Download Earth Science Unit - School of Biological Sciences

Earth Science Unit--Grade 4
Jennifer Maves, Shelly Frei, Andrea Claassen
Timeline: 8 weeks
Big Idea: There are many changes in Earth’s
systems.
Next Gen Standards:
ESS1.C History of Planet Earth (local)
ESS2.A Earth’s processes are constantly changing
ESS2.B Plate tectonics affect landform interactions
ESS3.B Natural Hazards resulting from natural processes
Targets:
Students should be able to tell how
and why land moves (plate tectonics).
Students should be able to tell how
and why land changes (erosion, water
cycle, landforms).
Students should be able to tell how
rocks are formed in different ways and
continually changing.
Assessments:
Formative: Observation, concept mapping, peer
assessment,
Discussion, science notebooks
Summative: Vocabulary quiz, end of unit test
Part 1:
What ‘s the story behind this landform? (show photo of
Palouse Falls w/very little waterfall)
-Brainstorm/Concept Map
-make a class concept map?
Read “Carla Calcite” (explains rock cycle in a fiction
story)
Give students a bag of rocks and have them sort, using
sorting mat (take sub-titles off mat). Then have them
research (or provide the reading from “Rocks &
Minerals”) and then they “name” the sorts: meta., sed.,
igneous
Revisit the photo of Palouse Falls and even show them
another one with more waterfall
-revisit Concept Map, make changes
Creative Writing: “My Pet Rock”
Assessment: Rubric scoring of My Pet Rock, observation
of sorting, and evaluation of concept map
ELA.W.4.7: Conduct short research project…
ELA.W.4.9: Drawing evidence…
Part 2
See where kids take it….erosion? water cycle? flooding?
Use Land & Water kit (Jen skips Lesson 12 & 13 and 15 &
16)
Lesson #2 Water Cycle
-Poster
-Stream Tables/Rain/Reading Selection (in kit)
Assessment: observation of students’ notebook for Land
and Water, summary writing
RI.4.7: Interpret information presented visually,
Orally, quantitatively…
Kit Lessons (#3-10)
Part 3
(End of unit- come back to igneous rocks, get into Plate
tectonics and volcanoes more specifically)
Plate Tectonics:
Has Palouse Falls always looked this way?
Research
What can make land change? (keep connecting ideas
on Concept map)
Volcano side activities:
-make a diagram of a volcano (to aide with vocab)
-read about Mt. St. Helens & other active volcanoes
-view Mrs. Scoggin’s Pompeii presentation
-culminating activity: create a model of a volcano (at
home), erupt them at school
Assessment: Parts of the volcano quiz, creating a model
Resources:
STC “Rocks and Minerals” magazine
-Telling Earth’s Story, Layer by Layer
Hugefloods.com
Enchanted Learning (Plate movement)
Geology.com
http://www.mcwdn.org/MAPS&GLOBES/LandForms.html
www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings
www.mathstory.com
C.I.A. Earthquake Terror: “Disasters: Loma Prieta, the
1989 San Francisico Earthquake” article, pg. 149
“Rock On” website
“Mr. Endler’s classroom” website > Earth Science > Plate
Tectonics
www.instantworksheets.net (Plate Tectonics)
Literature Connections:
This list comes from LHS GEMS website
Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret
The Volcano Disaster
by Peg Kehret
Pocket Books, New York, NY
(1998; 135 pp.)
Grades 3–7
After discovering his grandfather’s invention—the Instant Commuter—twelve-yearold Warren is accidentally transported back in time to Mount St. Helens just
moments before its eruption in 1980. A friend Betsy follows him and the two are
caught in the thick ash, frightening lightning, and earthquakes that accompany the
eruption. The book provides detailed descriptions of what it would be like to be in
the middle of the eruption as well as facts about volcanoes.
Quake! A Novel
by Joe Cottonwood
Scholastic, New York, NY
(1995; 146 pp.)
Grades 5–8
With their parents away at the 1989 World Series in San Francisco, fourteen-yearold Franny, her younger brother, and Franny’s friend Jennie try to cope with the
frightening events following an earthquake that destroys their home on Loma Prieta
mountain. In the aftermath of the quake, Franny and Jennie prove to be heroes as
they help their neighbors. The book emphasizes earthquake preparedness.
Paperquake
by Kathryn Reiss
Harcourt Brace, San Diego, CA
(1998; 264 pp.)
Grades 5–8
In this interesting blend of mystery and time travel, eighth-grader Violet, a triplet,
feels very different from her sisters. In their Victorian home, Violet discovers old
letters and a diary from the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The letters
and diary entries, though obviously written in the past, seem to refer to her and
incidents in her life. She gradually concludes that she is being sent mysterious
messages from the past about how to prevent a tragedy in the future. By closing the
gap in the space-time continuum, Violet cleverly prevents disaster just as the Earth’s
plates shift to close its gaps.
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
by Joanna Cole;
illustrated by Bruce Degen
Scholastic, New York, NY
(1987; 56 pp.)
Grades K–6
On a special field trip to the center of the Earth, Ms. Frizzle’s class learns firsthand
about different kinds of rocks and the formation of the Earth and its structure.
Although intended for a young audience, reading this book would be a good way for
students to learn more about the different geological layers and forces at work
inside the Earth. Also useful is The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor (1992) for
its mention of hot water vents deep under the ocean.