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Assignment #1: Design and Model a Lesson
Mike Perry
May 31, 2014
EEA 523
City University
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Teacher: Mr. Perry
Class: Earth Science 11
Date: May 2014
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Class Size: 15
Lesson Topic: Weathering and Erosion
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the lesson students will be able to....
* Identify the major branches of earth and space science and show how each branch relates to
everyday life (e.g., mineral exploration providing raw materials for consumer goods)
* Relate the processes associated with weathering and erosion to the resulting features
* Use examples (e.g. oxidation) to distinguish between mechanical and chemical weathering
(including weathering by biological organisms).
* Develop their ability to work collectively and collaboratively in groups
Twitter Scavenger Hunt Assignment Sheet (15+)
Twitter Scavenger Hunt Groups/Scenario Sheet (5)
Group Assessment Rubric (1)
Twitter Quiz Sheets (15+)
Required Materials
Twitter Self-Assessment Rubric (15+)
Wi-Fi Access for all five (5) groups
Twitter Quiz PowerPoint
Laptop Computer (Mac) + Projector
Earth Science 11 Textbook (p. 131 to 143)
Secondary Resources
Weathering and Erosion Class Notes
Take Attendance
Twitter Scavenger Hunt Exercise
Agenda
Weathering and Erosion Twitter Quiz
Self-Assessment (Ticket out the door…)
Weathering and Erosion Information:
Oxidation:
The chemical reaction of oxygen with other substances such as metals,
and iron-bearing minerals such as magnetite, pyrite and dark-coloured
ferromagnesian silicates – hornblende, augite, and biotite.
Solution:
When carbon dioxide dissolves in water it creates a weak acid called
carbonic acid (compound found in soda pop). Solution occurs when
carbonic acid attacks common minerals such as feldspar, hornblende,
augite and biotite mica. The acid dissolves out elements such as
potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium.
Root Wedging:
When big trees, small plants, lichen roots and mosses grow on rocks or into
crevices in the cement. When the roots grow, the rocks/cement can split.
Larger shrubs and trees may grow through cracks in boulders.
Ice Wedging:
Water takes up to 10% more space when it freezes. This process occurs
when water seeps into the cracks of the rocks and roadways and freezes.
Water held in the small cracks wedges the rocks and cement apart when it
freezes causing rocks to break and bigger cracks to form.
Additional Notes/Reminder:
Lates/Detentions:
Reminders:
Missing Assignments due ASAP.
Current Events:
UK Storms: Extreme Weather caused
years’ of erosion’ BBC News Story
Upcoming Events:
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Assignment #1: Design and Model a Lesson
I have chosen an Earth Science 11 lesson on weathering and erosion to model
some of the best practices in teaching that positively impact student achievement. I
have discovered over the last five years of teaching Earth Science that the
weathering and erosion unit is one of the more difficult units to make interesting
and engaging. In an effort to increase enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation toward
the topic I have developed a creative approach that attempts to cater to the
individual learning needs of my students. This particular lesson fits within the
parameters of the surface processes and the hydrosphere unit where the prescribed
learning outcomes suggests students should make a meaningful connection with the
structure and function of the atmosphere and the hydrologic cycle. Within this
section students are expected to relate the processes associated with weathering
and erosion to the resulting features (Integrated Resource Package, 2006). At the
completion of this unit students should be able to distinguish between weathering
and erosion processes and identify examples of these processes in everyday life.
The structure of today’s lesson has been purposely designed to bridge
cooperative learning and the use of social media in order to increase positive
interdependence and face-to-face interaction. Groups have been deliberately
organized into three or four in order to maximize percentile gain within the given
tasks (Marzano Research Laboratory, 2001). In addition to group selection careful
consideration has also given to the nature of the task at hand in order to cater to
multiple intelligences of the class and to ensure multiple learning outcomes can be
achieved within the activity (Gardner, 1987). Throughout this exercise students
were asked to represent their learning and understanding through the use of visual
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representations. According to research by Mayer et al., students who supplement
their learning with simple illustrations are more likely to recall information and
make greater connections in their learning (Mayer, Bove, Bryman, Mars, &
Tapangco, 1996). The use of Twitter and other forms of social media also have a
unique educational property that encourage collaboration and greater levels of
choice in learning (Boulos, Maramba, & Wheeler, 2006).
According to research, when students are given the freedom to choose they
are more likely to take ownership of their assigned tasks and become more engaged
in the learning process (Katz & Assor, 2006). Within today’s activity students have
intentionally been given a task that requires individual and group choice. This
teaching strategy allows students to access and interpret their surrounding
environment in order to decipher important elements of their prescribed learning
outcomes within the weathering and erosion unit. The benefits of group
participation and collaboration is further supported and reiterated by educational
reformer John Dewey when he states, “the essence of the demand for freedom is the
need of conditions which will enable an individual to make his [or her] own special
contribution to a group interest, and to partake of its activities in such ways that
social guidance shall be a matter of his [or her] own mental attitude, and not a mere
authoritative dictation of his [or her] acts” (Dewey, 1963). The lesson emphasizes
the importance of interaction and engagement in group discussions and decisionmaking.
Within my Earth Science 11 classes students continuously demonstrate their
learning through the observations that they make and the conversations that they
have about experiences that occur both inside and outside of the classroom. In these
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formative discussions students demonstrate an application of their knowledge into
their everyday lives and prove they are learning earth science-related topics
through classroom teaching and activities and in their own experiences. Due to the
visual nature of Earth Science topics students are taught using specific visuals inclass in order to familiarize students with the processes and features found in the
real environment. This tactic allows students to make meaningful connections with
topics learned in class to those found in the outside environment.
From an assessment perspective participation and progress in today’s
activity was monitored through careful observations based on formative,
summative and self-assessment techniques. Before engaging in the Twitter
scavenger hunt, students were intentionally made aware of the assessment criteria.
While participating in the exercise students were formatively and summatively
assessed on their abilities to recognize and report on weathering and erosion
features and processes while also being evaluated on their ability to listen,
collaborate, contribute and to successfully lead within their designated groups. Selfassessment techniques were implied in order to target metacognitive and selfregulated learning (Paris & Paris, 2001). The self-assessment process allows
students to acknowledge their own level of contribution while being held
accountable for their own learning and subsequent evaluation. According to
research self-assessment is most effective when combined with other forms of
evaluation as it encourages students to monitor their own learning (Tan, 2004). The
summative assessment procedure, the Twitter quiz, required students to identify
real-life examples of both chemical and mechanical weathering processes through
photographs and a dissection of knowledge that has been generated by the groups
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within the class. In this placemat-like assessment groups share what they have
learned with the rest of the class through illustrations and help each other identify
the various real-life examples of weathering and erosion. This type of instructional
and evaluative scaffolding encourages individuals to bolster their own knowledge
while also sharing what they have learned through their own experiences.
According to research, scaffold-based instruction and assessment have great
potential to “help ‘unlock’ theories of learning, motivation, and self-regulation
through exploring reciprocity of teaching and learning in classrooms” (Meyer &
Turner, 2002). As a result, when students are part of the evaluative process they
become intrinsically motivated to complete assigned tasks.
In addition to completing a self-assessment questionnaire at the completion
of today’s activity, students were asked for verbal feedback on the recently
completed activity in order to address the successes and areas in need of
improvement. The recommendations provided serve as a valuable tool for altering
and improving future lessons. This process not only allows for overall improvement
but it also shows students that teachers value their opinions and ideas and that the
teacher has a vested interested in improving their overall learning. To effectively
improve the learning experience it is critical that teachers are constantly adjusting
and adapting their lessons to fit the needs of their students. Students can often
provide knowledge and intelligence that allows teachers to improve the
effectiveness of a given lesson. According to assessment theorists and academics,
feedback on performance adequately benefits and advances student and teacher
learning achievements (Orrell, 2006). Furthermore, ”feedback on performance is
arguably the cornerstone of all learning, both formal and informal” and serves as a
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valuable teaching and learning tool (Orrell, 2006). When teachers demonstrate an
open-minded yet structured approach to lesson planning this translates to
improved student achievement. I am confident that today’s lesson has been
adequately designed to actively engage students, generate motivation and
demonstrate effective assessment.
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Reference
Boulos, M. N. K., Maramba, I., & Wheeler, S. (2006). Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new
generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and
education. BMC Medical Education, 6, 41. doi:10.1186/1472-6920-6-41
Dewey, J. (1963). Experience and Education. New York: Collier. p. 67.
Gardner, H. (1987). The theory of multiple intelligences. Annals of Dyslexia, 37(1),
19–35. doi:10.1007/BF02648057
Integrated Resource Package. (2006). British Columbia Ministry of Education. Earth
Science 11. p. 38. Retrieved from
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdf/sciences/2006earthsci11geology12.pdf
Katz, I., & Assor, A. (2006). When Choice Motivates and When It Does Not.
Educational Psychology Review, 19(4), 429–442. doi:10.1007/s10648-0069027-y
Marzano Research Laboratory. (2001). APPENDIX B: WHAT IS AN EFFECT SIZE ?,
119–122. Retrieved from
http://www.marzanoresearch.com/media/documents/pdf/AppendixB_DTLGO
.pdf
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doi:10.1037//0022-0663.88.1.64
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Paris, S. G., & Paris, A. H. (2001). Classroom Applications of Research on SelfRegulated Learning. Educational Psychologist, 36(2), 89–101.
doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3602_4
Tan, K. H. K. (2004). Does student self‐assessment empower or discipline students?
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doi:10.1080/0260293042000227209