islands Prep Time: 20 minutes Teaching Time: about 3 hours

Transcription

1 Prep Time: 20 minutes Teaching Time: about 3 hours Science Concept: Islands are land surrounded by water on all sides and can be identified on maps. (NOTE: This lesson should be taught after students are familiar with rivers and river features.) Objectives: The student will: describe an island s features; classify features of and rivers; and write a story with a beginning, middle and end. GLEs Addressed: Science [3] SD2.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the forces that shape Earth by identifying and comparing a variety of Earth s land features (i.e., rivers, deltas, lakes, glaciers, mountains, valleys, and ). [3] SA1.1 The student classifies the features of and rivers using a Venn diagram. Writing [3] W1.1.3 The student writes about a topic by writing a story or composition with a beginning, middle, and end. Vocabulary: feature - a distinctive attribute or aspect of something island - an area of land, smaller than a continent, which is surrounded by water surround - be all around (someone or something) <the hotel is surrounded by its own gardens> water - an odorless, tasteless, colorless liquid formed by a combination of hydrogen and oxygen which freezes at 0 C (32 F) and boils at 100 C (212 F) and is a major constituent of all living matter Materials: Alaska map World map Aluminum pans (one per group) Pudding, vanilla or other light color Blue food coloring Crushed cookies (Oreos or Nilla Wafers) An assortment of candy, such as gummy bears, worms, small hard candy, etc. Toothpicks Paper Tape Small resealable bags (three per group) Plastic spoons (one per student) Plastic knives (one per student) Small cakes (one per group) Brown, M. W., and Weisgard, L. (2004). The Little Island. New York, NY: Dell Dragonfly Books. OVERHEAD: Islands Activity Preparation: 1. Prepare land features for the Explore for ease of use during the lesson. a. Cut strips from paper (two per pair of students), label them land and water, and tape to toothpicks. Science Teacher Education Program Geophysical Institute, UAF 73 Islands

2 b. Color pudding with food coloring so that it resembles water. c. Divide cookie crumbs, candy, and pudding into small resealable bags. Activity Procedure: Please refer to the assessment task and scoring rubric located at the end of these instructions. Discuss the assessment descriptors with the class before teaching this lesson. Gear Up Process Skills: communicating, observing, and describing 1. Display a map of Alaska. Ask students what state is shown on the map. Point to several on the map. Point out that these parts of Alaska are not connected to the other parts. Ask students what is all around (surrounding) these pieces of land. Ask students what they know about ; list responses on the board. 2. Divide students into pairs. Ask pairs to find an island on the Alaska map displayed in the classroom. After locating the island they should trace a finger around the island to make sure all the sides are surrounded by water, and then read what body of water is surrounding the island. As a class, make a list of the students found, checking each island to be sure it is surrounded by water. Use tally marks to denote that more than one group found the same island. 3. Read The Little Island to the class and discuss. Explore Process Skills: communicating, observing, and describing 4. Display the world map. Ask student pairs to find an island on the world map. Again, students should use a finger to trace around the island, and identify the body of water that surrounds the island. Again, use tally marks to record found by more than one group. Generalize Process Skills: observing, communicating, inferring, and describing 5. Ask students the following questions and discuss as a class: a. Where in the world are located? b. Are they all in the same area of the world? c. How do you know an island from another piece of land? Explore Process Skills: communicating, observing, inferring, and describing 6. Display OVERHEAD: Islands. Discuss the various features that have (mountains, lakes, rivers, ponds, trees, flowers). Students may also share any personal island experiences. 7. Divide students into small groups and explain that they will be making a model of an island. Distribute an aluminum tray, small cake (island), pudding, toothpicks, cookie crumbs, candy, spoons and knives to each group. Students should start by placing their small cake (island) in their aluminum tray, and then use the pudding to create water surrounding their island. The cookie crumbs and candy can be used to add features to the island. Toothpicks can be used to create flags to label the island and water. Generalize Process Skills: observing, communicating, inferring, and describing 8. Ask groups to share the following with the class so that groups may compare and contrast their. a. What landform did you make? b. What are some of the features you gave your island? c. What is all around your island and why? Science Teacher Education Program Geophysical Institute, UAF 74 Islands

3 Apply/Assess Process Skills: inferring, describing, and observing 9. Ask students to classify the features of rivers and using a Venn Diagram (see example below). If necessary, explain and discuss Venn Diagrams with the class. Venn Diagram: water surrounds them made of land lakes trees landform present in Alaska rocks water runs through them made of water Islands Rivers Science Teacher Education Program Geophysical Institute, UAF 75 Islands

4 Assessment Task Ask students to write a story about people living on an island. The story must include how the people got to the island, the body of water the island is surrounded by, and a description of 3 or more of the island s features. The story must have a beginning, middle, and end. Students may draw an illustration of the island. Rubric Objective GLE Below Proficient Proficient Above Proficient The student will describe an island s features. [3] SD2.1 The student describes 2 or less features of an island. The student describes 3 features of an island. The student describes 4 or more features of an island. The student classifies the features of and rivers using a Venn diagram. The student writes a story with a beginning, middle and end. [3] SA1.1 Student does not classify or classifies one feature of a river and one feature of an island using a Venn diagram. [3] W1.1.3 The student writes a story, but it does not have a beginning, middle and end. The story is missing one or more of the following parts: a description of how people got to the island, and the body of water the island is surrounded by. The student classifies 2 features of a river and 2 features of an island using a Venn diagram. The student writes a story that has a beginning, middle and end. The story includes how people got to the island and the body of water the island is surrounded by. The student classifies 3 or more features of a river and 3 or more features of an island using a Venn diagram. The student writes a story that has a beginning, middle and end. The story includes how people got to the island and the body of water the island is surrounded by. There also is an illustration of the island. Science Teacher Education Program Geophysical Institute, UAF 76 Islands

5 White Island, New Zealand Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii Okcomputer Dreamstime.com Dirkr Dreamstime.com Kodiak Island, Alaska Caribbean Island Gsagi13 Dreamstime.com Dbpellegrino Dreamstime.com Hamilton Island, Australia Misty Fjords National Monument, Alaska Mairead Dreamstime.com Science Teacher Education Program Geophysical Institute, UAF Svx94 Dreamstime.com 77 Islands