Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: Moving Mountains Name: Kate Gibson

Content Area: Earth Science Grade Level: 6th
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):
MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed earth’s surface at varying time and special scales.
MS-ESS2-B. Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale Systems Interactions.

Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

How can science explain mountain building and other processes?
What is it that shapes Southern California’s landscape?
What contributes to the changing landscapes across the United States and the world?

Unit Summary:
This unit will consist of a lecture, assignments, and assessments that will give students confidence in the knowledge of Earth’s tectonic processes including plate
tectonics, earthquakes, faults, plate boundaries, convection, and topography. Students will engage in activities throughout the unit that bring them together for
discussion and work alone to gain understanding of this complex system. There will be a variety of lessons throughout the unit including lecture, webercise,
graphic organizers, quizzes, journals, and a final project and presentation. Students will be utilizing digital means as often as possible to keep up with the
increasing demand of the media age.

Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Formative: Summative:
Brainstorm Board – Initial Student Understanding Quizzes Project – Plate Boundary/Fault build
Graphic Organizer – Venn Diagram Presentation – Present project and apply what
Critical Thinking Questions – Journal they’ve learned
Question Checks – Through Lecture

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Objective:
Sutdents will be able to
name the three fault types,
3 fault boundaries, and
related topography.
Acceptable Evidence
(Assessments):
Graphic Organizer-Venn
Diagram
Quizzes
Critical Thinking Journal
Lesson Activities:
Students will engage with me in a lecture about earthquakes, plate boundaries, plate tectonics, and
convection. This will be guided by what students already know and will focus on the weaknesses within
brought to light by the brainstorming session. Questions throughout the lecture will help keep students
engaged, encourage more questions/discussion, and allow the teacher to gauge student understanding.
Lesson 2 (Webercise/ iPad Lesson)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:
Students will be able to Completion of the Follow the teacher created webercise through three websites that include information as well as
navigate the internet to Webercise and completion interactive lessons and quizzes. Students will answer questions on their worksheet as they find the
find useful earthquake of the interactive quizzes information.
related sources. within the webpages
assigned.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:
Students will gain deeper Completion of the KWL Students will read an article about the San Andreas fault in southern California to gain a better
understanding of the San chart graphic organizer. understanding of the closest plate boundary. Students will have a better idea of what makes this plate
Andreas Fault, they will boundary different from others and its impact on California.
know how fast the Pacific
Plate moves, what
direction, and what
topography is created by
the fault.
Unit Resources:
Annenberg Learner – Dynamic Earth
Live Science – Plate Tectonics
San Andreas Fault Facts – Graphic Organizer Article

Useful Websites:
Realtime Board – Brainstorming tool
Teach Learning – Graphic Organizer Maker
Read Write Think – Venn Diagram Assignment Program