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I started a new SciPack today on Earth's Changing Surface. I have always had a facination with how the plate tectonics work and why earthquakes occur. It is also something that is very relevant to what is happening in the world today (especially after the tsunami watch last weekend). I can explain to the students in more detail now about why and how things are happening. I hope to pass on the interest in Earth's changing surface to my students. I am looking forward to finishing this SciPack today! :-)

I completed this SciPack and enjoyed it! This SciPack explained the different ways that Earth changes. When I taught 4th grade, one of the benchmarks focused on plate tectonics. I taught the students about the different parts of the Earth (core, mantle, oceanic crust, continental crust, etc.). I used the activities on the websites below in my classroom to help the students gain a better understanding of plate tectonics. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tectonics/ http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_snacktectonics.html I hope you enjoy reading this SciPack!

Hey, Tracie and Erica-- Thank you for reminding me again of how much I enjoyed the NSTA SciPacks on Plate Tectonics and Earth’s Changing Surface. Those lessons were eye-opening for me. What I realized was that I had heard or read many of the facts in the two SciPacks before, but when I worked my way through them, I encountered the information in an organized and logical way for the first time. I loved it. You inspired me to go back and take a quick look again, and I remembered some of my favorite parts. One of the things I loved was just staring at the multi-colored map of the tectonic plates superimposed on the continents of the planet. Living on the Pacific plate, like I do here in Hawai‘i, I remember being amazed at how huge the Pacific plate is, and at the same time, I was surprised to realize that the Pacific plate is also one of the few plates that are nearly empty of land. If it weren’t for the Hawaiian Islands and a few other small islands, the Pacific plate would be completely covered by water. And most of the other plates that are without land are near the Pacific plate, like the Cocos plate, Filipino plate, the Juan de Fuca plate, the Nazca plate, and even the Scotia plate. Another thing I saw when I was looking at the multi-colored map of tectonic plates was that until I moved to Hawai‘i in 1998, I had lived on the edges of tectonic plates all my life. I was born in Glendale, California, and lived on the edge of the Pacific plate and the North American plate until I was six. My family moved to Indonesia in 1970, and I lived on the edge of the Eurasian plate and the Australian plate until I was eighteen. In 1982, I moved to live in the Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley in California, on the edge of the Pacific plate and the North American plate again, until 1990 when I moved to Okinawa with my husband Eric, and there, we lived on the edge of the Eurasian plate and the Filipino plate. Only when we moved to Hawai‘i did we live far from the edge of any tectonic plates. In fact, here, we live nearly in the middle of the plate. If it wasn’t for the hot spot below the crust, Hawai‘i wouldn’t even be here at all since the Pacific plate is oceanic crust. Anyway, I remember spending a lot of time just studying the map of the tectonic plates, and today, it was fun to go back and look at it again. I probably spent forty-five minutes just looking at it again. Thanks for reminding me! Veronica

I think that NSTA's Science Pack on Plate Tectonics was really well done too. As an 8th grade Earth Science teacher, it hits benchmarks 8.6.2: Explain how seismic waves provide scientists with information about the structure of Earth's interior and 8.8.5: Explain the concepts of continental drift and plate tectonics, "right on the head." I almost wish I could have had my students do the pack as well... actually it really would be great to use with Special Education students because they can set their own pace, it can be read to them (over and over, if need be), there are simple interactives, and it's chunked very nicely. I wonder if NSTA has adapted any of their packs for student use?

Thanks Traci and Erica for giving the heads up on how good the SciPac is - I'm starting it this week and it makes me feel even more excited to hear your rave reviews. Wanted to share that I was able to use my seismograph as a real teachable moment last week after our tsunami warning. I was able to show how the waves were able to travel all the way from Canada to here - and also that they even showed up very clearly in Ireland on the IRIS site. One of the real "aha" moments for the kids was when they heard that the "experts" made a mistake and misread the intensity of the earthquake delaying the tsunami warning be sent out by over 2 hours! While this wasn't a positive thing - it did help my students realize that as much as we know this all still isn't an exact science.

Thanks to the tsunami warning we had, I am looking forward to teaching students about tsunamis. I had wanted to teach these lessons, but since we have already moved on from earth's processes I was afraid this would seem out of context. I look forward to helping students see how connected everything on Earth is. An earthquake in one part of the world affects not just that area. Hopefully I will also be able to extend students' thinking on this so they can see that one person's action can have a far reaching impact.

I'm also in the throws of this SciPac and feel I learned a lot from it. Veronica mentioned the maps, I found the interactive ones really helpful and was struck by the volcano/earthquake relationship. How interesting that so much "earth changing" activity is concentrated on the tectonic plate lines. I guess I must have missed all that when I was a kid in school (probably did not find it so interesting back then) but it really struck me this time. I can see how these kinds of visuals would make an impression on the children, especially if they are able to use interact with them and discover patterns and relationships. It also made me realize that with this kind of knowledge people can make certain choices about where to plant their roots. In the past when there was limited knowledge of earthquakes, seismic activities, etc. people didn't know why lay under the villages/towns/cities they created, an earthquake strikes and devastates many lives. Now, technically speaking, one can look on a map of tectonic plates and make a more informed decision about where they might choose to live. I know it sounds far-fetched but it can be done. Anyway, yes, that was a very interesting SciPack, thank you for bringing it up.

Tabitha, I'm glad you asked that question about whether NSTA has adapted any of these into student units. I love using them for class, but I have had several students I think would love to go through a sci pac like I did. As you said they could go through it at their own pace, and redo the interactives as many times as they like. Has anyone else heard if there is something like that available to the students?

Hi Tabitha - The SciPacks and related SciObjects are primarily for Teacher Professional Development in content subject areas. SciPacks do have a cost and tests associated with them. However, I have heard of teachers adapting all or part of the free SciObjects for student learning. You could use Sci Object animations as in-class demos, for example. Anyone, students included, can set-up a login (free) and access the free SciObjects. However, I'd recommend that teacher's choose the content they want students to view carefully, as some of this is written at more of an adult reading level, and may not be easily accessible for the younger grades. Dorothy

Dorothy, Thank you for highlighting several key points to consider when using NSTA's professional development 'packages' within our classrooms.

I have shown several NSTA recommended simulations and interactive sites to my students as a whole group - and have never been disappointed. In the past year I have discovered NSTA's SciGuides as a stronger 'student centered' set of web resources and content simulations!!

There is a small purchase price for SciGuides, but after using them with my middle and high school science students, they are worth every penny. I have found that each of my SciGuide purchases contained 100+ student centered and NSTA reviewed standards-aligned web-accessible resources, material I found to be at grade specific levels and extremely engaging.

If you go to the SciGuide information page (click on the top blue tab 'Learning Resources & Opportunities') you will discover that currently two are being highlighted and available at no charge. Check back monthly,as NSTA periodically changes the title and offer of free guides.

Let me know what you think...Enjoy your week, Alyce

Hi, It looks like I am a few months late to this thread but I am also working my way through both the plate tectonics and the earth's changing surfaces scipacks. I love science and thought that a lot of the things I would read would be review for me but as it turns out I have had to take my time with these units. There is tons of info included! We don't have a science textbook at my school and I don't want to simply explain the content of these scipacks to the class with supplemental worksheets. Can anyone recommend a 5th grade friendly website or simplified approach for teaching these themes? I feel like I have all kinds of material to work with now but am a little overwhelmed as to how I should present it. Thanks in advance!

Hi, Although I'm just now teaching Plate tectonics, I agree that this SciPack was a very helpful review for plate boundaries. This SciPack is a great informational addition to my prior knowledge and background studies. I loved the interactive simulations and feedback questions for each section. Throughout the SciPack, I would jot down details that I wanted to include in my lessons without it being too information heavy. In addition, I was glancing through my current lesson and thinning out and adding some activities that I think students would find interesting. I really want to utilize the maps from this SciPack during my some of my bell questions just to get the students thinking about plate boundaries and what has happened over millions of years and will take place in the future.

Hi, I'm a fourth grade teacher and making my way through the Plate Tectonics SciPack now. Some things that I have done with this topic is make a model of the layers of the earth, something as simple as different colors of construction paper to represent the different layers. From there, we can go more in depth about plates and their movement. This works especially well living in Hawaii, where the direction of the island chain shows that the Pacific plate moves north westerly. Granted, it's important to explain to students that it's taken millions of years for the island chain to form, seeing as how the plate moves about as fast as fingernails grow! I also like to use an animation of Pangaea and how it separated to form the present continents. Here is a website with lots of great Earth science animations, including one for Pangaea: http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/animate/pltecan.html What are some other ideas for visual or hands-on activities for fourth graders?

Thanks Tina! The animations are great resources to show my students how plate tectonics work. I especially like the PBS site that has an animation about the different types of plate boundaries.

Here is a wonderful activity that I did with my students and it really broke down plate boundaries for them and they get a nice treat at the end of the lab!

Attachments

Plate_Tectonics_Cookie_Lab.pdf (0.43 Mb)