IowaHigh School

November 27th

Rock Transformation Lesson 1.1

Students will complete a pre-unit assessment on Rock Transformation. The Pre-Unit Assessment is diagnostic and designed to reveal students’ understanding of the unit’s core content—including unit-specific science concepts and crosscutting concepts—prior to instruction by indicating, for formative purposes, where students initially fall along the levels of the Progress Build. The Pre-Unit Assessment also measures students’ understanding of important supporting content not explicitly included in the Progress Build. As such, it offers a baseline from which to measure growth of understanding over the course of the unit.

November 28th

Rock Transformation Lesson 1.2

1: Warm-Up (10 min.)

Students use prior knowledge to answer a question about how rocks form.

Video: Geology 101 (5 min.)

A short video introduces students to their roles as geologists. They also learn about the mystery they will be investigating throughout this unit.

2: Thinking Like a Geologist (10 min.)

Students share initial ideas about the investigation and become familiar with the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.

3: Observing Hand Samples of Rock (20 min.)

Students inspect hand samples of different types of rock and consider what it means to make detailed observations.

November 29th

Rock Transformation Lesson 1.3

1: Warm-Up (10 min.)

Students practice decoding a cross-section diagram of rock formations to prepare them for the cross-section representation in the Simulation.

2: Forming Rocks in the Simulation (25 min.)

Students explore the Simulation and discover different processes that can form different types of rock.

3: Considering How Rocks Form (10 min.)

Students reflect on processes that form different rocks in the Sim. The teacher uses this opportunity as an On-the-Fly Assessment of students’ ideas about how rocks form.

4: Family Homework Experience (Optional)

Exploring rocks at home supports student learning through shared experiences with family.

November 30th

Rock Transformation Lesson 1.4

1: Warm-Up (5 min.)

In preparation for gathering evidence, students consider why the process of forming rocks is difficult to observe.

2: Modeling How Sediment Forms Rock (15 min.)

Students use hard candy to model how sedimentary rock forms.

 Playing Cooling Magma (2 min.)

The teacher projects video footage of magma flowing and then cooling on an island in Hawaii.

3: Discussing How Magma Forms Rock (8 min.)

Students engage in a discussion about how magma forms igneous rock.

4: Rock Types and How They Form (15 min.)

Students use a set of characteristics to help identify the rock samples they initially studied in Lesson 1.2.

5: Homework

Students read an article about different rocks on the beach and how they formed.

December 1st

Rock Transformation Lesson 1.5

1: Warm-Up (5 min.)

Students review the “Rocks on the Beach” article, which they read for homework. They review descriptions of how different rock types form, solidifying their understanding of the two processes covered so far.

2: Modeling How Rocks Form (15 min.)

Students show their current understanding of how sedimentary and igneous rocks form. They use the Modeling Tool to communicate their ideas with other students. The teacher uses this opportunity as an On-the-Fly Assessment of students’ ideas about how sedimentary and igneous rocks form.

3: Evaluating Rock Observations (17 min.)

Students consider evidence about the rock of the two study regions. They apply an understanding of detailed observations to evaluate the given evidence.

4: Discussing How the Rocks Formed (8 min.)

Students use the evidence about the rock of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. They determine which rock type is found in each region and how those rocks formed.

5: Homework

Students practice supporting a scientific argument with evidence in order to explain their current thinking about the claims.

6: Self-Assessment (Optional)

Students check their understanding of important content in the unit and are given a chance to reflect on additional questions they have about rock transformations.