What's Under my Feet?

Millcreek Elementary School
Upper Primary (2nd & 3rd grade)
Catherine Piatt & LeeAnn Lewellen

 

Organizer:

What's down in the ground and how can I use it?

Essential Questions:

  1. What is the ground made of?
  2. How can rocks be classified?
  3. How can we use what is in the ground?
  4. What changes and patterns can we see in the weather?
  5. How does weather affect the ground?
  6. How do I measure the weather?

Academic Expectations and Demonstrators:

-1.16 Students use computers and other kinds of technology to collect, organize, and communicate information and ideas.

-Use a variety of technologies in various ways.

-Use technology to display information in various ways.

-Gather and manipulate data using technology.

-Express information and ideas using technology.

-2.2 Students identify, analyze, and use patterns such as cycles and trends to understand past and present events and predict possible future events.

-2.6 Students understand how living and nonliving things change over time and the factors that influence the changes.

-Use senses to observe items; communicate similarities and/or differences.

-Classify objects according to more than one property or attribute.

-Describe situations where one change causes another change.

-5.2 Students use creative thinking skills to develop or invent novel, constructive ideas or products.

-6.1 Students connect knowledge and experiences from different subject areas.

Culminating Performance:

Each student will choose one rock from a collection of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Each student will use multiple resources to create an informational brochure highlighting their rock. The brochures will be combined into a class rock museum to be on display for other students.

Scoring Rubric

    Level 4:

    Level 3:

    Level 2:

    Level 1:

Mechanics and Creativity Rubric

4

  • My brochure contains no or only one C.U.P.S. errors.
  • I used complete sentences, my writing makes sense, and my work is interesting to the reader.
  • My work is very neat, colorful, and shows my very best effort.

3

  • My brochure has only two or three C.U.P.S. errors.
  • I used complete sentences and my writing makes sense.
  • My work is neat, colorful, and shows my best effort.

2

  • My brochure has four or five C.U.P.S. errors.
  • I used some complete sentences and my writing mostly makes sense.
  • Most of my work is neat, colorful and shows good effort.

1

  • My brochure has more than five C.U.P.S. errors.
  • I used only a few complete sentences and my writing does not make sense.
  • My work is not neat, colorful and shows little effort.

Core Content:

-SC-E-2.1.1 Earth materials include solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. Minerals that make up rocks have properties of color, texture, and hardness. Soils have properties of color, texture, the capacity to retain water, and the ability to support plant growth. Water on Earth and in the atmosphere can be a solid, liquid, or gas.

-SC-E-2.1.2 Earth materials provide many of the resources humans use. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials (e.g., stone, clay, marble), as sources of fuel (e.g., petroleum, natural gas), or growing the plants we use as food.

-SC-E-2.3.2 Weather changes from day to day and over seasons. Weather can be described by observations and measurable quantities such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.

-PL-E-4.1.3 There are different job opportunities in the home, school, and community (e.g., home business, flexible schedule).

-PL-E-4.4.1 Academic skills (e.g., science, physical education, math, health, reading, writing, social studies, art, music) that relate to various jobs and careers are needed for future success.

Knowledge:

Skills/Abilities:

Technology Standards

T6.5 Create a presentation or product using application software.

T6.6 Use digital imaging and audio

T5.7 Enter and edit spreadsheet information

T5.1 Use proper keyboarding with speed and accuracy relative to the task

Critical Resources:

Books:

CALL #

Title

School

070.4 Fit

Fitz-Gerald, Christine Maloney. I can be a reporter.   Chicago : Childrens Press, c1986.   Discusses the work reporters do in gathering material for stories and then writing them.  

Arlington

070.4 MAB

Mabery, D. L. Tell me about yourself : how to interview anyone, from your friends to famous people.   Minneapolis : Lerner Publications Co., c1985.   Describes how to arrange, prepare for, and conduct an interview, with examples and suggestions of interview opportunities in school and various careers.  

Cardinal Valley, Clays Mill, Squires

331.1 Cra

Craig, Janet. What's it like to be a newspaper reporter.   Mahwah, N.J. : Troll Associates, c1990.   Follows a newspaper reporter as he covers different assignments and describes the activities of editors, proofreaders, and others inside and outside the news room who help publish and distribute the newspaper.  

Cardinal Valley, Lansdowne, Picadome, Squires, Stonewall

549 Har

Harris, Susan. Gems and minerals.   New York : F. Watts, 1980.   Describes in simple language the characteristics and uses of minerals and gems.  

Arlington, Breckinridge, JLAllen, Johnson, Linlee, Meadowthorpe, Russell

549 Pel

Pellant, Chris. Rocks and minerals / by Chris Pellant ; Helen Pellant, editorial consultant ; photography by Harry Taylor.   New York : Boston, Mass. : Dorling Kindersley ; Distributed by Houghton Mifflin, 1992.  

Julius Marks

550 Sip

Sipiera, Paul P. I can be a geologist.   Chicago : Childrens Press, 1986.   Briefly describes a variety of jobs and topics of study in the field of geology and highlights the necessary education and training.  

Arlington, Garden Springs

551.1 COL (B SET)

COLE, J. THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS INSIDE THE EARTH (BOOK SET).     

Tates Creek Elementary

552 GAN

Gans, Roma, 1894- Let's go rock collecting.   New York : HarperCollinsPublishers, c1997.   Describes the formation and characteristics of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and how to recognize and collect them.  

Millcreek

552 Pod

Podendorf, Illa. Rocks and minerals.   Chicago : Childrens Press, c1982.   An introduction to the formation and identification of a variety of rocks and minerals.  

Arlington, Ashland, Athens, CValley, Deep Springs, Garden Springs, JLAllen, Johnson, JREwan, Lansdowne, Linlee, Meadowthorpe, Northern, Russell, Russell Cave, Southern, Squires, Stonewall, Veterans Park, Yates

552 Sym

Symes, R. F. Rocks & minerals.   New York : Knopf, 1988.   Text and photographs examine the creation, importance, erosion, mining, and uses of rocks and minerals.  

Millcreek

624 Lan

Langley, Andrew. Under the ground.   New York : Bookwright Press, 1986, c1985.   Describes things which are found underground such as worms, coal, caves, tunnels, cables, and artifacts.  

Garden Springs, Squires

E B

Baylor, Byrd. Everybody needs a rock.   New York : Scribner, [1974]   Describes the qualities to consider in selecting the perfect rock for play and pleasure.  

Ashland, Breckinridge, BTW, Cassidy, Clays Mill, Deep Springs, Dixie, Harrison, JREwan, Mary Todd, Northern, Picadome, Rosa Parks, Russell, Southern, Squires, Tates Creek Elem, Veterans Park, Yates

VR 552 All

All about rocks & minerals.   Schlessinger Media, c2000.   Minerals are an important part of everything around us, from the pencils we write with to the airplanes in the sky. Even the Earth beneath our feet is packed solid wwith these essential building blocks.  

Millcreek

 

Evaluation Component:

Pre- and Post test

 

  1. Which is NOT a type of rock?

a. igneous

b. cement

c. metamorphic

d. sedimentary

2. How are igneous rocks formed?

a. when magma cools

b. when magma heats up

c. when magma evaporates

d. when magma falls

3. Which is a sedimentary rock?

a. gneiss

b. granite

c. scoria

d. limestone

4. What is erosion? ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

5. Explain two ways we use what is in the ground.

a. _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

b. _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

6. Which is NOT a tool we use to measure weather?

a. thermometer

b. rain gauge

c. scale

d. anemometer

7. Which shows the seasons in the correct order?

a. winter, spring, summer, fall

b. spring, winter, fall, summer

c. spring, fall, summer, winter

d. winter, summer, fall, spring

8. What do you call a person who studies rocks?

a. astronaut

b. geologist

c. meteorologist

d. oceanographer

9. Rocks have matter inside of them that give them color called:

a. dirt

b. water

c. minerals

d. chemicals

 

Instructional/Assessment Activities:

 

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thurs

Fri

Week 1

  •   Initiating Activity: Scavenger Hunt on school grounds (classify rocks; living/non-living)
  • Writing/Read Aloud: Literary piece with brochure about character, setting, problem solution
  • Organizing question
  • Pretest
  • Weather Journal (install outside thermometer, rain gauge)
  • Writing/Read Aloud: Literary piece with brochure about character, setting, problem solution
  • Weather Journal
  • Non-living Things
  • Read aloud
  • Three types of rocks
  • Writing/Read Aloud: Literary piece with brochure about character, setting, problem solution
  • Weather Journal
  • How rocks are formed (Use Rock Hounds website)
  •   Writing/Read Aloud: Literary piece with brochure about character, setting, problem solution
  • Weather Journal
  • How rocks are formed (continued) (Use Rock Hounds website)
  • Read Aloud: Interview
  • Writing: Brainstorm interview questions

Week 2

  • Weather Journal
  • How rocks are formed (continued) (Use Rock Hounds website)
  • Writing/Read Aloud: Review, revise interview questions; Ask a Geologist website: Ask-A-Geologist@usgs.gov 
  • Weather Journal
  • Guest speaker (Geologist)
  • Weather Journal
  • What’s inside of rocks? (FOSS Lesson #1)
  • Weather Journal
  • Minerals (FOSS Lesson #2)
  • Weather Journal
  • Minerals continued (FOSS Lesson #2)

Week 3

  • Weather Journal
  • How do we use rocks? (Using Rocks book)
  • Weather Journal
  • Erosion
  • Weather Journal
  • Patterns of weather (seasons, temperature, etc.)
  • Weather Journal
  • Guest speaker (meteorologist)
  • Weather Journal
  • Show examples of brochure and rubric

Week 4

Develop brochure

Develop brochure

Computer lab time

Computer lab time

Computer lab time

Week 5

Rock Museum

Rock Museum

Post test

   

 

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