| LU Title: Weathering and Soil Formation | Author(s): Rebecca Buckingham and Carol Beckner |
| Grade Level: Seventh grade | School : Lisbon Central School |
| Topic/Subject Area: Weathering and Soils |
Address: 6866 Co.
Rt. 10 Lisbon, New York |
| Email: j+rbuck@northweb.com | Phone/Fax:(315) 393 - 4951 |
OVERVIEW
This unit introduces the formation of soil through weathering. Then the students learn the types of weathering, mechanical versus chemical, and how creatures that live in the soil benefit from the soil and benefit their habitat, the soil. Students discuss the soil as a valuable resource and the importance of its conservation.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
Declarative Procedural
Students will know that soil comes from rocks in a Using a triple beam balance
process that is called weathering and there are two
types, mechanical and chemical.
Know that climate and rock type affect weathering.
Know that the earth is made up mainly of rock, surrounded
by a thin layer of air, with 3/4 of the surface made up of
water.
Know that soil has living and nonliving components.
Know that soil is a valuable resource.
Know how soil can be conserved.
Know how soil can be damaged.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
What are the characteristics of quality soil? How is soil important for living things? What can we do to keep quality soil of the land?
CONNECTIONS TO NYS LEARNING STANDARDS
List Standard # and Key Idea #: Write out related Performance Indicator(s)
or Benchmark(s)
Science Standard 4 : The Physical Setting, Key Idea 2.1b Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of bedrocks and larger rocks. 2.1c Soil is made from weathered rock and plant remains, and usually contains many living organisms.
Technology Standard 5: Key Idea 2 …technological processes change…information… into more useful forms.
INITIATING ACTIVITY
Take two beakers and add 100 ml of warm water to each. Take two antacid tablets of the same size. Crush one. Tell the students that you are going to put the whole tablet in one beaker and the crushed tablet in the other beaker. Think/pair/share have them predict in journals which one will break down faster and why. Relate this activity to breakdown in nature and leading questions to breakdown of rock.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
In chronological order including acquisition experiences and extending/refining
experiences for all stated declarative and procedural knowledge.
Students will complete a lab that compares mechanical and chemical weathering using limestone, vinegar and water. Data they gather will show that the combination of both creates the most weathering.
Students will work in pairs and read pages in their text on the different types of weathering, and how rock type and climate influence weathering. They will use a before, during, and after strategy while reading. They will ask each other what they already know and write that down in their journals, they will create mental pictures of what they learn as they read, and they will create a summary of what the reading was about after. They will then do a pairs checking pairs and report out information to the class. There is a graphic organizer for the information and a relay summary will be done at the end of class.
Compare/contrast essay for extending and refining. Classifying task — Given a list of situations, students will classify each as examples of mechanical or chemical weathering and explain why.
KWL (know, want to know, learned) of what is in soil. Students will list what they know about soil, what they want to know about soils. Students will work in pairs to look at soil and complete a graphic organizer about their findings. Follow this with a discussion/lecture stopping every 5 minutes for students to compare their organizers. Students will then list what they learned about soils.
Students will work in cooperative teams to develop a travel brochure representing one of the creatures that lives in the soil. This brochure will indicate reasons why this creature lives in the soil and why others like it should visit.
Working in pairs, students will complete a graphic organizer of why soil is a valuable resource and how it can be conserved.
Deductive Essay for extending and refining — After observing two photographs of two plants, students will hypothesize the soil health and composition for each plant to look the way it does.
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE
Include rubric(s)
Working with their cooperative teams, students will complete a "Kid Pix" slide show presentation to answer the question " Why is our soil so important?" To answer this question, students need to include: how weathering forms soil, the components of soil, texture of soil, horizon differences, rate of soil formation, identification of living organisms in the soil and their importance in creating good quality soil, and soil conservation.
Each group must plan, as part of their slide show, an introduction to their slide show, a conclusion, and credits. These slides will be created as a group.
First groups need to plan.
Groups need to decide who will do each topic to create a story board of the presentation. The story boards must include:
_____topic
_____appropriate text
_____informative text
_____appropriate pictures
_____correct grammar
_____correct spelling
Story boards will be peer reviewed and then the final products will be transferred to the kid pix presentation. This is an invention task as the students can redo their product.
Invention Rubrics
|
Category |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Individual Work (x2) |
Story board completed on time with strong and clear work on selected topic |
Story board one day late or weak work done with selected topic |
Story board two days late or very hazy work with selected topic |
Story board started but not completed therefore topic is incomplete |
|
Quality of Individual Work (x2) |
Top Notch — text and pictures creative, informative and appropriate |
Close, but not quite there as far as creative or informative or appropriate text or pictures. |
Has some information or pictures that are appropriate, but could use much more. |
Needs major information added or has no pictures. |
|
Individual grammar and spelling (x1) |
100% correct |
Minimal mistakes that do not interfere with communication |
Mistakes start to interfere with communication |
Too many mistakes that interfere with product |
|
Individual revisions made (x1) |
All done on time |
Most done on time |
Many more could be made |
Attempted but far from completed |
|
Final Group Product (x2) |
100% impressive introduction, conclusion, credits, and presentation sequenced to flow in an informative manner |
Very good, but not as impressive as it could be or slides do not flow as well as they could |
Good job, but lacks portions of the required elements |
Minimal work done on the required elements or lacking major portions. |
|
Group Dynamics (x1) |
Everyone worked well or when problems arose the group handled them without any assistance |
Most of the time the group worked well together. They needed minimal assistance. |
The group worked fairly well, but required assistance to solve problems that could be major stumbling blocks in their project. |
The group worked minimally as a group and needed major assistance in many aspects of their project. |
PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS
Students need to know how to use the program "Kid Pix" by Broderbund. It will only take them one day to become fairly proficient in the program if they already know how to use a paint program.
MODIFICATIONS
I have multiple levels of ability in my classroom. Due to the reading involved in this unit, readers are partnered sometimes with nonreaders. Cooperative groups are arranged so that students have mixed skills within a group. Through peer review, students of lower ability are encouraged and coached within their teams how to be more successful.
UNIT SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN
Day one: Initiating activity with leading questions to link to weathering.
Day two: Start lab on weathering. Model and practice using a triple beam balance.
Day three: Complete lab on weathering.
Day four: Collaborative pairs on reading of weathering, how the environment affects weathering rate, and location of bedrock.
Day five: Compare/contrast essay for extending and refining on types of weathering.
Day six: KWL of soil with lecture/pause format of soil and its composition.
Day seven: Lab on soils.
Day eight: Travel brochure on soil start.
Day nine: Finish and display travel brochure.
Day ten: Collaborative pairing on completing a graphic organizer on the value of soils and their conservation, and how they can be damaged.
Day eleven: Extend and Refine essay on the health and composition of soil after looking at photographs of plants.
Days twelve — fifteen: Kid Pix slide show development.
Day sixteen: Peer evaluation of slide shows.
TECHNOLOGY USE
Students used the computer program "Kid Pix 2" by Broderbund for their slide show presentation.