Sunday, December 11, 2011
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.
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Shellee,
ReplyDeleteSounds like making the lesson more tactile was really beneficial for your students. Also, nice job integrating the historical perspective of Wegener...I'm sure this could correlate to some Social Studies standards.
My favorite thing you said was that the students had to give reasons for the placement of the continents in their model. By having them explain their thoughts and reasoning, they are using higher level thinking skills than if they did not have to support their choices. Nice!
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