Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Kelsey Frary Date: March 25th, 2021

Group Size: 25 Students Allotted Time: 60 minutes, 1 day Grade Level: Fourth grade

Subject or Topic: Lesson Plan #3- The rock cycle and landforms

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

Standard - 3.3.4.A2:

Identify basic properties and uses of Earth’s materials including rocks, soils, water, and gases
of the atmosphere.

Standard - 3.3.4.A1
Describe basic landforms. Identify the layers of the earth. Recognize that the surface of the
earth changes due to slow processes and rapid processes.

NGSS Standard:

Standard 4-ESS-2-2.:

Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Clarification
Statement: Maps can include topographic maps of Earth’s land and ocean floor, as well as
maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.]

Learning Targets/Objectives:
- The fourth grade students will show their knowledge of the rock cycle by naming the
three types of rocks that make up the rock cycle and will then match these rocks to
the correct landform type that we will be focusing on throughout this lesson:
mountains, coastlines, and canyons.
- The fourth grade students will be able to give a basic description about what happens
between each type of forming rock.
- The fourth grade students will show their knowledge of the rock cycle by correctly
placing the type of rock to the correct landform that is created by the specific rock
type onto the foldable.

Assessment Approaches: Evidence:

1.Classroom Walk 1.Observation
2.Rock Cycle/Landform Foldable 2.Collect foldable
3.Thumbs up/down when completing 3. Observation
foldable
Assessment Scale: (Foldable activity)

Basic- The student is able to correctly match one rock type out of three to its correct
landform(s)
Proficient- The student is able to correctly match two rock types out of three to their correct
landform(s)
Advanced- The student is able to correctly match three rock types out of three to their
correct landform(s)

Subject Matter/Content:
Prerequisites:
- A basic understanding of the five different landforms we are focusing on (mountains,
valleys, deserts, canyons, and coastlines) and weathering and erosion.
- (Taught in lessons one and two)
- Landforms: Landforms are the natural shapes and features of land.
- Mountain: A mountain is a place on Earth’s surface that is much higher than the land
around it.
- Valley: A valley is a lowland area between higher lands such as mountains.
- Canyon: A canyon is a deep valley with very steep sides.
- Desert: A desert is a hot and dry place with little or no rainfall.
- Coast: A coast is the area where the ocean touches the land.
- Erosion:The process by which weathered material is moved by wind, water or ice.
Moving rock and sediment from one place to another.
- Weathering: Describes the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on the
surface of the Earth.

Key Vocabulary:

The Rock Cycle: The rock cycle is a concept used to explain how the three basic rock types are
related and how Earth processes, over geologic time, change a rock from one type into
another.
Sedimentary rock: Sedimentary rocks are formed from pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-
living organisms. They form from deposits that accumulate on the Earth's surface.
Sedimentary rocks often have distinctive layering or bedding.
Metamorphic rock:Metamorphic rocks were once igneous or sedimentary rocks, but have
been changed as a result of intense heat and/or pressure within the Earth's crust.
Igneous rock:Igneous rocks are defined as types of rocks that are formed when molten rock
(rock liquefied by intense heat and pressure) cools to a solid-state.
Molten rock: Magma refers to rock that has been melted. Molten rock can refer to: Lava,
molten rock above ground. Magma, molten rock underground.
Content/Facts:
● What is the rock cycle?
○ The rock cycle is a concept used to explain how the three basic rock types are
related and how Earth processes, over geologic time, change a rock from one
type into another.
○ The rock cycle consists of three different rocks with processes to change the
form of the rock between each type of rock. These processes consist of
■ Melting
● The process that turns any rock into magma. Melting a rock
requires extremely high temperatures, which only occur far
beneath the earth's surface. Igneous rocks form when a rock
changes from the metamorphic state to igneous.
■ Temperature and pressure
● Metamorphic rocks form from heat and pressure changing the
original or parent rock into a completely new rock.
Metamorphic rocks form when a sedimentary rock goes
through the temperature and pressure process.
■ Erosion and deposition
● Sedimentary rocks form from erosion and deposition changing
the igneous rock to a sedimentary rock. Igneous rocks go
through the process of erosion and deposition to form
sedimentary rocks.
○ The rock cycle contains three different types of rocks, these rocks are called
sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks,and igneous rocks. Each of these rocks
are formed by physical changes—such as melting, cooling, eroding,
compacting, or deforming—that are part of the rock cycle
● What are sedimentary rocks?
○ Sedimentary rocks are formed from pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-living
organisms. They form from deposits that accumulate on the Earth's surface.
○ An example of a landform where sedimentary rocks make up is…
■ Mountains! Most mountains are made up mainly of sedimentary rock
and metamorphic rock. These rocks are formed from erosion and
deposition.
■ To go to the next type of rock in the rock cycle, sedimentary rocks must
go through the temperature and pressure process to then become
metamorphic rocks.
● What are metamorphic rocks?
○ Metamorphic rocks were once igneous or sedimentary rocks, but have been
changed as a result of intense heat and/or pressure within the Earth's crust.
○ An example of landform that metamorphic rocks make up is…
■ Mountains and canyons
● The Grand Canyon is made up of sedimentary rocks, meaning
 that there was erosion and deposition for the landform to form.
● To go to the next type of rock in the rock cycle, metamorphic
rocks must go through the process of melting to form igneous
rocks.
● What are igneous rocks?
○ Igneous rocks are defined as types of rocks that are formed when molten rock
(rock liquefied by intense heat and pressure) cools to a solid-state.
○ Igneous rocks go through the process of melting to form a molten rock that
can also be called an igneous rock.
○ An example of a landform that igneous rocks make up is…
■ A coastline. In fact, coastlines are made up of the three different types
of rocks! Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.
Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
- Before the lesson, the teacher will ask the students to come sit on the carpet.
- The teacher will explain that we are continuing our knowledge of landforms but
through a way that we might not even really think about being a part of landforms.
- The teacher will ask students to raise their hand if they think they know what
we will be learning about during today’s lesson.
- The teacher will explain that the rock cycle plays a big role in creating different
landforms!
- The teacher will tell the students that together we will watch a BrainPop video to
introduce the rock cycle.
- Before the video, the teacher will ask the students to listen for the three types of
rocks in the rock cycle and how they are changed from each different type of rock.
- https://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/rockcycle/
- After the BrainPop video is over, the teacher will ask questions such as…
- “Can anyone tell me the three types of rocks formed during the rock cycle?”
- “Can anyone tell me how rocks change during the rock cycle?”
- The teacher will tell everyone they did a great job and that we are going to create an
anchor chart of the rock cycle to get a better understanding.
Development/Teaching Approaches
● The teacher will have the students sit on the carpet and together, they will create an
anchor chart of the rock cycle.
○ To help create an anchor chart of the rock cycle, the teacher will have a basic
powerpoint on the smartboard that explains the rock cycle. The teacher and
the students will pull out the most important information and will add it to the
anchor chart.
● While starting the anchor chart, the teacher will explain to the students…
○ The rock cycle is a concept used to explain how the three basic rock types are
related and how Earth processes, over geologic time, change a rock from one
type into another.
■ The teacher will say, “Can anyone tell me the three different rocks that
we learned about during the brainpop video?”
● Promote response “Sedimentary, metamorphic and Igneous
 rocks”
■ “Great job, the three types of rocks that are formed during the rock
cycle are sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous”
■ The teacher will say, “I would like three students to come to the front
to write the names of these rocks in the spaces.”
■ Once the students write the three types of rocks, the teacher will
explain that each rock goes through a specific process to be able to
form into another rock.
● The teacher will say, “Let’s start with the first rock called
sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are formed from pre-
existing rocks or pieces of once-living organisms. They form
from deposits that accumulate on the Earth's surface.
Sedimentary rocks are created from erosion! Can anyone tell
me what erosion is?
○ Promote erosion definition we learned about in lesson
two.
○ The teacher will say, “Great job! Now, you may be
thinking, why does the rock cycle matter when we are
studying landforms? Well, mountains are made up of
mainly sedimentary rocks! They are created through
erosion and the type of rock they are made up of are the
sedimentary rocks!”
● The teacher will have someone come to the anchor chart to fill
in the space between the igneous rock and sedimentary rock
with “erosion and deposition”.
● The teacher will say, “Once a rock is at the sedimentary state,
they go through the process of temperature and pressure to
form into the second type of in the rock cycle called
metamorphic rocks. Metamorphic rocks were once igneous or
sedimentary rocks, but have been changed as a result of
intense heat and/or pressure within the Earth's crust.
○ The teacher will say, “Metamorphic rocks can make up
canyons! For example, the Grand canyon is an example
of rock that was changed through heat and pressure to
create a canyon.”
● The teacher will have a student come to the anchor chart to fill
in the space between the sedimentary rock and metamorphic
rock with “Temperature and pressure” to show that is the
process the rock goes through in order to change to another
rock type.
● The teacher will say, “Once the rock is at the metamorphic
state, they go through the process of melting to create the third
type of rock in the rock cycle called igneous rocks. Igneous rocks
are defined as types of rocks that are formed when molten rock
 (rock liquefied by intense heat and pressure) cools to a solid-
state.
○ The teacher will say, “Igneous rocks can make up the
small rocks that we see on the landform, coastlines. For
example, the small rocks that we see at the beach
where the water meets the sand or where the water
meets the land at a lake are igneous rocks.”
● The teacher will have a student come to the anchor chart to fill
in the space between metamorphic and igneous rock with the
word “melting” to show that is the process the rock goes
through in order to change to another rock type.
○ The teacher will put the anchor chart of the whiteboard for all of the students
to see.
● After the class anchor chart is complete, the teacher will introduce the classroom walk
activity. The point of this activity is for the students to be able to learn more about
the rock cycle and to take notes at each different stop in the classroom.
○ Information cards will be posted around the classroom with facts about each
step of the rock cycle. Some information on the cards will include…
■ Pictures of the rocks at each stage of the rock cycle
■ Examples and pictures of landforms that are created by the type of
rock
■ How the specific type of rock is formed through either melting, erosion
and deposition, or temperature and pressure.
○ The students will have a guided note taking page that corresponds with each
different card that is around the room. For example, card one will be what the
students will use to fill out section one of the guided notes.
■ At the end of the guided notes section for each step of the rock cycle,
there will be an open box where the students will be asked to draw the
type of landform that is created by the corresponding rock.
○ At this time, the teacher will be walking around, observing the students to
check for overall comprehension.
○ The students will have a total of five minutes at each different station around
the room.
○ After the teacher observes, the teacher will place materials for the foldable
activity on each set of desks.
● Once the classroom walk is over, the students will be creating a rock cycle/landform
foldable.
○ The teacher will instruct the students to go back to their seats but to keep
their guided notes sheet on their desk.
○ The teacher will explain that we will be creating a foldable to help us
remember the rock cycle and what types of rocks create each landform and
how the rocks do so.
■ The teacher will say, “Now that we have learned a little bit about the
rock cycle and landforms, we are all going to create a foldable to help
 us remember the different types of rocks and the processes they go
through to create the landforms. If you look at my example (hold up an
example of what the students will be making) I have four total pages to
my foldable. The first page will be a model of the rock cycle and I will
give that to you. You will create a mountain out of construction paper,
a coastline out of construction paper, and a canyon out of construction
paper. Once you are finished, you will be given a sheet of paper that
has the definition of the three types of rocks we learned about today
and it will be your job to match the rock type to the landform. To help
you, you can look at your notes from the classroom walk activity, or
look up at the anchor chart to help you! Once you have decided what
type of rock makes up each landform, I would like you to try and write
how the rock is made by either erosion, melting, or temperature and
pressure. Again, you can use your notes from the classroom walk or
you can look at the anchor chart! Once you are all finished, we will add
the different types of rocks to our foldables! There are three different
types of rocks labeled at the front of the classroom (sedimentary rocks,
metamorphic rocks, and igneous rocks) and we will hot glue them to
your foldable. Once everyone is finished, we will punch a hole in the
top corner of your foldable and we will place them on a binder ring so
we can keep them to help us remember.”
○ While the students are working on their project, the teacher will walk around
the classroom to check for overall understanding. The teacher will do this by
observing through thumbs up and thumbs down. The teacher will ask
individual students for some examples of the characteristics that they are
creating to see if they are able to describe parts of the rock cycle.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
● At the end of the foldable activity, the students will be asked to come to the carpet.
● The teacher will ask three different students to raise their hands to tell the class the
three different types of rocks and the three different landforms that are created by
the rocks.
● The teacher will tell the students they did a great job today learning about the
different types of rocks and the rock cycle.
● The teacher will tell the students to start thinking about different types of fossils they
have learned about in other grades because tomorrow we will be looking at different
types of fossils found under landforms from over hundreds of years ago!
Accommodations/Differentiation:
Follow all IEPs

● If a student in my classroom has dyslexia, an accommodation that would be made for

this student would be highlighted parts of their notes and less fill in the blanks to fill
out during the classroom walk when the students fill out the guided notes.
Materials/Resources:

● SmartBoard to present powerpoint when completing anchor chart with students

● Anchor chart paper
● Rock cycle Powerpoint
○ https://www.nps.gov/index.htm
● Classroom walk task cards (10)
● Classroom walk guided notes sheets (25)
● Markers (25)
● Scissors (25)
● Colored construction paper (100)
● Cut and paste rock definition sheets (25)
● Rocks (3 medium sized bags) different types
● Binger rings (25)

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Remediation Plan (if applicable)

Personal Reflection Questions

Additional reflection/thoughts
 Powerpoint used for anchor chart:
https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

● Rock-Cycle-Powerpoint.pptx

Outline of the rock cycle followed for anchor chart:

https://sites.google.com/site/nattrass8thscience/unit-2-geology/types-of-rocks-the-rock-cycle?
ovrridemobile=true
 Classroom walk: Cards- (Placed around the classroom):
EEU 305: Classroom walk cards

Classroom walk: Guided notes- (Students fill out at each card around the classroom):
EEU 305- Classroom walk notes sheet for students

Cut and paste rock definitions sheet used for foldable book:
https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/types-of-rocks/?
epik=dj0yJnU9bmxobGlwcnkzZXRMdFdORHpqMF9iQXJya3lmLXpaWmYmcD0wJm49R08zZTlOQ
nFzaS1Ub0Q3eHZmal9KUSZ0PUFBQUFBR0JtQmI4
Example of foldable book students will create:
 Rubric used for assessment scale:

Advanced (3 points) Proficient (2 points) Basic (1 point)

Match rocks to their The student is able to The student is able The student is able to
correct landform(s). correctly match three to correctly match correctly match one
rock types out of two rock types out of rock type out of three
three to their correct three to their correct to its correct
landform(s) landform(s) landform(s)