Weather ing Instruct ional Case: A ser ies of s tudent-centeredsc ience lessons

Lesson1

SmokeyMountainsSource:NationalParkService

SuggestedTimeline45minutes

Materials

• Copiesofthe“MountainAge”probefoundinVol1:UncoveringStudentIdeasinScience(Keeley,p.169)

• Copiesore-versionofresearchcollectionsheet.

• Picturesoflocal/familiarmountainranges

• Butcherpaperandstickynotes• Researchmaterials:computersorbooksonmountainranges

Preparation1. Oneprobeperstudent2. Printouttheresearchcollection

sheetORhavestudentsenterinformationontheelectronicversionofthedocument.

3. Writedownsentenceframesandsentencestartersonbutcherpaperandpostinfrontofclassroom.

4. Findpicturesandvideofootageofmountainrangesandplacetheminsheetprotectorsforthestudentstomakeobservations.

IntroductiontoWeathering

SummaryThislessonisanintroductionintoamulti-dayunitaboutweathering.Inthisinstructionalcase,studentswilllearnaboutthenatureofchemicalandmechanicalweatheringandhowtheyaffectthesurfaceofourplanetandtospecificallyanswerthebigquestions:“Whatmakeslargerockschangeintosmallrocks?”Tointroduceconceptsofweatheringhowrocksmaychangeovertime--studentswillsharetheirinitialunderstandingthroughPageKeeley’s“"MountainAge"formativeassessmentprobe.Thestudentworksheetandteacherbackgroundfromtheprobeisincluded(usedwithpermission).ThisprobebeginstheinvestigationoftheweatheringofrocksbyaskingstudentstoconsidertheresultsofweatheringanderosiononEarth’ssurfacefeaturessuchasmountains.

Objectives

• Studentsdemonstratetheirpriorknowledgeonweatheringanderosion.

• Studentswillusereasoningbasedonpriorknowledgeorexperiencewithrockstodeterminetheageofamountain.

TeacherBackgroundKnowledgeAlthoughthisprobedoesnotdirectlydealwiththeweatheringofrocks,itprobesstudents’understandingoftheroleofweatheringanderosiononthedevelopmentofdifferentlandscapes.Activemountainbuildingprocessesareshort-termevents(millionsofyears)ingeologictimecomparedtotheslowerandmoregradualweatheringanderosionofrocksattheEarth’ssurface(hundredsofmillionsofyears).Youngmountainstendtohavemorejaggedorirregularshapesduetotheupliftingprocessesthatformthem.Whenweatheringanderosionoutpacemountainbuildingprocesses,oldermountainsgenerallydevelopamoreroundedshapewithlesstopographicrelief.Althoughtheweatheringanderosionofrocksmayseemlikeordinaryprocess,theireffectovergeologictimeisverysignificantandcanbringdownhighmountains.Thekeytostudents’understandingoftheroleofweatheringanderosioninthedevelopmentoflandscapesistheimmensityofgeologictime..

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Lesson1 IntroductiontoWeathering

Standards12

NGSSPerformanceExpectations:ThislessonsupportsstudentsinprogressingtowardtheNGSSPerformanceExpectation.MS-ESS2-1.DevelopamodeltodescribethecyclingofEarth'smaterialsandtheflowofenergythatdrivesthisprocess.[ClarificationStatement:Emphasisisontheprocessesofmelting,crystallization,weathering,deformation,andsedimentation,whichacttogethertoformmineralsandrocksthroughthecyclingofEarth’smaterials.]MS-ESS2-2.ConstructanexplanationbasedonevidenceforhowgeoscienceprocesseshavechangedEarth'ssurfaceatvaryingtimeandspatialscales.[ClarificationStatement:EmphasisisonhowprocesseschangeEarth’ssurfaceattimeandspatialscalesthatcanbelarge(suchasslowplatemotionsortheupliftoflargemountainranges)orsmall(suchasrapidlandslidesormicroscopicgeochemicalreactions),andhowmanygeoscienceprocesses(suchasearthquakes,volcanoes,andmeteorimpacts)usuallybehavegraduallybutarepunctuatedbycatastrophicevents.Examplesofgeoscienceprocessesincludesurfaceweatheringanddepositionbythemovementsofwater,ice,andwind.Emphasisisongeoscienceprocessesthatshapelocalgeographicfeatures,whereappropriate.] AssessmentBoundaries:Assessmentislimitedtotheinteractionsoftwosystemsatatime.Inthislesson…ScienceandEngineeringPractices DisciplinaryCoreIdeas CrossCuttingConcepts

ConstructingExplanationsandDesigningSolutionsStudentswillconstructascientificexplanationbasedonvalidandreliableevidenceobtainedfromoutsideresearchandthePageKeeleyMountainAgeprobereadingwiththeassumptionthattheoriesandlawsthatdescribenatureoperatetodayastheydidinthepastandwillcontinuetodosointhefuture.StudentswillusetheClaim-Evidence-Reasoningprotocoltoconstructtheirexplanationbasedonobservationsandevidencegathered.

ESS2.A:Earth’sMaterialsandSystemsTheplanet’ssystemsinteractoverscalesthatrangefrommicroscopictoglobalinsize,andtheyoperateoverfractionsofasecondtobillionsofyears.TheseinteractionshaveshapedEarth’shistoryandwilldetermineitsfuture.ESS2.C:TheRolesofWaterinEarth'sSurfaceProcessesWater’smovements—bothonthelandandunderground—causeweatheringanderosion,whichchangetheland’ssurfacefeaturesandcreateundergroundformations.

StabilityandChangeExplanationsofstabilityandchangeinnaturalordesignedsystemscanbeconstructedbyexaminingthechangesovertimeandprocessesatdifferentscales,includingtheatomicscale.Studentsinvestigatetheageofmountainsbasedonobservationsandresearchofmountainelevation,sizeandarea.Studentsalsorecognizetheroleofweatheringanderosionwhendiscussingmountaingrowth.

Inthislesson…CCSSMathematics CCSSEnglish-LanguageArtsn/a

ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1Writeargumentstosupportclaimswithclearreasonsandrelevantevidence.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1Citetextualevidencetosupportanalysisofwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyaswellasinferencesdrawnfromthetext.

1NGSSLeadStates.2013.NextGenerationScienceStandards:ForStates,ByStates.Washington,D.C.:TheNationalAcademiesPress.2NationalGovernorsAssociationCenterforBestPractices,CouncilofChiefStateSchoolOfficersTitle:CommonCoreStateStandards(insertspecificcontentareaifyouareusingonlyone)Publisher:NationalGovernorsAssociationCenterforBestPractices,CouncilofChiefStateSchoolOfficers,WashingtonD.C.CopyrightDate:2010

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Lesson1 IntroductiontoWeathering

PriorKnowledgeInpreviousgrades,studentshavelearnedthatwindandwaterchangetheshapeoftheland.Thisprobewilldeterminewhattheirreasoningisbasedontheirpriorknowledgeorexperienceofrocks.Itisassumedthatstudentsalreadyunderstandmajorconceptsofthe“rockcycle,”andiftheydonot,theprobemayhelptheirmisunderstandingssurface.

Lesson1. AdministertheprobeaccordingtoPageKeeley’sSuggestionsforInstructionandAssessment.When

administeringtheprobe,youcanalsowanttoincludeactualphotosofmountainswithdifferentages.2. Thisprobewilldeterminewhattheirreasoningisbasedontheirpriorknowledgeorexperienceofrocks.

OldRagMountain(A)

MountEverest(B)

Source:NationalParkService Source:NationalGeographicPhotographbyJodiCobb

3. CollecttheassessmentstoinformyourteachingoftherestoftheWeatheringunitlessons.Youmayalso

havestudentsposttheiranswersonstickynotesandgenerateasurveyofwheretheclassstands(AversusBorA/Barethesameage).

4. Introducepicturesoflocalorfamiliarmountainranges.Haveaclassdiscussiononnearbymountainrangesandtheirgeneralobservationsofmountains.Thiswouldbeagoodtimetointroducemountainsrangesovertimeandthegeologicaltimescale.

PotentialPitfallsSeePageKeeley’s“TeacherNotes”forpossiblemisconceptions.Notethatthereisnosinglecorrectanswertothisprobebecauseshapeandheightalonecannotbeusedtodeterminetheageofmountains.Studentsmayrevealthattheyconceptualizedifferentshapedandsizedrocksasjustbeingthatway,andhavenotmadeconnectionstothekeyconceptthatrocksarepartoftheEarth’scrust,andhavechangedovertime,chemicallyand/ormechanically.Theprobeassesseswhetherstudentshaveconsideredweatheringfactorsintotheirclaimoriftheyarebasingtheirreasoningonthebeliefthattallermountainsareolder.