WPahl+Lesson+Plans

The following lesson plans were developed by

Name: Whitney Pahl School: Bridgewater-Emery School Email: whitney.pahl@k12.sd.us School Phone: 605-449-4271

__**Lesson Plan #1:**__ Topic(s) - This lesson discusses earthquakes retrofitting in buildings to prepare for earthquakes. Retrofitting is a concept that makes buildings more resistant to damage during an earthquake. It includes many different technologies that can be used for various structures. This lesson would be used after a unit or chapter on plate tectonics, so students can have some background as to what happens during an earthquake. Personally, I do plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes together in one unit test with mini quizzes in between. Grade Level - 8th grade/earth science


 * 5Es || Link || Description ||
 * Engage || A to Z Activity Sheet || At the beginning of the first day of the unit, have a discussion with students about what an earthquake is, what happens during an earthquake, and how they are caused.

Next, show students a video of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse. Although it was high winds and not an earthquake that made this bridge fall, the video shows the effects of a poor construction job. [] Next, show students a video of a building swaying in an earthquake. This shows a little bit of the idea of retrofitting—why the buildings didn’t just collapse. []

Depending how much time remains in the period, allow students anywhere between 10-15 minutes to complete an A to Z of earthquakes. An option would also be to allow students to search through the tectonic plates and volcanoes chapters. When time is up, go through each letter and have students share what they wrote down for that letter. ||
 * Explore || Card Bridges || In this activity, students will be building a bridge with the goal of holding the most weight. Students should be broken up into groups of 2 or 3 and given a pack of index cards and a weight set to test their bridge strength with. Also provide students with handouts including instructions on how to build each bridge with their index cards. Preferably, each group would have a different type of bridge to build. Allow students 30-40 minutes to construct and test their bridge. Also encourage them to try to change their bridge if they’re not happy with how much weight it holds. This can include taping the bridge to the table or adding more notecards to fill in spaces. ||
 * Explain || Earthquakes PPT

 || Instruction includes notes on earthquakes. At the end of each day of instruction, lead students to earthquake.usgs.gov which shows all earthquakes in the world on a given day. Give each student a world map, like a 1-pager from National Geographic, and have them plot the locations of the earthquakes.

First, lead students through instruction on seismology, deformation, and seismic waves. To wrap up the day and clarify the difference between S and P waves, lead students through this activity with a slinky: [|**http://www.geo.mtu.edu/UPSeis/making.html**]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next day, have instruction on seismographs and seismograms. Discuss epicenters and how seismographs are used to locate an earthquake’s origin. Upon discussing epicenters, lead students through this worksheet activity on locating an earthquake’s epicenter. It works best to have students work with a partner. Note: a compass will be needed! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|**http://www.geology.ar.gov/pdf/Locating_an_epicenter_activity.pdf**]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finish instruction on earthquakes by talking about intensity and magnitude. An option is to show students videos of different magnitudes of earthquakes. This allows them to see what happens at each step, and they also find it very interesting! ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Elaborate || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Disaster Bridge Challenge || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This day of instruction focuses on retrofitting, which is the concept of making buildings more resistant to damage by earthquakes.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First discuss with students the various methods of retrofitting and how they work (information located in the powerpoint above). Then, discuss with them how it is part of an engineer’s job to make buildings “fit” where they’re located, and how improving construction in earthquake-prone areas is a concern.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next, lead them through the attached bridge-building activity, and tell students they must include two retrofitting concepts into their bridge design (add materials such as springs, rubber stoppers, small weights, etc). ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Evaluate || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Earthquakes Test || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Assessment includes a written unit test on earthquakes, volcanoes, and tectonic plates. ||

__**Lesson Plan #2:**__ Topic(s) - These lessons are all about cellular respiration. Cellular respiration discusses how the cell and mitochondria convert the food we eat into energy that the cell can use. This series of lessons would be used after learning about the parts of a cell and the functions of the organelles. Grade Level - 10th/biology


 * 5Es || Link || Description ||
 * Engage || [|Bread Dough Rising] || Since yeast will be used in the explore and elaborate activities, start the lesson with a discussion on how yeast is used in bread. An option is to also bring in a loaf of bread to class and discuss how bread has been a staple in diets for hundreds of years all around the world. Ask students if their parents have ever made homemade bread and what some ingredients used are. Hopefully someone mentions yeast, and from there, guide the discussion to why yeast is used in bread and what purpose it serves. Then show the time lapse video of bread rising and share with students that the yeast does this. After the video, ask students how the yeast makes the bread rise. Discuss how yeast combines with other ingredients in the dough to make carbon dioxide, which gets trapped in the dough, and causes the dough to expand. Tell students that this process is called fermentation, and lead them to the explore activity. ||
 * Explore || Fermentation In A Bag || In this activity, students explore fermentation, a type of cellular respiration, by using sugar, cornmeal, and yeast to see which mixture produces the most CO2 the fastest. Students will make 3 different mixtures of yeast/sugar/cornmeal/water and measure the ziploc bags at regular intervals to determine which mixture makes the most CO2. ||
 * Explain || Cellular Respiration Word Game

|| PowerPoint notes include steps of cellular respiration, glycolysis, and the Krebs cycle. At the end of instruction, give students the word game review and see if they can earn extra credit points on their quiz! ||
 * Elaborate || See Explore. || Similar to the explore activity, challenge students to find the mixture that produces the most CO2 the fastest. Encourage them to branch out by changing the amount of water added, doubling the yeast, decreasing the cornstarch, etc. Have students report their results on the board or somewhere all students can see, and discuss why certain mixtures worked better than others. Tie in the concept of cellular respiration and the chemical formula to the discussion. ||
 * Evaluate || Cell Respiration Quiz || short answer and matching quiz on cellular respiration. ||

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 * ** Assessment includes a written unit test on earthquakes, volcanoes, and tectonic plates. ** ||