Lesson Plan

Subject: Earth Science Grade Level: Gifted 6th

2-15-16 to 2-19-16

Content Standard:

S6E5. Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s

surface is formed.

Vocabulary: Weathering, erosion, chemical, physical, exfoliation, ice wedging, thermal, biotic,

oxidation, carbonation

Parallel

Alternative

Station

Team

Independent

Students are grouped by previous Georgia Milestone scores

Beginning

May include:

Opening, warm up,

review, anticipatory

set, etc

Middle

May include: Instruction,

checking for understanding,

independent or group practice

End

May include: Closing,

assessments, extension

of lesson, etc.

Monday

NO SCHOOL

Tuesday

substitute

What is the rate of

weathering? What

factors affect

weathering

Task 1: student will use

discussion map to answer

textbook questions and construct a

test question(review of questions

from homework last week)

3-2-1

Wednesday

substitute

What is erosion?

Task 1: Students will code the

informational text reading passage

and create a constructed response

question

Did not complete last week

Ticket out the door

Thursday

Quiz and finish weathering lab

Friday

STEM day

Student will create a prototype of

shark tank product

Marzano’s Essential 9 (Highlight Strategies Used)

Identifying Similarities and Difference

Summarizing and Note-taking

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

Homework and Practice

Nonlinguistic Representations

Cooperative Learning

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

Generating and Testing Hypotheses

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Multiple Intelligence (Highlight Accessed

Intelligences)

Verbal-Linguistic

Logical-Mathematical

Visual-Spatial

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Musical

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Name: _______________________________Date: _______________Period: ________

Weathering Lab

Purpose: To investigate the processes of physical and chemical weathering.

Materials:

Sugar Cubes (5)

Shaker Bottle

Hot Water

Cold Water

Alka-seltzer

Triple Balance

Blank paper

2 Thermometers

2 250 ml Beakers

2 Stop watches

Part 1 Physical Weathering

1.) Take the mass of 5 sugar cubes together using your triple beam balance. Record

this mass in grams in the data table (attached to this sheet).

2.) Sketch a drawing of what the average sugar cube looks like in the

data table. 3.) Place the sugar cubes in the jar.

4.) Shake the jar 20 times.

5.) Pour the contents of your jar out on your blank sheet of paper. Separate the sugar

cubes and the crumbs.

6.) Take the mass of all your sugar cubes together and sketch the general appearance of

one of the sugar cubes in your data table.

7.) Repeat this four more times.

Analysis Questions

1.) Describe in detail how the sugar cubes have changed throughout the experiment.

Physical Weathering Data Table

Shaking Trial Drawing of Sugar Cube Mass of Sugar Cubes (g) 0 Shakes

After 20 Shakes

After 40 Shakes

After 60 Shakes

After 80 Shakes

After 100 Shakes

Part 2 Chemical Weathering

Purpose: Temperature has an effect on the rate of weathering rocks. In a hot, moist

climate chemical weathering occurs rapidly while in a cool, moist climate physical

weathering occurs faster.

1.) You will be given 2 beakers, one with hot water and the other with cold water.

2.) For a minute, take the temperature for both the hot water and cold water. Record

this in the data table.

3.) Drop an alka-seltzer tab in each of the containers. And time how long it takes each to

dissolve. 4.) Record your information in the data table (on the back of this sheet).

5.) Repeat this two more times and record all information in the data table.

Analysis

1.) How does temperature affect the rate of chemical weathering?

Data Table

Trial Hot water temperature (Celsius)

Hot water time (seconds)

Cold water temperature (Celsius)

Cold water time (seconds)

1

2

3

Name: Date: Period:_

Graphing Physical and Chemical Weathering

Part 1 Physical Weathering

1.) Create a line graph that demonstrates the relationship between the amount of shakes

and the masses of the sugar cubes.

2.) Label your x axis (horizontal axis) with the number of shakes (0 shakes to 100 shakes)

3.) Label your y axis (vertical axis) with possible masses of your sugar cubes (start low and

increase, provide steady increments).

4.) Draw a line graph that illustrates the change in mass of the cubes after each shake.

Draw this below:

Part 2: Chemical Weathering

1.) Create a double bar graph for the amount of time taken to dissolve the alka-seltzer in

both hot and cold water.

2.) Label the x axis with your three trials.

3.) Label the Y axis with the time (start low and increase, provide steady

increments). 4.) Draw your double bar graph on the back. See the board for

examples.

Post Lab Questions

Directions: Answer these questions to the best of your ability. These are for a grade, do your

best. You can use your book, your notes, or your lab results for the answers. Work together with

your group to come up with the best answers.

1.) In what type of climate/biome would chemical weathering have the greatest affect on rocks

and why? (2 points)

2.) Describe in detail how weathering and erosion work together as destructive forces to

create geologic landforms. Explain what weathering and erosion are and how they work

together. Finally give a specific example of a landform they created. (4 points).

3.) Explain how ice wedging (frost wedging) and plant roots as a form of physical

weathering can damage a driveway (2 points).

Erosion National Geographic Education

Erosion is the act in which earth is worn away, often by water, wind, or ice. A similar process,

weathering, breaks down or dissolves rock, weakening it or turning it into tiny fragments. No rock is

hard enough to resist the forces of weathering and erosion. Together, they shaped the sharp peaks of the

Himalaya Mountains in Asia and sculpted the spectacular forest of rock towers of Bryce Canyon, in the

U.S. state of Utah.

The process of erosion moves bits of rock or soil from one place to another. Most erosion is performed

by water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier). These forces carry the rocks and soil from the

places where they were weathered. If water is muddy, it is a sign that erosion is taking place. The

brown color indicates that bits of rock and soil are suspended in the water and being transported from

one place to another. This transported material is called sediment.

When wind or water slows down, or ice melts, sediment is deposited in a new location. As the sediment

builds up, it creates fertile land. River deltas are made almost entirely of sediment. Delta sediment is

eroded from the banks and bed of the river.

Erosion by Water Moving water is the major agent of erosion. Rain carries away bits of soil and slowly washes away rock

fragments. Rushing streams and rivers wear away their banks, creating larger and larger valleys. In a

span of about 5 million years, the Colorado River cut deeper and deeper into the land in what is now

the U.S. state of Arizona. It eventually formed the Grand Canyon, which is more than 1,600 meters (1

mile) deep and as much as 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide in some places.

Erosion by water changes the shape of coastlines. Waves constantly crash against shores. They pound

rocks into pebbles and reduce pebbles to sand. Water sometimes takes sand away from beaches. This

moves the coastline farther inland.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1870, on the Outer Banks, a series of islands off the coast of

the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the time, the lighthouse was nearly 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) from

the ocean. Over time, however, the ocean eroded most of the beach near the lighthouse. By 1999, the

surf endangered the structure. Many people thought it would collapse during a strong storm. The

lighthouse was moved 880 meters (2,900 feet) inland.

The battering of ocean waves also erodes seaside cliffs. It sometimes bores holes that form caves.

When water breaks through the back of the cave, it creates an arch. The continual pounding of the

waves can cause the top of the arch to fall, leaving nothing but rock columns. These are called sea

stacks. All of these features make rocky beaches beautiful, but also dangerous.

Erosion by Wind Wind is also an agent of erosion. It carries dust, sand, and volcanic ash from one place to another. Wind

can sometimes blow sand into towering dunes. Some sand dunes in the Badain Jaran area of the Gobi

Desert in China reach more than 400 meters (1,300 feet) high.

In dry areas, windblown sand blasts against rock with tremendous force, slowly wearing away the soft

rock. It also polishes rocks and cliffs until they are smooth.

Wind is responsible for the dramatic arches that give Arches National Park, in the U.S. state of Utah, its

name. Wind can also erode material until nothing remains at all. Over millions of years, wind and water

eroded an entire mountain range in central Australia. Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is the only

remnant of those mountains.

Erosion by Ice Ice can erode the land. In frigid areas and on some mountaintops, glaciers move slowly downhill and

across the land. As they move, they pick up everything in their path, from tiny grains of sand to huge

boulders.

The rocks carried by a glacier rub against the ground below, eroding both the ground and the rocks.

Glaciers grind up rocks and scrape away the soil. Moving glaciers gouge out basins and form steep-

sided mountain valleys.

Several times in Earth's history, vast glaciers covered parts of the Northern Hemisphere. These glacial

periods are known as ice ages. Glaciers carved much of the northern North American and European

landscape. They scoured the ground to form the bottom of what are now the Finger Lakes in the U.S.

state of New York. They also carved fjords, deep inlets along the coast of Scandinavia.

Today, in places such as Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers continue to erode the earth. These ice

sheets, sometimes more than a mile thick, carry rocks and other debris downhill toward the sea. Eroded

sediment is often visible on and around glaciers. This material is called moraine.

Erosion and People Erosion is a natural process, but human activity can make it happen more quickly. Trees and plants

hold soil in place. When people cut down forests or plow up grasses for agriculture or development, the

soil washes away or blows away more easily. Landslides become more common. Water also rushes

over exposed soil rather than soaking into it, causing flooding.

Erosion control is the process of reducing erosion by wind and water. Farmers and engineers must

regularly practice erosion control. Sometimes, engineers simply install structures to physically prevent

soil from being transported. Gabions are huge wire frames that hold boulders in place, for instance.

Gabions are often placed near cliffs. These cliffs, often near the coast, have homes, businesses, and

highways near them. When erosion by water or wind threatens to tumble the boulders toward buildings

and cars, gabions protect landowners and drivers by hold

“Erosion” is an encyclopedic entry at the National Geographic Education website. It was accessed on July 25, 2012, at this

website address:http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/erosion/kd/?ar_a=5&ar_r=3#page=1

Guiding Question: Using evidence from the article, do weathering and erosion help people or hurt people?

Paragraph # Notes

Check relevant categories below.

can help

people

can hurt

people

no impact

on people

Question Generation “Erosion”

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/erosion/kd/?ar_a=5&ar_r=3#page=1

Directions: Generate additional questions that are unanswered from your text reading and based on discussion with your partner(s). Record your

questions in the chart and check the relevant category.

Paragraph # Questions

Check relevant categories below.

Impacts Florida

Scientific Fact

Code Description

W describes where an agent is breaking apart rock (weathering)

E describes where an agent is moving rock, sediment, sand, etc.

(erosion)

+ describes when weathering and erosion are helpful to humans

- describes when weathering and erosion are harmful to humans

3 Things I Learned Today …

2 Things I Found Interesting …

1 Question I Still Have …