Download Unit Plan Sketch Part 1: Topic Content and Objectives

David Clark
Unit Plan Sketch
Part 1: Topic Content and Objectives
Topic
Grade level: 7th grade
Larger topic
Minerals and Rocks
Geosphere: Structure of the Earth and Plate Tectonics
I. Objectives for Student Learning
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
4. THE PHYSICAL SETTING
C – Processes That Shape the Earth
At this level, students are able to complete most of their understanding of the main
features of the physical and biological factors that shape the face of the earth. This
understanding will still be descriptive because the theory of plate tectonics will not be
encountered formally until high school. Of course, students should see as great a variety
of landforms and soils as possible.
It is especially important that students come to understand how sedimentary rock is
formed periodically, embedding plant and animal remains and leaving a record of the
sequence in which the plants and animals appeared and disappeared. Besides the relative
age of the rock layers, the absolute age of those remains is central to the argument that
there has been enough time for evolution of species. The process of sedimentation is
understandable and observable. But imagining the span of geologic time will be difficult
for students.
By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that
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The interior of the earth is hot. Heat flow and movement of material within the
earth cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and create mountains and ocean
basins. Gas and dust from large volcanoes can change the atmosphere.
Some changes in the earth's surface are abrupt (such as earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions) while other changes happen very slowly (such as uplift and wearing
down of mountains). The earth's surface is shaped in part by the motion of water
and wind over very long times, which act to level mountain ranges.
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Sediments of sand and smaller particles (sometimes containing the remains of
organisms) are gradually buried and are cemented together by dissolved minerals
to form solid rock again.
Sedimentary rock buried deep enough may be reformed by pressure and heat,
perhaps melting and recrystallizing into different kinds of rock. These re-formed
rock layers may be forced up again to become land surface and even mountains.
Subsequently, this new rock too will erode. Rock bears evidence of the minerals,
temperatures, and forces that created it.
Thousands of layers of sedimentary rock confirm the long history of the changing
surface of the earth and the changing life forms whose remains are found in
successive layers. The youngest layers are not always found on top, because of
folding, breaking, and uplift of layers.
Although weathered rock is the basic component of soil, the composition and
texture of soil and its fertility and resistance to erosion are greatly influenced by
plant roots and debris, bacteria, fungi, worms, insects, rodents, and other
organisms.
Human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the
amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere, and intensive
farming, have changed the earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. Some of these
changes have decreased the capacity of the environment to support some life
forms.
National Science Education Standards
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
CONTENT STANDARD D:
As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an
understanding of
•
Structure of the earth system
By plotting the locations of volcanoes and earthquakes, students can see a pattern of
geological activity. Earth has an outermost rigid shell called the lithosphere. It is made up
of the crust and part of the upper mantle. It is broken into about a dozen rigid plates that
move without deforming, except at boundaries where they collide. Those plates range in
thickness from a few to more than 100 kilometers. Ocean floors are the tops of thin
oceanic plates that spread outward from midocean rift zones; land surfaces are the tops of
thicker, less-dense continental plates.
Michigan Objectives (NOTE: Michigan Benchmarks identified in Walled Lake
Consolidated Schools Benchmark Assessment for this unit are displayed.)
CONSTRUCTING NEW SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
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I.1.MS.5 – Use sources of information in support of scientific investigations.
Constructing
Tools: Periodicals, reference books, trade books, web sites, computer software; forms for
presenting scientific information, such as figures, tables, graphs. See R-II.1 m.1 (evaluate
strengths/weaknesses of claims).
Real-world contexts: Libraries, projects where research is needed.
REFLECTING ON SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
II.1.MS.5 – Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world.
Key concepts: Appreciation of the balance of nature and the effects organisms have on each other,
including the effects humans have on the natural world.
Real-world contexts: Any in the sections on Using Scientific Knowledge appropriate to middle
school.
MATTER AND ENGERGY (PME)
IV.1.MS.1 – Describe and compare objects in terms of mass, volume, and
density. Using
Key concepts: Units of density—grams per cubic centimeter or grams per milliliter.
Measurement tools: Balance, measuring cup or graduated cylinder, metric ruler. See C-I.1 m.4
(making measurements).
Real-world contexts: Common objects and substances.
IV.1.MS.3 – Classify substances as elements, compounds, or mixtures and justify
classifications in terms of atoms and molecules. Using
Key concepts: Element, compound, mixture, molecule, atom. See PME-IV.1 m.4 (molecular
structure of solids, liquids and gases).
Real-world contexts: Common substances such as those listed above, including—elements, such
as copper, aluminum, sulfur, helium, iron; compounds, such as water, salt, sugar, carbon dioxide;
mixtures, such as soil, salt and pepper, salt water, air.
GEOSPHERE (EG)
V.1.MS.2 – Explain how rocks are formed. Using
Key concepts: Rock cycle processes—melting and cooling (igneous rocks); heat and pressure
(metamorphic rocks); cementing and crystallization of sediments (sedimentary rocks). Minerals.
Heat source is interior of earth. Materials—silt, clay, gravel, sand, rock, lava, magma, remains
of living things (bones, shells, plants).
Real-world contexts: Physical environments where rocks are being formed: volcanoes;
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depositional environments, such as ocean floor, deltas, beaches, swamps; metamorphic
environments deep within the earth’s crust.
V.1.HS.2 – Use plate tectonics theory to explain features of the earth’s surface
and geological phenomena and describe evidence for the plate tectonics theory.
Using
Key concepts: Earth composition—crust, mantle: upper part is able to flow very slowly; core:
interior at high temperature and pressure (see ES-V.4 h.3.) Forces—tension, compression
shearing. Plates— continental crust, oceanic crust. Features—faults, trenches, mid-ocean ridges,
folded mountains, hot spots, volcanoes. Related actions—earthquakes (see PWV-IV.4 m.6),
volcanic activity, seafloor spreading, mountain building, convection in mantle. Evidence of
“continental drift”—physical fit of continents, fossil evidence, measurements of movement, rock
layer sequences, glacial evidence. See Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge benchmarks related to
evidence and theory.
Real-world contexts: Recent patterns of earthquake and volcanic activities; maps showing the
direction of movement of major plates and associated earthquake and volcanic activity;
compressional boundaries: folded mountains, thrust faults, trenches, lines of volcanoes (e.g.
Pacific “ring of fire”); tensional boundaries: mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys; shearing boundaries:
lateral movement producing faults (e.g. San Andreas Fault).
V.1.HS.3 – Explain how common objects are made from earth materials and why
earth materials are conserved and recycled. Using
Key concepts: Valuable materials—minerals, metallic ores, iron, copper, aluminum, fuels. Types
of resources—renewable, nonrenewable. Conservation, limits, recycling, costs for developing
more remote supplies. Manufacturing, refining, mining. Recycling processes—melting,
shredding, dissolving.
Real-world contexts: Manufacturing processes—steel mills, auto assembly lines, paper making;
local recycling center for materials, such as glass, plastic, aluminum, steel cans, motor oil;
examples of technical and social means for slowing the depletion of earth’s resources, such as
developing more fuel-efficient cars and mandating their use; disposal in landfills and incinerators.
Your synthesized Objectives
1. Set up and conduct an experiment to find the density of a rock for
identification purposes.
2. For identification purposes, analyze the properties of minerals.
3. Explain the rock cycle and how transitions are made.
4. Analyze continental drift data.
5. Explain plate tectonics theory and how it relates to the patterns of documented
earthquakes and volcanoes.
6. Describe renewable and nonrenewable energy resources and the advantages
and disadvantages of using each.
II. School Science Approach
Facts
Rocks are made up of minerals
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Minerals are composed of different atoms. When these atoms cool, they arrange
themselves in a certain structure, creating a mineral.
Minerals have various physical properties, such as streak and luster, that are used
to help in identification.
Fossils of the same land animals have been found on South America and Africa.
The movement of the earth’s crust causes earthquakes and volcanoes.
Vocabulary Words
Mineral – a naturally-occurring, inorganic crystalline solid
Cleavage – minerals break along a flat surface
Luster – how light reflects from a mineral
Streak – color of the powdered pieces of a mineral
Hardness – how easily a mineral can be scratched
Specific Gravity – weight of a mineral relative to an equal volume of water
Rock – a mixture of minerals, volcanic glass, organic matter, or other materials
Igneous – forms when magma or lava solidifies
Extrusive – igneous rocks that form at Earth’s surface
Intrusive – igneous rocks that form below Earth’s surface
Sedimentary – forms from the deposition, compaction, and cementation of
sediment or when minerals form from solution
Metamorphic – forms when one of the other types of rock is changed by heat and
pressure inside the Earth
Rock Cycle – describes how one type of rock can change into another
Renewable Resources – a resource that is produced at the same or faster rate than
consumed
Nonrenewable Resources – a resource that is used faster than it can be replenished
or recycled
Continental Drift – the idea that continents move slowly across Earth’s surface
Seafloor Spreading – process that forms new seafloor as hot material is forced
upward at a rift
Plate Tectonics – explains the locations of mountains, trenches, and volcanoes
Earthquake – vibrations produced when rocks break along a fault
Volcano – opening in Earth’s surface that erupts sulfurous gases, ash, and lava;
can form at Earth’s plate boundaries, where plates move apart or together, and at
hot spots
Strike-slip boundary – places where plates slide past each other
Convergent boundary – a collision of two plates
Divergent boundary – two plates moving away from each other
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Diagrams or standard
representations
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Formulas or problem-solving skills
Density = mass/volume
Students construct an experiment to find the density of various rocks, using water,
a graduated cylinder, and a scale. (This can be used to identify a rock by
comparing it to known densities of certain rocks.)
III. Reform Science Approach
Knowledge: Experiences, Patterns, and Explanations
Observations or experiences
(examples, phenomena, data)
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Rocks you may find out in
your garden can be identified
in various ways, including
known densities.
Construct experiments to
find the density of rock
samples.
Rocks are formed at
volcanoes, depositional
environments such as ocean
floors, beaches, valleys, and
deep within the Earth’s
crust.
Minerals have many
physical properties such as
luster, cleavage, streak, etc.
that can be used to identify a
specific specimen.
Patterns (laws,
generalizations, graphs,
tables, categories)
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Density =
mass/volume
•
Igneous rocks are
formed at volcanoes,
sedimentary rocks in
areas where sediments
are deposited, and
metamorphic rocks
deep within the
Earth’s crust.
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Mohs scale of
hardness
Some minerals break
along smooth, flat
surfaces
Reflection types, dull,
pearly, silky, and
glassy
Colors of a powdered
form of a mineral
Explanations (models,
theories)
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Rocks are formed
with various types
of materials, most
notably minerals.
Rocks of the same
type, (made of the
same materials)
will have similar
densities, and thus
can be identified.
•
The Rock Cycle
shows how rocks
are formed and
changed over time
Heat and Pressure
cause are the
catalysts in forming
different types of
rocks in different
areas.
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Minerals have a
definite chemical
composition, and
these atoms arrange
themselves in an
orderly
arrangement. The
arrangements cause
certain properties
such as hardness
and cleavage.
David Clark
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Fossils of freshwater and
land animals have been
found in South America and
Africa.
There are tons of volcanoes
and earthquakes on the west
coast of the United States. It
is extremely rare to even feel
an earthquake in Michigan.
•
South America and
Africa look as if they
could fit together like
a puzzle.
•
Continents lay upon
plates and these
plates are slowly
moving.
•
Volcanoes and
earthquakes are
commonly found in
organized lines that
stretch very long
distances. There is a
definite pattern along
plate boundaries.
•
The Earth’s crust
consists of plates
that are slowly
moving. At the
boundaries of two
plates, they collide,
slip past each other,
or move apart.
These events cause
volcanoes and
earthquakes along
plate boundaries.
Application: Model-based Reasoning
Inquiry: Finding and Explaining Patterns in Experience
III. Big Ideas
Minerals are used every day in life. The pencil one writes with is the mineral
graphite. The pretzels one eats are sprinkled with halite. Gold, silver, and diamonds are
used in jewelry. Minerals are formed by natural processes and are inorganic solids with
definite chemical compositions and orderly internal structures. So how do we identify
these minerals we use so often in everything? There are various physical properties of
minerals that we use for identification. Hardness is a measure of how easily a mineral
can be scratched. Luster describes how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface. Streak
and cleavage are also valuable identification techniques. Since minerals have a definite
crystal structure, it causes them to have specific ways in which they break or how easily
they are scratched.
Rocks are made up of many different types of minerals and other materials. They
are formed in various environments and in different ways. Igneous rocks form from the
cooling and hardening of magma. If they form below the Earth’s surface they are called
intrusive. If they form above, they are called extrusive. Sedimentary rocks form when
sediments are pressed and cemented together, often in layers. Metamorphic rocks are
those that have been changed because of extreme changes in temperature and pressure,
often deep within the Earth’s crust. All of these processes interact and form a cycle of
rocks changing over time called the rock cycle. Because rocks are often changing, an
effective way to identify rocks is by their density. Using laboratory equipment, one can
find the density of a rock sample and compare it to the known densities of rocks.
For all of these processes to occur, there must be some sort of movement that
causes heat energy and pressure. The Earth’s crust consists of plates that are slowly
moving. In certain areas, multiple plates collide, slip past each other, or move apart
causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation. Patterns of volcanoes and
earthquake epicenters outline the many plates of the Earth’s crust. Evidence of the plates
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moving can be found from fossils of certain land and freshwater animals that are found
on both South America and Africa. How could these fossils be found on land areas
separated by a large ocean of salt water? Alfred Wegener hypothesized that these
animals lived on both continents when they were once joined. Since that time, they have
continuously been moved apart by the divergent movement of the plates along the MidAtlantic rift.
Part 2. Assessment
I. Preassessment
Students may think that minerals are rare objects that are seldom used in everyday
materials. Many students wonder why we do identification labs for minerals. These
questions can help the teacher gauge what the students know about minerals and their
uses. It can also be used to address the misconception that minerals are just rare items
used for jewelry.
1. Ask students to raise their hands if they used minerals before coming to
school this morning. For those that have, get some examples on the board.
2. How many people brushed their teeth using toothpaste?
a. When you use toothpaste, you are using minerals. Fluoride comes
from the mineral fluorite. The sparkle in toothpaste comes from
the mineral mica.
II. Embedded Assessment
Objective 1: Set up and conduct an experiment to
find the density of a rock for identification
purposes.
Embedded assessment: Have the students
brainstorm the materials they would need to find the
density of a rock.
Objective 2: Explain the rock cycle and how
transitions are made.
Embedded assessment: Predict what would happen
to a sedimentary rock if it were placed under
enormous pressure and high temperatures?
Objective 3: Analyze continental drift data.
Embedded assessment: Brainstorm reasons why
fossils of the same land animal would be found on
both South America and Africa.
Objective 4: Explain plate tectonics theory and how
it relates to the patterns of documented earthquakes
and volcanoes.
Embedded assessment: Plot locations of volcanoes
and earthquakes in the United States and find and
report any patterns.
III.
Formal Assessment
Objective 1: Set up and conduct an experiment to
find the density of a rock for identification
purposes.
Formal assessment: A group did an experiment to
determine the density of a rock. Their first step was
to determine the volume of the rock. Below are the
steps in their procedure:
1.
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Measure the ending volume of water in the
graduated cylinder.
David Clark
2.
Measure the starting volume of water in
the graduated cylinder.
3.
Fill the graduated cylinder part way with
water.
4.
Drop the rock into the water and make sure
it is completely submerged.
Place the steps in the correct order:
A. 2-3-4-1
B. 3-2-1-4
C. 1-2-3-4
D. 3-2-4-1
Objective 2: Explain the rock cycle and how
transitions are made.
Formal assessment: How do metamorphic rocks
form? Give an example. (Name a rock and what
rock it becomes due to the process you identified
above.)
Objective 3: Analyze continental drift data.
Formal assessment: Matching ________ on
different continents are evidence for continental
drift.
A. river systems
B. rock structures
C. weather patterns
D. wind systems
Objective 4: Explain plate tectonics theory and how
it relates to the patterns of documented earthquakes
and volcanoes.
Formal assessment: This map (not provided) shows
where earthquakes in the United States are most
likely to cause severe damage. What is the risk of a
damaging earthquake occurring in Michigan?
A. slight
B. minor
C. moderate
D. great
(A map of the United States along with areas shaded
in these choices is provided. Obviously, the greatest
risk is out west, but even around Missouri and
Kentucky there is a moderate risk of a damaging
earthquake occurring.)
Part 3. Activity Cycle
Objective: For identification purposes, analyze the properties of minerals
Activity cycle
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Stage
Activity
Establish a
problem
Begin with the preassessment activity described above. Why do we
identify minerals?
Model
Students will brainstorm ways to identify minerals. (I expect them to at
least say color, how hard it is, and how shiny it is.) We will come up
with a list of characteristics to test. Students will read and do some
questions about these characteristics in the textbook.
I will hand out dichotomous keys to the students for something like
“monsters.” We’ll take a look at a monster I’ll draw on the board and go
through the key together to model how to identify that monster.
The students will identify a few more through this process.
Coach
The students will work through a mineral identification lab using a
dichotomous key and testing the characteristics we had brainstormed
with streak plates, pennies, nails, etc. As they work on this lab, I will go
around the room helping students stay organized and make transitions to
other stations seamless. Also, I will help with any problems they seem to
be having working through the characteristics or the key.
Fade
Students will have a reinforcement worksheet for class work that
overviews mineral identification and some of the uses of the minerals we
identified.
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