DLESE NY Collection Review Page

NY MST Standard 4 as applied to the Physical Setting/Earth Science Core Curriculum

Weathering, Erosion, Deposition; Rocks and Minerals; Landforms; Meteorology
What's So New About Newspaper?(Dolphin) Major Understandings 3.1a, Standard 6-KI 2 Students will explore how newspaper behaves during different tests. They will determine how the internal structure (grain) of the paper will influence its behavior.(The influence of the grain of the paper on its behavior is analogous to the influence the atomic structure of a mineral has on its behavior during certain tests
  • Testing and observing newspaper
  • Recording data and sketching observations
  • Graphing data
Topographic Map Creation
and accompanying
spreadsheet		(Burrows) Major Understanding 2.1p, 2.1q How can we create three-dimensional models of imaginary landscapes? Students will create two- and three-dimensional topographic maps. They will be challenged to create various landscape features. They will calculate gradient on their maps. Includes the following content
  • topographic mapping
  • isolines
  • gradient
  • visualization of topo maps in three dimensions
  • landforms
Contour Plates(Patrick)Major Understanding 2.1q Topographic maps represent landforms through the use of contour lines that are isolines connecting points of equal elevation. Gradients and profiles can be determined from changes in elevation over a given distance.
  • Develop unique "see-through" 3-D models of topographic maps.
  • Use these map representations to describe landofrms and features.
Design a Hiking Trail(Remis) Major Understanding 2.1q Students work in a group to design a hiking trail system on a real topographic map using specific criteria. Project includes design of an informational brochure and completion of a data sheet.
  • reading topographic maps
  • calculating gradient
  • solving real-life problems
  • flexible activity easily modified for your students/ interests
    • Universe, Solar System, Earth's Motions
    Teaching Earth-Moon Scaling(O'Brien) Exploring questions and comparing alternative conceptions about Earth-Moon relationships provide an opportunity to: (a) emphasize the primary role of empirical criteria, logical argument and skeptical review in the historical and present day process of science, (b) integrate science with mathematics & technology (as well as history & language arts), and (c) help students to begin to appreciate the vast wonder & scale of our solar system & the broader universe
    The Ellipse(Kluge) Major Understandings 1.1a, 1.1b Students draw and analyze two ellipses
    • Calculation of eccentricity
    • Understanding of range and significance of eccentricity
    • Compare eccentricities of drawn ellipses to planetary orbit eccentricities
    • Challenge component - working backwards to construct a scale model of Comet Halley's orbit
    Tides at the Battery, NY(Burrows) Major Understanding 1.1a How can graphs be used to understand the tides? Students will use current data from the web to graph recent tides and tide predictions. They will analyze the tidal pattern and determine the accuracy of the predictions. They will make predictions. Includes the development of the following content and skills:
    • daily cycle of high and low tides
    • graphing
    • predictions
    • percent deviation
    • real-time, data driven exploration using current/local data
    Gotham Equinox(Kluge) Major Understandings 1.1f, 1.1h Students examine map and photograph of setting sun aligned with 34th St. in NYC to determine the date that the photograph was made. Makes a good "wrap-up" activity, or can be done as a lesson led by the teacher.
    • Path of sun and the seasons
    • Sunrise and sunset azimuths
    • Meaning and significance of "equinox"
    • Potential for use of web based data (rise and set azimuths by location and date) to solve the problem
    Analyzing Star Trails(Kluge) Major Understandings 1.1a, 1.1c, 1.1d, 1.2d Students examine and analyze a star trail photo taken by an earth science student in New York State. A single period activity that can be used to include discussion of:
    • Location of Polaris
    • Apparent motion of stars
    • Rate of earth's rotation
    • Potential for discussion of "Big Dipper", "Pointer Stars", characteristics of stars
    • Potential for real-time, data driven enhancement using online planetarium
    Meteorology / Climate
    White Plains MetARs(Kluge) Major Understandings 2.1a-hStudents examine a 'one week' MetAR to find trends in temperature and pressure over the course of one week in October. Activity can be used to introduce or reinforce concepts related to:
    • Insolation and radiation
    • Radiative balance
    • Conceptual understanding of dewpoint, temperature, and relative humidity
    • Determining dewpoint and relative humidity with ESRT
    • Potential for real-time, data driven exploration using current/local data
    Weather Maps in Motion(Burrows) Major Understanding 2.1c, 2.1g How do we interpret current weather maps? Students will observe current weather map loop animations. They will observe the movement of fronts and air masses. They will analyze a specific weather station model. They will generate a meteogram from their observations.
    • weather maps
    • fronts and air masses
    • station models
    • meteograms
    • rate of change
    • real-time, data driven exploration using current/local data
    How's the Air Up There?
    and accompanying
    spreadsheet    		(Burrows) Major Understanding 2.1d - f How does the atmosphere change with altitude? Students will obtain current upper air radiosonde soundings from the web. They will generate graphs and analyze them.
    • upper air radiosonde soundings
    • temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, barometric pressure
    • graphing
    • layers of the atmosphere
    • climate
    • cloud formation
    • real-time, data driven exploration using current/local data
    Coastal and Continental Temperature Ranges(Remis) Major Understanding 2.2c Using climographs students plot locations using latitude and longitude, calculate annual temperature ranges, and relate unequal rates of heating and cooling to climate variations. Students construct and analyze climographs for two NYS locations.
  • rates of heating and cooling
  • temperature range determination
  • use of accessible, real data
  • latitude and longitude
    • Hurricane Ivan
    Interpreting NOAA Hurricane
    Advisories    		(Kluge) Major Understandings 1.1c, 2.1c-e, 2.1g-h Students examine, interpret, and map several days of NOAA hurricane advisories. A quick activity that can be used to launch discussions of:
    • Latitude and Longitude, plotting locations
    • Hurricane tracks
    • NOAA advisory elements
    • Relationship between pressure and wind speed
    • Relationship between water temperature and hurricane formation
    • Potential for discussion of planetary winds, coriolis effect, tropical heat, 'heat capacity' of water, energy transfer, heat of vaporization, etc.
    • Potential for real-time, data driven exploration using current data
    Climate Controls(Dolphin) Major Understandings 2.1h,i and 2.2a-c Climate is an area's average atmospheric energy (in terms of temperature and precipitation). The energy comes from the sun and water vapor. Students determine what causes different climates in different areas of the world.
    • Geographic controls on climate
    • Researching and plotting climate data
    • Minimizing or accounting for extra influencing variables
    Environmental Science
    Flooding in Virginia(Patrick)Major Understandings 2.1q, 2.1r 2.1q Topographic maps represent landforms through the use of contour lines that are isolines connecting points of equal elevation. Gradients and profiles can be determined from changes in elevation over a given distance. 2.1r Climate variations, structure, and characteristics of bedrock influence the development of landscape features including mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, ridges, escarpments, and stream drainage patterns.
    • Students will evaluate a flooding event in Virginia using stream discharge data and a topographic map.
    Are You Kyoto Cool?(Dolphin) Major Understandings 2.2d, Standard 7-KI Students will use past year's data to determine their per person CO2 production within their household. Students will then devise ways for decreasing their production.
    • CO2 is a greenhouse gas
    • Burning fossil fuels produces CO2
    • Students can make a conscious effort to minimize their CO2 production
    Tiny Bubbles(Dolphin) Major Understandings 1.2c, e CO2 gas is a dense gas and will displace oxygen from a tank. Air bubbles blown into the tank of CO2 gas will float on top of the gas.
    • Gases behave like a fluid
    • Characteristics of CO2 gas
    • Structure of matter
    What's the Matter with Air?(Childs) Major Understandings: 2.1a, 2.1b Use the concepts of density and heat energy to explain observations of weather patterns, seasonal changes, and the movements of Earth’s plates.
    Burning Down the House(Dolphin) Major Understanding 1.2h The addition of oxygen into Earth's atmosphere by cyannobacteria led to the creation of banded iron formations. Oxygen was poisonous to life at that time. Once cells could utilize oxygen, they had much more energy at their disposal.
    • students witness the energy released by the process of oxidation.
    Should We Dam The Nanticoke?(Childs) Major understandings 2.1q The title describes the project.
    Geologic Time reading, writing, and comprehension skills
    Relative Age Self-Design Quiz(Remis) Major Understanding 1.2j Students use relarive age principles to describe the processes that formed a geologic profile, draw the profile as an answer key, and give their "quiz" to another student. Students use a teacher designed rubric to score their quiz and complete a self-evaluation to assess their own learning.
  • principle of superposition
  • principle of cross-cutting relationships
  • determining rock types in a geologic profile using the ESRT
  • authentic assessment
  • determining rock types in a geologic profile using the ESRT
  • unconformities
    • The Story That Rocks Can Tell(Remis) Major Understandings 1.2j, 2.1t, 2.1w By using prior knowledge of sedimentary rock formation and the agents of erosion and depostion, students use a set of rock samples and the principle of superposition to make observations and inferences. This data is then used to write a story of the geologic history the rocks represent.
  • sedimentary rock formation
  • agents of weathering and erosion
  • environments of depostion
  • principle of superpostion
  • writing skills
    • Earth History Tours, Inc(LaDue) Students will use charts and internet resources to gain an understanding of a specific time period. Students are time travel agents creating an advertisement for their geologic time period and marketing it to a target audience.
  • Use pages 8&9 of the NY ESRT to gather data regarding a specific time period
  • Conduct internet research about various life forms of the geologic past
  • Use a program to create a brochure
    • It's All Relative(Dolphin) Major Understanding 1.2j Students correlate stratigraphic "outcrops" in the classroom, develop an understanding for what makes a good index fossil, and compares index fossils to volcanic ash layers as stratigraphic time markers.
    • Students correlate stratigraphic outcrops in three dimensions
    • Utilizes ESRT for dating index fossils
    • Compare and contrast index fossils and volcanic ash layers as time markers
    Time Travellers: Adventure to the Archaean(Weaver) Major Understandings 1.2h; 1.2i; 1.2j Students will study fossil evidence of life on Earth from the PreCambrian through the Cenozoic. Specifically, and based on information derived from a web site on Archaean life and conditions, students will write an illustrated Word report about the Archaean
    TravelPast, Inc.(Weaver) Major Understandings 1.2i, 1.2j Students will study a set of 8 fossils and determine their time-lines and specific ages. They will also consider the bedrock and glacial history of the area and weave a coherent story for the finding of the set of fossils. The story will be documented in a report to a tourist industry company along with suggestions for the implementation of an educational facility to present the information to the public.
    Plate Tectonics, Earth's Crust, Earth's Interior
    Earthquakes and Plate Boundaries(Patrick)Major UnderstandingsThe lithosphere consists of separate plates that ride on the more fluid asthenosphere and move slowly in relationship to one another, creating convergent, divergent, and transform plate boundaries. These motions indicate Earth is a dynamic geologic system. These plate boundaries are the sites of most earthquakes, volcanoes, and young mountain ranges.
    • Identify the pattern of earthquakes at divergent, convergent and transform boundaries.
    • Use these patterns to determine the motions along these boundaries.
    • Uses Dr. Alan Jones' "Seismic Eruption" simulation software
    Penny Lab(LaDue) Students calculate the density of a copper sample by measuring mass and density of the sample. Students will measure the mass of a series of pennies. Using the previous density calculation and the mass measurements, they will find the volume. Since the composition of the pennies changed during 1982, they will see a volume change. Students will be required to display their understanding of volume to conclude that they composition had changed.
    • Measure the mass and volume of a various samples
    • Calculate the density of copper
    • Make inferences based on collected data
    Models of the Earth<(LaDue) Students will use an M&M to relate the thicknesses of the layers to the layers of the Earth. By applying pressure to a peanut M&M, students can observe the type of plate boundaries we find on Earth.
  • Compare the layers of a peanut M&M to the Earth
  • Calculate percentages
  • Critique a model and examine it's benefits and shortcomings
    • Stressful Situations(DeMarco) Using common sandwich components, students work hands on to come up with their own personal ways of demonstrating faults types, stress, mountain formation, etc. Can also be modified for erosion, glacial activity, demonstration of original horizontality, unconformities, etc.
    • Students attempt to demonstrate their findings to the class
    • Students use materials at their own discretion
    • Students will connect what their findings to prior knowledge
    • Students will develop a more meaningful understanding of Earth's crust
    Seismic Activity(DeMarco) Shoe boxes are filled with various materials which simulate Earth's surfaces. Dropping rocks on the boxes triggers a “wave” that can be recorded by sliding paper up against a marker that is attached to the box. Different materials cause various intensities of waves.
    • Students discover how seismic waves travel in different materials
    • Students attempt to demonstrate their findings to the class
    • Students can work as a team to experiment with new materials
    Earthquakes and Plate Boundaries(Patrick) Major Understandings:.
    Density of Earth's Layers(Klosko) 1. Earth’s layered structure 2. density 3. experimental errors 4. rocks and meteorites 5. Archimedes Principle applied to the Earth System"
    Weighing and Determining the Average Density of Earth(Klosko) 1. the Law of Gravitation, applied to the Earth System 2. density 3. experimental errors"
    Miscellaneous
    I'm a Rolling Stone (Dolphin)
    Creating a Magnetometer (Dolphin)
    A Magnetic Personality (Dolphin)
    More from Steve Kluge (Kluge)
    Sumatra 'Quake of 2004 (Robison and Kluge)

    ALSO!:
    Virginia Flooding (Patrick)
    Penny Lab (LaDue)
    Earth Models (LaDue)
    Earth History (LaDue) HTML Version
    Archean (Weaver) Teacher Edition***Rubric
    Missing Water (Weaver)Teacher Edition (Weaver)***Rubric
    Rockin' and Rollin' (Weaver)Teacher Edition***Rubric
    Travel the Past (Weaver)Teacher Edition (Weaver)***Rubric
    Egg Drop (Robison) Teacher Edition
    Inquiry (Robison)
    Flat Bottom Clouds (Robison) Teacher Edition
    Doppler Effect (Robison)
    Hiking Trail (Remis)
    Relative Age (Remis)
    Story (Remis)
    Temperature Ranges (Remis)
    Is It More? (Childs)
    Is It Just a Matter of Scale? (Childs)
    Lunar Phases - Addressing Misconceptions (Childs)
    What Does Pizza Have To Do With Ancient History? (Cohen)
    Density for Chocoholics (Cohen)
    Shadows of the Sun (Cohen)***Weekly Log ***Follow-Up Questions ***Solar Altitude Calculation-addendum ***Solar Altitude Table- excel sheet
    Mining Made Simple (Cohen)
    Rock Cycle Stories (Ebert)
    Convection Model Activity (Ebert)
    Stream Profile Activity (Miller) *** Profile Spreadsheet

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