Bayou View Middle School – Weekly Lesson Plans
Teacher: Angelia Wallace
Week of: February 2, 2015
Subject: 6th Science
Plate Tectonic Theory development
Lesson Plan subject to change due to needs of students.
Classroom News/Due Dates:

Standards:
6.4a Compare and contrast the relative positions and components of the Earth’s crust (e.g., mantle, liquid and solid core, continental
crust, oceanic crust).
8.4a Compare and contrast the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.
a. Composition, density, and location of continental crust and oceanic crust
b. Physical nature of the lithosphere (brittle and rigid) with the asthenosphere (plastic and flowing)
c. How the lithosphere responds to tectonic forces (faulting and folding)
7.4a Justify the importance of Earth materials (e.g., rocks, minerals, atmospheric gases, water) to humans.
6.4b Explain and raw conclusions about the causes and effects of historical processes that contributed to the shaping of planet Earth.
a. Movements of the continents through time
b. Continental plates, subduction zones, trenches, etc.
c. Explain the causes and effects of historical processes shaping the planet Earth
8.4b Describe the cause and effect relationship between the composition of and movement within the Earth’s lithosphere.
a. Seismic wave velocities of earthquakes and volcanoes to lithospheric plate boundaries using seismic data
b. Volcanoes formed at mid‐ocean ridges, within intra‐plate regions, at island arcs, and along some continental
edges
c. Modern distribution of continents to the movement of lithospheric plates since the formation of Pangaea
Day/Date
Procedures
Assessment
Objectives
Bell Schedule
Bell Work
Monday
2-2-15
Regular
schedule
Students will
define
vocabulary
using
context clues
(“The student will…”)
Students will be
able to describe
the evidence that
led Alfred
Wegner to
develop the idea
of continental
drift and how
Harry Hess’s
discoveries
contributed to
Sea-Floor
spreading.
TI = Teacher Input, M = Modeling, GP = Guided Practice, IP = Independent Practice
TTW = “The teacher will…”
TSW = “The students will…”
ANTICIPATORY SET Ice AGE Continental drift
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzzGPfVx32M

Students will read about Alfred Wegner and Harry Hess discoveries
of Continental Drift and Sea Floor Spreading and how they lead to the
Theory of Plate Tectonics.
Students will be
assessed by textbased questions.
Closure
What
evidence did
Alfred Wegner
use to support
his ideas?
Tuesday
2-3-15
AM
Schedule
Students
will watch
the video on
Alfred
Wegner and
take notes,
students and
answer
questions
based on the
video
Students will
observe and analyze
scientific evidence
used by Wegener.
Students will use the
evidence to try to
reconstruct the
continents.
Students will
interpret the evidence
to formulate a
hypothesis.
Students will defend
their position on
continental drift
ANTICIPATORY SET: Alfred Wegener: Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbU809Cyrao
Minds
Wegener's Puzzling Evidence Exercise (6th Grade)
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/about/edu/dynamicplanet/wegener/
 Students will view a power point on Mississippi’s geologic history as it
shifted through geologic time.
 Students will identify the evidence Wegner discovered on the
continents, cut out the continents, and piece them into on giant
continent.
 Differentiated Instruction: a continent outline will be provided as an
outline
Other resources http://www.scotese.com/
Students will be
assessed by the
evidence they
uncover in the
activity and by
informal
questioning
throughout the
activity.
Students will
explain how
they came to
their
conclusion of
the activity.
ANTICIPATORY SET: Come up with a list of hobbies and likes.
Wednesday
2-4-15
Regular
Schedule
Read
“Pangaea”
and answer
comprehen
sion
questions.
Students will use
the evidence that
Wegener used to
explain Pangaea
and plate
movement to
create their own
continent.
Thursday
2-5-15
Regular
Schedule





TSW complete BW
TTW go over BW to check for accuracy.
TSW think about hobbies or activities that they enjoy.
TTW explain the Pangaea project and have students sketch out a
rough draft.
TSW create their “Pangaea”
Teacher
observation
Class discussion
Turn in
continents so I
can make
copies for
tomorrow’s
activity!
ANTICIPATORY SET: none.
Start coloring
copies of
Pangaea
project
continents.
Students will use
the evidence that
Wegener used to
explain Pangaea
and plate
movement to
create their own
continent.
Friday

TSW continue working on their projects.
Teacher
observation
Clean up
classroom,
Informal
assessment of
materials from the
week.
What are
your thoughts
on Pangaea?
Do you
believe there
was enough
evidence to
justify this
theory of
continental
drift?
ANTICIPATORY SET : Students will work out each others puzzles.
2-6-15
Regular
Schedule
Look at examples of Pangaea projects to get ideas of what is
expected.
Glue foldable
into notebook.
The student will
share their
projects and
create a foldable
about the weeks
activities dealing
with Wegener,
Continental Drift,
etc.



TSW glue foldables into their notebooks and fill in the correct
information.
TTW go over the information,
TSW share their Pangaea puzzles with their groups.
Earth Guide Classroom online http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/teachers/t_tectonics/t_tectonics.html