Understanding by Design
Stage 1 - Desired Results
Standards:
S6E5. Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
CS
Standard Elements
d. Describe processes that change rocks and the surface of the earth.
f. Explain the effects of physical processes on geological features including oceans.
h. Describe soil as consisting of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material.
i. Explain the effects of human activity on the erosion of the earth’s surface
j. Describe methods for conserving natural resources such as water, soil, and air.
U Essential Question(s):
Enduring Understandings:
What will students understand as a result of the unit?
“Students will understand that…”
¾ Weathering is the process that breaks down
rock and other substances at Earth’s
surface.
¾ Erosion is the movement of rock particles by
water and wind.
¾ Deposition occurs where the agents (forces)
of erosion lay down sediment.
¾ Weathering and erosion wear down, and
deposition fills in the Earth’s surface.
¾ Although weathered rock is the basic
component of soil, the composition and
texture of soil and its fertility and resistance
to erosion are greatly influenced by plants
and other organisms.
¾ Human activities, such as reducing forest
cover and intensive farming have changed
the Earth’s surface.
What arguable, recurring, and thoughtprovoking questions will guide inquiry and point
toward the big ideas of the unit?
1. What are the characteristics of
weathering, and how does
weathering differ from erosion?
2. What is meant by weathering?
How many different kinds of
weathering processes are there?
3. How are weathering and erosion
different?
4. How are weathering and erosion
related?
5. How does the formation of soil
relate to the processes of
weathering and erosion?
Students will know…
Students will be able to…
What is the key knowledge needed to develop the
desired understandings? What knowledge relates to
the content standards on which the unit is focused?
What is the key skill needed to develop the
desired understandings? What skill relates to
the content standards on which the unit is
focused?
¾ Water, wind and ice are agents of erosion.
¾ Soil is comprised of a mixture of rock particles,
decomposed organic materials, minerals, and
water.
¾ Weathering breaks the rocks down.
¾ Erosion transports weathered rock material.
¾ Physical weathering includes frost wedging,
exfoliation, and thermal expansion.
¾ Chemical weathering includes dissolution,
hydrolysis, and oxidation.
¾ Biological weathering-organisms assist in
breaking rocks down
¾ Humans can increase erosion through poor
farming practices or disturbing the land through
Q
1. Identify ways in which water, wind,
and ice erode rocks.
2. Demonstrate how weathering
breaks rocks down.
3. Demonstrate how erosion transports
rock.
4. Compare and contrast mechanical
and chemical weathering.
5. Describe the different types of
chemical weathering.
6. Investigate how decomposers break
down dead organisms.
development.
¾ There are practices which can be implemented to
control erosion-contour plowing, terracing,
ground cover, windbreaks.
¾ Waves erode the shoreline.
¾ Manmade structures are sometimes built to help
control erosion.
¾ Man made structures along the coastline have
the unwanted side effect of enhancing coastal
erosion.
¾ Construction on steep slopes can lead to mass
wasting or erosion by gravity, including slumps
and landslides.
7. Investigate ways to control erosion.
8. Identify landforms created by wave
erosion.
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s):
T
G – Students will evaluate the extent of natural and
human-caused weathering of school building
materials
R – Students are grouped into conservation teams of
four students
A – School board members and school community
S–
P-
Other Evidence:
Notes
Quiz
Workbook pages
Demonstrations and Labs
Compare/Contrast Venn diagram
RAFT
Video streaming
Discovery school videos
Various supplemental worksheets
Stage 3 - Learning Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pre-test – Weathering and Erosion – benchmark test.
Visual vocabulary – erosion and weathering words
Notes on mechanical weathering
Notes on chemical weathering; workbook pages
OE
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Activity: Vinegar on chalk, check workbook pages
The Dirt on Soil – Webquest
Erosion Notes, review worksheet
Erosion lab
Divide into conservation teams for research. Each group research and present one of the
following:
¾ no-till
¾ crop rotation
¾ terraces
¾ grass waterways
¾ contour farming
¾ windbreaks
¾ strip cropping
¾ cover crop
10. Introduce “School is Corroding and Eroding”