Ron Capurso/Sara Yerger

Self Lesson Critique

Our lesson began by using the program “Our Dynamic Planet” to show the students an elevation profile that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to over and past Mt. Hood. The students then analyzed the profile and pointed out its topographic features. Next, students made their own profile given a set of data. They compared their profile to the one on “Our Dynamic Planet” and talked about the similarities. We then asked them about the reasons for the existence of the mountain range on the west coast. We proceeded to explain the process of subduction to them by showing them a series of animations on the desktop computer. Students were then asked to form a connection between the elevation profile they made and the tectonic processes occurring in the region.

The first session went surprisingly well. The students were engaged and actually knew a lot about the geography of the western United States. They were more confused about the rest of the topics such as what exactly an elevation profile was, why mountains existed on the western coast of the U.S., and how to plot data points on a graph. They had a few different ideas as to what an elevation profile was. However, they eventually reached the correct conclusion, that an elevation profile is a side-view of a given topography. Furthermore, they had some difficulty plotting points on a graph. It was unclear if they had never done it, or if they were just out of practice. One thing that we did not anticipate was the confusion over negative numbers. It took them a while to understand how a number could be “under” zero. In order to clarify this concept, we explained to them that zero meant sea level, and that anything “under” zero was below sea level and anything above zero was above sea level.

After we spent a decent amount of time on graphing, we reached the portion of the lesson where we looked at an animation of subduction. The students were much more enthused by the colorful animations than the black and white graphs. It surprised us how quickly they were able to pick up what was going on. It was also apparent that they have had some background in geology. They knew much of the terminology before hand, which made explaining plate boundaries much easier.

Overall, students were engaged and seemed interested. About half the students were active, and the other half were relatively passive. However, it seemed that all of the kids were able to contribute, if only once or twice. This is why the hands-on graphing activity was so important. It allowed us to gain a perspective on how well students were learning the material.

The second group was actually much more knowledgeable in the topics we covered. They had an easy time defining an elevation profile, as well as graphing one. The kids were well-versed in geology, which made the lesson end significantly earlier. We were able to supplement the rest of the time by answering their questions about geology, which were actually very advanced for such a young age. To our surprise, it was actually more difficult to teach students that already knew the material because we went through the lesson much faster. It was difficult to engage them and keep them interested because it was all review for them. We went through our extra material (the Elaboration step of our lesson plan), but this was also review, so we ended up discussing a lot of different and advanced topics related to plate tectonics such as mid-ocean ridges, the supercontinent Pangea, and hot spots such as Hawaii.

The particular section of our lesson that directly involved inquiry was when the students were asked to explain the profiles they made. They were asked why these mountains and trenches occurred. This is when we noticed the students were really beginning to think. There were a few very interesting explanations proposed. One that was particularly striking was the idea that the sun heats the rock and causes it to rise. The student obviously understood that when you add heat energy to something, it rises. This was a sign that the students were able to apply concepts to abstract scenarios. The young girl saw a problem and formulated a reasonable explanation. However, the idea that the sun heating the land would cause mountains to rise was quickly erased when we asked the student to explain why this would only occur on the coast, since she could not explain this.

The next idea presented was the correct one; that the ocean floor was subducting underneath the continent, causing it to rise and create a volcano. What was most satisfying was that the other students were able to agree with the right explanation. Even the girl who had the idea about the sun heating the rock was able to make sense of it. She saw why she was wrong and how the correct answer was right.

This lesson was very effective at showing inquiry in action. It was remarkable how the students were able to formulate ideas using their basic knowledge of science. While individual backgrounds differed, all students were able to participate during at least one point in the discussion. It felt good to dispel some myths about geology and plant the seeds for new ideas and knowledge.