6th Grade Plan for Earth Science for 02-03
Draft Only - Detailed
Sept 02 / Letter to Gov about Mt Rainier hazards to study volcanoes in prep for 3rd wk Cispus trip and one-day visit to Mt Saint Helens.Pre-Questionnaire.
Lab Safety covered in this time as well as intro to scientific method.
Oct 02 / At Cispus review fresh water stuff like difference between moving water and still water (pond). When we return we switch gears to water quality testing and bio integrity of creek by sampling macroinvertebrates and classifying them.
Labs will be predicting lava flows (to end volcanoes) and water testing.
Students will create a website to share their findings so storyboarding and website design will be covered.
Nov 02 / October activities will most likely go on into November. By second week of October we will have tested the water and collected many samples of macroinvertebrates. It will take a week or so to go over storyboarding and another week to learn website design. The labs will be fit in there somewhere.
Dec 02 / This month we will have a debate I call the Amazon Dilemma. Students will argue the pros and cons about finding a cure for Cancer at the expense of rainforest land.
After the debate, I would like to start looking at branching patterns in nature and do some demos to show the underlying order of chaos. From there we can begin paper folding and an intro the Sierpinski & Pascal triangles. We can end this unit with the computer programs.
Jan 03 / The pattern exploration material may leak into January and that is fine.
Students will create a PowerPoint presentation to show their mastery of Geology. We will be classifying rocks and soils and studying minerals. Other labs will do with elevation and contour lines, soil drainage and weathering.
Feb 03 / We will review volcanoes with a unit on Plate Tectonics. Students will work on an earth movement project, which will end in another website.
Labs will be mapping of future worlds and speed of earthquakes.
Mar 03 / Students should be finishing their earth movement websites by now.
We will begin a study of weather with an online weather mission activity. We will also do a couple of pencil and paper labs about weather.
The pattern topics of scaling and wall hanging might end this month well.
Note: if summer grants come through, I may need to work more with water.
Apr 03 / After scaling and wall hanging, we will begin a unit on fossils, which will somehow end with the Jurassic Park book and the film about the real Jurassic Park. This will tie in fossils and the fractal and chaos math quite well.
May 03 / This month I would like to cover Ecology with a PowerPoint presentation of some sort.
Solar heating demo might fit in well here. This may not happen.
June 03 / This month I would like to cover something about our solar system or space.
I would like to end with my science jeopardy PowerPoint. Post-Questionnaire.
6th Grade Plan for Earth Science for 02-03
Draft Only
Sept 02 / Volcano study through letter writing.Lab Safety and scientific method.
Oct 02 / Fresh water, water quality, classifying macroinvertebrates.
Labs on lava flows and water testing.
Students will create a website.
Nov 02 / Same as October.
(It will take most, if not all, of October to finish our water quality websites.)
Dec 02 / Amazon debate.
Then, math integration: branching patterns in nature, paper folding, Sierpinski triangle.
Jan 03 / Geology, classifying rocks and soils and studying minerals.
Create PowerPoint presentations. (They need to learn PowerPoint.)
Feb 03 / Plate Tectonics. Students will work on an earth movement project, which will end in another website.
Labs will be mapping of future worlds and speed of earthquakes.
Mar 03 / Weather with an online weather mission activity.
Math integration: scaling and wall hanging.
Note: if summer grants come through, I may need to work more with water.
Apr 03 / Fossils with the Jurassic Park book and the film about the real Jurassic Park.
May 03 / This month I would like to cover Ecology with a PowerPoint presentation of some sort. Depending on how long students take on other projects, this may not happen.
June 03 / This month I would like to cover something about our solar system or space.
I would like to end with my science jeopardy PowerPoint. Depending on how long students take on other projects, this may not happen.