Science Question of the Day…
How does a stone skip across water?
Answer!
Engage: Consider a Milky Way…
I’m not talking about the galaxy this time.
I’m actually talking about the candy bar!
What is it made of?
Is it all one layer?
How is this similar to our planet?
Milky Way and Earth
What would we call the very thin outer layer of our
planet and our candy bar? _____________________
How about the caramel underneath? ____________________
And the nugget? ______________________
The last layer of the chocolate underneath?
___________________________
What do we know? What do
we want to know?
Explore: Build a Planet!
Your lab group will spend the rest of class
today using the materials at your table to
create your own Earth model.
Please determine your lab jobs for today and
begin when ready.
Science Question of the Day…
How and why do cats purr?
Answer!
Explain: Sharing our Earth
Models
Reporters will share their groups’ models.
Think of questions or comments you would like to
share about each model.
Think of ways you can help each group make theirs
better.
How can you use the information you learned
today to make your model more accurate?
Science Question of the Day…
Why do geese fly in a V?
Answer!
Elaborate: There’s more to
these four layers…
Today you and a partner will discover the missing two
layers of our Earth model.
Access my webpage and choose the MIT K12 Video: Earth’s
Layers.
Watch the video and discuss the critical thinking questions
in your lab.
How could you redesign your model to incorporate these
two new layers?
Evaluate: What have we
learned?
Science Question of the Day…
I always get bitten by mosquitoes, but my friend
doesn’t! Why do mosquitoes think I taste better than
the person next to me?
Answer!
Engage: My New Layers
Take a look at my Oobleck and foam.
What does this remind you of?
_______________________________________________________________
What characteristics does the Oobleck have that
remind you of this
layer?________________________________________________________
_______
The foam? ___________________________________________________
Explore: Critical Thinking
What happens if my plates (foam) collide?
Do you think the Earth’s surface has always looked the
way it does? Why or why not?
Today, you and a partner will think critically to answer
these questions.
Please refer to your scoring guide to help you format
your answer and don’t forget to self-assess!
Explain: Critical Thinking
Swap partners with someone else and share your
answers. Don’t forget to assess your new partner’s
answers!
Science Question of the Day!
Spider webs are sticky! Why don’t spiders get tangled
in their own webs?
Answer!
Elaborate: Learn a little more!
You and your partner from yesterday will discover
some new information today that may help you to
refine your answers from our critical thinking exercise.
Access the “Continental Drift” article from my Science
page and read the following sections: Earth’s Pates and
Continental Drift, Earth’s Major Plates, and Plate
Tectonics.
Elaborate: Learn a little more!
After reading, use this new information to refine your
previous answers from yesterday.
Science Question of the Day…
Seat belts are important when riding a roller coaster,
but why is it that even if I weren’t wearing one I
wouldn’t fall out if we went upside down? What keeps
me in the roller coaster car when we are upside down?
Answer!
Engage: Earth in a shoe box…
hours of fun! 
Pretend that this shoe box in our planet and these
pieces of paper are plates sitting atop the mantle of the
Earth.
What happens to the crust (Playdough) of the Earth
when these plates move?
_______________________________________________________________
What if they collide? _______________________________________
Explore: Plate Tectonics Lab
Your lab group will determine which job each student
will have (make sure you rotate!), and then you will
begin your investigation!
Let’s read through the directions together and then you
can get started with planet in a box, hours of fun!
Explain: Valid or Faulty? Why?
Let’s have the reporters share their findings.
Was your hypothesis valid or faulty?
Did you have more than one variable?
What happens to the Earth’s surface when plates move
in various directions?
Science Question of the Day…
If you’ve ever eaten at a Chinese restaurant, you know
that the meal also comes with a fortune cookie. How do
those fortunes get inside those little crumbly cookies?
Answer!
Elaborate: Plate Boundaries
Yesterday we talked about how plates move and how that
impacts the Earth’s crust.
Let’s explore more today about how plates move.
Use the information from today to help you reassess your
hypotheses from yesterday.
Answer the critical thinking questions in your lab using
the reading from today.
Access the article “Plate Boundaries” from my Science
webpage and read the section entitled Types of Plate
Movement.
Science Question of the Day…
Has North America always been in the same spot on
the Earth’s crust as it is today? How do you know?
Engage: What do you think this
is a picture of?
How about now???
Pangea
Explore: Pangea Webquest
You and a partner will work today and tomorrow to
complete a Pangea webquest to find out more about
how continental drift and plate tectonics have changed
the face of our planet over 250 million years.
Access the Pangea Webquest from my Science page and
follow the directions on your handout to answer
critical thinking questions.
Remember CARS!
Explore: Martian Pangea???
Mars is the most Earth like planet in our solar system.
Do you think it has a similar structure?
Research the critical thinking questions on your lab
sheet to find an answer to this question!
Science Question of the Day…
Why do pigeons bob their heads when they
walk?
Answer!
Engage: Volcano!!!
Volcanoes are pretty cool. No they’re not, they’re hot!
I crack myself up…
But seriously, volcanoes are a very interesting and
important part of our planet. Why do you think they
are important? _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Explore: Constructive Forces
Your lab group will explore the constructive forces of
volcanoes and earthquakes today!
Assign jobs, but make sure you rotate! Don’t do a job
that you have already had in this unit.
Make sure you read all directions carefully, and try to
keep the magma in your tray!
Explain: Valid or Faulty?
Reporters will now share their findings from their
experiment.
How do volcanoes create new land?
How do earthquakes create new land?
How are these natural events constructive and
destructive at the same time?
Science Question of the Day…
What color is a polar bear’s fur and why?
Answer!
Elaborate: Constructive Forces
You and a partner will learn more about constructive
forces today.
Access the Constructive Forces page from my Science
webpage.
Answer questions 1-14 and attach them to you lab
sheet.
Science Question of the Day…
Why do we yawn?
Engage: How did it form?
Explore: Mammoth Cave
Constructive or Destructive?
You and a partner will read about the formation of
Mammoth Cave.
Discuss whether or not it was formed by a constructive
force, or if you think it was formed by destructive
forces of nature.
What are the difference between constructive and
destructive forces?
Explain: Destructive
Forces
Destructive forces happen in two ways:
Weathering and Erosion.
Weathering can happen in many ways such as
water freezing and cracking rocks, acid rain
eating away at materials, or even a waterfall
pummeling the rocks below until they are
sediment.
Destructive Forces
Erosion is another kind of destructive force.
Erosion is when natural forces carry sediment
away and deposit it somewhere else.
This can happen by water, wind, or even
glaciers.
Science Question of the Day…
What were your favorite and least favorite
things about Science class this year?
Answer!
Elaborate: Destructive Forces
You and a partner will create a virtual flipbook today
all about destructive forces!
Access the Destructive Forces page from my Science
webpage and follow the directions to create your own
virtual flipbook.
Let’s do an example together.