The Evolution of Earth unit covers content related to Earth's structural appearance and dynamic equilibrium status.  Included as subtopics are:

• rock and fossils used as indirect evidence to estimate geologic time,
• the interactions of solid earth, oceans, atmosphere and organisms.

 

National Standards for Grades 9 - 12: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962

•    Develop the concept of the earth system existing in a state of dynamic equilibrium. While certain properties of the earth system may fluctuate on short or long time scales, the earth system will generally stay within a certain narrow range for millions of years.

•    This long-term stability can be understood through the working of planetary geochemical cycles and the feedback processes that help to maintain or modify those cycles.

•    The sun, the earth, and the rest of the solar system formed from a nebular cloud of dust and gas 4.6 billion years ago. The early earth was very different from the planet we live on today.

•    Observing rock sequences and using fossils to correlate the sequences at various locations can estimate geologic time. Current methods include using the known decay rates of radioactive isotopes present in rocks to measure the time since the rock was formed.

•    Interactions among the solid earth, the oceans, the atmosphere, and organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the earth system.

•    We can observe some changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale, but many processes such as mountain building and plate movements take place over hundreds of millions of years.

The following website has many many free templates for this activity.  You will use this site often during this unit so be sure to bookmark it as a favorite.
Let's Book It with tech'knowledge'y
Having learners create their own models does require more time but the process of working through conceptualization and then construction is a powerful learning experience.  Encourage students to use the above website as a jumping off point.  For the same assignment one student might choose a circle template while another could select fan template while another picks a step page template.

The vocabulary set has not been delineated by subtopic.  Rather the intent is that the vocabulary be embedded throughout the entire unit.

 

Days 1-3: Formation of Earth

Day 1:

Objective - Students inventory, recognize and record their prior knowledge about Earth's structural appearance and the dynamics of changes in the earth's surface.

1) KWL for "evolution of Earth."  Pre-assessment. See KWL Instructions

2) Introduce vocabulary list.  Instruct learners to include in their KWL any terms that they are already familiar with.

3) Read/share a commercially made pop-up book.  Content is not relevant.  The idea is to  share with learners a variety of pop-up books over the next 5 days.  If learners have questions, like, "What does this have to do with earth structure?"   Explain that the culminating project and the assessment tool for this unit will be a learner designed and constructed a pop-up book to  provide evidence of understanding relative to the topics of Earth's evolution.

Day 2:

Objective -Students investigate the connections between creation myths and "hard science" explanation of the origin of planet Earth.  Students create an illustrated overview of one or more of the creation myths.

Search - Pair - Share based on the Read - Pair - Share strategy/pedagogy explained in detail at http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/pd/instr/strats/think/index.html

Modify the read-pair-share to on-line research rather than a text/reading selection.

Please note that this investigation complete with presentation will take more than a single 55 minute class.  Plan to spend the first part of  Day 3 finalizing this activity.

Day 3:

Objective:

1) Complete Day 2 presentations of Creation Myths / "Hard Science" Evolution of Earth

After all presentations are delivered, learners select one of the myths or the "Hard Science" presentation and create either an illustrated summary or full text for inclusion in the pop up book project.

2) Rock Cycle Students explore the rock cycle and create a page containing information about the rock cycle for their culminating project - pop up book.  The following are two good information sites for basic information.

Suggest to students that there may be merit it using a movable wheel made from flat circles laid on top top of the other and fastened with a brass fastener.  The bottom circle would show the types of rocks and the top circle could have windows cut out and differentiate between rocks forms as a result of heat and pressure and those resulting from weathering.

The rock cycle page will be included in the final pop up book project.

Rock and the Rock Cycle

Physical Geography: the Rock Cycle

 

Days 4-7: Volcanoes In addition to creating one KWL as an introductory/pre-assessment activity of  Evolution of Earth, each of the subtopics should have a KWL as an introduction to the particular topic.

Day 4:

Objective - 1) Students inventory, recognize and record their prior knowledge about the dynamics of volcanoes.   2) Students construct a model of a volcanic eruption and discuss the chemical reactions involved in the model and in volcanic eruptions at the beginning of Earth's history.

1)  KWL - Encourage learners to dig deep into their prior knowledge base and get beyond the simple prompt of "What do students already know about volcanoes?".  Rather spur them to consider what they already know about the thermodynamics of  a volcano?  What do they know about the role of convection currents in the formation or eruption of volcanoes.  What role did volcanoes play in Earth's evolution?  What impact does volcanic activity have on Earth's structure currently?   

2)  See Documents: Volcano Eruption Demo and Volcano Eruption Student Worksheet

Day 5:

Objective -  Students record lecture notes and move into a higher cognitive level with metaphoric thinking.

1)  Present a lecture for notes (see "volcano notes" document).

2) Read aloud and share a commercially prepared pop-up book.   Suggest that students look carefully at the construct of the book seeking ideas for construction of a volcano page in their pop-up book project.

3) See metaphor activity. Show the metaphor example.  The learner's task is to create a metaphor for the concept of volcanoes. This is a terrific site to review before starting this assignment with learners!   

Guide students through the Metaphor activity.  This assignment will be included  in the pop up book.

4) Refer to the vocabulary list.  Ask students to identify any terms are directly related to the topic of volcanoes.  You may want to create a crossword puzzle of the terms to send home as a homework assignment.

 

Day 6:

Objective -  Students will construct and color the inside a Volcano model.

Volcano Anatomy: Be sure to do this yourself prior to having students do the activity to anticipate difficulties and/or questions.

This is potentially a 2 to 3 day in class assignment.  Plan for one 55 minute period for learners to find websites and collect their data.  Allow for another one to two days of class time to construct the page(s) for the pop up book, particularly if the "At an advanced level" is the method of choice.

At the most basic level:  This site is helpful for basic information. 

1) Use the volcano diagram from this website.  Have students color and fold the volcano model a the website instructs. Be sure labels are visible.

2) Students will color and construct the Inside a Volcano model, which should then be fixed to an 8.5 x 11 single sheet for inclusion in their pop up book.

At an advanced level: see Day 6 volcano assignment and rubric in Table of Contents.  This site has a terrific flip book model that could augment the lesson.  The flipbook could become a page in the pop-up book. 

3) Read aloud and share a commercially prepared pop-up book.

 

Day 7:

Objective - Research the dynamics of volcanoes and how volcanoes relate to early earth structure, particularly development of earth's atmosphere.

1) Assign reading of available earth science text volcano section.

2) Students in teams of 2 or 3 will conduct an on-line search for a 5 to 6 minute video presentation about volcanoes.  Check out sites such as YouTube which contains 100's of these video clips.

3) Learners present to the class their selected videos, while class takes notes to assist them in their understanding of the dynamics of volcanoes paying particular attention to the connection between volcanoes and the evolution of earth's atmosphere.

4) Illustrated Cinquain poem with a Volcano topic. See Cinquain Poem Lesson in Table of Contents.

5) Distribute individual Volcano KWL and ask students to complete the Learned column.

6) Collect Cinquain, completed KWL and volcano pop up page and file in manila folders.
 

 

Days 8-9: Geologic Time Scale

Objective 1: Students investigate the connections between solid earth (volcanoes), oceans, atmosphere and organisms through an on-line search.

Objective 2: Students develop a visual of earth changes over time. Visual should be interactive, and is considered to be a component page(s) of their culminating project - pop-up book.

1) See Document: Day 8: Geologic Time Scale

2) Read/share a commercially made pop-up book.  Introduce project: Pop-up book.  Distribute pop-up book rubric.

 

Days 10 - 12: Evolution (brief, overview, causes, geographic isolation)

Day 10:

Objective:  Students inventory, recognize and record their prior knowledge about the evolution of life on Earth.

1)  KWL - Encourage learners to dig deep into their prior knowledge base and get beyond the simple prompt of "What do students already know about evolution?".  Rather spur them to consider what they already know about the evolution of life on Earth.  What do they know about the changes in organisms from prokaryotes to multicellular organisms? What role did the changes to the planet play in the evolution of life? 

2) Notes - see document: Evolution of life notes

3) Visit the National Geographic Time line mentioned at the beginning of the notes document. Display this on a projector with the class.

National Geographic Timeline

Days 11 & 12:

Objective: Students will explore geographical isolation.

Use the lesson plan on the website below to teach students about geographical isolation using whales in the Mediterranean Sea as an example. This is an excellent resource and will take about 2 class days to complete.

Whale Trackers in the Mediterranean

 

Days 13 - 16: Plate Tectonics

Science Content: The theory of plate tectonics explains many geological phenomena. Plate movements can be convergent, divergent or transform. At convergent boundaries between continents and oceanic plates, such as happened in the past along the coast of California, the denser oceanic plate moved under the continental plate. As this happened, the upper layers of the oceanic plate were scraped off onto the continental plate. Thus, we now have local rocks that were formed underwater in the mid-Pacific. Geologists used the composition of these rocks and their fossils to determine the conditions (underwater) and locations (Pacific Ocean) of their formation to help them piece together this history of our local rocks. 

Day 13:

Objective -  Student identify the three types of plate boundaries.  They explore the three plate boundary types of geological features.  Examine how plates interact with each other to give the continents and geographic landmasses we have today.  And link how convection currents contribute to the moving of continents.

1) Read aloud and share a commercially designed Pop Up Book

2) Lecture: continental drift, components of the earth's interior -  Intro with video located here

Please preview this video before showing to be aware that the word “hell” is used. An alternative though, less graphic and less visually interesting video such as Geology:  The Structure of the Earth would be a good substitute.

3) Search “How Stuff Works.com” and find a huge amount of video clips that can be used for whole class viewing.

Day 14: Change Over Time

Objective - Students recognize that the earth's surface is in constant movement and has undergone radical changes over time. They are able to generalize that the geologic features of the earth, convection currents, volcanoes and earth atmosphere are all connected. Fossil evidence  is an indirect evidence used to explain these changes and connections.
 

The following website has many many free templates which students can access for this activity.

Let's Book It with tech'knowledge'y      

Challenge students to create original paper models that demonstrate the interconnection between geologic features of the earth, convection currents, volcanoes and earth atmosphere. This work sample could be included in the final pop-up book as an evidence of learning.  Refer to the vocabulary list and encourage students to include terms as appropriate into the model description or labels.

Day 15:

Objective - Students use maps of the Earth throughout time to discover the changing position of structures on Earth. See Document: Day 15: Maps Activity

Day 16: Cinquain Poem

Objective - Students begin to integrate and construct new information into their own schemata through a synthesis activity of creating a poetic relationship between vocabulary terms .

1) Return student's KWL worksheets. Using all the resources  available to them from previous lessons, activities, reading materials and web searches, ask learners to complete the L (Learned) section of the KWL.  Ask if they were surprised by any of the information?  What was most interesting?  Did you think something was a fact about earth's evolution and later found it was not correct?  If so, write a sentence or two about that.

2) Collect the completed KWL, which can be a page in their final project.

3) Discuss ideas forming for the pop-up book project.  

4) Write and illustrate Cinquain poems around the topic of Evolution of Earth (refer to Cinquain document). Encourage students to refer to the vocabulary list as potential word selections for their poems. Cinquain poems are included as pages in their pop up books.

5)Finally, have students develop and illustrate a metaphor for plate tectonics.
 

Days 17 - 18: Mountain Building

Day 17:

Objective -  Students inventory, recognize and record their prior knowledge about how mountains are formed as related to Earth's evolution.  Students predict how mountain building is related to plate motions, convection currents, volcanic activity, et al.

1) Read aloud and share a commercially prepared pop-up book.

2) KWL as an introductory/pre-assessment activity; see KWL instructions for details. The following prompts could be used to stimulate more recall of details around mountain building.    Review them for pre-assessment purposes. Students may find this a little more challenging as their prior knowledge about how mountains and mountain ranges form maybe limited .

Refer students to the vocabulary list and encourage them to include terms they are currently familiar with in the K section and unfamiliar terms in the W section of the KWL.

3) Discuss how plate tectonics and mountain building are related. How have mountains and plate movement influenced evolution of life?  Have mountains/mountain ranges always been where they are? Have they always existed? If not, where was all of this matter before it was a mountain?

4) Present outline lecture for mountain building (see notes document)

Day 18:  

Remember to make this model yourself prior to assigning it to learners.

Objective - Students create mini-books showing how a mountain range forms when two plates collide. Students begin to integrate and construct new information into their own schemata through a synthesis activity of creating a poetic relationship between vocabulary terms .

1)  After examining the ways mountains begin to form, have students develop their own pop-ups illustrating the processes learned.  Suggest a developing a mini-book that can be afixed to a larger page in their pop up book.

2) Provide scissors, tape, color pencils, crayons and/or markers

3) Attach the mini-book to a single 8.5 x 11 paper

4) This will become a page in the pop up book.

5) Illustrated Cinquain poem with a mountain building topic using vocabulary terms appropriately. See Cinquain Document in Table of Contents.

6) Distribute individual mountain building KWL and ask students to complete the Learned column. Refer to the vocabulary list and encourage students to include terms learned that apply to the concept of mountain building.

7)Cinquain and completed KWL to be included in the final pop up book.

 

Days 19 - 20: Tie it together/work on project
 

Day 20:

Objective - Students will begin Putting it all together: Make connections between the four topics.

1)  Students will develop a mind map of these connections. This work will become the front cover for the pop-up book.  Refer to the vocabulary list students should include all the terms or as many as possible.  Remember to encourage illustration and other graphic representation of terms and relationships.

Day 21:

Objective - Students will continue to Put it all together: Make connections between the four topics through a collage composition.

Collage (see Collage Instructions document)

Day 22:

Objective - Students will continue to Put it all together: Make connections between the four topics through synthesis of ideas in a book cover.

Cover construction and dedication page work day (see pop-up book instructions document)

Day 23:

Objective - Students will critique and appraise their own understanding and work around the topics involved in Earth dynamics.

Work day and self-evaluation: students will use the pop-up book rubric provided to them at the beginning of the unit to evaluate their books and look for areas to improve.

Day 24: Editing and binding (see pop-up book instructions document)

Day 25:

Objective - Students will critique and appraise their peer's understanding and work around the topics involved in Earth dynamics.

Peer review: students will critique classmates' books based on the rubric

Day 26: Pop-up books due, reflection (see document)

Additional helpful websites

http://paperforest.blogspot.com/2009/04/paper-cosmos-turns.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html
http://www.outline-world-map.com/map-images-original/outline-blank-transparent-world-map-b1b.png
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/educindex/educindex.htm
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/publications/factsheets.php
http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2800/

Teacher's Notes: What your students will know by the end of this unit

 

I. Formation of Earth

 

The Earth formed from a nebular cloud about 4.6 billion years ago.

The atmosphere at the beginning of Earth's time consisted of water vapor, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide.

About 4 billion years ago, Earth began to cool and the first rocks formed on the surface.

The formation of rocks lead to volcanoes. Volcanic activity dominated the surface of the Earth for millions of years. As volcanoes erupted, they released water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and carbon monoxide through a process called outgassing. When the Earth cooled more (about 3.8 billion years ago) the outgassed water vapor in the atmosphere began to fall to the Earth's surface as liquid water. This water filled oceans and the Earth was finally ready for life to begin.

 

II. Evolution of Life on Earth

 

3.5 billion years ago, the first prokaryotes emerged on Earth. These prokaryotes were photosynthetic - they used the water and carbon dioxide to produce sugars and oxygen. Prior to this, there was very little if any oxygen present in the atmosphere. By 2.2 billion years ago, oxygen had accumulated in our atmosphere.

2 billion years ago, the first eukaryotes developed

Multicellular organisms developed next.

During the Paleozoic era (544-254 mya), earth housed the first land plants, and vertebrate and invertebrate animals.

The Mesozoic era (245-65 mya) is noted as the age of the dinosaurs, age of the reptiles, and mammals began to evolve

Cenozoic era (65 mya to present) is the age of the mammals

 

III. Evolution of the Planet

 

As the Earth changed, organisms living on the Earth changed as well. Processes such as plate tectonics and mountain building lead to physical changes on the Earth. These processes also lead to evolution of organisms. Geographical isolation is an example of an evolutionary process precipitated by the changing of the landscape of Earth.

Rocks and fossils provide evidence of the changing landscape and changing and evolving organisms throughout the history of time on Earth.

 

Evolution of Earth Vocabulary and Terms

Terms should be introduced and associated concepts developed within each topic and embedded in the subtopics.  Provide students with this list of terms.  Each page of their pop up book should include terms and relationships among the terms. 

 

abyssal plain

aggregate

Alleghenian Orogeny

altered hard parts

Ancestral Rockies

Antler Orogeny

Asthenosphere

banded iron formations

Batholith

Bedrock

caldera

Caledonian Orogeny

cast

cementation

cinder-cone volcano

clastic

composite volcano

continental drift

continental margin

continental shelf

continental slop

continental rise

core - inner and outer

convection

convergent boundary

Cordillera

crater

creep

cross-bedding

cross-cutting relationships

crust

deep-sea trench

desertification

dinosaur

divergent boundary

epicenter

epoch

era

evolution

extrusive

fault

fault-block mountains

focus

fossil

geologic time scale

geology

geothermal energy

Gondwana

hot spot

igneous rock

index fossils

intrusive

isotasy

isostatic rebound

laccolith

landslide

Laurentia

lava

lithosphere

magma

magnetic reversals

magnitude

mantle

mass movement

mid-ocean ridges

modified Mercalli scale

moment magnitude scale

nebula

orogeny 

paleogeography

Pangaea

primary wave

pyroclastic flow

Richter scale

ridge push

rift valley

rock cycle

scientific notation

seafloor spreading

seamount

secondary wave

shield volcano

seismic gap

slump

stress

subduction

superposition

theory of plate tectonics

tephra

Tethys Sea

transform boundary

tsunami

unconformity

uplifted mountains

vent

viscosity

weathering

Day 1  KWL for “Evolution of Earth”

Materials:

• Lots of colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers
• Chart Paper and color markers
• Glue
• Scissors

There are two activities to be done the first day of this unit.

1. KWL Lesson Part 1

Introduce the topic of Evolution of Earth and let students know that there will be a culminating project.

a.    Each student will need a manila folder with their name, the title of the unit.  Tell them that at the end of the KWL lesson they will be asked to illustrate the front of their folder.
b.    The folders will contain all the important components (work samples) leading up to the culminating project.
 

2. KWL Lesson Part 2

 

a.    Students will use terms, ideas, questions generated from their individual and group KWL to create a cover on the folder. Encourage students to use lots of color, images, and/or maybe create a collage with magazine images.

b.    It is helpful to have the manila folders left in the classroom and not taken home. Throughout the unit you will be prompted to collect some pieces of work and place into the manila folders.  This will serve your students well later on.
 

The object of this lesson is to empower learners around their pre-knowledge base of earth's formation, geologic time, volcanoes, mountain building and other forces that shape the surface of the planet earth.  Perhaps more importantly, as you review the individual KWL's and as the whole class KWL proceeds, you will be looking for which topics of the unit may need more or less concept development.  If you notice that there are some misunderstandings of concepts this will also emerge allowing you to address those later in the unit.
 
A useful website to review of the pedagogy and methodology of the KWL Lesson can be found here. 

A KWL template is available for download and print.  Because the KWL will be used several times during this unit be sure to save a template.

Have students create a KWL for the big idea “Evolution of Earth”.  This enables the teacher to see if and how learners are making connections between the subtopics.  Some prompts might include:

• What do you already know about how the formation of Earth, geologic time, volcanoes, mountain ranges and plate tectonics?
• How are those events or ideas related?
• What do you already know about how the surface of the planet earth changes over time?
• What do you know about fossils as indirect evidences?
• How do you think scientists know about events that happened millions of years ago?

 

Introduce the unit with a KWL for this unit.

Objective: Students investigate the connections between creation myths and the "hard science" explanation of the origin of planet Earth.

Search - Pair - Share based on the Read - Pair - Share strategy/pedagogy explained in detail here.

Modify the read-pair-share to on-line research rather than a text/reading selection.

Arrange students into 6 groups.

Assign each group one of the following topics. Included are some websites that are helpful as a place to begin their research.  Where websites are not provided a Google or other web search by the topic will be productive.

Myth Assignment Outcome

1.    Students will conduct on line research to determine the following:

The theme and subcomponents of the assigned creation myth.

Connection of the myth to possible observation or real world phenomenon   

2.    Findings will be shared with the class via a power point presentation (PPP).
PPP to include:

•    Title
•    Team participants
•    Reading of the myth aloud
•    Myth copy should be a separate PPP page for students to read along
•    A summary of findings including graphics, pictures, images or videos

“Hard Science” Assignment Outcome
      
1.    Students will conduct on line research to determine the connection between their assigned  topic and early earth evolution.

2.    Findings will be shared with the class via a power point presentation (PPP).
PPP to include:

•    Title
•    Team participants
•    Oral presentation of key findings and the implications of their findings for further inquiry.
•    A summary of findings including graphics, pictures, images or videos

 

3.  Student summary of findings will be included in the culminating project pop-up book.  Encourage students to create an interactive graphic, moveable part, or pop-up page.

Topics and jumping off web sites include :
 

1.  Nebular cloud - solar system - earth

Mysteries of the Solar Nebula

Earth's formation from the Nebula
 

2.  Origin of early Earth's atmosphere

Origins of the Earth's Atmosphere

Earth System History, by Steven M. Stanley

Environmental Graffiti
 

3.  Cultural Creation Myths

Iroquois

Australian Aborigine

The Huron Tribe of the Upper Great Lakes Region

Inuit Creation Story

Myth Assignment Outcome

1.    Students will conduct on line research to determine the following: The theme and subcomponents of the assigned creation myth. Connection of the myth to possible observation or real world phenomenon   

2.    Findings will be shared with the class via a power point presentation (PPP). PPP to include:

•    Title
•    Team participants
•    Reading of the myth aloud
•    Myth copy should be a separate PPP page for students to read along
•    A summary of findings including graphics, pictures, images or videos

“Hard Science” Assignment Outcome

1.    Students will conduct on line research to determine the connection between their assigned topic and early earth evolution.

2.    Findings will be shared with the class via a power point presentation (PPP). PPP to include:

•    Title
•    Team participants
•    Oral presentation of key findings and the implications of their findings for further inquiry.
•    A summary of findings including graphics, pictures, images or videos

 

Objective - Students construct a model of a volcanic eruption and discuss the chemical reactions involved in the model and in volcanic eruptions at the beginning of Earth's history.

Hand out student worksheet at beginning of class and ask students to fill in the sections as the information is presented.

1) Baking soda and vinegar volcano lab:simply add baking soda to a container with vinegar. The amounts are fun to have students guess or estimate before you begin adding. And, depending on the size of your container, you will want to adjust the amounts you add. Play around with this and let the students try to figure out an appropriate ratio. You can also find specific directions at this website:

2) Use the information below to explain the chemical reactions occurring in the baking soda/vinegar reaction. The information is taken from this website.

 

Describing the Chemical Reaction between Baking Soda and Vinegar

Baking soda, a pure chemical called sodium bicarbonate, has the chemical formula:

NaHCO₃ When dissolved in water baking soda separates into sodium (Na⁺) and bicarbonate ions (HCO₃^- ): NaHCO₃ ---> Na⁺(aq) + HCO₃^-(aq) Vinegar, a weak (5%) solution of acetic acid in water, partially dissociates into hydrogen ( H⁺) and acetate ions (CH₃COO^-): CH₃COOH <--> H⁺(aq) + CH₃COO^-(aq)

The reaction between baking soda and vinegar is actually two reactions, an acid base reaction followed by a decomposition reaction.

When the two ingredients are mixed, hydrogen ions ( H⁺) from the vinegar react with the bicarbonate ions (HCO₃^- ) from the baking soda to form a new chemical called carbonic acid (H₂CO₃). H⁺ + HCO₃^- -> H₂CO₃ The carbonic acid thus formed then immediately decomposes into carbon dioxide gas (CO₂)and water (H₂O). H₂CO₃--> H₂O + CO₂

It's this carbon dioxide gas that you see bubbling and foaming as soon as you mix baking soda and vinegar together.

Using the molecular structures of only the components involved, the chemical reaction can be written:

 

The overall reaction however, is often written as follows:

NaHCO₃ (aq) + CH₃COOH (aq)---> CO₂ (g) + H₂O (l) + CH₃COONa (aq)

3)  Discuss the chemical reactions involved in early volcanic eruptions. What were the reactants? What were the products? Why is the significant to the formation of Earth as we know it? How did this impact life on Earth?

Deep within the magma chamber of a volcano, gasses exist. The most abundant and common of these are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). These gases are the driving force of a volcanic eruption, water vapor being the main driver. A volcano needs more than just these gases for an eruption to occur. Pressure and temperature are also necessary.

In early Earth, these volcanic eruptions released water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. The water vapor remained in the atmosphere until the Earth cooled enough for the water vapor to fall as liquid rain.

4) Collect student worksheets and score accordingly.

 

 
 

1) Describe the volcanic eruption demonstration: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

2) Fill in the missing information below.  The information is taken from this website.

Describing the Chemical Reaction between Baking Soda and Vinegar

Baking soda, a pure chemical called _______________, has the chemical formula: ______________________

Vinegar, a weak (5%) solution of _____________ in water, partially dissociates into hydrogen ( H⁺) and acetate ions (CH₃COO^-):
_____________________ <--> H⁺(aq) + CH₃COO^-(aq)

When the two ingredients are mixed, hydrogen ions ( H⁺) from the vinegar react with the bicarbonate ions (HCO₃^- ) from the baking soda to form a new chemical called ____________ (H₂CO₃).

H⁺ + HCO₃^- --> H₂CO₃
The carbonic acid thus formed then immediately decomposes into carbon dioxide gas (CO₂)and water (H₂O).

_________________-- -> ___________ + ____________

It's this _____________________ that you see bubbling and foaming as soon as you mix baking soda and vinegar together.

Using the molecular structures of only the components involved, the chemical reaction can be written:

 

In the equation above, what are the reactants? _____________________________

What are the products? ________________________________________

3)  Describe the chemical reactions involved in early volcanic eruptions. What were the reactants? What were the products? Why is the significant to the formation of Earth as we know it? How did this impact life on Earth?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 _____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

1. All volcanoes are fueled by magma

1. Magma forms deep within the Earth when temperatures are high enough (800C to 1200C) to melt rock

1. Besides temperature, pressure and presence of water contribute to the melting of rocks

b. a wet rock will melt at a lower temperature than the same rock when dry, regardless of pressure

2. Types of magma

Composition	Source Material	Viscosity	Explosiveness
Basaltic Magma	Upper mantle	Low	Least
Andesitic Magma	Oceanic crust and oceanic sediments	Intermediate	Intermediate
Rhyolitic Magma	Continental crust	High	Greatest

3. Viscosity: the internal resistance to flow. The higher the viscosity, the slower the lava flow.

1. 1. Volcanoes

1. Anatomy of a volcano

1. Lava: magma once it reaches the earth's surface

2. Vent: opening in the crust where lava erupts

3. Crater: a bowl-shaped depression at the top of a volcano around the vent

4. Calderas: A depression much larger than a crater; forms when the top or side of a volcano collapses into the magma chamber

B. Types of Volcanoes

Volcano type	Shape	Lava Type	Explosiveness	Example
Shield volcano	broad, gently sloping sides, circular base	layers of basaltic lava	Low	Hawaiian Islands
Cinder-cone volcano	steep sides, generally small	basaltic and/or andesitic	greater than shield volcanoes	Izalco volcano in El Salvador
Composite	much larger than cinder-cone volcanoes	andesitic	violently explosive, greatest danger to humans	Mount St. Helens, WA

C. Volcanoes at the beginning of Earth's history

1. The Earth formed from a nebular cloud about 4.6 billion years ago.
2. About 4 billion years ago, Earth began to cool and the first rocks formed on the surface.

Metaphor in Science

Metaphors are comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way. Metaphors are a way to describe something. Authors use them to make their writing more interesting or entertaining.

Unlike similes that use the words “as” or “like” to make a comparison, metaphors state that something is something else.

Google "metaphor" and you will get a plethora of good sites that can be adapted to a quick lesson for learners new to this literary figure of speech.

A common metaphor for the structure of planet Earth is an egg. The crust, mantle and core can be related to the shell, egg white and yolk. There are many metaphors for all sorts of science concepts. This activity is a challenge for learners to move away from recitation and into deep and meaningful learning.

There are some expectations that must be paid prior to this assignment.

1. Students have been explicitly taught Bloom’s Taxonomy or higher order thinking levels as a way of understanding their own learning and information processing.
2. Students have had some instruction and opportunity to practice metaphor development and usage.
3. Explicitly include elements of a scoring guide if this activity is to be used as an assessment tool.

Rationale:*   This assignment is focused on learner understanding. This is a creative activity that involves design, and higher order thinking and is a synthesis project. Include a brief paragraph of the general concept with a few details of where students can access more information about the concept.

Evidence of Effectiveness:

The value of looking at art or creating art is as a means to cultivate thinking dispositions.  Research in cognition  support that art is uniquely qualified to support commitments to habits of thinking that are not hasty, narrow, fuzzy and sprawling.  Art calls forth personal involvement.  Art draws on various types and levels of cognition and encourages connections with other domains of human experience. David Perkins (1994). The Intelligent Eye:  Learning to Think by Looking at Art.  Harvard Project Graduate School of Education

Task: 

1)   On a piece of 8.5 x 11, oriented in portrait position 2).  Create and illustrate a central metaphor that encapsulates your view of (select any one of the subtopics associated with the Evolution of Earth 3) Create a poem to articulate the metaphor you have selected.

Function:*    This will become the cover sheet, back cover or a page in the student pop up book

 

Students will complete one of the following for inclusion in the culminating project pop up book.

1. flip book with minimum of 6 illustrations representing a sequence of events from dome building through eruption http://www.shmonster.com/creative_corner/Site/Flip_Book.html OR
 

2. a 3-D pop-up page http://robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp    OR
 

3. a paper model filmstrip of the eruption of a volcano. Following are few sites that may be helpful for students choosing this media.  However, they need to modify so that the filmstrip can be flat on paper to fit into their pop-up book.

Making Filmstrips on the Event of the Cay

Alternative Book Reporting Ideas

Scholastic: Home Movies - Make Your Own Paper Filmstrip
 

4. Inclusion of associated terms

*Magma         *Lava             *Vent            *Crater                   *batholith
*caldera         *crust             *extrusive    *cinder cone           *composite
*lithosphere    *pyroclastic flow              *shield volcano        *tephra
*viscosity

Category	Advanced	Proficient	Developing	Emerging
Volcano anatomy	15  labeled terms correctly correspond to illustrations	10 labeled terms correctly correspond to illustrations	7 labeled terms correctly correspond to illustrations	5 labeled terms
Information Quality	No errors in information presented Correct approximate temperatures in Celsius and Fahrenheit noted at 5 points in the illustration	Minor errors in information presented Correct approximate temperatures in C and F noted at 3 points in the illustration	Evidence of confusion in basic information Correct approximate temperatures in C and F noted at 2 points in the illustration	Minimal information presented approximate temperatures lacking
Craftsmanship: Evidence of quality workmanship in design and execution of paper model.	Illustrations are complete, with full functioning movable parts	Illustrations complete with Functioning movable parts.	Illustrations complete but some   movable parts non-functional	Illustrations complete but lacking  movable parts

The power of this instructional strategy/assessment tool lies in the assimilation of related terms and images which tap into the learners existing schemata.  It requires that the learner make sense of a term or concept within a defined set of expressions which already exist in the learners own experience.  Additionally the poem can express deeper knowledge and be used as an assessment or evidence of understanding. 

For example is a learner wrote something like…

Pangaea
Drifting Continents
Evidence Fossil Record
Plates Float Mantle Uplifts
200 m.y.a.

There is evidence the learner understands that Pangaea was a super-continent. It began to break apart 200 million years ago, the result of thermal uplifts in the earth’s mantle. The continental plates float and move.  The fossil record provides evidence that continents were once connected.

This tool, the Cinquain Poem, can be used in multiple ways:

1.    Pre-reading assignment

2.    Vocabulary assignment

3.    Concept building

4.    Concept or skill assessment
 

The basic format is as follows:

Title (one word)
Describe Title (two words)
Feeling Emotive Words (three words)
Words of Action Movement (four words)
Synonym (of title one word)


Cinquain
Poetry Form
Need Not Rhyme
Engages Learner in Content
Powerful


Cinquain
Five Lines
Sensory emotive expression
Creates an image sense
Poem

In addition to writing the poem it is helpful to ask students to illustrate the concept and then superimpose the poem onto the illustration.  This is best done by using a scanner and word processing program, if available.  But the good ole’ fashioned way of having the student write the poem, using their best penmanship centered on the page and then illustrating around the hand written poem also works well.  This is particularly effective if the lesson also includes some instruction on labeling or calligraphy or stylized “wordmanship”…somewhat like WordARt but more individually stylized.  Graffiti is a type of stylized penmanship.

Geologic Time Scale

1) Objective - Students investigate the connections between solid earth (volcanoes), oceans, atmosphere and organisms through an on-line search.

Search - Pair - Share based on the Read - Pair - Share strategy/pedagogy explained in detail at http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/pd/instr/strats/think/index.html

Modify the read-pair-share to an on-line research rather than a text selection.

Topics include:

1. Geologic evolution of Earth
   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_history_of_Earth
2. Evolution of Earth's atmosphere
   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_atmosphere
3. Uniformitarianism
   1. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0/history_12
4. Indirect Evidences
   1. Fossil
      1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil
   2. Geologic time
      1. http://www.geo.ua.edu/intro03/time.html

Plan for at least one full class period for this activity.  Allow for discussion after each section is presented by teams to the class.  This will enable students to embed ideas and developed a wholist veiw of the process, leading to the understanding of earth being in a continual state of dynamic equilibrium.

Emphasize that students need to make their website addresses available to all class participants.

2) Objective - Students develop a visual of earth changes over time.   Visual should be interactive, and is considered to be a component page(s) of their culminating project - pop-up book.  Below is listed a single of example of a geological time spiral that could be used as a jumping off point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Geological_time_spiral.png

3) Scoring Rubric

Advanced: Illustrates the geologic evolution of Earth with appropriate labels and units of time. Describes the characteristics of each era and eon.

Proficient: Illustrates the geologic evolution of Earth with appropriate labels. Describes characteristics of each era and eon.

Developing: Illustrates the geologic evolution of Earth with at least 4 appropriate labels. Describes some characteristics of each era and eon.

Emerging: Labels the eras prepared teacher generated diagram. Describes an interesting characteristic of each era.

 

   

In addition to the notes below, visit this website from National Geographic illustrating a timeline with descriptions of the evolution of life on Earth from the beginning of Earth to the beginning of humans.
 

I. Evolution of Life on Earth

A. 3.5 billion years ago, the first prokaryotes emerged on Earth.

 

1. These prokaryotes were photosythetic - they used the water and carbon dioxide to produce sugars and oxygen.

2. Prior to this, there was very little if any oxygen present in the atmosphere.

3. By 2.2 billion years ago, oxygen had accumulated in our atmosphere.
 

B. 2 billion years ago, the first eukaryotes developed

 

C. Multicellular organisms developed next.

 

D. During the Paleozoic era (544-254 mya), earth housed the first land plants, and vertebrate and invertebrate animals.

 

E. The Mesozoic era (245-65 mya) is noted as the age of the dinosaurs, age of the reptiles, and mammals began to evolve

 

F. Cenozoic era (65 mya to present) is the age of the mammals

 

II. Evidence of Evolution

 

A. Evolution is change over time

 

B. Fossils provide evidence of organisms physically changing over time

1. Fossils of the same type of organisms have been found in very different locations - indicating the locations had been near each other at some point when the organisms existed.

 

b. Example: fossils of the land-dwelling animal Kannemeyerid found in Canada, South America, Western Africa and Russia
 

2. Fossils are analyzed to show similarities between different species. For example, fossils of certain Dinosaurs have characteristics similar to modern birds. Scientists have recently found more evidence of the evolutionary relationship between these two by examining the fetal development of birds (as seen on Science Channel's "Dinosaurs: Return to Life?")
 

III. Mechanisms for Evolution

 

A. Charles Darwin theorized organisms change over time as their environments change.

1. Survival of the fittest means those organisms best adapted to their environment are better able to survive and reproduce

2. As the environment changes, which organisms are best adapted also changes. Thus, as the Earth changed (temperatures, presence of water, landscape, etc.) the organisms surviving on the Earth also changed.
 

B. How does this change occur?

1. Mutations

2. Isolating Mechanisms

 

b. geographic isolation: two populations are separated by geographic barriers such as rivers or mountains
 

c. the longer the populations are separated, the more potential for genetic change between the two populations

*information presented comes from Earth Science published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill
 

I. Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift

 

A. Continental Drift - theory about the continents separating

 

1. Pangaea - the early land mass consisting of all current continents put together
 

2. Evidence

 

b. fossils of similar plants and animals found on different continents (for example: pre-dinosaurs found in Africa and South America)

c. Glacier evidence in Africa, India, Australia and South America
 

3. Scientists at the time disputed Wegener's theory because he could not explain how the continents separated
 

B. Seafloor Spreading

 

1. Ocean ridges - separation in the seafloor causing a "gap"

 

b. magma cools and hardens

c. gap reopens and pushes hardened magma to the side creating more seafloor
 

2. Missing link in Wegener's theory: seafloor spreading caused pangaea to separate
 

3. Analysis of the seafloor shows Earth's polarity has reversed several times throughout history
 

4. Seafloor closest to ocean ridges is younger than seafloor farther from the ridge
 

II. Theory of Plate Tectonics

 

A. Earth's crust is broken into slabs called PLATES

 

B. Plate boundaries - areas where plates interact

 

1. Divergent boundaries - where plates separate

 

b. Rift Valley - divergent boundary on land, may lead to a new ocean basin (ex. Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa)
 

2. Convergent boundaries - where plates move together

 

b. Ocean to continent: oceanic plate will slide under the continental plate, pushing the continental plate up. This causes a trench in the ocean and a mountain range on land

c. Continent to continent: both plates push together and uplift causing a mountain range, for example the Himalayas
 

3. Transform boundaries - plates slide horizontally against each other

b. San Andreas fault in California is the best known transform boundary
 

C. Causes of Plate Motion: Scientists are not sure, but they have ideas of what causes the motion of the plates

 

1. Idea 1: Mantle convection currents: material near the mantle is warmer than at the surface, which causes it to rise and the cooler material to sink. As the cooler material gets lower, it warms up and rises and the material near the surface (now cooled) sinks, process continues

b. Slab pull - where the material sinks - divergent boundary
 

2. Idea 2: Continental Divergent Boundary: continent acts as an insulating blanket - mantle heats beneath is - warm matter rises, splits the land mass

1. Divide the class into groups of 2. Assign each group one of the following timeframes to map:
 

Precambrian

Cambrian

Ordovician

Silurian

Devonian

Early Carboniferous

Late Carboniferous

Permian

Triassic

Jurassic

Late Jurassic

Cretaceous

Eocene

Miocene

Modern World

 

2. Each group will examine the map for their timeframe using the Paleomap Project found online here.

3. After examining the map, each group will construct a colorful map of their timeframe and include names of continents, oceans, and dates. Use letter size paper and colored pencils or markers. Each map should fill the page.

4. Have each group present their maps to the class in chronological order and then post them in the room in the said order.

5. Individually, students need to create a single piece of paper with maps from each of the following eras in chronological order. This map creation will become part of their pop-up book. 

Eras to include: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. Expect each students' map creation to be different as the time frame for each era covers several of the maps created in groups.

Other website resources with map illustrations:

Rodinia (750mya)

500 - 180 mya

225 - 65 mya

225 mya - present

208 mya

*information presented comes from Earth Science published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill

 

I. Convergent-Boundary Mountains

 

A. Orogeny: the processes that form all mountain ranges

 

1. Orogeny results in broad, linear regions of deformations known as orogenic belts
 

2. Most notable belts are found at convergent boundaries
 

B. Oceanic-Oceanic Convergence: when two ocean plates collide

 

1. One ocean plate travels below the other plate toward the mantle causing a subduction zone
 

2. The other ocean plate develops volcanic peaks
 

C. Oceanic-Continental Convergence: when an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate

 

1. The oceanic plate descends toward the mantle
 

2. The continental plate is forced beginning orogeny
 

3. Magma is formed during this process as well
 

D. Continental-Continental Convergence: when two continental plates collide

 

1. Himalayas (Earth's tallest mountain range) are formed at this type of convergence
 

2. Neither plate can be subducted into the mantle
 

3. As the two plates push against one another, they both fold and fault creating mountains
 

II. Other Types of Mountains

 

A. Divergent-Boundary mountains: Ocean ridge mountains form along divergent boundaries  

 

B. Nonboundary mountains: mountains forming away from plate boundaries

 

1. Uplifted mountains

 

b. cause of regional uplift is not well understood

c. Example: Adirondack Mountains of New York
 

2. Fault-Block mountains

 

b. Example: Grand Tetons in Wyoming
 

3. Volcanic Peaks

b. Often a chain of volcanic peaks forms as the plate moves over the hot spot

c. Example: Hawaiian Islands
 

III. Influence of Mountain Building on Earth's evolution

 

A. Formation of Mountains changes the landscape of an area.

 

1. As the Earth changes, organisms living on the Earth change as well.
 

2. Geographical isolation is an example of an evolutionary process precipitated by the changing of the landscape of Earth.
 

B. Rocks and fossils provide evidence of the changing landscape and changing and evolving organisms throughout the history of time on Earth.

 

 

Almost everything a learner needs to know about how to construct a pop-up page in a pop-up book can be found in the following paperback books.  Irvine opens the door and invites us in to explore the mechanics of model building inside the covers of a book or a card. How to Make Pop-Ups  and How to Make Super Pop-Ups, by Joan Irvine.  There is also an on-line sample of a simple pop-up at http://www.makersgallery.com/joanirvine/.

Challenge students to create original paper models.   The following website has many many free templates.  You will use this site often during this unit so be sure to bookmark it as a favorite.

Let's Book It with tech'knowledge'y       http://www.vickiblackwell.com/makingbooks/

An excellent ready to use slide show is available at

http://www.uleth.ca/edu/currlab/handouts/popupbooks.html

click on "9 types of toys and movable books." This would be a good introductory piece to the learners.  Also access the reproducible worksheets when you click on "Toy and Movable Books Sample Worksheets."

Another resource is http://www.robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp site for how-to's.

http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/introduction.htm
You are encouraged to visit the above site to get a comprehensive overview of the history of pop-up books.  Really dig around in the site.  Particularly interesting are the menu items on the left side of the screen.  Be warned however, it will be hard to resist moving further and further into this website!

History of Pop-Ups

It is interesting that pop-ups have reemerged in the last 25 years as a children’s book feature.  In it’s former life, the pop-up was used as a teaching tool to demonstrate complex and layered ideas.

The earliest known examples of such interactive mechanisms actually occurred prior to printing. Work containing volvelles or revolving discs, were used to illustrate a complex philosophical search for truth. The circles were cut out and placed one on top of one another as a simple turning of circles.  They illustrated a variety of topics, including natural science, astronomy, mathematics, mysticism, fortune telling, navigation, and medicine.

“Other types of movables, in particular "turn-up" or "lift-the-flap" mechanisms, were in use as early as the fourteenth century. They were especially helpful in books on anatomy, where separate leaves, each featuring a different section of the body, could be hinged together at the top and attached to a page. This technique enabled the viewer to unfold, for instance, multiple depths of a torso, from ribcage to abdomen to spine. One spectacular example of an anatomical movable is Andreas Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica librorum epitome, printed in Basel in 1543. It features a movable illustration in which the human anatomy is shown in seven detailed superimposed layers.” http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/introduction.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001156/makingbooks/em_popup.htm "Tab pop-up books are easy to make and fabulous to look at.  They look three dimensional because the pictures "pop-up" at you as you open the pages!  You can make single page pop-up books for short subjects or you can lengthen the book by gluing the pages back to back.  The instructions provided are for single page pop-up books."

Now, all that being said... 

Constructing this Pop-Up Book

At this point in the lesson, your students have already constructed several movable part pages for their books:

Formation of the earth

1. Completed KWL
2. Creation Myths (potential for inclusion but not an assigned page)

Volcanoes

1. Completed KWL
2. Illustrated Metaphor
3. Volcano  Model
4. Illustrated Cinquain Poem

Geologic Time Scale

1. Visual of Change over Time
2. Geographic Isolation page

Plate Tectonics

1. Visual of Change over Time
2. Illustrated Metphor
3. Illustrated Cinquain Poem

Mountain Building

1. Completed KWL
2. Mini-book
3. Illustrated Cinquain

Putting it all together

1. Graphic Organizer
2. Collage
3. Front Cover
4. Table of Contents
5. Dedication Page

Work samples will become pages in their books.  Review the rubric with students at regular intervals to address questions and concerns.

There will be a lot of trial and error in the construction process.  Encourage learners to make a prototype of the their page models before making it in final materials.

Binding the Book

When the pages are ready to be bound into a book follow these directions:

Each student will need 3 pieces of 9" x 12" construction or index paper.

1. Count the number of pages to be included in your book. Divide that number by 2 because those pages will be bound back to back. Sequence your pages in order based on the above list of expected components, plus any other pages you have decided to include.
2. Depending on the number of pages to be bound, create an accordion fold using construction or index paper that is about 1" longer than the pages.  The accordion fold should have the same number of ridges and valleys as there are pages. The ridges of the accordion should be smaller than the outside edge of any mechanism or art work or narrative.
3. Do not use the first and last valleys because this is where the front and back covers will be placed.
4. Once all the pages, front and back covers have been placed, secure the binding with glue and set with something like a clothes pin until the glue sets.  Usually, overnight allows enough time to dry.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Collage
http://www.creativityportal.com/howto/artscrafts/features/2004/magazine.collage.html
http://www.ehow.com/video_4435635_establish-theme-collage.html
http://www.life123.com/hobbies/scrapbooking/collages/word-collage.shtml

Using the above web sites introduce students to the concept of collage.  Technically, a collage is a combination of photos, paper, fabric, rubber stamps, magazine paper, etc. arranged on a background.  In this case students will be constructing their collages on an 8.5 x 11 paper.  Remind them to leave a 1" margin on the left side so that when they bind the books the binding doesn't interfere with the finished collage.

For this collage project, students will collect images, either realistic or abstract to create a collage with the theme of Earth Dynamics and some of what is embedded in that big idea.  Encourage students to seek sources for their collages from magazines, interesting papers, scraps of fabric, WORDS, printing stamps, stickers, stenciled letters, free hand drawings or quotes, odds and ends of various sorts.

Please complete a collage yourself and use as an example for students.  You will learn a lot about collage as you produce a collage.

I like shapes to be cut out, trimmed, and fit together or overlayed.  A collage should not have any white from the paper showing through from behind the pasted images. 

The theme of the collage is Earth Dynamics. This piece will become the front cover of their book, and should include the book title and author name. The title and author name can be superimposed, in black ink or other, on the collage.