Eliza Marks
Week 1 Lesson Plans
Summerbridge: Geoscience
MONDAY JUNE 18
MATERIALS
- In Class Handouts
- Homework Handouts
- Computer paper and markers (for name cards)
- Tennis ball
- Example name card
- ¼ sheet slips of paper
OBJECTIVES
- students will recall lab riles and classroom rules
- students will describe the different components of geoscience
- students will identify what tectonics plates are and infer how they develop
the Earth’s surface
- students will define the size, layers, and composition of Earth
PROCEDURE
1. Warm-up
a. Students will introduce themselves to the class
i. Say name, what school go to, and favorite style/type of show.
I’ll start
b. Students will make name signs for the first week. Fold name card
(hot-dog style), and write with markers
c. I’ll write 5 questions on the board and students will answer these
silently on a slip of paper I give them. I will collect them and read the
facts out and the rest of the class will guess
i. Questions: what is your favorite food? what is your favorite
subject? Where would you go on vacation if you could go
anywhere? What is your favorite movie? Would you more
likely be an earthquake, a volcano, or a tsunami and why?
2. Rules
a. Classroom: No sitting on desks; raise your hand to speak; complete
homework for the next day and if you can’t come talk to me before the
homework is due; don’t talk when someone else is talking
b. Lab: listen to instructions; be careful; wear goggles and safety-wear if
I pass it out
3. Geoscience Introduction
a. Pass out class handout
b. What is Geoscience? (write on board)
i. The root “geo” means Earth
ii. The sciences dealing with Earth. We will talk about geology,
geo-physics, geo-chemistry, and biology
c. Play a “fun facts” about Earth game. (with powerpoint) Students will
play. A question goes on power point. First to raise hand will get the
tennis ball and answer. If guess off pass to someone else. fill in
handout at same time
i. Earth’s age: around 4.6 billion years old
ii. The Earth’s size: radius is about 6370 km/ 4000 miles
1. Radius is the distance form the center of a circle or
sphere to the circumference. In the case of Earth, radius
is the distance between the center of the Earth to the
Earth’s crust
iii. Highest altitude on Earth: Mt. Everest…8.84 km
1. Altitude= elevation= vertical distance
iv. Deepest point on Earth: Mariana Trench… 11km deep
1. Trench: a long, narrow, steep cut in the ground.
v. Most important elements in the Earth’s crust: Iron (32%)
Oxygen (30%) Silicon (15%) Magnesium (14%)
vi. Earth is composed of many layers. What are their names? (Fill
in more facts as go)
1. Crust (Oceanic and Continental) it is the outermost
solid shell of rocky material.
2. Lithosphere (CRUST AND UPPER MOST SOLID
MANTLE) (Broken into tectonic plates…talk about later)
3. Mantle
a. Viscous layer
b. 84% Earth’s volume
c. mostly solid and encloses iron rich core)
d. top of mantle is asthenosphere: here plastic flow
rocks
e. rest mantle solid
4. Outer core (molten)
5. Inner core (solid)
4. CLOSURE
a. Outline Orally what we will cover in the rest of the course
i. Tectonic plates and plate boundaries
ii. Minerals and rocks
iii. Volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes and other natural disasters
iv. Water systems (hydraulic cycle, rivers, erosion, groundwater)
b. pass out homework and section paper
c. on paper write a 3-2-1 card (3 things learned, 2 things have a question
about, 1 thing want the me to know)
Class Handout
Summerbridge Geoscience
June 18
Name _________________________________________________
FUN
Earth’s age
Earth’s size
Highest altitude
Deepest point
4 most important
elements of the
Earth’s crust
Names of Earth’s
layers
FACTS
Note: what state each layer of the earth’s interior is, and the temprerature and depth
of each layer.
Homework Sheet
Summerbridge: Geoscience
Due Tuesday June 19
Name ________________________________________________________________
1. What is the geoscience topic you are most interested in learning about this
summer? Why? How much do you already know about it?
2. The Scientific Method is composed of many steps. What is the purpose of
the scientific method?
What do you know about each of the following steps (definition, purpose,
process, etc) :
Observation
Formulating
Hypothesis
Testing
Analyzing
results
Reporting
results
TUESDAY JUNE 19
MATERIALS
- Homework Handouts
- Slinky
- Power point
- 10 question slips that people read and answer for the class
OBJECTIVES
- students will define the types of Seismic waves and infer how we can use
them to measure states of matter
- students will describe the Earth’s heat (considering Geothermic gradient),
and apply its importance to the process of convection
PROCEDURE
1. begin class
a. review homework
i. students will review answers with a partner, and we will
then volunteer answers in the class (answers are included
in the lesson)
2. procedure
a. How can we measure the earth’s interior?
i. Drilling
ii. We can use seismic waves (notes on board)
1. Seismic waves: waves of energy that travel through
the core of the earth. They are shock waves
generated by earthquakes
2. There are two types of seismic waves: body
(primary and secondary)(travel into core) and
surface
3. Primary waves: fastest, compressional (pushes and
pulls). Smaller and higher frequency than s waves.
Can travel through liquid or gas
4. Secondary waves: slower/shear. Transverse. Side to
side movement. Move through solids only
5. Surface waves: travel along the surface of the earth,
slower than s-waves. These are the waves that
cause surface damage (mostly)
6. ACTIVITY: (P-waves) have kids line up and put
hands on shoulders of student in front of them and
keep their arms straight. Have them demonstrate
and feel the waves. Each student is a particle, and
they will push gently on them and they will move
like paves. (S-waves) have kids stand side by side
and link arms. Pull one student forward and back
gently and have the other students feel the waves
iii. what results can we find?
1. We can tell the state of the interior of the earth
(solid or liquid), by seeing which waves pass
through.
b. Earth’s heat
i. What does the state of matter in the interior depend on?
1. Heat and pressure (the force on a given area)
ii. What happens as go deeper into earth? Remember all the
weight of the rocks
1. Temperature rises
2. Geothermic gradient: about 30 degrees C/km
iii. Earth’s heat engine?
1. Where heat come from? Solar energy drives
external heat. Interior energy from heat trapped
during earth’s origin, and radioactivity
iv. convection (in mantle)
1. takes place in mantle
2. occurs to deal with uneven distribution of heat in
the mantle (hot material form bottom of mantle
rises, he material cools and sinks again, forming a
cycle)
3. how can this apply to plate tectonics?
a. It moves the plates apart and forces hot
magma up between the cracks
1. EXAMPLE CONVECTION… VIDEO
2. Start at around 20 seconds explanation convection
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0dWF_3PYh4
4. What are some ways we can demonstrate convection
using simple materials… how can we use the scientific
method to make an experiment for this
5. Hot Chocolate mantle convection Demonstration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdWYBAOqHrk
3. Closure
a. Pass out HW sheets
b. Pass out question slips and have answer in front of the class. If
can’t answer another student can.
(1) what do the “s” and “p” in s-wave and p-wave stand for (2) how
do seismic waves tell us about the earth’s interior (3) describe the
movement of an s-wave (4) describe the movement of a p-wave
(5) if your experiment shows your hypothesis is wrong what do
you do (6) where does heat from the interior of the earth come
from (7) what is the geothermic gradient (8) what are two ways to
find out about the earth’s interior (9) what is convection (10)
where does convection occur
Homework Sheet
Summerbridge: Geoscience
Due Wednesday June 20
Name ________________________________________________________________
FACTS ABOUT CONTINENTAL DRIFT
-
Continental Drift is a theory that says the continents are slow moving toward
and apart from each other
This theory was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1915
Wenger proposed this after finding similar animals on different continents
(like camels are found in Africa and Asia)
Also continents could fit together, much like puzzle pieces
Wegner suggested that more than 200 million years ago the continents
formed a single supercontinent
What does finding animals on different continents (like South America and Africa)
indicate?
What is the possible mechanism of Continental Drift?
WEDNESDAY JUNE 20
MATERIALS
- In Class Handouts
- Homework Handouts
- Computer paper and markers (for name cards)
- Graham crackers, frosting, wax paper
OBJECTIVES
- students will identify the aspects of the Theory of Continental Drift and infer
the mechanisms and supporting evidence
- students will demonstrate the different types of Divergent Tectonic Plates
through a Graham cracker example
PROCEDURE
1. begin class (Think, Pair and Share)
a. what factors do you think contribute to continental drift? What are
the consequences of continental drift?
i. Continental drift happens because of convection and tectonic
plate movement
ii. Rift spreading zones and trench subduction zones
iii. Landforms: volcanoes, mountain ranges, trenches, earthquakes
2. Procedure
a. The Theory of Continental Drift Background
i. Alfred Wegner proposed continents on earth move…Theory of
Continental Drift
ii. He was a meteorologist born 1880 in Berlin, died 1930 in
Greenland
b. Theory of Geographic Fit (or Continental drift)
i. The theory of plate tectonics states that there is a global
distribution of geological phenomena such a seismicity, continental
drift, and mountain building in terms of the formation, destruction,
movement, and interaction of the Earth's lithospheric plates.
ii. Fit continents and their shells together well
iii. Indicate mountain range: match configurations mountain
ranges that line u, match up ancient rock assemblage
iv. Appearance of the fossil mesosaurus… a freshwater creature.
Fossil found only in South America and Africa. Know
freshwater (look at rock and can tell if once a riverbed or lake,
can see which plants and animals cohabited the river by
fossils). Know mesosaurus poor swimmer and adapted to
freshwater…therefore couldn’t have swam across the ocean
v. Glaciation: date rocks and show ice 300 million years ago.
Glacier wall debris, ice shown on rocks. Put South America,
Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica together__ all continents
together and covered by an overlapping ice sheet
vi. Propose theory “origin of continents and oceans” in 1915
vii. ACTIVITY: ANIMATION interactive animation of movement of
plates and continental drift
http://www.scotese.com/newpage13.htm
c. Divergent boundaries
i. One of three types of boundaries (convergent, divergent and
transverse)
ii. What do you imagine happens at a divergent cone on a
continent? On the ocean floor?
iii. Oceanic rift  at a spreading
iv. Continental rift  faults. Breaking of crust and spreading.
Eventually the crust spreads so thin that magma starts to
upheave through the crust, and it then becomes like an oceanic
rift
v. ACTIVITY: graham cracker activity:
1. Break a whole graham cracker into two square pieces.
2. Using the knife, spread a thick layer of frosting in the center of the
wax paper. It should be about the size of a whole graham cracker but
twice as thick.
3. Lay the two pieces of graham cracker side by side on top of the
frosting so they are touching.
4. To imitate the result of diverging oceanic plates, press down on the
crackers as you slowly push down and apart in opposite directions.
5. Remove the graham crackers from the frosting and scrape any frosting
off the crackers and return it to the wax paper. Set the crackers aside.”
3. closing class (think and share)
a. pass out homework
b. what is the purpose of the graham cracker activity? What is the force
pulling the “plates” apart?
i. It illustrates how magma “plooms up” and makes the crackers
move away
ii. convection
c. How do divergent boundaries tell us about the age of the earth’s
crust? How does it support the theory of continental drift?
i. We can look at the age of the ocean floor and date it. We notice
the crust is younger near the divergent boundaries, and the
oldest crust is almost nowhere. This means the crust is going
somewhere (or being destroyed at subduction zones),
otherwise the crust would be only one age
Homework Sheet
Summerbridge: Geoscience
Due Thursday June 21
Name ________________________________________________________________
1. List three points we can use as evidence for the Theory of Continental Drift
and Plate Tectonics.
2. How do divergent boundaries move? (by what mechanism)
3. How do continental rifts develop into oceanic rifts?
THURSDAY JUNE 21
MATERIALS
Chalkboard and chalk
Paper and pencils
Homework handouts
Class handout
Poster paper
Markers
Stiro-foam and folder
OBJECTIVES
Students will recognize the characteristics of transform boundaries and the three
types of convergent boundaries
Students will classify and differentiate between all types of Tectonic plate
boundaries
PROCEDURE
1. Warm-up
(5 minutes)
a. What do you imagine happens when to boundaries slide past each
other? How is it different between continental and oceanic crusts?
What are the environmental consequences?
b. Think Pair and Share
c. Points looking for included in lesson. We will write good ideas up on
the board and then I will fill in the blanks
2. Transform Boundaries
a. A transform boundary is where 2 plates come together and they rub
together (each plate goes in an opposite direction) and neither plate loses
any land. The San Andres Fault is an example of a transform boundary
b. ACTIVITY: make a graham cracker example (using yesterday)
i. Use yesterday’s examples
ii. Point out how the crumbs flake off and the “friction”
c. What are the consequences of the friction: Earthquakes
d. An example is the San Andreas fault: continental transform fault that
runs the length ) 810 miles through California This is why LA is in
such danger of earthquakes
e. Right-lateral vs. Left-lateral
f.
3. convergent boundaries
a. what do you imagine at each boundary?
i. Ocean-Ocean
ii. Ocean-continental
iii. continental-continental
b. ocean-ocean convergence
i. where oceanic lithosphere meets oceanic lithosphere, one plate
is subducted under the other, and a deep sea trench
ii. one plate goes over the other and the other is “reabsorbed”
into the mantle. They rub against each other causing
earthquakes. Bring fresh water down into the mantle and form
magma…rises up and forms volcano
c. ocean-continent convergence
i. oceanic lithosphere is subducted under continental lithosphere
and a volcanic mountain belt is formed at the continental
margin (because basalt denser than granite)
ii. EXAMPLE video from subduction zone in New Zealand
iii. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbDqJy28hBw
iv. Recall causes volcanoes
v. Recall Mariana Treat (11km deep)
d. Continent-continent convergence
i. Can’t bring continental crust into mantle because less dense
ii. You are pushing two things together that can’t go into the
earth, so what happens to it?
iii. Crust of continent converges and the crust cruples and
thickens
iv. Ie Himalayas and Tibetan plateau
v. Recall Mt. Everest 8,850 km
vi. EXAMPLE have a towel and compress from both sides…see the
crumples
4. Plate boundary interaction “visualization”
http://www.gweaver.net/techhigh/projects/period1_2/Yellowstone/Plate%
20Animations.htm
5. students get into groups of two or three and make a poster classifying the
different types of boundaries. They will follow the information required to
fill in on the classroom handout. They will then present to the class
6. Closinga. Give kids a piece of paper and have them write he key idea(s) of the
first week. We will read them off in class
i. Tectonic plates relate to everything
ii. Earth is like a puzzle that continues growing and shrinking
iii. The question is pretty open ended…
Classroom Handout
Summerbridge: Geoscience
Thursday June 21
Name ___________________________________________________
Type Boundary
Divergent
Convergent
Motion
Effect
Topography
Volcanic
activity?
Additional
characteristics
Draw a diagram of each boundary and label
Transform
Homework Sheet
Summerbridge Geoscience
Due Friday June 22
Name ________________________________________________________________
1. Consider where we learned about where volcanoes occur. Why do they occur
where they do? What factors cause them?
2. What step of convection occurs at a subduction zone?
3. Considering the types of boundaries we are learning about, is the highest
altitude on Earth getting higher? Is the deepest point on Earth getting deeper?
FRIDAY JUNE 22
MATERIALS
-chalk/chalk board
-homework handouts
- projector with PowerPoint
- handout for each student (http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/dtam/ ) (map tectonic
plates and their spreading/subduction rate)
- activity handout
OBJECTIVES
Students will list the steps of the Scientific Method and apply it to measure the
Earth’s crust to supporting the Theory of Continental Drift
Students will draw conclusions about spreading and subduction rates from a map,
and deducing growing rates
PROCEDURE
1. Warm-up
a. Pair and share answers to the homework last night. We will then
share answers in the class.
2. Review the scientific method homework (ALSO GO OVER STEPS ON
POWERPOINT)
i. what is the scientific method? Why is it important?
ii. A method of procedure that has characterized natural
science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic
observation, measurement, and experiment, and the
formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses
iii. The observation is done first so that you know how you
want to go about your research. The hypothesis is the
answer you think you'll find. The prediction is your specific
belief about the scientific idea: If my hypothesis is true,
then I predict we will discover..... The experiment is the tool
that you invent to answer the question, and the conclusion
is the answer that the experiment gives.
iv. It is important because it is systematic and does not allow
for skipping steps. It is rational and allows for confident
answers
3. NASA Tectonic Plate handout
a. I will put the NASA map on the board (Part of a PowerPoint) and
explain students will have 15 minutes to get through as much of the
worksheet as possible
b. I’ll pass out the worksheets and pair students to fill out the sheet
c. We will work on it and I will go around the class answering questions
that arise
d. We will go over the sheet together
4. Cool down
a. We are going to
COPY OF IMAGE ON NASA HANDOUT: Needs to be in color
Classroom Handout
Summerbridge: Geoscience
Thursday June 21
Name ___________________________________________________
Exercise 1 – Plate tectonics
1. Check out the Global tectonic activity map of the Earth. It shows tectonism and
volcanism of the last one million years and the spreading rates at mid-ocean ridges
determined from satellite measurements.
a) Along which mid-oceanic ridge do the fastest spreading rates occur? How fast is it?
Which plates are involved?
b) Where does the slowest spreading rate occur? How fast is it? Which plates are
involved?
c) Continental rift systems mark divergent margins within a continental mass. Name
two major continental rift systems.
d) Find the Red Sea (between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula). According to the key
of this map, does the longitudinal (North to South) axis of the Red Sea represent an
active spreading ridge where new oceanic crust is formed or a continental rift where
continental crust breaks apart?
e) Alfred Wegener was the first to suggest that the western margin of Africa and the
eastern margin of South America fit perfectly together. Assuming that spreading rates
have been constant over time and that the average distance between the two continents
is ~5000 km, calculate when the two continents were connected. Show your work!
2. Look at the map of Earth with colored bands. What do the color bands of the ocean
floor tell you? How did they find these colors?
(USE NEXT WEEK--- add activities: another entire class)
Carbon Dating
b. Put up a map with a color coded dating system
c. How do you think we can date the rocks on the ocean floor?
i. We can collect a rock sample from the floor
d. once we have the rock how do we find the age?
i. We can look at Carbon: Carbon dating
ii. Does anyone know what an isotope is?
iii. Atoms are composed of three things: a proton, a neutron, and an
electron. Protons have a charge of +1 and electrons have a
charge of -1. In an atom, the proton and electron cancel out each
other’s charge.
iv. Protons have a mass of 1, and neutrons have a mass of 1, and
electrons have a weight of 0.
v. Atomic number=proton number
vi. Protons + Neutrons = atomic mass
vii. An isotope of an element has the same atomic number (proton
number), but a different atomic mass (protons +neutrons)
viii. MATCHING GAME: I will put out cards with different numbers
of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and have students match
which ones are the same element but different elements
ix. Sometimes there are too many neutrons in an element, and the
element can’t hole onto them, so it becomes radioactive… this is
called a radioisotope
x. A radioisotope is any chemical element that is unstable in the
nucleus. This causes the radioactive material to decay and emit
radiation.
xi. There are two basic forms of carbon: one that occurs naturally,
called carbon-12 (12C), and one that forms from processes acting
on nitrogen in the atmosphere, called carbon-14 (14C). Both of
these combine with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2), which
we breathe out and plants take in. When a cow eats grass, its
body absorbs the carbon (both 12C and 14C) in the plant.
xii. As time goes on, the amount of 14C continues to decrease until
nothing is left, which is supposedly about 50,000 years later.
When you look at a rock, you can measure the amount of 14C and
12C it contains. Based on how much 14C is left, she can calculate
when the rock was made
xiii. so we can look at the ration of C-14 that remains is the rock