Download Conclusion EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet

Using Children’s Trade
Books in Science
EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet
Brendan Gallagher
2/17/2011
Many Physical Earth Science topics are excellent
references for children’s books and are good resources to use
in an elementary school classroom. The books portray pictures
that effectively display what the text is defining. For this
assignment, I selected the book EARTH: The Ever-Changing
Planet by Donald M. Silver, Ph.D. (1989).
About the Book
In Donald M. Silver’s book, he effectively portrays the
many systems and processes that are being carried out every
second of every day. The title of the book, EARTH: The EverChanging Planet, hits the nail right on the head. Our planet is
full of many different systems that are constantly forming and
reforming the surface, as well as the interior, of the planet. I
believe that those who read this book will have a better
understanding of the ever changing systems that take place on
a second to second basis. Hopefully an understanding on how
our planet’s exterior is consistently changing will be obtained.
Obviously one will not be an expert on the topic after reading
through this book, but a basic understanding will hopefully be
obtained.
In the Classroom
I believe that the most affective way of portraying and
teaching science is a hands-on approach. There is no way to
affectively teach these topics about systems and how they
effect the face of our planet by simply lecturing for an hour and
reading off bullet points and power points. There are many
different activities that I could have my classroom do to help
them better understand these topics, however, I believe that in
order to all be on the same page, as a class, we must sit down
and collaboratively discuss what it is we already know. I
believe this is an important step because as a class, we must all
be on the same page.
“PLATE TECTONICS”
The first activity that we will be doing in class is one that
involves understanding how plate tectonics work to form
different landforms. In order to display this, using two
different sheets of paper to represent the individual plates will
be used. The three different movements of plate tectonics
(divergent, convergent, and transform) will allow the students
to understand how different movements of plates affect the lay
of the land. Convergent plates are two plates of equal density
(usually two continental plates) that push into each other,
forcing the plates upward and eventually over millions of
years, forming large mountains. Divergent boundaries are
areas where two plates are moving away from each other,
forming areas known as trenches and faults. The San Andres
Fault in California is a good example of an area where
divergent plates are active. Transform boundaries are areas
where plates slide past each other, virtually causing no damage
or disruptions at all.
GLCE
Grade 6
E.SE.03.22 Identify and describe natural causes of change in the Earth’s surface (erosion,
glaciers, volcanoes, landslides, and earthquakes)
“EROSION AND WEATHERING”
We will be showing how weathering and erosion lead to
the formation of sediments and soil by taking sugar cubes and
placing them in cans. With different erosions factors such as
sand, dirt, water, and rocks, we can place them into the can
with the sugar cubes and shake them for different amounts of
time. In the end, this will show how different elements affect
the rate of weathering. Learning the different types of erosion
will allow students to understand how physical features of the
earth’s surface change shape. From chemical weathering to
physical weathering, each student will understand the
relationship between these two. Physical weathering breaks
down rock creating a larger surface area for chemical
weathering to act upon. Physical weathering is the class of
processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without
chemical change. Chemical weathering changes the
composition of rocks, often transforming them when water
interacts with minerals to create various chemical reactions.
GLCE
Grade 6
E.SE.06.11 Explain how physical and chemical weathering lead to erosion and the formation of
soils and sediments.
“LAYERS OF OUR EARTH”
There are many easy ways to demonstrate the different
layers the Earth is made up of. We will demonstrate this by
getting clear Tupperware bowls and using different color sand
to portray each individual layer. Each layer of sand will be a
different color as well as a different thickness. The earth is
made up of multiple layers. In the middle of our planet is a
layer known as the core. The core is the source of Earth’s main
source of energy and assists in the creation of earth’s magnetic
field. The layer just outside the core is a layer known as the
mantle. The mantle is the thickest layer of the earth. Although
solid, the high temperatures within the mantle cause the
silicate material to be sufficiently ductile that it can flow on
very long timescales. The outermost layer and thinnest layer is
known as the crust. The thinner parts of the earth’s crust lie
along the ocean floors and is commonly made up of basalt. The
thicker crust is continental crust which is less dense and
commonly made up of granite. Many rocks now making up
Earth's crust formed less than 100 million years ago.
GLCE
Grade 6
E.SE.06.53 Describe layers of the Earth as a lithosphere (crust and upper mantle), convecting
mantle, and dense metallic core.
Conclusion
EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet, affectively portrays,
displays and represents the ever-changing systems that are
consistently working in altering the face of our planet. I would
highly recommend this book to grade school teachers because
it demonstrates and portrays the systems and events that
change the exterior of our planet. This book helps explain what
convergent boundaries form mountains and why divergent
boundaries form trenches and faults. With illustrations and
basic text, this book allows students to understand the basic
concepts of plate tectonics and why the movements of these
plates shape the exterior face of our planet. The topic of
weathering and erosion were also explained and illustrated
very well. Through physical weathering and the break down of
rocks to smaller pieces, chemical weathering is enhanced.
Chemical weathering further breaks down the composition of
many different surfaces. The final activity that I did was the
layers of the earth. I believe that the book demonstrated this
topic the best. Each layer from the core, to the mantle, to the
crust, was illustrated with great detail. In addition to the
illustrations, there were text boxes that gave important
information on the different layers. Information such as the
crust has both thin and thick portions of its layer that is made
up of different rock such as basalt or granite. I was very
impressed on the amount of detail that was put in to illustrate
the key points that were laid out within the text. One weakness
that I observed in this book is a little too much text. I believe
that a lot of this information could have easily just been
illustrated rather than written out. However this is not a very
prominent weakness and I believe that this book was overall a
very good book. I would definitely recommend this book to my
future students to use for research and to understand these
different topics. I believe that this book effectively illustrates
the basics of many of earth’s systems.
WORKS CITED
" Science Curriclum Information ." Oakland Schools . N.p., n.d. Web. 16
Feb. 2011.<http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/Departments/Learning
Services/Science/ScienceCurriclumInformation/tabid/3052/
Default.aspx>.
Silver, Donald M., and Patricia Wynne. Earth: the ever-changing planet.
New York: Random House, 1989. Print.