I.Grade Level/Unit Number:Grade 6/Unit 3

II:Unit Title: Our Unique Planet

III.Unit Length:7weeks

Major Goals and Learning Outcomes:

How do earthquakes, volcanoes, and the faulting/folding of earth produce changes in the earth’s surface?
Why do earthquakes and volcanoes occur at the boundaries of continental plates?
What are the layers of the earth?
What are the physical properties and characteristics of rocks and minerals?
How does a rock evolve through the rock cycle?
What are the economic uses of rocks, minerals, gems, and precious metals?
What are the measurable properties that can predict soil quality?
Using soil properties, how can we predict soil quality?
How are earthquakes detected?
How do scientists predict volcanic eruptions?
What is the importance of soil?
What steps do humans take to improve soil quality?

Objectives Included:

Number / Competency or Objective / RBT Tag
1.01 / Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations. / A1
1.02 / Develop appropriate experimental procedures for:

Given questions.
Student-generated questions.

/ B3
1.03 / Apply safety procedures in the laboratory and in field studies:

Recognize potential hazards.
Manipulate materials and equipment.
Conduct appropriate procedures.

/ A3
1.04 / Analyze variables in scientific investigations:

Identify dependent and independent.
Use of a control.
Manipulate.
Describe relationships between.
Define operationally.

/ B4
1.05 / Analyze evidence to:

Explain observations.
Make inferences and predictions.
Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.

/ C3 (c4)
1.06 / Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present quantitative data resulting from scientific investigations:

Measurement.
Analysis of data.
Graphing.
Prediction models.

/ A2
1.07 / Prepare models and/or computer simulations to:

Test hypotheses.
Evaluate how data fit.

/ B2
1.08 / Use oral and written language to:

Communicate findings.
Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.

/ A1
1.09 / Use technologies and information systems to:

Research.

Gather and analyze data.
Visualize data.
Disseminate findings to others

/ A1
1.10 / Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:

Scientific text.
Articles.
Events in the popular press.

/ B4
2.01 / Explore evidence that "technology" has many definitions.

Artifact or hardware.
Methodology or technique.
System of production.
Social-technical system.

/ B3
2.02 / Use information systems to:

Identify scientific needs, human needs, or problems that are subject to technological solution.
Locate resources to obtain and test ideas.

/ B3
2.03 / Evaluate technological designs for:

Application of scientific principles.
Risks and benefits.
Constraints of design.
Consistent testing protocols.

/ B4
2.04 / Apply tenets of technological design to make informed consumer decisions about:

Products.
Processes.
Systems.

/ B3
3.01 / Evaluate the forces that shape the lithosphere, including:

Crustal plate movement.
Folding and faulting.
Deposition.
Volcanic activity.
Earthquakes.

/ B5
3.02 / Examine earthquake and volcano patterns. / B2
3.03 / Explain the model for the interior of the earth. / B2
3.04 / Describe the processes which form and the uses of earth materials.

Rock cycle.
Minerals.
Characteristics of rocks.
Economic use of rocks and minerals.
Value of gems and precious metals.
Common gems, minerals, precious metals and rocks found in N.C.

/ A2 (B2)
3.05 / Analyze soil properties that can be observed and measured to predict soil quality including:

Color.
Horizon profile.
Infiltration.
Soil temperature.
Structure.
Consistency.
Texture.
Particle size.

pH.
Fertility.
Soil moisture.

/ B4
3.06 / Evaluate ways in which human activities have affected earth's pedosphere and the measures taken to control the impact:

Vegetative cover.
Agriculture.
Land use.
Nutrient balance.
Soil as a vector.

/ B5
3.08 / Conclude that the good health of environments and organisms requires:

Monitoring of the pedosphere.
Taking steps to maintain soil quality.
Stewardship.

/ B5

VI.NC English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standard 4 (2008)- for Limited English Proficient students (LEP)

English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of SCIENCE.

VII.Materials Needed:

•Handouts for individual lessons

•Hard-boiled egg

•Different-sized objects (balls, containers, globes)

•Corn syrup

•Vinegar

•Food coloring

•Cooking oil

•Large test tubes

•Various objects (penny, aluminum foil pellets, popcorn, crayon)

•Corn starch

•Wax paper

•Paper and art supplies (markers, construction paper,

•Orange

•Paper towels

•Tooth picks

•Wash clothes (four different color)

•Globes

•Maps

•Class world map

•Internet access

•Computer(s)

•Wooden blocks

•Mineral samples

•Jars

•Butcher paper

•Graduated cylinder

•Porcelain tile

•Nails

•Penny

•Glass

•Diluted hydrochloric acid

•Plastic bags

•Iron pieces

•PH paper/ tablets

•Foam tray

•Magnifying glasses

•Soil sifter

•Detergent

•Stoppers

•Stereoscopes

•Sand

•Pebbles

•Soil samples

•Clay

•Stop watches

•Water

Big Idea

The earth has a solid inner core that is surrounded by a liquid outer core. Surrounding the entire dense, metallic core is a thick, hot, convective layer called the mantle. The crust consists of many continental and oceanic plates that have slowly moved and changed positions on the globe throughout geologic time. The movement of these large plates (plate tectonics) has caused the earth’s exposed land surface to change position and shape. Tremendous forces, such as convection, tension and compression, have caused the upper crustal layers to fold and fault. Earthquakes and volcano activity have resulted along the borders of the plates. These forces, along with weathering and erosion, have caused large quantities of material to be deposited in varying amounts across the globe.

Physical and chemical processes have constantly acted on earth material to form, change and reform three general types of rocks. These processes form minerals, which are substances that consist of certain elements to form compounds that appear to be uniform throughout. Other minerals are pure substances and are made of a single element. Each mineral has unique physical and chemical properties that allow it to be of economic value to humans. Minerals can combine to form rocks. Heat, pressure, erosion, and chemical processes can change rock from one type to another. Earth material can eventually be in the form of any of the rock types found throughout geologic history. This process is known as the rock cycle.

The upper-most layer of the continental crust is covered by soil. The ingredients in soils can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and around the earth. Different soils have different properties and compositions of sand, silt, clay and humus. Soils have many properties such as texture, particle size, pH, fertility and ability to hold moisture. Depending upon the combination of properties, soils have a great variability in their ability to support structures and plant growth. Humans have continually decreased the amount of soil that is available through poor land-use methods, soil nutrients depletion, and the construction of structures that cover the soil (such as highways, parking lots and buildings). Structures that cover the soil also affect a run-off pattern, which leads to another set of problems.

Technology such a remote sensing has allowed humans to better study the human impact on soil quality and erosional processes so that soil can be protected and preserved. Over time, remote sensing information can tell us how humans are constantly changing the surface of the earth. Technologies can also assist in finding ways to help prevent erosion. It is important that humans be stewards of the pedosphere.

IX. Notes to Teacher:

The six lessons in this unit deal with the characteristics of and changes in the lithosphere of the earth. Emphasis is on the dynamic nature of our planet that overtime has resulted in the surface features of present day. Students are reminded that the processes that have worked through the ages continue today to reshape the surface and surface materials of our planet.

It is vital to have earth materials such as different kinds of soil and student samples of rocks and minerals for students to handle and study in groups. A purchased “display type” rock/mineral collection will not support these activities. Encourage students and their families as they travel to collect small samples of rock and soil materials to build a class collection. Materials can be purchased but student-collected ones have more impact on the learning process of these concepts.

Note: it is important to explore these concepts as they fit into the larger model of the earth’s lithosphere. Students also need to understand the technologies that are used by scientists to study and collect data from parts of the earth that cannot be studied directly such as the interior of the earth and the ocean floor.

It is interesting for students to consider how our ideas of the dynamics of our planet changed when advancing technologies provided the evidence needed to support the theory of plate tectonics. This is another evidence of how science knowledge develops over time.

IX. Global Content

NC SCS
Grade 6 / Activity title / 21st Century Goal
1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.06, 1.07, 1.08, 2.02, 2.04, 3.01, 3.03 / Modeling the Unseen /

Organizing and relating ideas when writing- Language skills/ writing
Working on a team- teamwork
Taking initiative- teamwork
Conveying thoughts or opinions effectively- Communication skills
Explaining a concept to others -communication skills

1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.06, 1.07, 1.08, 1.09, 2.01, 2.02, 2.04, 3.01, 3.02 / Forces at Work Shaping the Lithosphere /

Working on a team - teamwork
Learning new software programs- Computer knowledge
Explaining a concept to others -communication skills
Identifying cause and effect relationships- Language skills /reading
Conveying thoughts or opinions effectively- Communication skills

1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.07, 2.02, 3.04 / Rock and Roll /

Working on a team - teamwork
Learning new software programs- Computer knowledge
Conveying thoughts or opinions effectively- Communication skills

1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.07, 2.02, 3.04 / Exploring Mystery Minerals /

Working on a team - teamwork
Learning new software programs- Computer knowledge
Explaining a concept to others -communication skills
Identifying cause and effect relationships- Language skills /reading
Conveying thoughts or opinions effectively- Communication skills

1.05, 1.08, 3.05, 3.06, 3.08 / Soil Formation /

Working on a team- teamwork
Learning new software programs- Computer knowledge
Explaining a concept to others -communication skills
Identifying cause and effect relationships- Language skills /reading

Conveying thoughts or opinions effectively- Communication skills

1.05, 1.08, 3.05, 3.06, 3.08 / Exploring Soil from My Neighborhood /

Working on a team - teamwork
Learning new software programs- Computer knowledge
Explaining a concept to others -communication skills
Identifying cause and effect relationships- Language skills /reading
Conveying thoughts or opinions effectively- Communication skills

Exploring Soil from My Neighborhood

Objectives

1.05, 1.08, 3.05, 3.06, 3.08

Language (ELP) Objectives for Limited English Proficient(LEP) students:

Materials

Plastic bags for soil samples
Foam trays from the grocery store or white paper
Toothpicks
Magnifying glass
Universal indicator pH paper or tablets
Foam cups
Test tubes with stoppers or small narrow jars with lids
Soil sifter or screen (can be a can with screen wire tapped over one end)
Water softener (like Cascade)
Graduated cylinder (100 mL with stopper to fit)
Water

Notes to teacher

Once, a very intelligent middle school student, when given the assignment to bring a sample of soil from around his home, told his teacher “there isn’t any soil around my home.”Today many middle school students might think and say the same thing if they happen to live in the suburbs with professionally landscaped lawns and curb and guttered streets or in the inner city where buildings, parking lots and asphalt cover much of the landscape. Some students have never seen freshly plowed fields or made the connection between soil and the quality of life that we enjoy. Some may even think soil is something you buy in a bag at the garden center!

If these students experience soil “up close and personal” and develop a full appreciation of soil as a natural resource, it will be as a result of the efforts and lessons of caring teachers who go beyond worksheets and textbooks and plan lessons with samples of the real thing collected from flower beds, lawns, fields, stream banks, road cuts, and side ditches. Purchased potting soil is not an adequate substitute in these activities!

Resources abound for soil lessons. GLOBE protocols are available online, and if schools can access them, these materials and equipment are excellent for soil activities in the field.

Soil studies suggested in this lesson require very simple and readily available materials. They can be done in stations over several days if materials are limited. The important thing is that students can observe and compare properties of different soil samples and make judgments as to their relative quality in terms of supporting plant growth.

Engage

Use one or both of these ideas to build interest and motivation to learn more about soil as an important natural resource:

Option #1: Visual representation of soil as a limited resource

Use an apple to represent the earth. Follow directions below for slicing it as a means of providing a very visual reminder that soil is a limited resource.

Hold the apple up and tell the class, “This apple represents our planet and all the resources on it.”

Cut the apple into quarters. Set aside three pieces and tell this class, “These pieces that are equal to ¾ of the earth represent the part of our planet covered by water.”

Hold up the remaining piece and tell students, “This ¼ that is left represents the surface of our planet that is land.”

Slice this piece in half lengthwise. Hold up one piece and ask students what fraction of the earth this would represent. (One half of one fourth is one eighth of the total apple.) Tell students that this 1/8 represents the part of land that is not suitable for people to live on or grow crops. Ask for examples of such regions (deserts, swamps, polar regions, high or rocky mountains). Set that piece aside.

Hold up the remaining piece representing 1/8 of the earth’s surface. Tell students this sectionrepresents the area where people can live but all of this is not available for farming or growing crops for food, for people or livestock.

Slice this piece into four equal pieces. Ask students what part of the original apple each piece represents (1/32 as 1/8 times ¼ equals 1/32 of the apple) Hold three of these pieces (3/32 of the apple) and tell students that these represent the part of the earth on which people live but cannot grow food. This land is covered with cities, suburbs, highways, and recreational areas so it is no longer available for farming and growing crops.

Hold up the remaining 1/32 of the apple. Tell students this represents the part of the earth’s surface now available for growing food and other farm crops.

Carefully peel this 1/32 slice of the earth and hold up the peel. Tell students that this tiny bit of peel represents the top soil, the dark humus, and nutrient-rich soil that holds moisture and produces high crop yields.

Ask students to reflect on or research these questions:

How does this demonstration show that soil is a limited and important natural resource?

How long does it take an inch of topsoil to form?
What are some ways that rates of soil erosion are increased?
What are some ways that the quality of soil is decreased?
How long might it take an inch of topsoil to erode on a bare slope during a hard rain?
What effect does cutting down trees have on soil quality?
What is the effect of growing the same crop in the same place year after year?
What are some ways to protect topsoil?

Option #2 Role Playing Soil Particles and the Flow of Water through Different Soils

Use these ideas taken from FLP Lesson “Perk through the Pores” to focus students on the idea of soil being made of sand, silt, and clay. Students stand in an area marked with chalk, tape, or string as an imaginary flower port and role play soil particles. Students use different arm positions to simulate soil particles and pore space between particles. Three students act as water droplets trying to move through soil.

SAND - Students stand in the imaginary flower pot with arms outstretched. Students should be able to rotate 360 degrees and not touch anyone else. Note the space each “particle” takes up and the space between each particle. Water “particles” stand aside until it is time to simulate water moving through the sandy soil in the flower pot. “Water particles” should be able to move freely through these particles and out the bottom of the “flower pot” very quickly.

SILT - Students stand in the imaginary flower pot with hands on hip and arms bent out at the elbows. Students move closer together with elbows just touching. Have water “particles” again move through soil. Movement of the “water particles” is more restricted but still possible.

CLAY - Students sand in the imaginary flower pot with arms close to side and shoulders touching. Students representing clay particles will be all bunched up when water particles try to move through. Students representing water particles will have a difficult time moving through these particles because they are so close together.

Have students portray soil particles one more time. This time each student decides what kind of soil particle to be and uses that arm motion. Water particles again try to move through. Do this several times. Count the number of students portraying each kind of particle each time and classify soil as to predominant soil particle.

Discuss how this activity illustrates differences in particle size, pore space, total space occupied by a given number of particles of sand, silt, and clay, and the ease of water droplets passing through each type of soil.

How does this activity illustrate how most soils are a combination of the three particles?

What are some other components of soil other than sand, silt, and clay worn from rocks? These include pore space, water, and humus or decayed plant and animal material.

What is the importance of pore space, water, and humus in soils that are productive for plant growth?

Have students use this activity to make a hypothesis of which soil particle would result in most air or pore space in soil.

What is the relationship of pore space to flow of water through soil?

Why is it important that water be able to flow through soil?

What can be done to increase the amount of pore space between particles of clay in order to improve the quality of the soil?

What can be done to increase water retention and improve the quality of sandy soils?