EVALUATION OF LESSONS FOUND ON THE INTERNET
Evaluator: Shannon Dickson
Date: September 22, 2002
Lesson Title: Hands-on Center Pangaea to the Present
Site Address: http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Ch1CMB/Handson2.html
Grade Level: 6-12
Description of Lesson: During this one-day lesson students are asked to cut out major continents from a map of the world as it is today and arrange them into the super continent Pangaea (250 million years ago). Students should see how the continents today fit together like a puzzle to from one continent. The students are then shown the direction the continents are moving on their plates and asked to hypothesize how the continents will fit together in 100 million years from now.
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Evaluation Category |
Yes |
No |
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Self
paced |
X |
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Students
Solve Problem |
X |
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Students
Produce Project |
X |
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Interesting |
X |
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Student
Reflection |
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X |
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Collaboration |
X |
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Multiple
ways of thinking |
X |
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Technology
Used |
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X |
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Would
you use this lesson |
X |
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If technology is not used, could it be added?
I think technology could be used to further enhance the lesson when discussing the concrete reasons why we know there is a Pangaea. Students could create a multimedia presentation to show how the fossil record, plants and animals, geologic strata, and scars left in the earth’s crust from glaciers are all proof that the super continent existed.
Additional comments:
This lesson can be adapted to fit almost any grade level. I also believe that the portion of the lesson where is asks for student to guess what the Earth will look like in 100 million years would nicely incorporate a student reflection portion to the lesson.
Lesson Title: Earthquake tracking
Site Address: http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/activities/trackingearthquakes/#mat
Grade Level: 6-12
Description of Lesson: Over a period of a week students learn about what happens at the plate boundaries of continents. Students are asked to plot various earthquakes in the last ten years and their size on a map using the USGS site. Students find that some of the largest earthquakes are found at the plate boundaries of continents. Through the week students are asked to track live earthquakes that happen that week and plot them on their map. After they have compiled their data they compare the two maps (10 largest earthquakes and their weekly maps).
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Evaluation Category |
Yes |
No |
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Self
paced |
X |
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Students
Solve Problem |
X |
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Students
Produce Project |
X |
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Interesting |
X |
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Student
Reflection |
X |
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Collaboration |
X |
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Multiple
ways of thinking |
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X |
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Technology
Used |
X |
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Would
you use this lesson |
X |
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If technology is not used, could it be added?
Good use of technology. I liked the idea about having students create a spreadsheet listing the size and magnitude of the earthquakes. I also thought the multimedia presentation listed in the lesson was a good idea, but might extend the lesson past the one week timeline.
Additional comments:
I felt this was a great lesson with a lot of included information and links. It also gives some great ideas for getting the lesson going with a KWL sheet. This lesson could be adapted for any grade level. I really enjoyed the fact that it lets the students explore on their own and visually create the objective (too see that most earthquakes occur on the plate boundaries) rather than just telling the students this information.
Lesson Title: Understanding Weather
Site Address: http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/weather/
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Description of Lesson: This lesson is run in approximately three days. Students are asked to construct a model of something that would hold heat (after discussing the greenhouse effect and how that applies to the Earth). Students are asked to measure the temperature of their greenhouse (made using common supplies) each day and plot it’s temperature compared to room temperature over a period of three days.
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Evaluation Category |
Yes |
No |
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Self paced |
X |
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Students Solve Problem |
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X |
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Students Produce Project |
X |
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Interesting |
X |
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Student Reflection |
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X |
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Collaboration |
X |
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Multiple ways of thinking |
X |
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Technology Used |
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X |
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Would you use this lesson |
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X |
If technology is not used, could it be added?
The lesson does state that a computer with Internet capabilities is needed, but I did find any part of the lesson that required this. A computer could be used to define various vocabulary or research the greenhouse effect.
Additional comments:
While the greenhouse effect is an integral part of weather, when I clicked on the page I had the mindset that it was going to be about cloud formation, tornadoes, hurricanes, or some type of weather process. I think the title is a bit misleading and the given grade level is a bit high. I think this would be a great project for 4th or 5th graders.
Site Address: http://student.biology.arizona.edu/sciconn/earthscience/erosion.html
Grade Level: 3-4
Description of Lesson: Students are asked to fill a pie pan with moist sand and dribble water through a cup to see what happens to the sand in the pie pan. Next, the students are asked to create a “mountain” of sand in their pie pan and repeat the same process and record their observations. Finally students are asked to make the same sand mountain but this time cover the mountain with tissue (analogous with grass) and repeat the same process and record their observations.
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Evaluation Category |
Yes |
No |
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Self paced |
X |
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Students Solve Problem |
X |
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Students Produce Project |
X |
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Interesting |
X |
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Student Reflection |
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X |
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Collaboration |
X |
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Multiple ways of thinking |
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X |
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Technology Used |
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X |
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Would you use this lesson |
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X |
If technology is not used, could it be added?
If this lesson were used in higher grade levels yes, technology could be used. Research could be done on different types of erosion. A spreadsheet could be created to chart the amount of sand that is displaced between the two types of mountains (grass covered and non grass covered).
Additional comments:
While I think this activity is not appropriate for high school students to do, I think that it could be used as a demonstration as an opening set to the weathering and erosion unit.
Lesson Title: Eating Metamorphic Rocks
Site Address: http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sci/sci44.txt
Grade Level: k – 12
Description of Lesson: This lesson could be used at the beginning or the end of a lesson discussing different types of rocks. At the end of this lesson students be able to identify the properties of metamorphic rocks. They also remember how metamorphic rocks are formed. The teacher heats up a griddle and pours in pancake batter. Mixed in the batter are some items that melt and some that will not melt (raisons, coconut, chocolate chips, nuts, and marshmallows). As the pancakes are cooking the teacher talks about how it takes both pressure (the spatula pressing down on the pancake demonstrates this) and heat (this is demonstrated by the heat of the griddle) to form metamorphic rocks. After the metamorphic rocks are formed the class of course eats them.
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Evaluation Category |
Yes |
No |
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Self paced |
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X |
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Students Solve Problem |
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X |
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Students Produce Project |
X |
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Interesting |
X |
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Student Reflection |
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X |
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Collaboration |
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X |
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Multiple ways of thinking |
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X |
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Technology Used |
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X |
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Would you use this lesson |
X |
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If technology is not used, could it be added?
I don’t believe that technology could be added to this lesson unless they students did a KWL sheet and researched the “want to learn” portion on the Internet or perhaps a web quest on types of rocks.
Additional comments:
While I think this is a cute way to link learning to something that students will remember, this lesson does not incorporate constructivism.