SINGLE SUBJECT CREDENTIAL PROGRAM

EDSC LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Revised 4.15
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Name

CWID

Olivia Pipala

Subject Area

894490812

Class Title
Earth Science

High School Earth Science

Lesson Title

Unit Title

Convection in Mantle

Plate Tectonics

Grade Levels
9-12

Total Minutes
45 minutes

CLASS DESCRIPTION
This Oceanography class is full of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sophomores and juniors that
include ELL and students with special needs. Out of 38 students, there are 5 English Language Learners and 2 students
with special needs. The proficiency level of the ELD standards for 3 of these students is Expanding and 2 are
considered Bridging. Students with special needs are both considered as ADHD with anxiety troubles. The specific
needs of these students are for them to sit up in the front of the class to inhibit distractions from other students. Due
to their anxiety, they are allowed extra time on exams, homework, and classwork. The classroom environment is suited
for learning, where inspirational and educational posters are posted along the walls, as well as student projects that
build anticipation for future lessons. However, there are days when the students are more rambunctious than others,
which allow for specific classroom instruction on those days to manage the class.
CCSS Math, CCSS ELA & Literacy History/Social
Studies, Science and Technical Subjects, NGSS, and
Content Standards

English Language Development Standards (ELD)

1. Exchanging information/ideas

NGSS

HS- ESS2-3. Develop a model based on evidence of Earths

interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection .
CCSS ELA/Literacy-

SL.11-12.5Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual,

graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations
to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence
and to add interest.
MP.2Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

3. Using verbs and verb phrases

Use a variety of verbs in different tenses (e.g., past, present,
future, simple, progres- sive, perfect) appropriate to the text type
and discipline to create a variety of texts that explain, describe,
and summarize con- crete and abstract thoughts and ideas.
6. Connecting ideas
Combine clauses in a growing number of ways to create
compound and complex sentences that make connections between
and link concrete and abstract ideas, for ex- ample, to express a
reason (e.g., He stayed at home on Sunday in order to study for
Mondays exam) or to make a concession (e.g., She studied all
night even though she wasnt feeling well).

MP.4 Model with mathematics

Lesson Objective(s)

Evidence

Students will be able to define convection and relate it to The

Theory of Plate Tectonics.
Students will investigate the driving mechanism in plate tectonics
through a qualitative convection lab.
STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Purpose/Focus of
Type
Assessment

Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions, sustaining

conversations on a variety of age and grade-appropriate academic
topics by following turn-taking rules, asking and answering
relevant, on-topic questions, affirming others, providing
additional, relevant information, and paraphrasing key ideas.

Implementation

Students will demonstrate mastery of content by being

able to correctly identify the layers of the earth. They will
also be able to demonstrate understanding of convection
in the mantle that is what makes the lithospheric plates
move through an observational lab.

Feedback Strategy

How Informs Teaching

EL

PM

The purpose of the entrylevel assessment is to

engage students in the
content as well as
activate prior knowledge
and background
knowledge. This enables
the teacher to find the
content standing of the
class.

The purpose of the

progress monitoring
assessments is to
monitor student learning.
This is done throughout
the class or unit through
activities, labs,
facilitating questions,
and through discussions.

Students will engage in a

warm-up activity where
they use their weekly
learning logs. They will
view a set of pictures on
the projector and decide
which illustrations show
convection.
In order to monitor
progress of learning,
students will be able to
fill out an Earths Interior
worksheet. This will go
through what they went
over from the day prior
to todays lab activity
that focuses on the
mantle.
An exit slip will be done
for students to go over
what could have gone
wrong in the model
experiment.

The purpose of this

This assessment will be a
assessment is to assess
lab, which incorporates
if the students reached
content from the day
the learning goals of the
prior to todays content.
unit. Tests, exams,
Students will investigate
projects, and essays are
S
a model of convection
examples of this where
and write observations
the students incorporate
on what they see. This
everything that they
relates to the convection
have learned in the unit
in the mantle that drives
and synthesize the
plate movement.
information.
INSTRUCTION
Instructional Strategies
Warm-Up
Lecture
Guided notes
Diagrams
Qualitative Lab
Exit Slip
Lesson Introduction/Anticipatory Set
Time
Teacher Does
The teacher will welcome students as they
walk into class. The days agenda and class
objectives will be written on the board. The teacher
will have students take out their weekly learning logs
as they settle into their seats.
The teacher will go over the agenda and
5 min.
objectives with the students after she/he takes
attendance, and then puts up the warm-up activity
on the PowerPoint presentation. The teacher will ask
students, Which one of these pictures shows
convection? The students will then think-write-pairshare their ideas and discuss them as a class.
Lesson Body
Time
Teacher Does
30 min.
The teacher will then introduce what they will go
over in lecture, which focuses on the layers of the
earth. The teacher will stress the importance of the
mantle, since this is where the convection occurs. To
review, the teacher will pass out an Earths interior

The students will thinkwrite-pair-share their

ideas and then discuss
as a class with the
teacher. The teacher will
let the students know
how well they do based
on their responses, and
give corrective feedback.
Once students fill out the
sheet, the teacher will go
over the activity with
them through an
overhead projector and
fill out the sheet as well.
I would ask students
questions to help me fill
out the sheet.
Students will discuss
potential errors that may
have gone wrong in the
model experiment with
their partner and the
class
Feedback would be given
by going over student
responses once they turn
in their labs. I would give
written feedback on
whether they
demonstrated the
content goals of how well
they understand
convection and relate it
to earth processes.

This informs the teacher

on where the students
stand in the class, so
he/she will be able to
either go in depth or be
able to skim through
specific aspects of the
PowerPoint presentation.

This lets me know if

students gained learning
from the day prior and if
they can apply it to the
activity they will do
today. If students do not
understand a concept, I
will revisit that content
and go over what the
students have missed.

This informs the teacher

how well the students
have applied what they
learned in class and
relate it to a model. If
they demonstrate the
connection of convection
in the mantle to plate
movement, then I would
be able to move forward
to the next content.

Student Does
Their teacher will greet the students as they
walk into class. They will see the days objectives
and agenda on the board as they settle into their
seats. They will take out their weekly learning logs.
The students will listen to the teacher go over
the objectives and agenda and then view the warmup activity. Some will begin to brainstorm and since it
is a visual, ELs and SSN students are accommodated.
The students then apply any prior knowledge they
have about convection to the activity. They will then
think-write-pair-share with the person sitting next to
them and discuss their answers as a class.
Student Does
The students will go over lecture with the
teacher, some taking notes (optional). Students will
then receive an earths interior worksheet and work
with a partner or alone to fill out as much as they of
what they can recall. The teacher will ask students to

worksheet. Students will either work alone or in pairs

to fill out as much as they can about the layers of
the earth and its characteristics. The teacher will
then review it with the students. He/she will have a
blank copy on the overhead projector and students
will help fill it out.
The teacher then introduces the model activity to
the students. He/she will explain that this is a
qualitative lab where students will observe, draw
diagrams, and answer questions. The teacher hands
out the Convection Model Lab sheet and has
students get into groups. The teacher will set up
beakers with water and add in cold food coloring to
the bottom of the beakers. Once students have the
beakers on a hot plate, they will observe what
happens to the food coloring. The teacher will
scaffold student thinking about what to pay specific
attention to within the model activity. The main
objective is for students to connect that convection
occurs in the mantle and drives plate tectonic
movement. The teacher then has students clean up
the materials.
Lesson Closure
Time
Teacher Does
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0dWF_3PYh4

review their answers and help the teacher fill out the
worksheet through the overhead projector.
The students will then be informed that they will
participate in a model lab about convection and
receive a handout. They group up in fours and go to
a lab station and listen for instruction. They are
asked to fill a beaker up with water and turn on a hot
plate, however do not put the beaker on the hot
plate. They wait for the teacher to come by and add
in food coloring to the bottom of the beaker. Once
the teacher does this, the students place the beaker
on the hot plate and observe what happens. They
draw pictures of what is happening and answer the
following questions. Once finished they are asked to
empty the water in the sink and turn off the hot
plate.

Student Does

The teacher then has the students go back to their

seats and have students watch a quick clip about
Students settle back into their seats and watch a
convection in the mantle as they pass out an exit
quick video about convection in the mantle. They
slip. The video is to visualize and connect what the
receive an exit slip worksheet and fill it out. Some
students observed to what to know about earths
students model did not go perfectly as planned,
10 min.
interior. The teacher asks for students to think about
because they were too rough placing the beaker on
possible errors that may have occurred in the model
the hot plate, which changed how the food coloring
lab, or what can go wrong. This is for students to
dispersed in the beaker. Once they are finished filling
understand how to account for errors if something
it out then turn it in and wait to be dismissed.
goes wrong throughout scientific process. The
teacher then collects the exit slip and dismisses
students when the bell rings.
Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Multimedia
Warm-Up Activity https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ui-M1JxIr7TwlkDfjfMXek0YniJFRfhvZel2wixaEo/edit#heading=h.o1kc067sd9sn
Earths Interior Lecture https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14VTLcnvC_TOeksIMxC8mMqG5XT_m61cRiNWuSgsZco/edit#slide=id.p4
Guided Notes https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8imesHmFIfMU3NQMExOZWpwS3c
Earths Interior Diagram
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10mu8xtxQ48mNOZJoc4iZgqdtkGqx2urvVuCbzqbxxhs/edit
Convection Qualitative Lab
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kt2hBwhyLWw9zGw4mAms9kr5dEZwGgrnjZFYs4TaSOg/edit
Exit Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0dWF_3PYh4
Exit Slip https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8imesHmFIfMNjVRUHpyTm1lSjA
Beakers ,chilled food coloring, water, hot plates
Co-Teaching Strategies
A co-teaching strategy that would work well in this inquiry assignment is Supplemental Teaching. This coteaching model enables one teacher to work with students at their expected grade level, while the other teacher
works with those students who need the information and/or materials retaught, extended or remediated. During the
land mass activity (Part 1 in the project), both teachers will be able to facilitate student learning in separate groups by
answering questions, posing new arguments, or clearing understanding of difficult concepts.
DIFFERENTIATION
English Learners
Striving Readers
Students with Special
Advanced Students
Needs
ELs are accommodated
Striving readers are
Students with special needs Advanced students would
throughout this lesson due
accommodated in that the
in the class are
be able to participate in
to the inclusion of charts,
amount of reading builds
predominantly ADHD with
helping the teacher drop in
videos, diagrams,
up as the lesson
anxiety, which have trouble food coloring for the model
supplemental handouts,
progresses. Guided notes
with focusing. I have
lab. They would also be the
and differentiated group
are handed out for the
provided a variety of
ones to help drive
pairing. The video also aids
readers to be able to fill in
instruction material in
discussion with the class

in ELs students because it

gives visual and auditory
representations of the
different learning styles.
material as well as allows
There are videos, visuals,
focus and attention on
writing, reading, and even
animated videos and
models. The video also aids
music. Many diagrams are
in SPED students because it
included in the lesson as
the blanks or elaborate on
gives visual and auditory
well as a guided notes
and possibly help scaffold
what they read in the
representations of the
sheet for EL to give visual
their peers thinking.
power point lecture.
material as well as allows
representations as well as
focus and attention on
practice for writing out the
animated videos and music.
English Language. Students
Group work also allows for
are also given guided notes
a lessened anxiety when
to aid in their note taking
working on the project.
and to have visual
representations of what
they are hearing.
REFLECTION: SUMMARY, RATIONALE, AND IMPLEMENTATION
This main objective of this lesson is for students to connect what they know about earths interior (the mantle) and
how convection can drive the movement of plates. Students will recall what they know about convection and apply it
to the earth sciences. After going over the lecture material, students will be able to apply what they know to an activity
where they label specific characteristics of each layer of earth. The specific focus will be on the mantle since this is
where the convection occurs. The students will then collaboratively fill in the diagram with the teacher. The model
activity has students engage in a visual model on how convection actually occurs in the mantle. The core heats up the
material, which makes it rise. As it cools near the earths surface, it begins to fall back down to the interior of the
earth. This movement causes friction against the plates and makes them move. This concept reviews what they know
about plate boundaries because new crust is created at divergent boundaries where the mantle has the rising
component, and cools and becomes destroyed in convergent boundaries. Students are accommodated through visuals,
videos, diagrams, and auditory speaking. These diverse learning styles aid in facilitating learning for all students.