Download Inside the Earth - Dade County Schools

Curriculum and Instruction Maps
Dade County Schools
Course:6th Earth Science
Unit: Inside the Earth
Stage 1: Desired Results
Standards Assessed/Learning Goals
-Science (GPS), Grade 6, Earth Science
-S6E5. Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
a. Compare and contrast the Earth's crust, mantle, and core including temperature, density, and
composition.
f. Explain the effects of physical processes (plate tectonics, erosion, deposition, volcanic eruption, gravity) on
geological features including oceans (composition, currents, and tides).
g. Describe how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and climate of the Earth.
h. Describe soil as consisting of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material.
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
-Students will understand that:
*The earth is layered with a partly molten, -metallic
core; a mantle that though solid, is hot enough to
flow; and a colder, rigid lithosphere.
*Lithospheric plates on the scales of continents and
oceans constantly move.
*Major geological events, such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result
from these plate motions.
*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).
*What are the layers of Earth?
*What are the features of each layer of the Earth?
*What challenges stand in the way of sending
explorers to the center of the earth's surface?
*What is the cause of the movement of tectonic
plates?
*How does the movement of lithospheric plates
cause major events on earth's surface?
*What evidence do scientists have that continents
were once joined together?
*How are mountains formed?
*How have fossils provided scientists with evidence
of plate tectonics?
*What is an earthquake?
*What can seismic waves tell us about the interior of
the earth?
*What are the main features of a volcano?
*Compare and contrast the three types of volcanoes.
*Explain the relationship between volcanoes and
plate tectonics.
Knowledge
Students will know …
*The earth is layered with a crust (lithosphere),
mantle (asthenosphere and mesosphere), molten
outer core, and dense, solid inner core.
*Each layer differs in composition, density, and
temperature.
*Temperature and density increases as depth
increases.
*The composition of the earth changes with the
depth and layers.
Skills
Students will know how to…
*name and label the four major layers of the earth.
*compare and contrast each layer in terms of its
temperature, density, and chemical composition.
*describe a tectonic plate.
*explain how scientists know about the structure of
the Earth's interior.
*describe Alfred Wegener's hypothesis of continental
drift.
*explain how sea-floor spreading provides a way for
Curriculum and Instruction Maps
Dade County Schools
*The crust is the upper part of the rigid lithosphere
and is of different composition under land than the
ocean floor.
*Below the rigid lithosphere, the mantle consists of
hot rock of tar-like consistency, which slowly moves
or flows.
*The outer core is molten and the inner core is a
dense solid.
*The lithosphere is divided into separate plates
which move very slowly in response to the
convection currents in the mantle.
*Heat from the mantle and core creates convection
currents.
*This plate movement causes major geologic events
such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain
formation.
*At the edges or boundaries of the plates, the earth's
crust is in motion.
*The theory of plate tectonics connects the evidence
for the formation, movement, and destruction of the
plates.
*At divergent plate boundaries such as the midAtlantic ridge, new ocean floor is created in a process
called sea-floor spreading.
*At convergent plate boundaries known as
subduction zones, a trench and deep earthquakes
mark the zone where a slab of oceanic lithosphere
descends into the mantle, and volcanoes and
mountain ranges form on adjacent land.
*When continental crust meets continental crust at a
convergent boundary, a collision occurs, resulting in
folds, faults, and high mountains.
*Transform boundaries are where plates slide past
each other. They connect other plate boundaries and
are known for their frequent earthquake activity.
*Earthquakes take place along the edges of tectonic
plates.
*Earthquakes are caused by stress that builds up
along fault lines near the edges of tectonic plates.
*Earthquakes occur when the rocks release energy
caused by stress.
*Waves of energy travel through the Earth are call
seismic waves.
*Seismic waves that travel through the Earth's
interior are called body waves. There are two main
types of body waves: P waves and S waves. Seismic
continents to move.
*describe how new oceanic lithosphere forms at midocean ridges.
*explain how magnetic reversals provide evidenc ef
sea-floor spreading.
*describe the three types of tectonic plate
boundaries.
*describe the three forces thought to move tectonic
plates.
*explain how scientists measure the rate at which
tectonic plates move.
*compare and contrast the three different types of
volcanoes.
*identify physical features of a volcano.
*explain the relationship between volcanoes and
plate tectonics (or tell how volanoes are formed).
Curriculum and Instruction Maps
Dade County Schools
waves that travel on the Earth's surface.
*Seismographs are instruments that record
vibrations in the ground and determines the location
and strength of an earthquake.
*A seismogram is a tracing of earthquake motion and
is created by a seismograph.
*An epicenter is the point on the Earth's surface
directly above an earthquake's starting point, or
focus.
*A focus is the point along a fault at which the first
motion of an earthquake occurs.
*Seismologists use the Richter magnitude scale to
measure the strenth of earthquakes.
*Volcanoes are areas of the Earth's surface through
which magma and volcanic gases pass.
*Nonexplosive volcanic eruptions are the most
common type of eruption in which produce relatively
calm lava flows.
*Explosive volcanic eruptions are rare, but the
effects can be destructive. During an explosive
eruption, clouds of hot debris, ash, and gas rapidly
shoot out from a volcano.
*The composition of magma affects how explosive a
volcanic eruption is. The key to whether an eruption
will be explosive lies in the silica, water, and gas
content of the magma.
*Volcanic ash and gases can spread throughout the
atmosphere and block sunlight from reaching Earth
which in turn can cause global temperatures to drop.
*As a result of climate changes, food shortages can
also become a problem.
Diagnostic/Prior Knowledge
Assessment
-Pre-test
-informal discussion
-CRCT results
Stage 2: Evidence of Learning
Formative Assessments
-Ticket out the door
-Think - Pair- Share
-Thumbs Up - Down
-Questioning
-3-2-1 facts
-illustrations
-notebook check
-discussions
Summative Assessments
-mini-unit tests
-quizzes
-Post - Test
-Projects
Curriculum and Instruction Maps
Dade County Schools
Stage 3: Learning Activities
Teaching for Meaning, Acquisition, &
Higher Order Thinking Levels
Transfer
-Thinking Maps
Remembering
-Vocabulary activities
Understanding
-Brain Pop
Applying
-Concept Maps
Creating
-Bill Nye
-United Streaming Videos
-Puzzles
-Finding the Epicenter (computer lab)
-Top 100 science vocabulary
-Flash card game
-Science Court
-Create a song for Plate Tectonics using
appropriate vocabulary
-Create multi-media presentations