Lesson 1- Monday, Oct 27
Housekeeping: Students were told that their Fall Semester (FS) midterm grades should be released to them after Wednesday.
1. With the help of a 3-column, pre-formatted A3 piece of paper, students mapped the journey of an exposed rock atop Monte Generoso by completing the WEATHERING column and seeing video examples of physical weathering processes such as Freeze-Thaw, Exfoliation, Abrasion, and Biological weathering.
2. Students were also shown a video of an exciting Debris Flow AND Rock Fall filmed on the coast of California.
All videos show during class can be found in the Google Science Classroom.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 2 - Tue, Oct 28 (B) & Wed, Oct 29 (H)
Housekeeping: None.
1. Once again, with the help of the 3-column, pre-formatted A3 piece of paper, students continued mapping the journey of an exposed rock atop Monte Generoso by completing both the WEATHERING and EROSION columns and seeing video examples of more rapid and less rapid erosion movements.
2. Near the latter part of the lesson, students were asked to speculate about what we might need to put in the DEPOSITION column to finish the ‘journey’ of our now-broken (weathered!) and transported (eroded!) tiny rock(s). A clue to the final stages of our journey was offered to us by Mr. Barry, who shared THIS map with us!!!
All videos show during class can be found in the Google Science Classroom.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 3 - Wed, Oct 29 (B) & Thu, Oct 30 (H)
Housekeeping: None.
As a final project to wrap up our Unit 7.1 – Dynamic Earth unit, students have started writing a special essay. This essay tells the story of “Odysseus, The Grain,” who finds himself trapped in a large, exposed sedimentary rock sitting atop Monte Generosso. In their essay, students need to tell the story of Odysseus, The Grain in five clearly titled parts (and yes, this is a true odyssey!)…
1) WEATHERING – with a focus on physical rather than chemical weathering
2) EROSION – using either mass(ive) movements or non-mass(ive) movements (or both!)
3) DEPOSITION – mentioning all of the streams, lakes, rives, seas, and trenches we mapped in class
4) LITHIFICATION – including both compaction and cementation
5) SUBDUCTION – where Odysseus is finally taken into the Earth’s Mantle
When finished, students will submit their final essay to the Google Science Classroom in the assignment provided by the teacher. In the Google Science Classroom, students will also find video resources to help them create sentences that are more scientifically accurate. Dr. M has also collected a key set of images students should consider using in the G7 Notes Portal.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 4 - Friday, Oct 31
Housekeeping: Students had the entire science lesson to work on their Rock Odyssey essays. Dr. M provided support by pointing out that the Google Science Classroom now contains video resources matched to each of the five major essay paragraphs, that is, ¶1 – WEATHERING, ¶2 – EROSION, ¶3 – DEPOSITION, ¶4 – LITHIFICATION, and ¶5 – SUBDUCTION.
Dr. M also emphasized to students to think carefully about balancing creativity (on the one hand) with scientific accuracy (on the other).
Homework: As per the TASIS MS school homework policy, there is no weekend science homework (due on Monday).
Announcements...
The DRIVING QUESTION of our current unit is: How does the Earth recycle and remake the materials of our planet, from the deep core to the surface we walk on?
B period homework collection days: Tuesday & Thursday.
H period homework collection days: Wednesday & Friday.
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