Grade/Course
Title of Unit
Proposed Duration
6th
Earth’s Changing Surface: Layers of the Earth
3 classes
Grade Science
Big Idea
Essential Questions
What factors shaped our land?
How does the interior composition of the Earth affect its exterior layers?
CCSS “Habits of Mind”
Demonstrate independence
Build strong content knowledge
Respond to the varying demands
of audience, task, purpose, and
discipline
Comprehend as well as critique
Value evidence
Standards
S64.2 Identify and describe the layers of the solid earth.
S64.7 Explain how the earth has changed over time.
S64.9 Distinguish between forces that cause rapid change/slow change of the
earth’s surface, citing examples of each.
S64.10 Explain and illustrate how mountains, valleys, and oceans are formed.
S64.13 Explain the process of plate tectonics.
Use technology and digital media
strategically and capably
Come to understand other
perspectives and cultures
21st Century Themes
21st Century Skills
Global Awareness
Creativity and Innovation
Flexibility and Adaptability
Financial, Econ, Business Literacy
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Initiative and Self-Direction
Civic Literacy
Communication and Collaboration
Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
Health Literacy
Informational Literacy
Productivity and Accountability
Environmental Literacy
Media Literacy
Leadership and Responsibility
Warm Up
Day 1 – Students will be given a blank diagram of the layers of the earth (core, mantle, crust // lithosphere/asthenosphere) and be
asked to fill in the blanks IN PENCIL.
Day 2 – How many ways can we categorize students in our class? (Ex/ gender, age, birth month, hair color, etc.)
Day 3 – What types of boundaries exist between plates? Explain each.
Instruction
Day 1 – As a class, teacher and students will read in the Green Sciencesaurus, pg. 177, and correct their diagrams based on the
reading.
Day 2 – Teacher will discuss the different ways students can be categorized and relate this to the different ways scientists examine
the layers of the earth. When looking at the chemical and mineral composition, scientists divide the earth into the familiar layers of
inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. However, when scientists look at the physical properties of the earth’s interior layers, they
identify different divisions, such as lithosphere, asthenosphere, and mesosphere. In the following activity, students will specifically
look at the lithosphere and asthenosphere because these are relevant to plate tectonic movement.
Day 3 – Teacher will ask students, where is the crust in relationship to the lithosphere? Refer students to pg. 44 in Science Explorer:
Inside Earth. How does this movement of lithospheric plates affect life on the surface of earth? Students may suggest the creation
of mountains, valleys, volcanoes and earthquakes. Teacher will guide students toward the idea that shifting plates can explain the
distribution of oceans, continents and mountains on Earth and can provide clues to the progression of Earth’s long history.
Activity
Day 1 – Students will get into partners and read from Science Explorer: Inside Earth, pg. 42-47. They will define the terms theory of
plate tectonics, faults, transform boundary, divergent boundary, and convergent boundary.
Day 2 – Teacher will distribute two “lithospheric” Oreo cookies and ask students to separate the two cookies – most likely students
will twist and separate, leaving one half of hard cookie with the cream filling and the other half bare. Students should write the
terms lithosphere and asthenosphere. Under each term, they will list the characteristics of each. Refer back to the picture on pg.
44-45 of Science Explorer: Inside Earth.
Lithosphere – hard, brittle, broken into plates
Asthenosphere – plastic, flows, layer beneath the plates
Teacher will ask students to determine which part of the cookie represents the lithosphere? Asthenosphere? How are they alike
and different? Students will then practice sliding the lithosphere cookie (hard brittle one) on the asthenosphere cookie cream,
modeling how the lithospheric plates move over the asthenosphere.
Teacher will ask students, what is a transform boundary? Students may need to check their notes, but the correct answer is a place
where two plates slip past each other, moving in different directions. Students will break their lithosphere cookie in half and
demonstrate this movement. Ask students what they observe about this motion? The plates don’t move easily but rather move
with friction, jerking motions, and creating crumbs.
Teacher will then ask students, what is a divergent boundary? A divergent boundary is the place where two plates move away from
each other in opposite directions. Students will demonstrate this with their two lithospheric (cookie) halves by setting the
asthenosphere on the desk and gently pressing on the lithosphere halves while moving them away from each other. If done
correctly, an “upwelling” of asthenosphere may occur at the initial site, or students may see the creation of a rift valley.
Teacher will then ask students, what is a convergent boundary? A convergent boundary is the place where two plates come
together. Students will put the two lithospheric halves on the cookie with a small space between them. Then, they will move their
lithospheric plates together – first, they should try to “subduct” one plate beneath the other – this may cause crumbling and
uplifted areas (mountains) with some cream (lava) exposed.
At this point, students can eat their cookies.
Day 3 – Students will read the article from Kids Discover, “Continental Drift Theory: The Science Behind The Drift.” Then, they will
complete the Plate Tectonic Puzzle, matching up the continents based on evidence (symbols) and logic. They will write one
paragraph explaining how the evidence on the map (the symbols) support their reconstruction of Pangaea.
Assessment
Day 2 – Students will answer #1-4 in Science Explorer: Inside Earth, pg. 47.
Day 3 – Students will write one paragraph explaining how the evidence on the map (the symbols) supports their reconstruction of
Pangaea.