Initial 3 Step Inquiry Lesson Plan

Teachers and NOS

Grade Level
Scientific knowledge is based upon evidence. Creativity plays an
Andi Chitwood important role in science.

Aliza Benedict Crosscutting Concept:

Grade: 4-5 3-5

Title: Egg-citing Cause and Effect: Cause and effect relationships are routinely
Plate Tectonics identified, tested, and used to explain change.

Disciplinary NGSS Standard(s)

Core Idea:
4-ESS2-2 Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns
ESS2: Earth’s of Earth’s features.
Systems
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions The
locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor
structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most
earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the
boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains
form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the
different land and water features areas of Earth.

Title of Activity: Egg-citing Plate Tectonics

Purpose: Students will be able to identify the types of plate boundaries (convergent,
transform, and divergent) given a cracked egg. They will be able to explain their different
characteristics and how the relate to geography.

Lesson Topic Question(s):

The main question: What are the three types of plate boundaries?
 Student Naïve Conceptions:
 one of the common misconceptions
about the earth is that mountains are
created rapidly
 students believe that continents do not
move
 some students may think earthquakes
only occur when two plates crash into
each other.
 It’s also common for students whom have
the knowledge of plates moving to believe
they move, or “float,” across the ocean.
Pre-Assessment:
How Certain Are You?
Pre-Assessment
Ask students how well they think they know
the topics we are going to cover:
“What can you tell me about...
 Plate tectonics
 Plate boundaries
 Where these boundaries can be found on
our earth
 What kinds of natural disasters occur at
plate boundaries? When the they occur?
 Older students can be asked about
subduction”
Have them show on their fingers how certain
they are of the information about these topics. 1
finger represents that they don’t know very
much about the topic, 3 fingers show they know
a little bit but could use a refresher, and 5
Teacher Science Background
Knowledge (from the Science
Background Papers and needed to
help you explain the activity. Key
concepts. You will have to
copy/paste your bib references)
 Plate tectonics are separated
sections of Earth’s crust that are
continually moving at a very slow
speed in different ways. They
range in different sizes in which
the largest are classified as the
major plates.
 These plates make up the entirety
of the earth and are cracks within
the lithosphere. The lithosphere
includes the top of the mantle and
the earth’s crust. These plates
have three different types of
boundaries and these boundaries
move, or shift, in very different
ways.
 Divergent boundaries are when
two plates separate or move away
from each other.
 The asthenosphere is the weaker
layer that is located below the
lithosphere and consists of “very
viscous fluid.” This is where plate
tectonics lie. They are what makes
up the lithosphere (located in the
crust and solid part of mantle) and
shift, slide, and collide with each
other on top of the asthenosphere.
 Tectonic plates can move or shift
together on top of the
asthenosphere in three different
ways. These ways are called plate
boundaries.
 A convergent plate boundary
occurs when plates push towards
each other. This force is so
extreme that it creates natural
features, such as mountains and
fingers show the student is confident in the
information.
 Transform boundaries are when
 These three boundaries are easier
 Because earthquakes occur and
volcanoes during subduction.
Subduction only occurs at a
convergent boundary and happens
when one plate slides under the
other, rather than hitting each
other. Obduction is where part of
the ocean crust is flaked off and
forced onto a land-based plate.
two plates slip across one another.
These can be categorized by being
sinistral or dextral. Sinistral is
when the plates shift to the left,
while dextral is when they shift to
the right. Unlike the other types of
boundaries, transform plates do
not create structures like
mountains and volcanoes and
nothing is destroyed either; the
earth’s crust is simply broken or
split.
felt rather than seen in a quick,
short period of time. This is
because a sudden movement in
the plates, during all types of
boundaries, can cause
earthquakes. It is harder to see
plate movement because they
move very slowly at speeds no
greater than 15 centimeters per
year.
natural landforms, such as
mountains and valleys exist, there
is supporting evidence of plate
tectonics.

Materials:
Hard boiled eggs (colored blue and green, made beforehand)

Plastic table cloth

Tri-fold

Trash bag

Styrofoam blocks

Basket to hold eggs

Candy eggs to pass out

Stage 1: Exploration

Set Up:

 Tri-fold board with Title “Egg-citing Plate Tectonics”

 Pan with eggs in front of the tri-fold
 Table cloth under table to catch any eggshells
 Trash bag beside table to throw eggs away when done

Welcoming/Establishing Comfortable Environment:

 “Hello! My name is Miss Benedict! And I am Miss Chitwood! Who all do we have
with us?”
 “We’re so happy you’re here! Are you ready to learn some egg-citing stuff?”
 “Go ahead and grab yourself a miniature earth up by the board and we’ll get
started!”

Stage 1: Explore

 Ask students, “Who can tell us what you already know about plate tectonics?”
 “If this egg represents our earth, does this smooth eggshell accurately look like our
earth?”
Write down the steps of your investigation that will lead to the students’ generation of a
prediction.

Scripting/Teacher Questions (and anticipated student responses):

Q: What do you think is going to happen when we squeeze the egg and lightly hit it on the
table?

 The shell will crack/break

 It will represent Earth’s surface

Q: If the cracked egg shell represents the Earth, what do you think the cracks are?

 Mountains
 Volcanoes
 The three types of boundaries
 I don’t know

Q: Who can tell me what the cracks will look like at a Divergent boundary?

 The shells will be pushed apart,

 You will be able to see the inside of the egg
 There will be space between the shells

Q: Who can tell me what the cracks will look like at a Convergent boundary?

 The shells will be raised

 It will look like mountains
 They will push together

Q: Who can tell me what the cracks will look like at a Transform boundary?

 I don’t know
 They push against each other
 It will be hard to determine because that’s when plates just slip across each other.
(provide students with two styrofoam blocks so they can slip them across each
other to get the feeling of the roughness and slipping)
Stage 2: Concept Development

Write down the steps of the investigation the students will do to observe and gather data.

 Students will gently crack their eggs

 They will observe how the cracked shell pushes, separates, or slides under each
other
 Students will also move and slide the pieces of the shell together observing the
patterns of movement

Write down the steps of the investigation where the students share out their thinking with
you.

 “What do can you observe about your eggshell?”

 “What layer of the earth does the eggshell represent?”
 Allow students to share IF they know about plate boundaries. Some groups could
know more than others, we don’t know their background knowledge.
 “Have you ever seen mountains, valleys, volcanoes, etc?”

YOU ARE NOT TEACHING YET!

Write down the steps of the investigation where the expected results are listed.

 Students will connect the eggshell with the crust of the earth
 Students will say the cracked areas of the shell represent plate boundaries.
 Where the small pieces of the shells push against each other, that is a convergent
boundary.
 Where the shells pull apart from each other and the egg itself is exposed, that is a
divergent boundary.
 Where one piece of a shell slides under another, that is subduction.
 Students will move the pieces together explaining that is a transform boundary.

Teacher Questions (and anticipated student responses):

As the students move their eggshell around, have them identify the different
boundaries on their egg.
Q: How would you classify this type of boundary?

A: Students should answer with

 divergent boundary because they push together or are bunching up

 Convergent boundary because it is pulling apart or sliding away from each
other
 Transform boundary because they are sliding against each other (transform
boundaries are hard to identify on the eggshell. If a student answers with this,
ask them to demonstrate why they believe it is this type of boundary)

Q: Can you find these types of boundaries and cracks on you egg?

A: Students should point to another type of boundary on their shell and explain the
differences between the two.

Procedures

Teaching Questions (and anticipated student responses):

Q: How is the egg shell like our Earth? It is differnt?

A: Students should say that the eggshell represents the crust and shows the
movements of plate tectonics as well as displaying the different types of plate
boundaries.

Q: Where might you see these different types of plate boundaries on earth?

A: Expect answers like mountains and volcanoes

Try to dig deeper for specific places like the Andes, Himalayas, Mount Everest,
Hawaii (if have knowledge of these)

Stage 3: Expansion, Evaluation, and Closing

Scripting/ Teacher questions (and anticipated student responses):

Q: How would you show your plate boundaries on your eggshell better if you were to
do this again?
A: Maybe push the eggshell together more in areas and pull it apart in others to
really show the differences in plate boundaries

Q: How could you show what you’ve learned and explain to others the layout of the
earth today?

A: Knowing that mountains are where plates push together, deep ocean trenches are
where plates pull apart, earthquakes occur where plates brush against each other,
knowing that these changes take time and are not instantaneous, know that our
earth’s crust does move

Closure

The 3 Ws

What did we learn today?

So what? (Why is this information important?)

What now? (Now that we know this information, what can we do with it?)

Evaluation

Hold a brief discussion about what the students learned.

Ask students…

 Which boundaries do these pictures on our board represent?

 Thinking about the different types of boundaries and what each one of them looks
like, where in the world can you see these?
 What kinds of natural disasters sometimes occur when plate boundaries shift with
one another?
 What did you find most interesting today?

Citation in APA 6:

Math/Science Nucleus. (2001). Plate Tectonic Cycle, Earth’s Moving Force, Fourth Grade,
Plate Tectonics [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://msnucleus.org/membership/html/k-
6/pt/pdf/pt4pt.pdf
 Constant, T. L., Bass, J. E., Carin, A. A. (2014). Earth and Space Sciences. In Teaching
Science Through Inquiry and Investigation (12 ed.) (pp. A-237-A-238). Boston, MA:
th

Pearson Education, Inc.

Oskin, Becky. (2017, December 17). What is plate tectonics? [Blog post]. Retrieved from

https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-tectonics.html

Ford, B., & Taylor, M. (2006, August 22). Investigating Students' Ideas About Plate Tectonics.
Retrieved from http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=52474

abc1234029. “Plate Tectonics Science Project -- Egg Model.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Apr. 2010,

www.youtube.com/watch/?v=hypVthES8-4.

The Geological Society. Plate Tectonics. Retrieved February 8, 2018, from

https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/Chap2-What-is-a-Plate

Roseburg Public Schools. (n.d.). Children's Misconceptions About Science. (2003, February
20). Retrieved from
http://www.roseburg.k12.or.us/depts/educate/science/elementary/misconceptions.html

US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2012,

September 21). What are the different types of plate tectonic boundaries? Retrieved February
10, 2018, from http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/plate-boundaries.html

Where you got your science activity and the science CONTENT

Differentiation:

To physically participate in our lesson plan, students need to be able to grasp an egg, push
it against a table or other hard surface, and gently push the eggshells around with their
fingers. As the lesson is currently written, students must also be able to listen to
instruction and read directions/content from our tri-fold board. The set up itself required
students to stand in front of the display table because there were no chairs avaliable. This
could be a challenge for students with Sensory Integration Challenges.

Students with Sensory Integration Challenges would face barriers when physically
accessing our lesson. They often face challenges with either one or several of their senses,
and how to process or react to information and when performing any given task (National
Science Teachers Association, n.d.). Barriers students could face when interacting with
our lesson could be having difficulty cracking the egg, moving the eggshell, and handling
the egg in general. Students may also have difficulties organizing the visual information
on our board, concentrating on the auditory directions, and staying focused in the busy
environment.

Accommodations and modifications could be made to our lesson if we were to teach it

again at the same school to meet the needs of these students. One way that we could
accomodate for the cracking of the egg would be to wrap it in a cloth and push it against
the table. We could also have another student crack the egg for them if they did not like
the cloth, or physically cannot crack the egg. For moving the eggshell, we could provide
gloves for those students who do not like the feel of the shell. This way they can still
actively participate in the investigation. To modify the physical environment of our
learning station we could provide larger printed directions with contrasting colors of the
procedures on our board, provide an opportunity for students to feel and become familiar
with the egg, and provide extra space where students could have worked to cracked the
egg on the table. The lesson could be taught through a “sequential approach” by talking
before the students started to crack the egg, not as they are doing it. This would help
students who have difficulties with auditory processing (Kahn, Wild, Woolsey, &
Haegele, 2014). We could have also adjusted the end product by allowing the student to
communicate their learning vocally or by drawing a picture, depending which the were
most comfortable with.

These accommodations would provide a more equitable learning experience for these
students. Students who have sensory impairments are capable of learning and
comprehending, so we must create a fair learning environment where the most learning
will occur. Modifying and accommodating to meet the needs of every individual student
creates purposeful, motivated learners (National Center on Universal Design on Learning,
2012). Every student deserves a chance to be successful.

Resources

Kahn, S., Wild, T. M., Woolsey L., & Haegele J. A. (2014). Let’s get physical. National
Science Teachers Association, 37-43.

National Center on Universal Design on Learning. (2012). Universal design for learning
guidelines. Retrieved from
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines_theorypractice

National Science Teachers Association. (n.d.). Science for students with disabilities.
Retrieved from http://www.nsta.org/disabilities/sensory.aspx