Phenomenon first, three dimensions, five E's

Science Lesson Plan Template

The science sheet puts the things a three-dimensional lesson needs where a plain 5E plan does not have room for them: a phenomenon or driving question at the top, the performance expectation, and the practice, core idea and crosscutting concept side by side. Then the five E's as rows, and safety where you cannot miss it. The plain 5E plan is here for lessons that do not need the dimensions spelled out.

Three-dimensional, on one page

2 science lesson plan templates

Portrait science lesson plan with a phenomenon box, a performance-expectation box, three dimension boxes for practice, core idea and crosscutting concept, a five-row 5E table, and safety and evidence boxes

Word Google Docs

Science Lesson Plan (5E + NGSS) — Word & Google Docs

A phenomenon box, the performance expectation, the three dimensions side by side, the five E's as rows with time and materials, and safety where you will see it.

Download Word Open in Google Docs

PDF

Science Lesson Plan (5E + NGSS) — fillable PDF

One page, portrait. Type into the fields or print it blank and handwrite.

Download fillable PDF

Portrait 5E lesson plan with five phase rows from Engage to Evaluate and three columns for teacher actions, student actions, and time and materials

Word Google Docs

5E Lesson Plan — Word & Google Docs

Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate as rows, with what the teacher does, what students do, and time and materials as columns.

Download Word Open in Google Docs

PDF

5E Lesson Plan — fillable PDF

One page, portrait. Type into the fields or print it blank and handwrite.

Download fillable PDF

Specifications: US Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches. Word files are editable .docx that open in Word 2007 through Microsoft 365, including Word for Mac; the Google Docs link makes a copy in your own Drive; the PDF has real form fields and prints as plain hairline boxes when blank. Free to use in as many classes as you like, no account, no watermark.

Why it is laid out this way

About the science templates

Since the Next Generation Science Standards, a science lesson is expected to do three things at once — have students use a practice, on a core idea, through a crosscutting concept — and to start from something to explain rather than something to learn. Most templates still start from a topic. This one starts from the phenomenon box and makes you fill all three dimensions before the sequence begins, which is the planning habit the standards actually ask for; if you cannot name the crosscutting concept, that is worth knowing on Monday rather than Thursday.

The 5E rows are the same as the general 5E plan, with time and materials folded into one column to make space for the dimension boxes above. Safety has its own box because science is the subject where the plan is a liability document as well as a teaching one; the box is small, but it is on the page.

Questions teachers ask

Science lesson plans, answered

What if my state has not adopted NGSS?

Most states that did not adopt NGSS wrote their own three-dimensional standards from the same framework, so the boxes still apply; write your state's code in the performance-expectation box and its practice and concept names in the dimension boxes. Texas is the main exception — its science TEKS has its own structure, and the Texas plan in this section is built for it.

How is this different from the 5E plan on the frameworks page?

The 5E plan is the five phases and nothing else, for any subject. This one adds the phenomenon, the performance expectation, the three dimensions and safety. Use the plain one when the science is a small part of an integrated lesson or when your district's form already captures the dimensions.

One lesson or a whole cycle?

A 5E cycle usually spans several days, and the phenomenon belongs to the cycle rather than to one period. Many teachers fill one of these per cycle and use the daily plan for each day's piece; the date box takes a range for that reason.