Using Children’sTrade Books in Science

EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet

Brendan Gallagher

2/17/2011

Many Physical Earth Science topics are excellent references for children’s books and are good resources to use in an elementary school classroom. The books portray pictures that effectively display what the text is defining. For this assignment, I selected the book EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet by Donald M. Silver, Ph.D. (1989).

About the Book

In Donald M. Silver’s book, he effectively portrays the many systems and processes that are being carried out every second of every day. The title of the book, EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet, hits the nail right on the head. Our planet is full of many different systems that are constantly forming and reforming the surface, as well as the interior, of the planet. I believe that those who read this book will have a better understanding of the ever changing systems that take place on a second to second basis. Hopefully an understanding on how our planet’s exterior is consistently changing will be obtained. Obviously one will not be an expert on the topic after reading through this book, but a basic understanding will hopefully be obtained.

In the Classroom

I believe that the most affective way of portraying and teaching science is a hands-on approach. There is no way to affectively teach these topics about systems and how they effect the face of our planet by simply lecturing for an hour and reading off bullet points and power points. There are many different activities that I could have my classroom do to help them better understand these topics, however, I believe that in order to all be on the same page, as a class, we must sit down and collaboratively discuss what it is we already know. I believe this is an important step because as a class, we must all be on the same page.

“PLATE TECTONICS”

The first activity that we will be doing in class is one that involves understanding how plate tectonics work to form different landforms. In order to display this, using two different sheets of paper to represent the individual plates will be used. The three different movements of plate tectonics (divergent, convergent, and transform) will allow the students to understand how different movements of plates affect the lay of the land. Convergent plates are two plates of equal density (usually two continental plates) that push into each other, forcing the plates upward and eventually over millions of years, forming large mountains. Divergent boundaries are areas where two plates are moving away from each other, forming areas known as trenches and faults. The San Andres Fault in California is a good example of an area where divergent plates are active. Transform boundaries are areas where plates slide past each other, virtually causing no damage or disruptions at all.

GLCE

Grade 6

E.SE.03.22 Identify and describe natural causes of change in the Earth’s surface (erosion, glaciers, volcanoes, landslides, and earthquakes)

“EROSION AND WEATHERING”

We will be showing how weathering and erosion lead to the formation of sediments and soil by taking sugar cubes and placing them in cans. With different erosions factors such as sand, dirt, water, and rocks, we can place them into the can with the sugar cubes and shake them for different amounts of time. In the end, this will show how different elements affect the rate of weathering. Learning the different types of erosion will allow students to understand how physical features of the earth’s surface change shape. From chemical weathering to physical weathering, each student will understand the relationship between these two. Physical weathering breaks down rock creating a larger surface area for chemical weathering to act upon. Physical weathering is the class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without chemical change. Chemical weathering changes the composition of rocks, often transforming them when water interacts with minerals to create various chemical reactions.

GLCE

Grade 6

E.SE.06.11 Explain how physical and chemical weathering lead to erosion and the formation of soils and sediments.

“LAYERS OF OUR EARTH”

There are many easy ways to demonstrate the different layers the Earth is made up of. We will demonstrate this by getting clear Tupperware bowls and using different color sand to portray each individual layer. Each layer of sand will be a different color as well as a different thickness. The earth is made up of multiple layers. In the middle of our planet is a layer known as the core. The core is the source of Earth’s main source of energy and assists in the creation of earth’s magnetic field. The layer just outside the core is a layer known as the mantle. The mantle is the thickest layer of the earth. Although solid, the high temperatures within the mantle cause the silicate material to be sufficiently ductile that it can flow on very long timescales. The outermost layer and thinnest layer is known as the crust. The thinner parts of the earth’s crust lie along the ocean floors and is commonly made up of basalt. The thicker crust is continental crust which is less dense and commonly made up of granite. Many rocks now making up Earth's crust formed less than 100 million years ago.

GLCE

Grade 6

E.SE.06.53 Describe layers of the Earth as a lithosphere (crust and upper mantle), convecting mantle, and dense metallic core.

Conclusion

EARTH: The Ever-Changing Planet, affectively portrays, displays and represents the ever-changing systems that are consistently working in altering the face of our planet. I would highly recommend this book to grade school teachers because it demonstrates and portrays the systems and events that change the exterior of our planet. This book helps explain what convergent boundaries form mountains and why divergent boundaries form trenches and faults. With illustrations and basic text, this book allows students to understand the basic concepts of plate tectonics and why the movements of these plates shape the exterior face of our planet. The topic of weathering and erosion were also explained and illustrated very well. Through physical weathering and the break down of rocks to smaller pieces, chemical weathering is enhanced. Chemical weathering further breaks down the composition of many different surfaces. The final activity that I did was the layers of the earth. I believe that the book demonstrated this topic the best. Each layer from the core, to the mantle, to the crust, was illustrated with great detail. In addition to the illustrations, there were text boxes that gave important information on the different layers. Information such as the crust has both thin and thick portions of its layer that is made up of different rock such as basalt or granite. I was very impressed on the amount of detail that was put in to illustrate the key points that were laid out within the text. One weakness that I observed in this book is a little too much text. I believe that a lot of this information could have easily just been illustrated rather than written out. However this is not a very prominent weakness and I believe that this book was overall a very good book. I would definitely recommend this book to my future students to use for research and to understand these different topics. I believe that this book effectively illustrates the basics of many of earth’s systems.

WORKS CITED

" ScienceCurriclum Information ." Oakland Schools . N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.<

Services/Science/ScienceCurriclumInformation/tabid/3052/

Default.aspx>.

Silver, Donald M., and Patricia Wynne.Earth: the ever-changing planet. New York: Random House, 1989. Print.