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.
I also had difficulty with my lesson because I taught it to a multi-age group. Did you do any scaffolding or provide extra support for the younger students during the lesson?
ReplyDeleteMonica,
DeleteI did not do any real scaffolding for this activity. I did have the older students help out the younger ones with their drawings, but nothing beyond that. I was definitely challenged in presenting to multiple age students. Doing this activity makes me grateful for not teaching a combo class.
Shelle,
ReplyDeleteI had the same challenges! My lesson was for fifth graders and I taught it to 3 third graders and one fifth grader. My lesson was also an introductory lesson and has many opportunities for extension and further learning afterward. Do you plan on doing this activity with your students this year? I think it's great that you have direct application for these skills being in CA. It's hard for students in Georgia to understand the impacts of earthquakes.
Sorry...Shellee.
DeleteJessica,
ReplyDeleteI definitely plan to use this activity with my sixth graders this year. I will have one period use the candy bars and my other period use the graham cracker/frosting version. It will be interesting to compare the two groups. There are a great many extension activities for this lesson. It's ironic that when I taught fifth grade a few years ago, we studied severe weather and my students had great difficulty understanding the devastation of hurricanes.