YOUR NAME: Joshua Waldron

UNIT TOPIC/TITLE: The Earth and the Universe Around Us

GRADE LEVEL: 6th Grade

STATE STANDARDS TO BE MET:

S6E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about current scientific views of the
universe and how those views evolved

S6E2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the effects of the relative positions
of the sun, Earth, and moon.

S6E5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to show how Earth’s surface is formed

ELAGSE6W2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,

concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

LENGTH OF UNIT— 5 DAYS

RATIONALE FOR SELECTING THIS TOPIC:

My focus during my first four years of college was science and I have a familiarity with the topic
of astronomy and Earth science. If I had to choose what unit to teach, it would be about the Earth
and its relationship to the solar system.
EDEX 3501 Lesson Plan Form

Your name. Joshua Waldron

Standard:

S6E2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the effects of the relative positions
of the sun, Earth, and moon.

Objective(s):
a. Develop and use a model to demonstrate the phases of the moon by showing the relative positions of the
sun, Earth, and moon.
b. Construct an explanation of the cause of solar and lunar eclipses.
c. Analyze and interpret data to relate the tilt of the Earth to the distribution of sunlight throughout the year
and its effect on seasons.

Method:

Opening:

Ask the students to record what the moon looked like the night before the lesson starts. Have
the students begin an open ended discussion involving what the shape of the moon was and
why they think that the moon looked that way. Use this conversation as a Segway in to the
beginning of the lesson involving basic definitions.

Introduction: Beginning the lesson will be a brief introduction on what are moon phases, how
they are created, and the influence the Earth and Sun has on the perception of the moon. This
would lead to the first basic definitions of the moon phases, solstice, equinox

During:
PowerPoint to showcase the information. Initial slides will provide overview of concepts and
goals for the lesson. An in class LITERACY AVTIVITY: FOUR-SQUARE will begin shortly after the initial
overview. Instructions will be implemented within the PowerPoint. Using the class activity as a
reference, students will be asked to label Moon Phases and answer questions pertaining to
moon phases. Slides following will focus on an explanation of solar and lunar eclipses.
- Students should take notes based on what is bolded within the power point. Those are
the key ideas that will be assessed later on.

Closing:
A final question pertaining to an example problem displayed on the final power point slide will
be asked. The students should write down their answers and hand them to the teacher before
leaving the classroom. Students should feel confident in their answers using the activity as
reference.

This topic will take 1 class period

Specific Literacy Strategy
FOUR-SQUARE
- Students will make write the moon phase in the middle of note card. One section
should include a sketch of illustration of the moon phase, another section will
have the definition of the moon phase in the students own words. One of the last
two sections will include a sentence using the characteristics of the moon phase.
The final section will be a note of what the opposite moon phase could be and a
brief explanation why (or illustration if the student would rather).

Assessment:
1. Begin will open ended question “Why does the moon look different depending on the night?”
a. Teacher should make note of individual answer and gage the knowledge of the class as a whole.
This will help determine what topics to go in to depth on.
2. In class literacy activity.
3. Teacher assessment of full class participation within the lesson. Students who participate less will be
encouraged to participate after topics are covered in length
4. After the in class activity, there will be questions presented to the students to encourage them to use the
activity as a new learning tool to solve a reinstatement of the original question. The questions will be
similar but with slight moderations as to test the knowledge of the students.

Student self-evaluation in regards to the lesson topics; (thumbs-up, thumbs-down, thumbs-sideways based on
comfort level of understanding).
A final question will be asked where each student will give their own answer starting from the first row of
students to the last.

Standard:
S6E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about current scientific views of the
universe and how those views evolved

ELAGSE6W2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,

concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Objective(s):
a. Ask questions to determine changes in models of Earth’s position in the solar system,
and origins of the universe as evidence that scientific theories change with the addition
of new information.
b. Develop a model to represent the position of the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy
and in the known universe.
c. Analyze and interpret data to compare and contrast the planets in our solar system

Method:
Opening: Historical Models
- To open the class, students will have an opportunity to write down possible ways the
universe was created. The prompt will be displayed on the board as students walk in to
class. The students will have a few minutes to gather ideas before volunteers are taken
to discuss what they came up with. This will lead for the opening discussion on the topic
- The introduction should begin shortly after to discuss the components needed to be
considered a planetary system. (A planetary system is composed of planets, asteroids,
comets, and meteors revolving around a central star.)
- Using the introduction as a reference, Geocentric and Heliocentric models of the solar
system will be compared and contrasted
o Geocentric: model with Earth at the center with the Sun and other planets
orbiting the Earth
o Heliocentric: Earth and planets orbit the Sun
- This will lead to the discussion of the primary theory for the birth of the Universe; The
“Big Bang”
o universe formed about 10-15 billion years ago through a huge explosion.
o The universe continues to expand rapidly.
During
- Using the power point Models of The Solar System, both Geocentric and Heliocentric
Solar System models will be discussed with comparisons and differentiations.
- Students will be asked to note the following on their own paper:
1. Who is model proposed by?
2. Supporters?
3. Object in center?
4. Objects moving around center?
- Students will answer these questions following the PowerPoint presentation
Closing:
- To reaffirm what has been reviewed an assignment using the Literacy Strategy
Summary will be given to complete based on a planet within our solar system. As the
students leave they will be given their assigned planet. These planets should be
randomly assigned with specific requirements for each planet. Using a Summarize, the
students should remark on the unique qualities that their planet has using the internet
on provided educational websites. These Summaries should be informative intended to
help students organize their ideas. The summaries should take the essential information
from the websites. The summary should be a single page at most. This will be in
preparation for the next class period where the Planets will be the primary focus. This
assignment will help to familiarize the students with the next content area.
-
Specific Literacy Strategy (use name)
Summarize
- Using online references, students should take the essential elements for their
assigned planet and write a paragraph consisting of those elements.

Assessment:
- Using the ticket out the door method, each student will write a characteristic of
either the Geocentric or Heliocentric model and why that was interesting to them
to provide evidence that the learning standard was met and the students are able
to think creatively regarding the topic.
Standard:

S6E5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to show how Earth’s surface is formed

Objective(s):
a. Ask questions to compare and contrast the Earth’s crust, mantle, inner
and outer core, including temperature, density, thickness, and
composition.

b. Construct an explanation of how the movement of lithospheric plates,

called plate tectonics, can cause major geologic events such as
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
(Clarification statement: Include convergent, divergent, and transform
boundaries.)

c. Construct an argument using maps and data collected to support a

claim of how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and
climate of the Earth.

d. Plan and carry out an investigation of the characteristics of minerals and how
minerals contribute to rock composition. 

e. Construct an explanation of how to classify rocks by their formation and how

rocks change through geologic processes in the rock cycle. 

f. Develop a model to demonstrate how natural processes (weathering, erosion,

and deposition) and human activity change rocks and the surface of the Earth.

Method:
Opening Day 1:
- Start class with an open discussion involving what the students think the Earth is
made of. This should be a quick introduction so students start to engage with the
concepts.
Introduction:
- The presentation will begin with the main idea that the Earth consists of the
layers the crust, mantle, inner and outer core.
o At this point the teacher may ask students if they are familiar with any of
these terms.
- A brief introductory video will be played to show a 3D visual of the Earth’s layers.
This video will also contain characteristics of the layers
o Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxGgkF582rI
o Once the video is finished the power point presentation should be started.
During Day 1:
 - The main vocabulary needed for this topic will be displayed on the board where
students will use the literacy strategy crossword puzzle. Following along the
presentation, the students will fill in words that match the definition clue on the
crossword puzzle.
- The vocabulary assigned for this literacy strategy is as follows;
o crust, continental crust, oceanic crust, mantle,
outer core, inner core, density, composition, plate tectonics,
convection currents, plate boundaries, lithosphere, mesosphere,
asthenosphere, lithosphere, continental drift,
Pangaea(Supercontinent).
- When the presentation begins to discuss movement of lithospheric plates, the
class will pause to watch a video demonstration of some of the movement and an
explanation as to why they occur
o Video link: https://study.com/academy/lesson/plate-boundaries-
convergent-divergent-and-transform-boundaries.html
Closing Day 1:
- As we wrap up the presentation, the class will go over the answers of the
crossword puzzle. Students will be randomly picked to present an answer to one
of the crossword puzzle lines. Those who are missing answers, and those who
need reaffirmation will benefit from the review of the puzzle.

Opening Day 2:
- While students walk in to the classroom, examples of fossils are displayed on the
board with a prompt to make note of the similarities and differences of the
features of the fossils. Students should work on this for a few minutes and then
volunteers will be chosen to discuss what they found.
o What type of organisms do you think these are from? When do you think
they lived? Where do you think they were found?
o Fossils found on http://paleoportal.org/index.php?
globalnav=fossil_gallery&sectionnav=main
Introduction:
- Start class with video of the breaking of Pangea. Reference the class activity
from previous class to start the discussion before playing the video.
o Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUk94AdXPA
- Once video finishes, ask students to make prediction why we are able to see
changes in Earth’s surface from similar fossils in drastically different locations.

During Day 2:
- Begin presentation on plate tectonics with the Alfred Wegner Hypothesis of
continental drift
o Pangea and its connection to plant and animal fossil evidence is
introduced here.
 - Follow presentation by explaining content displayed on the PowerPoint up until
the slide for activity 1 is displayed.

Begin Wegener’s Evidence Activity

- Students will be given the Wegner’s puzzle evidence exercise on a sheet of
paper. Using class time the students will cut and put back together the puzzle in
order to;
o Find evidence used by Wegner
o Interpret the map and the symbols
o Form their own hypothesis
o Link to teacher legend: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-
139/This_Dynamic_Planet-Teaching_Companion_Packet.pdf
- The puzzle will be used as a learning reference for future assessments and
should be kept with the student’s notes.
- After giving the students time to complete the puzzle, refer back to the
presentation to discuss the fossil evidence and its influence on climate and
continent location.
o A completed puzzle is included with the presentation and should be
shown. Any student who has put the puzzle back incorrectly may have
another sheet of paper to redo for homework.

Closing Day 2:
- With the students having a broader understanding of the breaking up of Pangea,
use the animation
https://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/antarctica/ideas/gondwana2.html
To review the concepts discussed in class. Have students pick time periods to
display and point out where fossils start and end up.
- The literacy strategy Exit slip will be used to assign as homework for the
students. Based on what was discussed in class, students will be asked to write
4 important points that can be used as evidence to support Wegner’s theory of
continental drift. This should be completed and turned in next class.

Opening Day 3:
- Day 3 is primarily composed of group activity, students will walk in and will be
randomly divided into groups. Prior to the arrival of the students the desks should
be pushed together in groups of 3 to 6.
Introduction:
- To guide the lesson, questions will be put on the board for the students to
individually think about as they wait for class to start
o “What type of rocks do we find beneath our school: sedimentary, igneous
or metamorphic?”
o “What about the type of rocks that were under the school ten thousand
years ago?”
 - After students take time to ponder the questions, have them discuss in their small
groups what they think the answer might be
- During this time the teacher should hand out the Rock Cycle Roundabout Board
the main activity for the class.
During Day 3:
- Begin class with a presentation discussing the ideas and definitions of the terms
used for this lesson. The content for this lesson is text heavy so the literacy
strategy echo reading the slides of the power point. This way the students will
feel obligated to follow along with the presentation . As the content is being
reviewed, students should take note of the definitions of the important vocabulary
words on their note paper. This will be helpful for use during the in class activity
o Important Vocabulary: Crust, Mantle, igneous rock, metamorphic rock,
sedimentary rock, magma, lava, weathering, erosion, fault, and rock
cycle.
Activity:
- To begin have students place their game piece on one of the three rocks types of
the boards provided. Have students decide who goes first using their own
measures
- Using the deck of cards, one student pulls a single card and reads “how do you
change?” There is a clue on the back of the card that is to be used to help the
student determine what their rocks becomes.
o If the guess is correct the student is rewarded with the card. Cards are
considered points in the game
o If guessed incorrectly, the other group members have a chance to guess
the right answer and earn that point. Students should ask in a clockwise
order.
- Once the turn is over, the player moves their game piece to the correct rock type.
- The next student goes and the game continues until the teacher says to finish.
Printable materials:
https://www.calacademy.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/pdf/236_rockcyclerou
ndaboutpacket.pdf

Closing Day 3:
- Reinstate the initial question posed by the class by asking the students what rock
do they think is underneath the school.
- Following that question should be a new question that expands on the student’s
newly learned content.
o “What type of rocks do you think the rock underneath the school will
change into next?”
- This should be discussed before class ends with reasoning based on the activity
and presentation.

Specific Literacy Strategy (use name)

Day 1: Crossword Puzzle
 - Used to allow students to decipher the matching words to their definitions by
comparing and contrasting the different characteristics of the scientific terms.
This should help improve problem solving and spelling.
Day 2: Exit Slip
- Students are asked to make note of important ideas from the lesson that they
took away and should be returned to the teacher the following class period.
Day 3: Echo Reading
- Have the content read aloud by a mixture of the teacher and the students.
Students should be called on randomly to picked to continue reading to promote
following along, and reading comprehension.

Assessment:
Day 1:
- During the review of the crossword puzzle, the teacher should walk around the
classroom and make note of the students who have more missing answers than
others. The fewer blank crosswords will indicate how receptive the students were
to the days lesson. Adjustments should be made for upcoming class periods
depending on the grasp of the first days topics.
Day 2:
- Teacher should walk around the room and review the student’s progress as they
complete the puzzle assignment. Students falling behind should be noted and
spoken to individually. This should be done to ensure that the content was
understood and there are no confusions.
Day 3:
- When closing, teacher should ask If the class activity was successful for students
by prompting them with questions about their enjoyment, and content retention.
Students should indicate how they feel by presenting a thumbs up or a thumbs
down. If the majority had difficulty (more students show thumbs down) this should
be noted and a review should be done next class.