Planning Guide

Creating Learner-Focused
Schools

 

* Madison-Oneida BOCES- This document may not be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the District Superintendent or his designee.

 

LU Title: Earth Science Integration

Author(s): Carol Buckingham

Grade Level: 9

School Address: Oswego Street, Camden, NY 13316

Subject Area: Regents Earth Science

School Phone/Fax: 315-245-3168

 

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Declarative

Procedural
  • Students will be able to define climatology, meteorology, geology, and topography, as well as other vocabulary related to these topic areas.
  • Students will be able to read maps and locate different cities and countries by using latitude and longitude coordinates.
  • Students will be able to describe physical characteristics of the Earth's surface.
  • Students will be able to develop graphic representations of environmental issues, problems, and questions.
  • Students will be able to identify major weather patterns, and symbols as they exist on a weather map.
  • Students will be able to explain how the Earth's crust is continually recycled through dialogue and other creative methodologies.
  • Students will be able to read a topographic map to determine highest/lowest elevation, as well as the maximum and minimum gradient.
  • Students will be able to make short-range weather forecast when they are provided with a series of synoptic weather maps.
  • Students will be able to identify arid, semi-arid, sub-humid, and humid regions based on P/Ep ratios.
  • Students will compute gradient from a topographic map between different locations, and then make comparisons to stream velocity and different types of landscapes.
  • Students will understand how the Earth's population is growing and the effect that will have on their future.
  • Students will investigate the Earth's past climate history and make predictions for the future.
 
  • Students will draw conclusions on how societies have developed based on their geographic locations and compare different societies on environmental issues.

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

 

INITIATING ACTIVITY

 1 Day

The Introduction of this unit will begin with an overview of how Earth Science and Global Studies are subject areas that compliment one another, and should not be thought of separately. Explain to the students how they must continually be looking for relationships between other content areas, and not look at the high school as individual departments. But as one large department that is helping them to decide what they like and dislike, as well as prepare them to enter the 21st century with confidence.

After this pep talk students will write down the connections that they THINK THEY KNOW between Earth Science and Global Studies and the country of India, the area of choice is dependent on the teacher(s) areas of expertise. Whatever is convenient and acceptable to you and your colleagues. This unit is provided to show the strength between using multiple disciplines to achieve analogous goals. This unit would be most successful after completing at least a half-year of Earth Science, this way students would have a command of the Earth Science vocabulary and feel more confident in their reasoning.

Next, have the students participate in a classroom discussion with the concepts, ideas, and thoughts that they have come up with. Place the tables/chairs in a circular fashion that will promote sharing and help to facilitate discussion. The teacher should take notes during the discussion and implement students ideas and suggestions into future lesson plans. An example of what may come up in the discussion is; Where is India? (latitude/longitude). What is the weather like there? (meteorology). What does the landscape look and why? (underlying geology). What are common industries? (climatology).

End the discussion with what else the students WOULD LIKE TO KNOW about India to help promote further interest in the topic.

 

Connection to State Learning Standards

Content Area: Earth Science/Global Studies

Level: Ninth

Benchmarks: Local

 

Benchmarks: Local

Standard: #1 Scientific Inquiry & Mathematical Analysis

 

Standard: #4 Physical Setting & The Living Environment

 

Unit Theme: Earth Science Integration

Standard: #6 System Thinking & Optimization

 

Standard: #7 Connections, Strategies & Skills for Interdisciplinary Solving

Benchmarks:

 

Benchmarks:

Learning Experiences

Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand…

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire & integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize and/or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

 Students will be able to define climatology, meteorology, geology, and topography,

Describe physical characteristics on the Earth's surface,

Identify major weather patterns and how they effect climate,

Read topographic maps,

Identify climatic regions,

Understand how the Earth's population is growing and how that will effect future environmental needs,

Use the Internet effectively and efficiently.

 Through the use of their:

Text book (Allyn & Bacon)

Review book (UPCO)

Earth Science Reference Tables

Films from BOCES

Discussions

Demonstrations

Research on the WWW

Interactive activities on Encarta

Direct Lecture

Cooperative Learning

Using the overhead to reach visual learners

 Pre-Outlined Notes

Graphic Organizers

Vocabulary Sheets

Handouts from Earth Science resources

KWL

Mind Maps

 Crossword activities

Quizzes

Inputting data from the internet

Review Learning Experiences 1-6

 

Learning Experiences

Procedural Knowledge

What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to:

What will be done to help students construct models, shape & internalize the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

 Read maps and locate places using latitude and longitude coordinates,

Develop graphic representations of environmental issues, problems & questions,

Explain Plate Tectonics through dialogue,

Develop short-term weather forecasts,

Compute gradient from a topographic map and relate to stream velocity and type of landscape

Investigate past climate history, and predict the Earth's future,

Compare different societies environmental concerns with geography, to determine where a student may consider settling down.

 Dialogue with students one on one

Using a topographic map to see the relationships between slope (gradient) and distance between the lines.

Graphs will be made to illustrate relationships between variables.

The internet will be used to research past climates, and current environmental concerns.

Students will learn through their Global Studies Class about other societies, nationalities, and religions.

Students must obtain a command of the English Language to convey their points of view.

While also being able to write proficiently to convey their thoughts to other individuals.

 The students will gather weather information daily and analyze their data weekly.

Students will show graphic representations of their weather variables with a few stokes on the keyboard.

Students will be graded using rubrics

Ultimately, students will be graded by their peers on a Power Point presentation that explains where they want to live and why. Covering issues that fall underneath the sub-headings of geology, meteorology, climatology, topography, and other environmental concerns.

 

Learning Experiences

Extending and Refining

What knowledge will students be extending and refining? Specifically, they will be extending and refining their understanding of…

What reasoning process will they be using?

Describe what will be done.

 Students will be able to extend and refine knowledge in the areas of meteorology, climatology, and geology.

By implementing this unit on India students can see that Earth Science and Global Studies are not separate subjects. Rather they are a part of one large unit that compliments each other.

Earth Science can be interconnected into almost any subject, because every subject area learns about the "EARTH" in some form, shape, or manner.

This unit could be modifies to fit almost any other country, location, or city with Earth Science, as long as both teachers are receptive to change and willing to learn about the other teachers area of expertise.

 Comparing

 Classifying

 Inductive Reasoning

 Deductive Reasoning

  • Error Analysis

 Analyzing Perspectives

 Constructing Support

 Abstracting

 Other: Students overall will be developing an insight for integration. They will internalize their experience in Earth Science & Global Studies and continue their interdiciplinary skills to other subject areas throughout the building.

 This unit is only the beginning of the integration process. In order for any school to become success with this technique, boundaries between subject areas must be diminished.

The elimination of these walls between content areas can disappear by two metodologies:

1st the teachers can institute change in their own classrooms by seeking out others teachers from different disciplines to merge concepts with.

2nd students can ask more questions of the teachers to explore more avenues than once thought.

Either choice is acceptable and benefits the learning process of the student. Both choices welcomes the teacher into a new realm of thinking which produces beneficial educational outcomes for the entire school.

 

Planning Guide

  

Unit:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

What knowledge will students be using meaningfully? Specifically, they will be demonstrating their understanding of and ability to...........

What reasoning process will they be using?

Describe student's products and performances and the criteria for evaluation.
 

[ ] Decision Making
(selecting from seemingly equal alternatives or examining the decisions of others)
[ ] Problem Solving
(seeking to achieve a goal by overcomming constraints or lmiting conditions)
[ ] Invention
(creating something to meet a need or improve on a situation)
[ ] Experimental Inquiry
(generating an explanation for a phenomenon and testing the explanation)
[ ] Investigation
(resolving confusions or contradictions related to a historical event, a hypothetical past or future event, or to the defining characteristics of something)
[ ] Systems Analysis
(analyzing the parts of a system and how they interact)
[ ] Other:

Products/Performances

Criteria for evaluation

Rubric:

Key Questions:

What are the key elements, traits, or dimensions that will be evaluated?

Are the identified elements of equal importance or will they be weighed differently?

Element #1

Element #2

Element #3

Element #4
Elements

Scale

 Correct/Accurate Information

 Presentation Creativity & Visual Aids

 Presentation Skills (voice/eyes)

 Presentation Flow

Weights

 

25%

 

25%

 

25%

 

25%

4

 All the information was correct & accurate. Answered questions well.

 The class was engaged and thoroughly interested. Many questions were asked.

 Made eye contact with the entire class, spoke clearly, and projected well.

 Speaker(s) knew order, paused appropriately, perfect communication between speakers

3

 Most of the information was valid & answered most questions.

 The class paid attention, & a few questions were asked.

 Made eye contact some of the time, spoke clear.

 Ran smoothly, a couple of awkward times.

2

 Some of the information was not correct & could not answer most questions.

 Some students did not pay attention, only 1-2 questions were asked.

 Hardly made eye contact. Difficult to hear.

 Speakers uneasy, not confident.

1

 Most of the information was incorrect and was not able to respond to class questions.

 Nobody paid attention and no questions were asked. Boring.

 Did not make eye contact. Could not hear.

 Speakers interrupting each other, slides mixed up, unaware of order. No flow.

 NOTE: Rubric or other performance asessment instruments may be used.

 

Constructing a Holistic
Scoring Tool
(Rubric or Activity Specific Key)

Key Questions:

* How many score points are needed to discriminate among the full range of different degrees of understanding, proficiency, or quality?

This response, product, or performance provides evidence of understanding of concept/principle/generalization or proficiency in skill/process/strategy.

Score Point 4

Score Point 3

[ ] Accurate information

[ ] Most information was accurate

[ ] Highly engaged class

[ ] The class paid attention

[ ] Excellent eye contact & good speaking voice

[ ] Some eye contact & spoke clearly

[ ] Presentation flowed perfectly

[ ] A couple of awkward moments

Score Point 2

Score Point 1

[ ] Some invalid information

[ ] Information incorrect

[ ] Some students not paying attention

[ ] Nobody paying attention

[ ] Barely any eye contact, difficult to hear

[ ] No eye contact, can't hear

[ ] Speaker(s) nervous

[ ] Slides not in order. No flow

 

Have You Considered These Yet?

 

Learn to Learn Skills: I believe this unit could be a corner stone for developing interdisciplinary classrooms. With the new standards just being released across all disciplines and New York State implementing higher standards, this is the time to promote LEARN to LEARN skills. We are not only teaching out students to think across the curriculum to promote a deeper understanding of all subject areas; But to learn how to make connections in the real-world to find understanding across career fields and all continents. This planet we live on really belongs to all the people of the world and not individual nations. Our future depends on the education that our students are receiving and they will make informed, logical, and cross-cultural decisions when their time to lead draws nearer.

 

Assessment Modifications: This unit can be assessed with the Power Point presentation or by other creative means developed by the students. As long as the students prepare a rubric BEFORE their presentation and it's approved by the teacher, different presentation formats are acceptable.

If there is not enough time allotted for individual presentation in your curriculum, traditional methodologies can be incorporated with a twist. A unit test with different questioning formats. A written explanation (paper) of the culminating activity.

 

Unit Schedule/Time Plan: This unit will take approximately 14 days plus the amount of time necessary to complete the Power Point presentations. This type of presentation could be implemented with any other subject area, not only global studies.

 

Written Overview: Units with integrating subject areas are going to become more prominent in New York State as teachers start implementing the New Standards. Also because technology is becoming more prevalent in our daily lives, integration within a school would be easier on the teacher and students with computers found in more and more classrooms each month.

Teachers will work towards common goals to help produce critical thinkers that look across racial, religious, and political boundaries to reach interconnected answers to common societal and global problems.

This unit was written with the intent to stimulate teachers to try integration techniques in the classroom. Start small and build each unit with another department or person. You may be surprised who in your building would like to try something new!