Teaching the rock cycle can be fun. Even though it is a real-life process that takes millions of years to observe, there are many ways to model the rock cycle.
This lab uses chocolate, butterscotch, and white chocolate chips to model sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rock formation.
I love Ted Ed videos. They are beautifully done and explain topics in a unique way. I want to share some that cover topics we might teach in math or science.
The videos are not meant to teach an entire concept to students, but rather a way to understand the concept in a more real-world situation.
To be honest, it would be nice if teachers had more time to teach mathematical and scientific concepts in the actually situations and money for better tools. Like the soccer one, how cool would a lesson on force, velocity, and friction be where students figure out the best way to do the impossible kick and take measurements as they go?!
Why can't you divide by zero?
Topics covered: Division, Multiplication, Properties of Operations, and Zero
Why do airlines sell too many tickets?
Topics covered: Statistics (binomial distribution), probability
Football Physics: The impossible free kick
Topics Covered: Newton's 1st Law, Velocity, Force
The weird and wonderful metamorphosis of the Butterfly
Topics: Metamorphosis
Pangaea Pop Up
Topics: Plate Tectonics
What happens when continents collide?
Topics: Plate Tectonics, Plant and Animal Migration, Fossils as Evidence
5th grade science teachers in Texas need to spend some time reviewing/reteaching some 3rd and 4th grade science TEKS in addition to the 5th grade TEKS.
Science TEKS 4.8C says "Collect and analyze data to identify sequences and predict patterns of change in shadows, seasons, and the observable appearance of the Moon over time."
This TEKS has been tested once in the last 4 years and it was over tides--which was dropped from the TEKS this year. It isn't enough for students to know what causes these events but they should be able to look over data and predict.
Ask students what they notice and wonder after watching the video. Do they see a pattern after watching it?
Give students a calendar with some of the moon phases filled in for the month. Have them complete the calendar based on the pattern they see.
Seasons
Use this file to assess what students remember about the different seasons. There are 24 cards. Give each student one card and they can walk around the room meeting up with their classmates. When they meet another classmate, each students will share the characteristic on their card and discuss what seasons they believe it belongs in. At this point, they can switch cards and then find another partner. At the end of the activity, create a chart and have students place their cards in the correct season.
Shadows
Students need to understand how shadows are formed (because light travels in a straight line and when light hits an object, that object may block the light) and they need to understand that shadows form a predictable pattern. You can put an object outside and predict where the shadow that object creates will be.
This activity lets students practice where the shadow is. It also doubles as an activity for 5.8C which is about Earth's rotation. Place the page with the tree in a sheet protector. Have students label the time for each of the Sun's position. Then have them draw where the tree's shadow will be with a dry erase marker at any given time.
I have only been at g-camp for 5 days, but it feels so much longer. Each day is jammed with geology sites and activities which starts at 6:30am. Things most people might take one full day to do, we are doing several per day.
Currently, we are touring Colorado. The mountains are beautiful. There is nothing like them in East Texas. And now, I kind of know more about them. Before it was just a mountain. But now it can be a mountain surrounded by rock glaciers, with a few dikes or hogbacks and alluvial fans at the bottom.
Learning this stuff myself does remind me of how some things must seem to students in our classes. I came into this knowing very little about geology. And it has taken me 5 days to catch on to some things. Sometimes I feel like the professors are speaking gibberish.
But I am working hard, doing my homework, and reading the night before.
These are some things I have seen so far.
These are the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado. To me, they kind of seem like they shouldn't be there. And this picture does not do it justice. The highest dune is around 731 feet. People seem like tiny dots compared to them.
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. The Empire State Building would only come up to about half of the cliff. This was the first real canyon I have seen. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Lake San Cristobal in Colorado. This lake is in a caldera. Which is a landform. Who knew there were so many different types of landforms. A caldera is a crater that occurs after the magma comes out a volcano. The magma leaves a void and then the crust collapses in and a caldera is left. This specific caldera is actually miles in length and width.
The Continental Divide. Something I learned about forever ago and now I have finally seen.
There are still 12 days left in this and I don't think the "good" stuff has started yet. Although, I consider this good stuff.
