Lesson Plans

Processes that Shape Earth: Weathering and Erosion

by Paula Heichel, Debbie Lester, and Eric Sanderson

Read, View, and Listen Model (#2), Concept Jigsaw Puzzle Model (#6), and Learn by Doing Model (#15)

Old Method: The students are directed to a chapter in a textbook about weathering and erosion. They read from the textbook, and the teacher asks or assigns comprehension questions at the end of each section. The students may also watch a video on weathering and erosion. Following these activities, the students complete an end-of-chapter or end-of-unit test.

Overview: The following lessons align with the fourth-grade Next Generation Science Standards and develop an understanding of the differences and relationship between weathering and erosion. The lessons incorporate elements of flipped learning and the SAMR model and begin by activating students’ prior knowledge of the differences between weathering and erosion. Students are asked, “How do weathering and erosion work together to change the world around us?” Using components of the Read, View, and Listen Model and the Concept Jigsaw Puzzle Model, students explore digital and print information sources and work with their peers to expand their understanding of weathering and erosion. Using the Learn by Doing Model, students have the opportunity to enrich their understanding through the creation and examination of hands-on weathering and erosion models. Students keep a learning log during their explorations in order to note new learning and to record observations and questions. The culminating activity is a field trip in which students will apply their understanding and learning as they search for and document “real world” examples of weathering and erosion. As part of a Big Think activity, students will consider how they can use digital resources and the documentary material collected from the field trip to create a virtual field trip that can be shared with other students learning about weathering and erosion.

Goals, Objectives, and Essential Questions

Content Goal: Students will discover the processes and effects associated with weathering and erosion.

Content Objective: Students will identify various examples of weathering and erosion on natural and man-made

features and discover the effects that result from different types of weathering and erosion.

Process Goal: Working independently and in collaborative groups, students will gather and process information from

digital and print information sources and from hands-on models.

Process Objective: Working independently and in collaborative groups, students will apply 21st century skills in

observing, identifying, describing, and documenting "real world" evidence of weathering and erosion processes.

Essential Questions

1. How do weathering and erosion work together to change the world around us?

2. How do water, ice, wind, and/or vegetation affect weathering and erosion?

3. What evidence is produced by the effects of water, ice, wind, and/or vegetation on weathering and erosion?

Standards References (Content)

4-ESS2-1. Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion

by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.

Standards References (Process)

California Science Standards

Investigation and Experimentation

6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for

understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their

own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

a. Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’ explanations come partly from what

they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.

b. Measure and estimate the weight, length, or volume of objects.

c. Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.

d. Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions

and results.

e. Construct and interpret graphs from measurements.

f. Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.

Graphical Chart / Flow Chart

Learning Activities and Co-Teaching: Co-teaching occurs throughout the lessons. The teacher librarian and classroom teacher will spend time collaborating prior to the start of the lessons in order to outline their co-teaching techniques. Because the teacher librarian is skilled with information resource integration, s/he will model how to access, use, and evaluate information sources. Because the classroom teacher is skilled with content elements, s/he will model accurately applying and developing content learning. When one adult coach is leading instruction, the other will interject, answer questions, help students as needed, and support his/her colleague. In addition, both adult coaches participate in whole-group discussions and ask clarifying and open-ended questions; this encourages critical thinking on the part of the students and serves to model collaborative intelligence. Finally, both adult coaches will circulate during the inquiry process and during periods of collaborative group work to serve as facilitators of student learning.

1. Activate Prior Knowledge and Build Background: What do we already know about weathering and erosion?

a. The adult coaches ask the class to think about what they know about weathering and erosion. Give students several

minutes to think about and discuss with classmates what they know about weathering and erosion. After the

discussion, give students several minutes to write about what they know and think they know about weathering and

erosion in their Learning Logs (title: "What I Think I Know About Weathering and Erosion").

b. Have students explore the following websites on weathering and erosion for 10-20 minutes:

1. What is Weathering? (http://www.passmyexams.co.uk/GCSE/physics/what-is-weathering.html)

- physical weathering: temperature change, freeze-thaw, and wind, rain, and waves

- chemical weathering: acid rain and air pollution with high temperatures

- biological weathering: living organisms

2. Erosion & Transport (http://www.passmyexams.co.uk/GCSE/physics/erosion-transport.html)

- gravity

- wind

- water

- ice

c. Have students write for several minutes in their Learning Log (title: "What I’m Learning About Weathering and

Erosion") about what new or different information they learned. Prompts, if necessary, might include Did I learn

something new?, Was I wrong about what weathering and erosion are?, and What is the difference between

weathering and erosion?

d. Class discussion on the differences between weathering and erosion. Adult coaches guide the students as they come

up with definitions and/or explanations of weathering and erosion. Record the definitions and/or explanations. These

definitions and/or explanations could be added to the Learning Logs.

2. Read, View, and Listen

Expert Groups: Now that students have activated prior knowledge and developed an initial understanding of

weathering and erosion, they will extend their understanding using the Read, View, and Listen Model.

a. Students will work in groups to investigate different agents of weathering and erosion in greater depth. Each group will focus on a single weathering and erosion agent—liquid water, ice, wind, vegetation, and chemical weathering—

while keeping this question in mind: How do weathering and erosion work together to change the world around us?

The groups will have access to a wide variety of digital and print resources via the Water, Ice, Wind, Vegetation, and

Chemical Weathering pages of the KBC.

b. Students will record information they learn in their Learning Log. This information will be shared with other students in

later lessons.

3. Concept Jigsaw Puzzle: Combine Expertise to Build New Understanding

a. The students will form new groups. Each group will have one expert from each of the weathering and erosion agent

expert groups following the example below:

Group 1. water expert, ice expert, wind expert, vegetation expert, chemical weathering expert

Group 2. water expert, ice expert, wind expert, vegetation expert, chemical weathering expert

Group 3. water expert, ice expert, wind expert, vegetation expert, chemical weathering expert

Group 4. water expert, ice expert, wind expert, vegetation expert, chemical weathering expert

Group 5. water expert, ice expert, wind expert, vegetation expert, chemical weathering expert

b. Each group will reconsider the essential question of the lessons: How do weathering and erosion work together to

change the world around us?

c. Each group will brainstorm a list of ways to model various weathering and erosion processes as well as a list of

materials that would be useful in constructing hands-on weathering and erosion models.

4. Learn by Doing: Constructing Weathering and Erosion Models

a. The students will be provided with materials to construct models of weathering and erosion processes in their jigsaw

groups. Alternatively, the adult coaches can prepare stations at which students can explore weathering and erosion

processes using predetermined models. A list of hands-on modeling activities can be found on the

Learn by Doing page of the KBC.

b. The groups will create the models they have developed or that the adult coaches have prepared. The students will

with the Weathering and Erosion Models Lab Sheet available on the Lab Sheet page of the KBC to take notes on the

processes and evidence associated with the models and decide if the model best illustrates weathering, erosion, or

both.

5. Culminating Activity: A Field Trip to Document Evidence

a. All of the students and the adult coaches will take a field trip (or a series of field trips) to an area or areas where signs

of weather and erosion processes can be found. It would be beneficial to work with a local expert to select and guide

exploration of such areas. It is possible that evidence of such processes can be found within walking distance of the

school.

b. While on the field trip, the students will use a variety of techniques—writing, sketching, drawing, audio recordings,

photography, and videography—to document the weathering and erosion evidence that they find.

Assessment

1. Content Formative Assessment: Slideshow

a. In order to formatively assess student understanding of weathering and erosion process and to prepare for the

culminating field trip, the students will view some or all of the Weathering and Erosion Slide Show available on the

Assessment Resources page of the KBC. The adult coaches will guide the whole class or small group in answering

the question that accompanies each slide: What can we say about weathering or erosion when we look at this image?

This question can be answered through discussion or though one or more Learning Log entries. A rubric for

evaluating student reflections about the slide show images can be found on the Assessment Resources page of the

KBC.

2. Content and Process Formative Assessment: Learning Log

a. Students must complete each entry to document exploration, discovery, and synthesis of important information and

ideas. It helps the teacher understand what students learned, the struggles they faced and the questions they still

have.

3. Content Summative Assessment: Weathering and Erosion Memory Match Game

a. Students draw or sketch two before-and-after images illustrating weathering or erosion processes or effects on

natural or man-made features. The first image is one of a natural or man-made feature before weathering or erosion

makes a visible impact on the feature. The second image shows the effects of weathering or erosion on the

feature. Each student chooses at least four examples of weathering or erosion to illustrate in this before-and-after

manner. Students may search the internet for reference illustrations, or they may use documentation from the field trip

as a starting off point. Alternatively, students have the option of directly using pictures from the internet that depict

weathering and erosion processes or effects.

b. Next, small groups combine their cards to play the game.The game is played with traditional Memory (Concentration)

rules, except the students must match erosion or weathering before-and-after pairs. Students must also sort their

pairs into stacks of Weathering, Erosion, or Both. More students with cards can be added to the game to make it

more challenging, or new rules can be added to adapt, differentiate, or modify the game. Assessment of content

understanding and collective intelligence is completed by the adult coaches as they review a student's cards and

observe the student's participation while playing the game. A rubric for completing this assessment is available on

the Assessment Resources page of the KBC.

The Big Think

After returning from the field trip(s), the students will create a virtual field trip to share evidence of weathering and erosion

processes with other students. The adult coaches will support the students in this process, but the contents and elements

of the virtual field trip will be decided upon by the students. Students may find it useful to use PowerPoint Office Mix in

creating the virtual field trip. Office Mix allows students to insert audio, video, screen capture, and polls or quizzes. All

materials created for the virtual field trip will be placed on the Virtual Field Trip page of the KBC.

Before starting on the virtual field trip project, the following Big Think elements will be completed.

Content: Students understand the effects different types of weathering and erosion processes through active

discussion, thoughtful writing, and constructed visuals. They identify the different types of weathering and

erosion on natural and man-made features.

So what? How can we teach student to identify the difference between weathering and erosion? How can we teach

students to identify different types of these natural phenomenon?

What’s next? Sharing their understanding with other students helps solidify their knowledge and leads to more

careful consideration of details associated with weathering and erosion processes.

Process: Students model different types of weathering and erosion processes and provide evidence of real world

examples. Students will interact with an expert on the field trip, participate in more active discussions, and

continue to construct visuals with photos and/or drawings.

So what? How did building models and technology help to understand the different processes and transform

knowledge?

What’s next? How does technology allow us to connect with people across space and time? Is this a positive thing?

How did this assignment help develop your group work skills and how can you apply this to other

classes and real life situations?

Defense: Students are actively engaged in their learning. They are encouraged to explore, to think about what they are learning, and to create products based on what they learned. Students learn on their own and in collaborative groups. Students are engaged in activities such as writing about what they have learned and not just reading an assigned text. Assessment is not merely taking a test or answering questions at the end of a chapter but involves student experimentation and collaborative thinking. Students are encouraged to talk about their learning and to collaborate with other students instead of listening to a teacher's lecture. For these reasons, these lessons are more constructivist than behaviorist in nature. Also, because of the vast array of interactive and multimedia information available to students via the KBC, technology and the collaborative use of technology play significant roles in this lesson.