ELL standards (Language objectives section)
Students will be able to
- apply knowledge of English conventions by using simple and compound sentences, and attempting complex sentences.
- use sentence structures which include common regular subjects and simple, progressive, and present perfect verb tenses.
- produce sentences using subjects and verbs, with subject-verb agreement.
AZ standards (Content objectives section)
Students will be able to
- Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a smaller unit to a larger unit.
- Represent and interpret data.
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- Model with mathematics.
Describe students in terms of grade level, English proficiency level, and prior experience with the learning objectives (include use of assessment results)
This lesson is designed for a Stage III ELL grade 3-4 student. Students have previously demonstrated proficiency with simple sentence construction including subject and verb agreement in prior lessons answering questions such as
- Describe your procedure. What did you do?
- How was your procedure like a (______)? – a comparison activity
- How could you improve your procedure?
Pre-lesson activity
Students will use a coordinate plane type of graph to answer questions about a pre-done graph.
Practice Sheet
Teacher Notes for Lesson
INFERRING THE OCEAN DEPTHS
Procedure
The following activity gives students an introductionto a technique used to create maps of the oceanfloor - bathymetric maps. Bathymetric maps showdepths of landforms below sea level. With the adventof new, more sophisticated ocean floor sensingtechnology, bathymetric maps are becoming much more detailed, revealing newinformation about ocean geology.
1. Use a pointed pair of scissors to punch 10 holes in a straight line lengthwise downthe center of a shoebox lid. Make sure that the holes are larger than the circumferenceof the straw so the straw will easily fit into each hole. Then number each hole from 1-10in order.
2. Use clay to create underwater features in the shoebox (see Create UnderwaterFeatures). Have students use the centimeter ruler to carefully mark the straw incentimeter increments with a permanent marker.
3. Instruct students to put the straw into each hole and move the straw down until ithits the bottom and stops. Then place the thumb and index finger on the straw at thetop of the lid, pull the straw out of the hole, and count the number of centimeters fromthe point where the straw is held by the fingers to the end of the straw that was in thebox ( or hold the straw against a centimeter ruler to measure).
4. Tell students to record the distance from the top of the lid to the bottom of the box
in centimeters in the chart on the Inferring sheet.
5. Then have students construct a graph showing the distance from the top of the boxlid to the bottom of the box by finding the distance for each hole on the Y-axis, placing adot on the graph, and then connecting the dots. Point out that the Y-axis starts with 0centimeters at the top of the graph (instead of the bottom). Explain that the reasonfor this is to make a profile of what the bottom of the box looks like. Next challengestudents to infer what the bottom of the box really looks like by having them draw adiagram.
6. Finally, tell students they can open the shoebox and observe what the bottom lookslike. Ask them to compare their diagram to what the bottom of the box actually lookslike.
7. Have students writeabout their experience on the Think and Write page.
8. An extension would be for groups of students to create features of the ocean floor ina shoebox, then exchange boxes and repeat the activity.
Lesson
Note: Permission to use the following lesson was obtained from S & K Associates at TeachersPayTeachers.com
Inferring the Ocean Depths Rubric
4 pointsexceptionally accurate/reasonable/logical,complete, detailed
3 pointsadequately accurate/reasonable/logical,complete, detailed
2 pointssomewhat accurate/reasonable/logical,complete, detailed
1 pointinsufficiently accurate/reasonable/logical,complete, or detailed
0 pointsnot attempted
minimum of 2 instructional strategies
Students will use the shoebox activity for a hands-on activity and an applied worksheet for a second activity and for students who finish ahead of others.
minimum of 2 techniques to differentiate instruction
Students will work in pairs to map the bottom of the ocean floor.
Teacher will demonstrate a pre-done mapping with the front of the shoebox cut out in order that the students can see inside the box and understand what they are to be measuring.
minimum of 1 informal and 1 formal assessment
Informal – Students will record their days activities in their reflection notebook for overnight inspection and formative assessment by the teacher.
Formal – the formal assessment is included with the activity hand in
minimum of 1 parental involvement strategy
Students will be given two questions to ask parents at home and bring the responses back.
1. What is another way to use GPS besides in cars?
2. How did early sailors know how deep the ocean floor was?
Reflection on this lesson
This lesson needed more preparation before the two days of activities in measuring and mapping the “ocean floor” of the student’s shoeboxes. I think that another similar activity could be designed to lead into or warm up the students for this type of work. The students should be able to mark the measurements on the straw but might need help (or very close guidance) to poke the holes in the top of the shoebox. There should be several examples around the room that the teacher has made up previously. This is not a language intensive lesson so a skilled teacher should be able to involve the diversity of her language learners successfully.
Second Activity: Follow up connection to previously learned skills using ocean theme.
Ocean Math
1. The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the deepest part of the Earth. If Mount Everest, the tallest point on Earth at 29,035 feet, was set in the Mariana Trench there would still be 7,166 feet of water left above it. How deep is the ocean between the lowest point of the Mariana Trench and sea level?
2. The blue whale is the largest known living species on Earth.
This is the size of the blue whale compared to a human:
The blue whale is 14 times longer than a 7 foot tall person. How long is the blue whale?
One ton is equal to 2,205 pounds. An average blue whale weights 180 tons. How many pounds is that? (you can use a calculator for this one!)
3. Sharks can have up to 3,000 teeth at one time! Most sharks have anywhere from 5 to 15 rows of teeth. If a shark has 3,000 teeth in 5 rows, how many teeth are in each row?
What if the shark has 3,000 teeth and 15 rows?
4. Humans can swim on average about 3.5 miles per hour. A dolphin can swim 8 times faster than that. How many miles per hour can dolphins swim?
The fastest fish in the ocean is called a sailfish. It can swim 40 miles per hour faster than a dolphin. How fast can a sailfish swim?
5. The Pacific Ocean could hold 4+7-3+2-8+12+10-5-9+5+3 United States
6. The average human eats less than 5 pounds of food a day. The average tiger shark eats 8 times more food. How many pounds of food does a tiger shark eat in a day?
Formal Assessment
Name Date
Graphing Ocean Depths
The data table below shows the depths of the 10 deepest bodies of water on Earth. They are listed in order of decreasing depth.
Body of Water / Depth in FeetPacific Ocean / 36,000
Atlantic Ocean / 30,000
Indian Ocean / 24,000
Caribbean Sea / 23,000
Artic Ocean / 18,000
South China Sea / 16,000
Bering Sea / 16,000
Mediterranean Sea / 15,000
Gulf of Mexico / 12,000
Japan Sea / 12,000
Questions. Answer the following questions before creating your graph.
- What is the best type of graph to represent this data?
- When creating this graph, what should go on the y-axis (vertical)? What should go on the x-axis (horizontal)?
- Notice that the measurements range from 12,000 to 36,000. How can you create a graph that contains such a big range of numbers?
After deciding on your scale and axes, create your graph. Be sure to include a title and labels for each axis.
References
Temperature Line Graph, (n.d.). Retrieved May 2012 from