Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University
Student Teacher Christopher Antal Grade Level_7 Date of lesson January 19, 2010
Institution Scotts Ridge Middle School Length of lesson 45 minute lessons
Content Standards:
Identify one or two primary local, state or national curricular standards this lesson is designed to help students attain.
How will the learning tasks lead students to attain the identified standards?
CSCF 7.3 - C 20.
C INQ.1,3,5,8,9,10
NBTS Standards
NSTA standard A
NSTA standard B
Learner Background: Describe the students’ prior knowledge or skill related to the learning objective(s) and the content of this lesson, using data from pre-assessment as appropriate. How did the students’ previous performance in this content area or skill impact your planning for this lesson?
Students have previously learned about the Rock Cycle, Magma, Lithosphere and Asthenosphere.
Student Learning Objective(s):
Identify specific and measurable learning objectives for this lesson.
1.
Students will be able to understand how the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere interact with one another.
2.
Students will demonstrate their basic knowledge of the influence of heat and pressure on movement.
3.
Students will formulate hypotheses on a demonstration performed during class.
4.
Students will be reminded of laboratory safety procedures.
Assessment:
How will you ask students to demonstrate mastery of the student learning objective(s)? Attach a copy of any assessment materials you will use, along with assessment criteria.
1.
Students will formulate hypotheses on an experiment as well as write conclusions afterwards.
2.
Students will complete a homework assignment stating 10 interesting facts about Pangaea.
3.
Students will answer questions throughout the class period.
Materials/Resources:
List the materials you will use in each learning activity including any technological resources.
Classroom Computer, Ragu Tomato Sauce, Hot Plate, Glass Casserole Dish, Cardboard Puzzle Pieces,
Igneous Rock, Metamorphic Rock, Sedimentary Rock, Sponge Rock, Lined Paper, Textbooks.
Learning Activities:
Identify the instructional grouping (whole class, small groups, pairs, individuals) you will use in each lesson segment and approximate time frames for each.

Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University
Initiation:
Briefly describe how you will initiate the lesson. (Set expectations for learning; articulate to learners what they will be doing and learning in this lesson, how they will demonstrate learning, and why this is important)
As the students come into class, they will drop off their homework assignments up front. They will most likely notice a large bowl of tomato sauce and cardboard sitting up front. After the students have taken their seats, I will ask them if anyone knows what the set-up on the main lab desk represents. I will joke with them and tell them it’s nothing, just my leftovers from the night before. I will hint to them however, that it has to do with their homework assignment from the night before. The first person to answer will get the Sponge Rock tossed to them. From there, I will let them know, whoever holds the rock gets to answer.
Lesson Development: Describe how you will develop the lesson, what you will do to model or guide practice, and the learning activities students will be engaged in order to gain the key knowledge and skills identified in the student learning objective(s).
A.
I will get the class’s attention by asking them what they suspect the Ragu Sauce and
Cardboard are doing at the front of the class.
B.
Students will speculate on what the demonstration pertains to only when they hold the rock.
Desire to hold the sponge rock should increase class participation.
C.
I will explain to the class that the Ragu is actually a representative of the hot, fluid
Asthenosphere. I will then break down the properties of the Asthenosphere.
D.
I will then explain to the class that the Cardboard is actually representative of the cool, rigid crust of the earth (Lithosphere). I will explain to them the properties of this level as well.
E.
The class will then be asked to form hypotheses as to what they think will happen when I turn the hot plate on and the Ragu heats up. Only students holding the sponge rock will get to voice there opinions.
F.
The class will then be asked to come to the front of the room as we perform the demonstration.
I will ask Oscar to be in charge of passing out the safety glasses to the class. I will remind the class that any time we are working on a laboratory experiment, safety goggles must be worn.
G.
During the demonstration, the cardboard puzzle pieces will begin to move and some will even separate from the other pieces. I will explain to the children as this happens that the heat from the burner and the pressure from the cardboard floating on the Ragu are the driving factors which cause this movement to occur. After the experiment, I will make sure the students take note that I have turned off and unplugged the hotplate and one of the students will collect and return the safety goggles to their designated area.
H.
Students will return to their desks and I will ask them to break out a piece of paper and write out a conclusion on our experiment while relating it the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere, which they will hand in as they leave the class. They will then be asked again to recite their conclusions to the class. I will write down correct points on the board so they will focus on them. I will also try to spread the sponge rock from one end of the class to the other.
Closure:
Briefly describe how you will close the lesson and help students understand the purpose of the lesson. (Interact with learners to elicit evidence of student understanding of purpose(s) for learning and mastery of objectives)
After the class has come up with enough valid conclusions on the board, I will address the class and make sure they took note of the fact that the Lithosphere was actually composed of several

Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University different regions. I would then explain these regions were representative of tectonic plates which shift around on the Asthenosphere. I would then ask the students who volunteered their conclusions to stand up. As previously designed, they will be spread somewhat apart. I will then tell them that each of them represents a certain region on the globe, but they all are on different plates. One student will represent Connecticut and another will represent Morocco. Every desk in between them will represent 500 miles. I will explain to them it is about 3500 miles between them, so there should currently be 7 desks between them. I will then tell them that 180,000,000 years ago, this was not the case. I will ask the class how many desks should be between them and the students will move. I will then tell them, the answer is zero desks. In fact the two were connected.
I will then ask the other two students who are hopefully fairly close to represent current day
Alaska and Russia. I will ask them to estimate how far apart they were at the same period in time.
The distance is uncertain but could be estimated at around 19 desks apart. How many miles is that? From this I will tell them, the world had a completely different face 250,000,000 years ago.
And there was only one major land mass that existed known as Pangaea. They will be asked to come up with 10 facts/theories they find interesting about Pangaea. On the way out the door they will hand in their homework assignments.
Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction:
Describe 1 to 3 students with learning differences. These students may be special or general education students and need not be the same students for each lesson. Students may represent a range of ability and/or achievement levels, including students with IEPs, gifted and talented students, struggling learners, and English language learners.
Note: Differentiated instruction may not be necessary in every lesson. However, over the course of the student teaching placement, it is expected that each student teacher will demonstrate the ability to differentiate instruction in order to meet the needs of students with learning differences.
Which students do you anticipate may struggle with the content/learning objectives of this lesson?
Student name
Oscar Robertson
Evidence that the student needs differentiated instruction
Currently reading at 4 th grade level. Acts out frequently.
How will you differentiate instruction learning? in this lesson to support student
The lesson is designed to be demonstrational as well as highly interactive.
The student will be able to keep up during the lessons. Oscar will also assist me with distributing safety glasses as a means of establishing a bond between
Oscar and I. Oscar also is aware of my extra time after school for help with homework.
Which students will need opportunities for enrichment/higher level of challenge?
Student name Evidence that the student needs differentiated instruction
How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson to support student learning?
Dwight Howard Dwight has not received a grade lower than a 97% all year. He always has the answers in class
I will ask Dwight the difficult questions, the rest of the class may be struggling with. He will also be asked to complete a research paper each semester on the subjects he found most interesting. These papers could be discussions. substituted for other projects he may find unchallenging.
Notes from the pre-conference

Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University