DRAFT Sample Lesson Plan:
COMPARING TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE SEDIMENTS
Name: MJP
Course: E2C Sep 2015
Date: 9/19/15
“Big Ideas in the Earth Sciences”
>Big Idea 1: Earth scientists use repeatable observations and testable ideas to understand and
explain our planet.
>Big Idea 3: Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, and life.
>Big Idea 4: Earth is continuously changing.
>The Earth is a System of Systems.
>To understand models of (Deep) Time and Space, models and maps are necessary.
ACTIVITY TITLE:
COMPARING TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE SEDIMENTS
Objective/Do-Now
SWBAT:
--Observe samples of marine sediments (flow-in), beach sands, and soils
--compare/contrast their descriptions
--explain differences resulting from their origins
Procedure/Activity
1. Obtain samples of beach sands, soil, ocean bottom flow-in, and/or other materials.
2. Observe and record their obvious features. If available, use hand-lens and
stereomicroscopes to enhance your descriptions.
3. Beach sediments:
If possible, compare particle size by separating using a sieve set.
Otherwise, use toothpicks or similar objects to separate grains.
4. Soil sample
Collect a sample from a backyard, forest, and/or other environments.
Spread sample on paper, separate components, and describe.
5. Ocean Sediment flow-in sample
Separate using fine sieve to collect microfossils. (Use stocking-sieve over
jam jar or other arrangement to separate forams and mud.) Dry thoroughly.
Observe and use guides to try to identify the specimens.
6. Hudson River mud sample
Separate shell fragments, microfossils, and muds.
Observe each portion.
Materials Needed
--Sample of flow-in from VM33-65
(http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geosamples/showsample.jsp?imlgs=imlgs0074467)
--Sample of Hudson River mud collected by the May 2012 rockslide
--Sample of beach sands
--Sample of topsoil
--Hand lens and/or stereoscopic microscope
--Sieve or equivalent (e.g. piece of stocking held over mouth of jar with rubber band)
If available, use a set of screen sieves. Example
---Paper on which to spread samples
--Copies of “Deep Earth Academy” Nannofossil activities
Assessment
To be determined for your students. Examples of questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Compare and contrast the different Earth materials, using a visual aid.
What Earth processes probably created the beach sediments? Evidence?
What Earth processes probably created the soil sample? Evidence?
What Earth processes probably created the seafloor sample (flow-in)? Evidence?
What Earth processes probably created the river bottom sample? Evidence?
What information about change over time can be inferred from each sample?
Estimated Time Needed
3 – 5 class periods
Enrichment
Quotation:
Dr. Maurice Ewing (Lamont Founder): “A core a day.”
“Dirt is what you wash off. Soil is what helps plants to grow.”
Featured Words:
Sediment
Flow-in
Piston corer
Scientific ocean drilling
Core Standards & NGSS
NYS PS/ES:
Key Idea 2: Many of the phenomena we observe on Earth involve interactions among
components of air, water, and land.
2.1s Weathering is the physical and chemical breakdown of rocks at or near Earth’s surface. Soils
are the result of weathering and biological activity over long periods of time.
2.1t Natural agents of erosion, generally driven by gravity, remove, transport, and deposit
weathered rock particles. Each agent of erosion produces distinctive changes in the material that
it transports and creates characteristic surface features and landscapes. In certain erosional
situations, loss of property, personal injury, and loss of life can be reduced by effective
emergency preparedness.
2.1u The natural agents of erosion include:
• Streams (running water): Gradient, discharge, and channel shape influence a stream’s velocity
and the erosion and deposition of sediments. Sediments transported by streams tend to become
rounded as a result of abrasion. Stream features include V-shaped valleys, deltas, flood plains,
and meanders. A watershed is the area drained by a stream and its tributaries.
• Glaciers (moving ice): Glacial erosional processes include the formation of U-shaped valleys,
parallel scratches, and grooves in bedrock. Glacial features include moraines, drumlins, kettle
lakes, finger lakes, and outwash plains.
• Wave Action: Erosion and deposition cause changes in shoreline features, including beaches,
sandbars, and barrier islands. Wave action rounds sediments as a result of abrasion. Waves
approaching a shoreline move sand parallel to the shore within the zone of breaking waves.
• Wind: Erosion of sediments by wind is most common in arid climates and along shorelines.
Wind-generated features include dunes and sand-blasted bedrock.
• Mass Movement: Earth materials move downslope under the influence of gravity.
2.1v Patterns of deposition result from a loss of energy within the transporting system and are
influenced by the size, shape, and density of the transported particles. Sediment deposits may be
sorted or unsorted.
2.1w Sediments of inorganic and organic origin often accumulate in depositional environments.
Sedimentary rocks form when sediments are compacted and/or cemented after burial or as the
result of chemical precipitation from seawater.
NJCCCS:
(http://www.state.nj.us/education/modelcurriculum/sci/earth.shtml)
How do people reconstruct and date events in Earth’s planetary history?
Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different
spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
How and why is Earth constantly changing?
Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create
feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
NGSS
PEs:
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MSDevelop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of
ESS2-1.
energy that drives this process.
HSESS2-2.
Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's
surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
DCIs:
ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems
 All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the
planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the sun and Earth’s hot interior. The energy that
flows and matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and
living organisms. (MS-ESS2-1)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
 Earth’s systems, being dynamic and interacting, cause feedback effects that can increase or
decrease the original changes. (HS-ESS2-2)
Cross-Cutting Relationships:
Cause and Effect
 Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed
systems. (MS-ESS3-1)
Energy and Matter
 Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of
matter. (MS-ESS2-4)
Stability and Change
 Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by
examining the changes over time and processes at different scales, including the atomic
scale. (MS-ESS2-1)
Science & Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using, synthesizing, and
developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their
components in the natural and designed world(s).

Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or
between components of a system. (HS-ESS2-3),(HS-ESS2-6)
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Planning and carrying out investigations in 9-12 builds on K-8 experiences and progresses to
include investigations that provide evidence for and test conceptual, mathematical, physical, and
empirical models.
 Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as
the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data
needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the
data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly. (HS-ESS2-5)
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Analyzing data in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to introducing more detailed
statistical analysis, the comparison of data sets for consistency, and the use of models to
generate and analyze data.
 Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in
order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. (HSESS2-2)
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Engaging in argument from evidence in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using
appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and
explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current
scientific or historical episodes in science.
 Construct an oral and written argument or counter-arguments based on data and evidence.
(HS-ESS2-7)
Nature of Science
Collecting samples of earth materials can be accomplished in many ways, each of which can
provide useful information about our Planet’s History.
Closure
HW: