plate tectonics lesson implementation

Implementation of lesson - modeling earth science concepts

Implementation of this lesson proved to be a challenge.  As I am currently on summer break, I taught the lesson to a multi-age group of students at my sons' summer camp.  The lesson was written, and intended, for use with my sixth grade students.  The group of students that were present on the day the lesson was presented ranged from 1st - 5th grade.  I think that by using the model, students were able to see the concept a little more clearly.

I used Snickers candy bars to demonstrate how plate tectonics works.  Students were able to manipulate the candy bars to mimic convergent and divergent plate boundaries.  One of the biggest problems during my lesson was that I chose to do the instruction outside, and the candy bars were melting quickly.  They were soft to begin with, so "breaking" them to look like the plate on Earth's crust was not successful.  The students were able to see that at divergent boundaries, the caramel acted as the  magma (asthenosphere) that came up to fill in the space left by the moving plates.  Students were able to briefly see that mountains are formed at convergent boundaries.  As the chocolate was soft, it was nearly impossible to see how subduction works.  Finally, I wish I had had the students demonstrate the transform fault boundary first, as we live along the San Andreas Fault in California.

We discussed earthquakes and why they happen at certain locations.  I opened the lesson with the questions, "What do we practice every October?  Why do we practice this?"  Every October, California has a state-wide earthquake drill called the Great California Shakeout.  By starting with these questions, students began to think about the movements of Earth and responses indicated some background knowledge of earthquakes.

I truly think that the lesson will go much smoother when I teach it to sixth graders.  Also, I will make sure that the candy bars have been refrigerated before hand, so as not to melt so quickly.  I anticipate having greater success with this concept with the older students.  Finally, this lesson was intended to be used during a unit of study on plate tectonics and earthquakes, not as a single lesson.

Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

During my earthquake unit, I have shown students photos and footage of the devastation of the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, an area only 2 hours from where we live.  Students are amazed at the amount of destruction locally an earthquake can create.  Bridges fell, freeways were destroyed, entire communities were red-tagged (unfit to return to even to gather belongings).  We happened to be studying earthquakes when the Japan earthquake hit 2 years ago and the ensuing tsunami.  I also accessed footage and information about the quake and tsunami during that time period.  Tsunami warnings were issued several times during the past couple of years for the CA coast, fearing they would be triggered by an undersea earthquake somewhere else in the Pacific Ocean.  Fortunately, we did not have a tsunami occur, but the students asked many questions about what would happen to our area.  We live far enough inland that we would be safe, but we discussed coastal areas and those that would potentially be affected.

During my volcano unit, we discuss the devastating eruption of Mt. St. Helens and view photos and footage of this catastrophic event.  Until students see the actual photos from the devastated area, they really do not understand the enormity of these disasters.  I think by introducing these topics of discussion during the units, students are more in tune with what can really happen.  

We live along the San Andreas fault in southern California.  I explain to students and show photos of areas along the fault line that can be seen on the ground; places where the road has shifted or the crack in the crust is big enough to stand inside of.  I would love to find resources to take the students on a field trip to one of the areas where the San Andreas fault is evident on Earth’s surface - give students an opportunity to view first hand what happens when “Mother Nature” unleashes her fury.

There are some great web resources that can be found.  One that I particularly like is kidshealth.org.  I’ll post the link below.  This site offers tips for parents and kids on ways they can help the relief effort.  Students can hold a fundraiser, donate items, and begin community events to help with relief efforts.  It also has links to other sites for donating money, if they are able.  It suggests starting off small, it says “you do not need a large group of people to help”.  I think that is the key.  So often, we think that a relief effort needs to be gargantuan to make a difference.  Not so.   If each school district in my area had a small fundraiser and even raised $500.00, that would be about $3000.00.  If all the areas held something, think about how much that would help.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/misc/natural_disaster.html

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/natural_disaster.html

Geological timeline

As an earth science teacher, I have the pleasure of helping students understand that Earth is a dynamic system, one that is ever changing.  Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to travel cross country with my two children.  During our journeys, we visited sites such as the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest in Arizona.  We also drove through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, over the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass, which is over 14,000 ft in elevation.  I was able to take many pictures, of which I will share with my students at the start of the school year, depicting the sediment layers of Earth.  Students will be able to see, through my personal photos, landforms created from wind and water erosion.  We will also be able to discuss the fossil record based upon my learnings from the Petrified Forest.  Discussions of mountains and mountain building processes will also ensue.  I am excited to be able to share these experiences with my students.  Although I live and teach in Southern California, most of my students will not have had the experience of seeing these sights, even though they are only a day's drive away.

week 4 transfer of heat

Heat transfer experiment:

I chose a variety of household materials, some of which I was sure would make good insulators and others that I was surprised by.  Thinking back, the aluminum foil would not have made a good insulator, as it is a good conductor of heat; allowing heat to move through it, not containing the heat.  The fleece blankets made the best insulators, which made the most sense, as that is what we use as our bedding to keep us warm at night.

In order to set up a similar experiment for students, I would tell them that they are clothing designers and they have clients in Alaska and in the Bahamas.  The different clients have different needs, although the same information could be learned from one experiment.  The Alaskan clients need to know what materials make the best insulators, whereas the Bahaman clients need to know which materials will dissipate the heat the quickest.

I enjoyed the transfer of heat experiment.  I know that if I put it in a real-world context of clothing designers, the students would enjoy learning the concepts of thermal transfer or dissipation.  Anytime a science concept can be applied to a real-life experience, students tend to make more connections with the science concepts.

week 6 - elements and the periodic table

I chose to investigate the periodic table of elements for this week’s blog.  As a teacher of elementary students, this is a concept that I have found to be difficult for them to understand.  There is such a great deal of information on the periodic table of elements in regards to how compounds are formed, elements react and combine, yet because we cannot see exactly what is happening, students have a difficult time grasping these abstract concepts.

During an internet search, I found the following resources to use in my classroom with my students.  There are interactive games to show how elements react, molecules and compounds form, and chemical reactions.  It also provides reproducible activities.  Some of the sites also include videos for the students to use.  I found them easy to navigate and user-friendly.  I believe that my students will enjoy their explorations.

These interactive sites allow the students to explore on their own during 2, maybe 3  computer lab periods.  With individual exploration time with a partner, students will be able to play the games and view the interactive portions of the sites at their own pace.  These tools will help students become literate for the 21st century because they are web-based resources.

One challenge that I may face using these resources for my students is the internet sites themselves.  Our district tends to “block” so many sites from our students, even educational sites, that it is sometimes a challenge to take them to the lab.  Computers are not always working or software updates have not been completed.  We do not have a computer lab tech, so we are at the mercy of the district lab techs to take care of the site labs for us.  One more casualty of the California budget crisis.

Interactives: the periodic table

http://www.learner.org/interactives/periodic/

Element/Periodic Table Games and Quizzes - interactive and printable

http://chemistry.about.com/od/gamesquizzes/Element_Periodic_Table_Games_Quizzes.htm

matter, elements, atoms, reactions, biochemistry, and activities

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/elem_intro.html

http://periodicvideos.com/videos/mv_chromium_trioxide.htm

model of Pangea

This week I implemented my structured inquiry lesson, a model of Pangea.  Students were actively engaged in the lesson and the discussion that ensued was much more in depth than the one my students and I had after reading the lesson on Pangea and continental drift.  Students used cut outs of the continents to piece them together to form Pangea.  Students used Alfred Wegener's evidence to assist them.  They drew on fossil evidence, glacial deposits, and related mountain ranges across the continents.  Students then had to give reasons for the placement of the continents in their model.  There were several variations of Pangea among the groups.  I enjoyed teaching this lesson and the students enjoyed relearning the concept of continental drift, which led to the theory of plate tectonics.  I also read them a story about Wegener's life and his studies.  The students were very intrigued by Alfred Wegener's scientific contributions, yet came to understand that science is continually changing and theories are revised.

melting icebergs...

1. Extended Questions  

1. What happens if the polar ice caps melt?   

If the polar ice caps melt, it starts a chain reaction of events.  Not only will ocean levels be affected by the melting ice, habitats, ecosystems, food supplies, and survival of certain species will be threatened.  According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment released in November, 2004, adding that amount of fresh water to the ocean systems could alter the circulation of currents and regional climates (Handwerk, 2004).  Changing the salinity of the water would also affect the species who call the Arctic Ocean home.  Plants and animals have adapted to live in their environment, those that are unable to adapt do not survive.  Changing the conditions would force these species to either adapt again or face extinction.  As the ice caps begin to melt, the glaciers break apart into icebergs.  This would also affect us in that we would not have the opportunity to tap into these frozen fresh water sources before they melt into the salty oceans.

With the disappearance of their frozen habitats, some animal species would have trouble continuing to thrive, such as polar bears and some seal species.  A study conducted by the University of Colorado Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) also shows that with the disappearance of the ice, the land is eroding quicker as it is exposed to the open ocean for longer periods of time (National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2011).  

Melting polar ice caps would also affect low-lying areas that are far removed from the icy regions.  These areas would include places such as low coastal areas of Florida and Louisiana.  With even a small rise in sea level, these coastal areas would be flooded and in some places, the coastline could be moved inland as much as 150 feet, causing social, economic, and environmental hardships (Handwerk, 2004).

b. What other questions do you have about this Science Inquiry Experience?  

I found the process of how world scientists study and actually measure the change in sea level to be fascinating.  With all of the variables, such as daily tides, waves, currents, and even density changes in the water due to temperature differences, giving an accurate measurement for sea level is no easy task.  Satellites have made the process slightly easier, but there are still such a great many variables to take into account.  Although water displacement plays a major role in the amount that sea level will or will not rise due to the melting polar ice caps, there is still the fact that glaciers on top of land will cause ocean levels to eventually rise as they begin to break apart and melt.

Brain, M.  If the Polar Ice Caps Melted, how much would the oceans rise? 

retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question473.htm

Handwerk, B.  (2004, November 9).  Arctic Melting Fast; May Swamp U.S. Coasts by 2099.  National Geographic.  Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/1109_041109_polar_ice.html

Retrieved from the National Snow and Ice Data Center website:  http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/