GENERAL INFORMATION |
Lesson Title & Subject(s): Weathering and Erosion Lab Activity
Topic or Unit of Study: Science
Grade/Level: Third
Instructional Setting: 26 Students total – 15 boys and 11 girls
16 students are grade level readers
5 students are two grade level below readers – 3 with identified learning disabilities in reading
5 students are two grade levels above readers – 2 with identified gifted exceptionalities
1 student is an ELL at the intermediate level
3 students have been diagnosed with ADHD
Class room is set up with round tables with 5 students at each table. Students will be grouped into threes based on ability/skill set.
STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES |
Idaho Core Curriculum/Student Achievement Standards:
3.S.1.2.1. Make observations, collect data and evaluate it
3.S.1.6.1. Identify questions that can be answered by conducting scientific tests
3.S.1.6.2. Conduct scientific tests
3.S.1.6.4. Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
3.S.1.6.5. Make simple predictions based on data.
3.S.1.6.7. Communicate the results of tests to others.
Lesson Objective(s):
Students will use conduct an experiment in weathering and erosion using the scientific method and will be able to complete a closing worksheet of the results with at least 70% accuracy.
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES |
Instructional Materials:
Colored pencils or crayons, graduated cylinder with 50-100mL of water, pipette, Skittles, shallow tin pan, iPads, lined paper, string cut into 6 inch lengths, graphic organizer
Resources:
Rock around the park game retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/activities/rockpark/
INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN |
Students will need to have successfully completed the 2nd grade. Students will need to have had exposure to a variety of science methods and common scientific instruments. Students will need to know how to utilize scientific inquiry methods while observing events, developing questions, collecting data and recording data.
Presentation Procedures for New Information:
I will have students grab iPads and go to the Rock around the Park game retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/activities/rockpark/. I will have students follow the directions and play with the game as I set up the lab experiment.
The opening part of this lesson will be inquiry- based. I will not tell students anything about the activity, only putting students into groups of three and handing out supplies to each student.
Will have students take a close inspection of the materials that we are using in our lab today. “What do we have?” “Everyone has colored pencils, a graduated cylinder with 50 mL of water, a water dropper, one skittle candy and a container.” Take a few moments to talk with your group and answer the questions that are on the screen. The first question is asking you to come up with five steps you think you will need to do with the supplies I gave you. What are you going to do with the items, how do you use these items? The second question is asking you to think of ways that you could use all of these items together in an experiment. What kind of experiment do you think we could do with these items?
On screen:
A. How are we going to use the materials?
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B. What concepts are we trying to demonstrate?
After a few minutes, I will regroup the students. Will listen and discuss some of the students’ responses. Will be checking with the responses to see if students’ tied the game to the lab activity.
Let’s talk about the online activity. What was it about? Erosion. Who can tell me some things about erosion? What were some of the observations you made while playing the game? How do think the items are related to online activity?
We are going to observe erosion. Here are your steps which are on your worksheet:
Let’s do the first round together. I have my skittle in the pan, flat on the table. I am taking my water dropper and squeezing it to suck up water from the graduated cylinder. I am going to take the dropper now and hold it over the skittle about 6 inches over the candy – I have pieces of string cut to this measurement to help you if you need it. OK, now we are going to gently squeeze out 10 drops of water onto the skittle. Let’s count together. What is happening to the candy? Who can tell me what they are observing? For my visual recording, I am going to use the colored pencils and draw what I see happening to the piece of candy. I am going to do this in the box labeled under 10 drops. Under the written recording, I am going to write what I have observed in the box. I am noticing that the outer part looks like it is melting a bit and the outer color is mixing with the water and running into the pan. What do you think you will observe once you add more water? Go ahead and work in your groups, taking extra care to follow the directions and recording your results.
Students will work in groups of three but will be performing individual experiments. They will use their observations to discuss and answer questions at the end of the activity.
Each group will discuss and answer the following questions at the conclusion of their lab activity. Each student should be prepared to explain their answers to the class. There is an extension question for students who want to go a step further. They will need to use the internet to look up the vocabulary word.
When did mechanical weathering (process by which rock is split or broken into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition, disintegration) occur during this lab activity?
When did chemical weathering (process by which rock's minerals are changed into different substances) occur during this lab activity?
When did erosion (process of transporting weathered material by natural agents) take place during this lab activity?
What did the water represent in this lab activity?
What did the Skittle represent in this lab activity?
What did the color on the Skittle represent in this lab activity?
What did the tin pan represent in this lab activity?
Extension: From where we left off, could your group demonstrate deposition? How?
Once everyone has completed the activities, we will discuss and compare our findings. After discussion, I will gather the worksheets and grade.
Instructional Strategies:
A.1. Active participation Strategies: Graphic Organizer; Reciprocal teaching; Experimental inquiry
A.2. Grouping Strategy: Ability/ skill grouping - Students will be put into informal, homogeneous groups so that I may give extra support to those students who struggle or need additional support.
A.3. Student-Centered Technology strategies: Rock around the Park game on the internet, vocabulary search on the internet
Differentiated Instruction Accommodations:
5 students are two grade level below readers – 3 with identified learning disabilities in reading:
5 students are two grade levels above readers – 2 with identified gifted exceptionalities:
1 student is an ELL at the intermediate level:
3 students have been diagnosed with ADHD:
Use of Technology:
IPads to visit and play at the following site: Rock around the park game retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/activities/rockpark/
IPads to search vocabulary on extension question
Will use Elmo and projector to broadcast the experiment on the screen so all students may see.
Student Assessment/Rubrics:
Students will need to complete the worksheet with at least 70% accuracy. Visual and written observations will need to be complete for 10 drops, 20 drops, 30 drops, 40 drops, 50 drops. There will 2 horizontal rows of 5 boxes. First row will be labeled VISUAL and the second row will be labeled WRITTEN. The drop requirements will be labeled over the boxes vertically. Answers will need to be similar in the following:
When did mechanical weathering (process by which rock is split or broken into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition, disintegration) occur during this lab activity? When the precipitation from the water dropper hit the Skittle and pieces of the shell were worn away or broken off (including the letter S)
When did chemical weathering (process by which rock's minerals are changed into different substances) occur during this lab activity? When the Skittle sat in the water that accumulate on the surface of the tin pan and the color dissolved off of the bottom of the candy.
When did erosion (process of transporting weathered material by natural agents) take place during this lab activity? When the colored water flowed away from the candy – the water was carrying away the color.
What did the water represent in this lab activity? Precipitation/rain that weathered the Skittle.
What did the Skittle represent in this lab activity? A rock
What did the color on the Skittle represent in this lab activity? Minerals, rock fragments, sediments
What did the tin pan represent in this lab activity? The surface of the Earth
Extension: From where we left off, could your group demonstrate deposition? How? Possible answer: Pour the water from each tin pan through a stack of paper towels. The water will soak through and leave behind anything that was carried away by the water including the color (minerals, rock fragments, sediments)
Section B
B.1. Active participation Strategies:
Graphic Organizer;
B.1.a Class as a whole:
Students are more likely to remember and understand the content. Graphic Organizers reduce information processing demands and also help students to become more strategic learners. (Masterminds, 2001)
B.1.b. Diverse learner/group in the class:
Dual presentation of the content is more powerful regardless whether a student is a visual or auditory learner and students greatly benefit from visual representation. (Masterminds, 2001)
Reciprocal teaching;
B.1.a Class as a whole:
Based on many studies, when using reciprocal teaching, reading comprehension improves dramatically by 30 to 80%. (Foster, 2005)
B.1.b. Diverse learner/group in the class
Students who struggle and are taught thru this strategy are able to feel comfortable taking part in discussions. (Foster, 2005)
Experimental inquiry
B.1.a Class as a whole:
Scientific inquiry using experiments takes students to a new level of awareness and involvement. Students become more resourceful and develop self-reliance. Learning is student focused. Also allows for ongoing assessments. (PBS, 1999)
B.1.b. Diverse learner/group in the class
Students engaged in this type of inquiry are lead to interact more purposefully with each other leading to effective communication, collaborating with each other. (PBS, 1999)
B.2. Grouping Strategy:
Ability/ skill grouping
B.1.a Class as a whole:
Allows teachers to adjust delivery and assessment for differentiation. (Goldstein, 2013) Grouping by ability also encourages a higher level of thinking and learning for each group level. (Johnson, 2011)
B.1.b. Diverse learner/group in the class:
Teachers can provide intense extra support to struggling students and can offer a deeper level of thinking for advanced students. (Goldstein, 2013) When students are grouped by ability, new leaderships form. Students who may have never participated in heterogeneous groups may demonstrate skills and creativity that the instructor may have not seen before. (Johnson, 2011)
B.3. Student-Centered Technology strategies:
Rock around the Park game on the internet
B.1.a Class as a whole:
Students learn by incorporating web-based games. They are introduced to new concepts, perspectives ad can experiment with different variables. (Education World, 2013) Incorporating technology when working with ELL students can provide meaningful practice of the English language. Games help and encourage learners to sustain their interest. (Wright, 1984)
B.1.b. Diverse learner/group in the class
Games can quickly grab students’ attention and engage them with the content. (Education World, 2013) According to one report, students can learn English while playing educational online games without being aware they are studying. (Mei, 2000)
Using Elmo and projector
B.1.a Class as a whole:
Incorporating technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a highly technologically based economy. (Edutopia, 2008) Research suggests that people learn new concepts easier when they are presented with both verbal and visual concepts. (SERC) Teachers who use document cameras effectively are supporting all of the domains of Oral Language Acquisition. (Bassoff)
B.1.b. Diverse learner/group in the class
Students are able to acquire and refine their problem solving skills as the work to find, process and synthesize info. (Edutopia, 2008) Visual media make concepts more accessible and help students with later recall. (SERC) ELL students can build language capacity by observing the teacher use visual modeling. (Bassoff)
Sources
Rock around the park game retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/activities/rockpark/
Masterminds. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.calhoun.k12.al.us/makes%20sense/adobe%20reader/do%20not%20open%2 0program%20files/using%20gos/program%20files/GOs/FAQ@GOs.pdf
Foster, E., Rotoloni, R. (2005). Reciprocal Teaching: General overview of theories. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/
PBS. (1999). A Teacher's Guide to Student Discovery through Inquiry. Science Series. Retrieved from http://library.unesco- iicba.org/English/SECONDARY_SCIENCE_SERIES/science_articles/a_teachers_guide.ht m
Goldstein, Dana. (06/10/13). Grouping by Ability in Classrooms is Back in Fashion. Is it good for kids? The Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/06/10/abilitygroupinginclassroomsisbackinf ashionisthisgoodforkids.html
Education World. (2013).Five reasons to use games in the classroom. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reasons-to-play-games-in-the- classroom.shtml
Edutopia. (3/16/08). Why integrate technology into the Curriculum? The Reasons are Many. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction
Johnson, Ben. (8/2/16) Student learning groups: Homogeneous or Heterogeneous? Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-grouping-homogeneous- heterogeneous- ben-johnson
SERC. (n.d.) Why Use Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning. Pedagogy in Action. Retrieved from http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/media/why.html
Wright, Andrew, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby. 1984. Games for Language Learning. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://www.teflgames.com/why.html
Mei, Yin Yong, Jang Yu-jing. (2000). Using Games in an EFL Class for Children. Daejin University EFL Research Paper. Retrieved from http://www.teflgames.com/why.html
Bassoff, Toby Cho. (n.d.) How Technology Can Help You Reach English Language Learners. Teachers Network. Retrieved from http://teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/eslclass/techesl.htm
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