Eileen Smith

May 8, 2015
The University of Scranton
Prof. Pesaventos

Subject Area
Essential Question(s)

Science
How do forces of nature affect the earths

Title of the Unit

Title of the Lesson
Grade Level
Estimated Time
Summary of the

surface?
Earth and Space Science
The Earths Changing Surface
4th Grade
1 hour
In this lesson, students will learn about the different

Lesson

forces of nature that wear down and build up the earth

and rock and soil products, including weathering and

Materials Required

erosion.
PowerPoint, cornstarch, water, soil, graham crackers,

Academic Standards

videos, science notebooks

S4.A.3.3.1: Identify and describe observable patterns
(e.g., growth patterns in plants, weather, water cycle).
S4.B.3.1.2: Describe interactions between living and
nonliving components (e.g. plants water, soil, sunlight,
carbon dioxide, temperature; animals food, water,
shelter, oxygen, temperature) of a local ecosystem.
S4.B.3.2.2: Describe and predict how changes in the
environment (e.g., fire, pollution, flood, building dams)
can affect systems.

S4.D.1.1.1: Describe how prominent Earth features in

Pennsylvania (e.g., mountains, valleys, caves,
sinkholes, lakes, rivers) were formed.
S4.D.1.1.2: Identify various Earth structures (e.g.,
mountains, watersheds, peninsulas, lakes, rivers,
valleys) through the use of models.
S4.D.1.1.3: Describe the composition of soil as
weathered rock and decomposed organic remains.
Objectives/Webbs DOK

Level One: Identify several forces that affect the earths surface
Level Two: Show the cause and effect of forces on the earths surface
Level Three: Hypothesize the effects that different forces will have on

different terrains
Level Four: Connect hands-on activities to actual surfaces found on the

earth
Vocabulary

Weathering, erosion, glacier, magma, fault, plate

tectonics, sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks,

Procedure

metamorphic rocks
Before:
To begin the lesson, teacher will ask students about
different landforms, or surfaces that make up our
planet. In a think-pair-share, partners of students will
discuss what they know about the earths surface.
Students will then share with the class what they
discussed.
During:

Teacher will explain that this lesson will teach students

about the ways in which the surface of the earth
changes, and how it does so. First, the teacher will
explain what weathering is, and explain that it is the
breaking down of rocks into smaller parts through
different forces of nature. Teacher will discuss that
erosion includes weathering as well as running water,
wind, and glaciers. Expansion and contraction of water
will be explained to students using the example of
water in between the sidewalk pavements and it
freezes, the ice forces the cement apart. Teacher will
then explain that running water is the most erosive
force on the earth (formed the Grand Canyon, ocean
waves). Teacher will explain glacial erosion to students
by telling them how glaciers contribute to land erosion.
Students will then perform and experiment using a
mixture of cornstarch and water (to act as the moving
glacier) and dirt. Teacher will place a piece of wax
paper on the desk of each partner and ask students to
make a small ring of dirt on the wax paper. Teacher will
then come around scoop some of the cornstarch
mixture in the center of the ring. Students will then
observe what happens as the mixture spreads out and

moves the dirt. This will solidify students

understanding of the effects of glaciers. After the
activity, teacher will ask students to throw away the
whole sheet of wax paper.
When cleanup is completed, teacher will then go on to
explain plate tectonics. The earth is made up of plates
of crust that continually pull apart, collide, grind edges,
or partially slide under each other. These parts move
along huge cracks in the earths crust called faults.
When these plates move, they can create mountains
and change landforms (explain that earth used to be
one giant continent, but because the plates moved, the
continents split). Earthquakes are caused when plates
suddenly break along a fault. This release of energy
causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake.
Teacher will then explain that the next activity will
demonstrate how an earthquake occurs. Teacher will
distribute graham crackers to each student, and have
then break them in half. By sliding the pieces of cracker
past each other, crumbs will fall, representing the rocks
that break off the edges of two plates along a fault. The
pressure that builds up between two graham crackers is
what would cause an earthquake.

After clean up, teacher will explain the three types of

rocks (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary).
After:
In order to assess the students knowledge of the
content, the teacher will close by using an exit ticket,
asking students two things that they learned about the
earths changing surface. Then, students will share one
Assessment

thing that they learned to the class.

Teacher will assess students by asking questions
throughout the lesson. By asking questions, the
teacher can get a better understanding of what needs
to be reviewed, and what the students notice about the
material. As the students are working on their
experiments, teacher can approach them and check to

Adaptations or

see if they are answering correctly and as a team.

To differentiate this lesson, the teacher could include

Accommodations

more pictures in the PowerPoint presentation and

graphics to accommodate visual learners. When
working on the hands-on activities, more advanced
students could work alone and could answer for
abstract questions.