Organizing the Internet

My first experience using technology to teach a lesson was last semester when I taught about earthquakes using a Powerpoint presentation. My fourth grade students had never seen anything like that before and were in awe when I brought up the presentation. This showed me how much students enjoy seeing and/or using new technologies to learn material in school. The lesson unit for sixth grade I created is about plate tectonics and involves using different websites, online activities, and student blogs to learn the information. The GLCEs and METS to back up this lesson are as follows:

E.SE.06.51-Explain plate tectonic movement and how the lithospheric plates move centimeters each year.

E.SE.06.53-Describe layers of the Earth as a lithosphere (crust and upper mantle), convecting mantle, and dense metallic core.

Social, Ethical, and Human Issues #9-Identify uses of technology to support communication with peers, family, or school personnel

Technology Productivity Tools #2-Use a variety of technology resources, including the internet, to increase learning and productivity

Technology Communication Tools #1-Use a variety of telecommunication tools (e.g., e-mail, discussion groups, IM, chat rooms, blogs, video-conferences, web conferences) or other online resources to collaborate interactively with peers, experts, and other audiences

In my delicious account, I saved 5 websites that I will use in my lesson unit. The tag bundle I used CEP 416: Plate Tectonics Unit. Within this tag bundle, I have three different tags: survey, earth, and plates.

The first website I will use on Monday is under the tag "Earth" and will help students review the layers of the earth. The game on the website is similar to Who Wants to be a Millionaire and requires the students to answer various questions about the layers of the earth. The students will perform this activity as a group in order to refresh their knowledge on the layers of the earth. For homework on Monday night, I will give each student a list of questions about plate tectonics. They will need to answer these questions themselves and also survey one other person not in our class. After they finish this activity, the students will post their results on their student blogs and read the blogs of others' to find similarities and differences in responses.

On Tuesday, the students will learn about oceanic and continental plates. I will use part of a website on the theory of plate tectonics to refresh my memory before teaching this lesson. I will also use information and pictures from the website and incorporate them into a Powerpoint presentation for my students. On this day, students will learn the differences in composition and density of the two kinds of plates, knowledge they will use in the rest of the unit.

On Wednesday, students will work in pairs or small groups on computers using an interactive resource called Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker. This technology allows students view the cross-section of the earth's crust and move the different plates. This allows students to see what happens at different kinds of plate boundaries.

The next day, I will facilitate an edible plates activity I found online. In this lesson, students will use frosting (mantle), a fruit roll-up (oceanic crust), and a graham cracker (continental crust) to create models of convergent, divergent, and transverse plate boundaries. This is a review of Wednesday's lesson and will allow me to see how much the students understand the concept of plate boundaries. It is a fun activity that can be eaten afterwards.

On Friday, we will discuss the survey results that each student posted on their blog. The students will look for common misconceptions about plate tectonics and explain why they are wrong. This will also allow the students to look at their previous answers and see how much they learned during the plate tectonics unit.