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Title: HOT! RED HOT!
Grade: 8th Subject: volcanoes Class: science
Purpose
The overall aim of this two-week unit is to explore (one of) the types of geologic activities that can and has changed the face of the Earth during its history. I would like to focus my instructional unit on one of the areas of our state core curriculum for 8th grade science- volcanoes. If time allows, I would like to extend it into their relationships with earthquakes and plate tectonics. I have always covered volcanoes a little, but I would like to slow down and go into a bit more depth. The students really enjoy the magnitude of catastrophic Earth events, which should help to "set the hook." I would like to incorporate the Western U.S. and our state's geologic and volcanic history into the more generic information that is usually presented.
Objective
1. Following review of Internet research concepts, students will successfully locate appropriate search engines.
2. Following review of Microsoft PowerPoint, students will successfully enter and manipulate text and graphic images in a dummy presentation.
3. Without notes, after reading the textbook information on volcanoes, students will verbally describe the characteristics of volcanoes with 80% accuracy.
4. With notes, after a class discussion about travel guides, students will verbally describe the contents of a typical travel guide with 90% accuracy.
5. During an open-ended discussion, students will verbally describe at least one of their ideas about volcano characteristics that are to be included in their travel guide.
6. With notes, after a class discussion about the travel guide components, students will identify the best information to include in their travel guide with 100% accuracy.
7. During an open-ended discussion, students will verbally describe at least one of their ideas for the grading criteria for the travel guide.
8. With notes, after a class discussion about grading criteria, students will identify all of the best information to include in the grading rubric with 100% accuracy.
9. After a class discussion, students will fully apply the rules about plagiarism to their travel guide notes and finished product.
10. Given access to the Internet, students will write down or copy & paste notes to describe volcanoes in the Western U.S., including reference information in order to cite sources later. These notes need to fulfill 100% of the project components.
11. Based upon travel guide components and the grading rubric, students will evaluate their notes in order to determine which contain the best information to include in their travel guide.
12. Using the best information from their research, the students will write the draft of their travel guide completing all necessary information in PowerPoint.
13. After receiving the peer travel guide for evaluation, students will compare the travel guide to the project components list and describe all components that are missing from the travel guide.
14. During the peer review, students will evaluate the travel guide by properly applying the PQP review method- appropriately praise at least one point in their peer's work, raise questions in a non-critical manner, and suggest at least one item to polish.
15. Based upon the recommendations from their peers, students will re-evaluate their travel guide and make all corrections that are needed.
Materials
- Berry, Kathleen Meechan, Fronk, Robert H., Hemenway, Mary Kay, et al (2001). Holt Science and Technology: Inside the Restless Earth Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
- Computers with Internet access and Microsoft Office Suite
- Video Projector for final scoring
- Sample travel guides from travel agencies and on-line resources
- Paper, pencils, etc. as needed
Procedures
- Day One: Teacher-led review Internet research concepts, including search engines, authenticity, accuracy, currency relevance, citing sources, etc. Second half of class, review Microsoft PowerPoint, using extra time to manipulate information in teacher-generated dummy presentations.
- Day Two: Read about and discuss characteristics of volcanoes (most of the reading should have been done by the students at home), then examine travel guides and teacher-selected on-line travel guides for content and layout ideas.
- Day (Two and) Three: Discuss and come to consensus regarding the volcano characteristics that should be included in the travel guide project and the grading rubric.
- Day Four and Five: Internet research, based upon project requirements (rubric).
- Day Six and Seven: Evaluate research notes, put together PowerPoint.
- Day Eight: Peer review of project.
- Day Nine: Make any necessary additions or corrections to project as suggested by peer review process.
- Day (Nine and) Ten: present projects to class for final grading.
Questions
- What are authenticity, accuracy, currency and relevance? How are they related to our project?
- How can you cite your sources properly?
- How would you describe or define a volcano?
- Is there more than one type of volcano?
- In what ways can volcanoes be different?
- What can the lava from a volcano tell us?
- What are the major characteristics that are true for all volcano types?
- What types of information do we find in travel guides and what do we want to include in our project?
Assessments
- Student assessment and evaluation will be based upon class-generated scoring rubric.
Extensions
- Relationship of volcanoes to earthquakes and plate tectonics
- Travel guide to explore earthquakes
- Inclusion of video into PowerPoint, or change into a purely video presentation of topic
- On-Line presentation of topic--make a web site for the travel guide
Readings
- Holt Science and Technology: Inside the Restless Earth
Berry, Kathleen Meechan, Fronk, Robert H., Hemenway, Mary Kay, et al (2001). Holt Science and Technology: Inside the Restless Earth Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, chapter 6
- This Dynamic Earth
Kious, W.Jacquelyne., and Tilling, Robert I. (1976).This Dynamic Earth [Electronic version].
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html
- Volcanoes
Tilling, Robert I. (no date). Volcanoes [Electronic version] USGS General Interest Publications
- Volcanoes Of North America: United States And Canada
Wood, Chuck and Kienle, Jurgen (Eds.).(1990). Volcanoes Of North America: United States And Canada Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Web site listing other readings
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/frequent_questions/grp13/question620.html
Links
Vocabulary
- caldera: a circular depression that forms when a magma chamber empties and causes the ground above to sink
- cinder cone volcano: a small, steeply sloped volcano that forms from moderately explosive eruptions of pyroclastic material
- composite volcano: a volcano made of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic material; also called stratovolcano
- crater: a funnel-shaped pit around the central vent of a volcano
- hot spot: a place on Earth's surface that is directly above a column of rising magma called a mantle plume
- lava: magma that flows onto the Earth's surface
- magma: hot, liquid rock material beneath the Earth's surface
- pyroclastic material: fragments of rock that are created by explosive volcanic eruptions
- rift: a deep crack that forms between tectonic plates as they separate
- shield volcano: a large gently sloped volcano that forms from repeated, nonexplosive eruptions of lava
- volcano: a mountain that forms when molten rock, called magma, is forced to the Earth's surface
Standards
- Earth Science 8
STANDARD 2 (Level II) Understands Earth's composition and structure
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp?SubjectID=2&StandardID=2
BENCHMARK 1. Knows how features on the Earth's surface are constantly changed by a combination of slow and rapid processes (e.g., weathering, erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment caused by waves, wind, water, and ice; landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, drought)
- Earth Science 8
STANDARD 2 (Level III) Understands Earth's composition and structure
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp?SubjectID=2&StandardID=2
BENCHMARK 1. Knows that the Earth is comprised of layers including a core, mantle, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere
BENCHMARK 2. Knows how land forms are created through a combination of constructive and destructive forces (e.g., constructive forces such as crustal deformation, volcanic eruptions, and deposition of sediment; destructive forces such as weathering and erosion)
BENCHMARK 4. Knows that the Earth's crust is divided into plates that move at extremely slow rates in response to movements in the mantle
BENCHMARK 5. Knows processes involved in the rock cycle (e.g., old rocks at the surface gradually weather and form sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallized into new rock; this new rock is eventually brought to the surface by the forces that drive plate motions, and the rock cycle continues)
BENCHMARK 6. Knows that sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks contain evidence of the minerals, temperatures, and forces that created them
- Technology 8
STANDARD 2 Knows the characteristics and uses of computer software programs
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp?SubjectID=19&StandardID=2
BENCHMARK 1. Uses advanced features and utilities of word processors (e.g., uses clip art, a spell-checker, grammar checker, thesaurus, outliner)
BENCHMARK 2. Knows the common features and uses of desktop publishing software (e.g., documents are created, designed, and formatted for publication; data, graphics, and scanned images can be imported into a document using desktop software)
- Technology 8
STANDARD 3 Understands the relationships among science, technology, society, and the individual
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp?SubjectID=19&StandardID=3
BENCHMARK 6. Knows examples of copyright violations and computer fraud (e.g., computer hacking, computer piracy, intentional virus setting, invasion of privacy) and possible penalties (e.g., large fines, jail sentences)
BENCHMARK 7. Knows ways technology is used to protect the environment and prevent damage caused by nature (e.g., new building technologies protect cities from earthquakes, bacteria are used in cleaning water)
Technology
"Effective learning happens when students are actively engaged in meaningful tasks, interacting with the content." Heinich, Robert, Michael Molenda, James Russell, and Sharon Smaldino (2002). Instructional Media and Technologies for Learning (7th ed.) Upper Saddle River: Merrill Prentice Hall, p.8
I am selecting Internet research and Microsoft PowerPoint as the technology elements in my lesson. The Internet will be necessary for the students to find current information and perhaps photographs of their topics. PowerPoint is a common presentation software program with which most of the students in my school have had experience, and will be used to demonstrate their project and their learning. They seem to enjoy the use of these technologies, and most students will put forth a good effort when they know that others, especially their peers, will be viewing their work. With PowerPoint, even the most reticent of writers are usually engaged, probably because the "thought bites" are small compared to writing a report. To some, it makes them feel like they aren't really writing, and so does not seem as difficult or overwhelming. Does the research support this idea? As near as I can tell, yes. Among many statements on the site, I would like to highlight the following.
"Surveys and field research by Henry Jay Becker, a professor of education at the University of California, Irvine, showed increases in learning when students used the computer to enhance sophisticated writing and complex reasoning activities (Salpeter, 1998). These skills are difficult to measure and are only recently the focus of research. Becker concluded that educators should move away from teaching isolated technology skills and instead include more constructivist learning opportunities in order to take full advantage of the technology." http://www.mcrel.org/PDFConversion/PolicyBriefs/PB_ImpactTechnology.html
The value of using these types of technology is that the students are engaged. Without realizing it, they actually are participating in their own learning. In the end, they become the expert or the teacher. In writing about the 'No Child Left Behind Act' for 'Education World,' Dixie Conner challenged teachers to "utilize technology to involve students in an engaging curriculum. Using technology can enhance and improve learning. Integrate technology into the lesson by having students complete WebQuests, visit online libraries and other educational sites, prepare PowerPoint presentations, or insert graphics into reports. Computers can motivate kids to write, draw, investigate, research, and learn better." http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech152.shtml
Also, "as a hands-on, student-centered approach to teaching uses more time to cover less, it requires that choices be made about what content is essential. New assessments are needed that probe students' understanding of content and examine their ability to integrate knowledge and apply it." http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CPRE/t61/t61b.html For me, technology helps to bridge that gap between "hands-on, student-centered" and the application of their new knowledge--I can see their new knowledge in the completion of their new product.
Credits
- Jeffrey T. Rolan
Bonneville Junior High
Granite School District
Salt Lake City, Utah
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