ALEX Lesson Plan

     

Can You Form a Landform?

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  This lesson provided by:  
Author:Kate Smith
System: Decatur City
School: Decatur City Board Of Education
And
Author:Abbi Griffin
System: Athens City
School: Julian Newman Elementary School
The event this resource created for:NASA
  General Lesson Information  
Lesson Plan ID: 34198

Title:

 Can You Form a Landform?

Overview/Annotation:

The students will create a landform using modeling clay in a small group setting.  

This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

 Associated Standards and Objectives 
Content Standard(s):
Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 2
9 ) Create models to identify physical features of Earth (e.g., mountains, valleys, plains, deserts, lakes, rivers, oceans).

NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
E4.3: The surface of Earth changes. Some changes are due to slow processes such as erosion and weathering, and some changes are due to rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth's Systems
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Develop a model, like a map, to represent the physical features of land and bodies of water in an area.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Physical features
  • Models
  • Mountains
  • Valleys
  • Plains
  • Deserts
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Oceans
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The physical features of Earth can be modeled, as on a map.
  • The relationship between components their model and kinds of land and bodies of water in a given area.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Create a model that represents both land and bodies of water in an area.
  • Make connections between their model and the shapes and kinds of land and water in an area.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Models can represent patterns in the natural world like the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Soils and Shores
Pebbles, Sand, and Silt, FOSS
Shrinking Shore, ETA/hand2mind
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.2.9- Identify physical features of Earth (e.g., mountain, valley, river, lake).
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 2
R1. Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
R1.
  • Active Listening
  • Discussion
  • Conversation
  • Rules
  • Participation
Knowledge:
R1. Students know:
  • Active listening skills.
  • Agreed-upon rules for participation for discussions and conversations in a variety of settings.
Skills:
R1. Students are able to:
  • Demonstrate active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings.
  • Converse in pairs, small groups, and large groups.
  • Practice the agreed-upon rules for participation.
Understanding:
R1. Students understand that:
  • Conversations and discussions follow agreed-upon rules to help us actively listen and gain understanding.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 2
2. Present information orally using complete sentences, appropriate volume, and clear pronunciation.

a. Use oral language for different purposes: to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to clarify, and to respond.

b. Use complex sentence structures when speaking.

c. Ask and answer questions to seek help, clarify meaning, or get information.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
2.
  • Present
  • Orally
  • Complete sentences
  • Appropriate volume
  • Clear pronunciation
2a.
  • Oral language
  • Purposes
  • Inform
  • Entertain
  • Persuade
  • Clarify
  • Respond
2b.
  • Complex sentence structures
2c.
  • Ask
  • Answer
  • Seek
  • Clarify
Knowledge:
2. Students know:
  • Speaking skills for oral presentations.
2a.
  • Oral language skills for different purposes of communication.
2b.
  • The structure of a complex sentence.
2c.
    Questions to seek help.
  • Questions to clarify information.
  • Questions to get information.
  • Responses to questions with appropriate information.
Skills:
2. Students are able to:
  • Form complete sentences, use appropriate volume based on the situation or environment, and use clear pronunciation when sharing information orally.
2a.
  • Use listening and speaking skills to inform, entertain, persuade, clarify, and respond.
2b.
  • Use complex sentences when sharing information orally.
2c.
  • Ask and answer questions to seek help, clarify meaning or get information.
Understanding:
2. Students understand that:
  • To communicate clearly, a speaker should use complete sentences, a voice volume that can be heard by the audience, and clearly pronounced words.
2a.
  • They can use their oral language should vary depending on its purpose.
2b.
  • Using complex sentence structures when speaking helps to provide details and combine ideas in an interesting way.
2c. Students understand that:
  • They can get help, learn new information, or express information they know or have learned by asking and answering questions, depending on the task at hand.

Local/National Standards:

  

Primary Learning Objective(s):

The students will create a landform (mountain, valley, island, plain, desert, lake, river, ocean) in a group setting using modeling clay on cardboard pieces.

Additional Learning Objective(s):

The students will be able to speak clearly to the class when describing the landform built.  

The students will also write a descriptive paragraph about the class model.

 Preparation Information 

Total Duration:

31 to 60 Minutes

Materials and Resources:

Modeling clay (brown, green, blue, white)

Cardboard pieces (8x12) one per group

Plain paper

crayons

7 index cards- one landform written on a card (island, river, ocean, lake, plain, desert, mountain/valley)

paper or writing journal

pencil

 

Technology Resources Needed:

Computer with internet access or tablet

Video on landforms - Exploring Landforms and Bodies of Water for kids

Background/Preparation:

This lesson is an activity after the study of landforms. Students need to know each landform:  island, mountain, lake, river, ocean, plain, desert, and valley.  

The teacher will prepare workstation areas for each landform ahead of time using all colors of clay.

  Procedures/Activities: 

The teacher will have workstations set up for each group naming the landform they will create on an index card. 

The students will view the video, Exploring Landforms and Bodies of Water for kids, as a review on landforms. (Listed in technology resources.)

The teacher will divide the class into seven groups one for each landform to be created.  The students will imagine and discuss in small groups how to create landforms with modeling clay.  

The students will plan together. Each group must produce a drawing of their assigned landform using crayons and paper before beginning to create the model of the landform.  The teacher must approve the drawing before building the landform.  Upon approval, the students will collaborate and build landforms given using modeling clay on a cardboard piece. 

Representations described below may vary.   

The lake group will use blue clay to form a flat lake surrounded by land made out of green and brown clay.

The mountain/valley group will use green and brown clay to create land with steep sides that rise up from the mainland. They may use a little white clay on the peak for snow.  They will also focus on the location of a valley which is the low land between the mountains.

The river group will use blue clay to create a large stream that runs through land to another body of water. They will use green and brown clay to make land on both sides of the river.

The island group will use green and brown clay to form land completely surrounded by water using blue clay.

The desert group will use brown clay to create an extremely dry area with little water and few plants.

The plain group will use green clay to form land that represents a large area of flat, grassy land.

The ocean group will use blue clay to represent a large body of salt water.

After 35 minutes of forming landforms with clay, each group will present their representation to the class and the class will listen and critique each model. The group may make any improvements if necessary after discussing them with the class.

When all groups have shared and made improvements, the students will write a descriptive paragraph about the landform they created in their journals.  After writing, they may illustrate the writing piece.


  Assessment  

Assessment Strategies

The teacher will use observations to assess the models created by the students. 

 

Acceleration:

Students will research the landforms found on the surface of Mars using the attached document (NASA Mars formations) with links embedded.

Intervention:

Students having difficulty with landforms will re-watch the video, Exploring Landforms and Bodies of Water for kids.


View the Special Education resources for instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.
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