
Day 1 students rotate outside
Closing Draw in notebook -rotate
Opening: Review
Have the students revolve around desk or tree outside.
Closing Draw in notebook - revolve
Students walk in orbit drawn on the ground around the Sun.
Explain:
Students discuss the amount of energy available for different planets
Evaluate:
notebook – feedback
Closing review words
Why we have the seasons activity.
Concept Map
Students record their observations in their notebook and draw and label a diagram of seasons based on these observations.
Closing review – EQ
Read Chapter 17 Lesson 1”In what ways does Earth move?”
Discuss reasons for the seasons. Answer questions at the end of the lesson.
Closing Review the week and preview next week. Collect notebooks
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Extend:
Read Pearson’s leveled readers.
Summary paragraph on what was read/ answer question.
Closing Exit Ticket
Explore: direct vs. indirect light
Flash light / globe or something round
Closing
Explore: Draw the silhouette of student outside. Follow Sun’s movement.
Draw, label, explain how Sun’s energy is responsible for Earth’s seasonal changes.
Closing quick check
Explain: picture from yesterday-
Bill Nye video
Earth’s Seasons
Video Notes Earth’s Seasons
Closing Vocabulary Check
Formal Assessment:
Chapter Test
Post-conception quiz
Closing Preview next unit
Click to add red rectangles for Bell Ringer, Yellow for Engage, green for Explore, orange for Explain, white for extend, and lavender for Evaluate.
Weeks on Earth’s Seasons. Be able to do- students explain. 23

24. The 5 E’s Instructional Model
This graphic shows that we need to assess student understanding during each stage of a 5 E’s lesson.

25. For more science instruction information, go to…
DCPS Science Department
Riverdeep Learning Village
FCAT Homepage
FCAT for Educators
FCR-STEM
CPALMS
These links go to resources for teaching and assessing science as well as to district resources for professional development.