Janet Jenkins

Charelle Brown
Kaitlyn Adkins
Amanda Tribolet
Edel 350 Unit Plan Outline
Grade: 3rd and 4th
Unit Theme:
Earth science- rocks, minerals, natural processes, natural disasters, ways they shape the
Earths surface
Umbrella Standard for Unit Theme:
Core Standard: Observe, describe and identify rocks and minerals by their specific
properties. (3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4)
Core Standard: Observe, investigate and give examples of ways that the shape of land
changes over time. (4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3)
Curriculum Mapping:
Lesson #1- Minerals
Teacher: Kaitlyn Adkins
Date: October 26, 2015
Subject area: Science, Writing
Standard(s):
3.2.2 Observe the detailed characteristics of rocks and minerals. Identify rocks as being
composed of different combinations of minerals.
3.2.3 Classify and identify minerals by their physical properties of hardness, color, luster and
streak.

Objective:
Students will identify that rocks are made up of many different minerals
Students will be able to record observations of rocks and minerals
Students will classify minerals into categories based on physical properties
Lesson plan ideas/activities:
Show slide show of a few different rocks. Have students give characteristics of each rock in
which teacher will list these on the board. Encourage students to identify different colors,
texture, size, etc.
Show various pictures of roads, buildings, foods. Explain that rocks and minerals are all around
us.
Explain that minerals are made up of various chemicals and that rocks are made up of minerals.
Example: Granite is a rock that is made up of many different minerals
Introduce physical properties of minerals with a chart describing each one
Cleavage, luster, hardness, streak

Janet Jenkins
Charelle Brown
Kaitlyn Adkins
Amanda Tribolet

Is it a mineral game/checklist
Show a mineral sample picture and a rock sample
Have students create a venn diagram showing how the two are alike and different

Lesson #2- Rocks/Rock cycle

Teacher: Janet Jenkins
Date: October 28, 2015
Subject area: English, Science, Math
Standard(s):
3.2.1 Examine the physical properties of rock samples and sort them into categories based on
size using simple tools such as sieves.
3.2.2 Observe the detailed characteristics of rocks and minerals. Identify rocks as being
composed of different combinations of minerals.
Objective:
Students will categorize rocks by examining characteristic properties into three
different
types of rock.
Students will record data by observing rocks during the rock cycle.
Students will be able to infer a type of rock by using words which tell its properties.

Lesson plan ideas/activities:

Observe different types of rocks and record data from the observations.
QR code game of questions about different types of rocks.
Creating the Rock Cycle using crayons.
Create a poem using words to describe a rock without giving the name.

Lesson #3- Fossils

Teacher: Amanda Tribolet
Date: November 2, 2015
Subject area: Science, writing
Standard(s):
3.2.4 Identify fossils and describe how they provide evidence about the plants and animals that
lived long ago and the nature of their environment at that time.
Objective:
The students will explain in their own words what a fossil is.
The students will retell how fossils form.
Lesson plan ideas/activities
Utilizing clay and making indentations with various materials (buttons, shells, little creatures,
etc)
Fossil acronym poster
Creating a book about fossils
Fossil digs/excavation
Lesson #4- Weathering/Breakage

Janet Jenkins
Charelle Brown
Kaitlyn Adkins
Amanda Tribolet

Teacher: Kaitlyn Adkins

Date: November 4, 2015
Subject area: Science, Reading
Standard(s):
4.2.1 Demonstrate and describe how smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of
larger rocks in a process that occurs over a long period of time.
Objective:
Students will investigate weathering through experiment
Students will identify smaller rocks form from breakage
Lesson plan ideas/activities:
Read the book And Still the Turtle Watched (book on weathering)
Investigate how rocks change over time
Use foam block to show rocks can start as a whole and then be broken down smaller and
smaller (tear foam block smaller and smaller into various sized pieces)
Display pictures of breaking and weathering
Sugar cube experiment to display weathering
Lesson #5-Erosion/Deposition: Soil
Teacher: Charelle Brown
Date: November 9, 2015
Subject area: Earth Science
Standard(s):

4.2.2 Describe how wind, water and glacial ice shape and reshape earths land surface
by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas in a process
that occurs over a long period of time.

Objective(s):
Students will define erosion and deposition.
Students will identify how wind, water, and glacial ice affect the earths land surface through
erosion and deposition.
Lesson plan ideas/activities:
Start lesson by giving a scenario of someone who wants to build their house right on the shore
of a body of water (perhaps the Pacific Ocean) because of the beautiful breeze (etc.). But, they
want to be able to pass their house on to their children, their childrens children, and so on. Ask
the students to predict whether or not building the house so close to the body of water would be
a good choice for the family.
I could act as if this is a real scenario and have the students give advice.
After the lesson, students could have the opportunity to revise their predictions, also providing a
reason for their advice, and use this same sheet of paper as their exit slip. They would just have
to turn it over and define erosion, deposition, and list three mediums through which these
processes take place (water, glaciers, and wind).

Janet Jenkins
Charelle Brown
Kaitlyn Adkins
Amanda Tribolet
Could give students a handout on which they would draw a picture to represent the processes
and materials we talked about in a way that would help them remember it.
Could use a powerpoint to represent the information.
Activate prior knowledge by including a picture of a glacier from one of the Ice Age movies.
Use video to show how the process occurs in real life.
Perhaps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R48zYr-S7v0 (IvT), but not entire video.
Demonstrate erosion and deposition with a physical model (perhaps water with an easily broken
rock, sand, or the like).
Could use use Kahoot! (create.kahoot.it) and exit slips as assessment.
Notes:
Erosion: movement of sediment; occurs via water, glacial ice, and wind
Would need iPads, perhaps only four of them, for Kahoot! game
Lesson #6-Earthquakes
Teacher: Amanda Tribolet
Date: November 11, 2015
Subject area: Science, reading
Standard(s):
4.2.3 Describe how earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides suddenly change the shape of the
land.
Objective:
The students will retell how earthquakes shape the earth and how they are measured.
The students will list terms that relate to earthquakes.
The students will describe the damages earthquakes can cause.
Lesson plan ideas/activities:
Video on earthquakes
Informational texts about earthquakes
Toothpicks/marshmallow structure on Jell-o: can it withstand an earthquake?
Using Oreos to demonstrate the movement of the plates
Use slinkys to show seismic waves
Lesson #7- Volcanoes/Landslides
Teacher: Janet Jenkins
Date: November 16, 2015
Subject area: English, Science, Art
Standard(s):
4.2.3 Describe how earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides suddenly change the shape of the
land.
Objective:
Students will diagram parts of a volcano and understand causes and effects on the land.
Students will predict how a landslide changes the shape of the land.
Lesson plan ideas/activities:
Video on volcanoes and landslides and connect with informational text
Reading informational Text and drawing conclusions.

Janet Jenkins
Charelle Brown
Kaitlyn Adkins
Amanda Tribolet

Groups create a toilet paper volcano. Observe and record data.

Lesson #8- Overview lesson
Teacher: Charelle Brown
Date: November 18, 2015
Subject area: Earth Science

Standard(s):
Observe, describe and identify rocks and minerals by their specific properties. (3.2.1, 3.2.2,
3.2.3, 3.2.4)
Observe, investigate and give examples of ways that the shape of land changes over time.
(4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3)
Objectives:
Students will create a study guide booklet including information on minerals, rocks, fossils;
processes that take hundreds of years to change the land like weathering and erosion; and
processes that change the land quickly like volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides.
Students will answer questions in a review game, recalling information from the unit.
Lesson plan ideas/activities:
For the first portion of the time, have students rotate to four different stations, one reviewing
information on minerals, a second reviewing rocks, a third talking about processes like
weathering and erosion that change the land over time, and a fourth station covering events like
volcanoes and earthquakes that change the land immediately. As they rotate to these sections,
they will create a small booklet that may be used as a study guide and summary of the
information
The last part of the class will include an informal assessment in the form of a review game. The
game may consist of more than one round. In the first round, words will be projected onto the
board. After being given a clue, students will individually come up to the board and hit the word
that correctly coincides, earning a point for their team. In the second round, instead of projecting
words onto the board, I can project graphs, charts, and/or data on the board, and ask the
students at the board to answer the questions using the data they were given. After each
question, I should ask the students how they arrived at the correct answer, in order to increase
the likelihood of understanding. To make the game less intimidating, I can designate the last five
seconds or so of each persons turn as time for team collaboration where the students at the
board can elicit help from their teammates.
Perhaps I could even assign partners within their teams so that, should the student at the board
need help, his or her partner is the only one that can outrightly help. This adaptation would
ensure that every student is engaged in the activity and has a reason to look up and know the
answers to the questions, whether they are at the board or not.
Materials at the four stations could include things from the separate lessons to help jog the
students memories about the content.

Janet Jenkins
Charelle Brown
Kaitlyn Adkins
Amanda Tribolet
**The booklet would be similar to the one in the picture, except using something like the
respective tabs: minerals, rocks, processes that take a long time, and processes that take a
short time. It may also be beneficial
to somehow incorporate graphs,
charts, and tables into the booklet as
well.
-

Can do Oreo demonstration.

day!
Create rubric for game
Bring 2 copies of your lesson plan

Everything else can be used that