Earth/Space Science

Chapter 10

“The Earth’s Surface, Atmosphere and Weather”

This chapter introduced earth/ space science by starting with the crust of the earth. This chapter described the movement of the crust (plate tectonics) and the composition of the earth- various rock formations and fossils therein. Then the chapter moved on the oceans and currents and human dependency on the ocean. Finally, the chapter ended in the atmosphere. It discussed weather and the water cycle. This was an information dense chapter. As I read, I thought about the lessons that could be applied to this information with the knowledge of the previous 9 chapters. 

Crust of earth - Students could be given a multisensory hands on activity such as modeling the earth’s layers out of various play-doh colors, using different pieces to represent the different plates. 

Ocean and currents - Students could use google earth to make discoveries about the earth’s oceans. They could use the tool to go on a scavenger hunt looking for various landmarks and taking screen captures of their finds.

Atmosphere- An inquiry based weather lesson could involve students collecting data for a predetermined period of time and then being asked to make a prediction, and continue to record to see if their predictions came true. 

Chapter 11

"The Cosmos"

The Cosmos. This is an exciting chapter. I find space very interesting and I also find that kids agree with me. Did you know that scientists think it rains diamonds on neptune? There is so much to learn about this topic that can get students excited. This chapter is about matter, energy, the solar system and rockets. This would be a great time to use one of the resources we have discussed in previous chapters, worldwidetelescope.org . This tool allows anyone to become an astronomer and search the cosmos in real time. Teachers could prompt a solar system scavenger hunt using this resource. Students could apply what they know about the conditions on other planets and build a structure that could host human life. There are endless possibilities to teach space! 

Chapter 12

“Earth, Space Science Lesson Ideas”

This chapter was filled with a lot of ideas and resources for teaching earth and space science in the classroom. 

Some ideas and resources I loved were:

-Preassess, preassess, preassess. There can be a lot of misconceptions about space, from cartoons or other sources and it is important as an educator to teach children the facts, not reinforce the fiction.

-Draw and label different types of clouds in a cloud log

-Play with a flashlight and different sized spheres to show how the sun’s rays are moved around the planets

-Compare/ contrast planets

-Webquests that use online resources to take students on a journey