Teacher Guide & Lesson Plan
Goals:
This lesson addresses the following national science
standard for grade 3 to 5:
Knows how features on the Earth's surface are constantly changed by a
combination of slow and rapid processes (e.g., weathering, erosion, transport,
and deposition of sediment caused by waves, wind, water, and ice; landslides,
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, drought).
Because the focus of this particular lesson is on how the Earth changes through erosion and landslides, students should understand erosion and how it occurs. They should be able to understand that it can occur slowly over time or quickly as in a landslide. While this focuses on the recognition networks, students will also involve their strategic networks in the activity/assignment portion. They should be able to replicate the conditions for erosion in using either the computer model or in an alternate activity.
Methods/Materials:
Children will initially learn about erosion and landslides from reading
the text. They can either read online or
from a print version of the reading. For children who might have trouble,
there is extra support to help them understand the material. A summary
and a concept map are available to provide an overview and help students
understand what is most important from the reading. Students may also
have the material read to them by a narrator if they have trouble reading
or staying on task with the material. There is a notepad and picture tool
that will allow the students to document their learning. There are also
pcitures with detailed descriptions, a glossary, and external media and
resource links.
After completing the reading, students will be able to create an online simulation modeling what they have learned about erosion. This activity will allow them to create mountains and then expose them to wind and rain to see what happens. Students will be asked to answer certain questions about this simulation to ensure that they have an understanding of the material.
Some students may have trouble completing the computer-based erosion activity at the end of the reading. These students can complete alternate activities to demonstrate their understanding of the content. Building a physical model can allow children to explore the same questions as the online simulation. Several possible activities can be found in the following links:
- http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/lessons/Erosion.shtml
- http://www.leeric.lsu.edu/educat/lesson1.htm
- http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Lessons/Interdisciplinary/INT0133.html
Evaluation:
Students should be able to answer the following questions:
- What happens in erosion?
- What causes erosion?
- What causes landslides?
- How do erosion and landslides affect the earth?
These answers should be touched upon in the questions accompanying the assignment component of the reading. If students complete an alternate activity like making a physical model rather than using a virtual one, they should be able to answer similar questions or at least the question above. While reflective and descriptive writing can help students better understand and internalize science material, students who have problems writing can verbally answer these questions for assessment. Students should also be able to describe what they are doing in their model - physical or virtual.