Pebbles, Sand, and Silt Unit Scope and Sequence

Topic: Properties of Earth Materials

Goals:
Students will know the sizes used to sort and describe Earth’s materials- Clay, Silt, Sand, Gravel,
Pebble, Cobble, Boulder.
Students will know the same materials can be sorted in a number of ways based on different
characteristics.
Students will know the properties of Earth’s materials and determine how they can be used.

Objectives:
 Lesson 1: Students will observe, describe, and sort earth materials based on their
properties.
 Lesson 2: Students will make connections between rocks and different environments.
 Lesson 3: Students will observe and investigate how the properties of a rock becomes
affected in water.
 Lesson 4: Students will be able to sort rocks, based on their properties.
 Lesson 5: Students will review the properties of rocks through sorting activities.
 Lesson 6: Students will understand how rocks are sorted by size.
 Lesson 7: Students will be able to identify the different properties of rocks.
 Lesson 8: Students will be able to sort river rocks by their size.
 Lesson 9: Students will review the past investigations and reflect on their understanding.
 Lesson 10 & 11: Students will understand the changes that occur in the properties of
sand when water is added.
 Lesson 12: Students will be able to sort rocks based on their properties.
 Lesson 13: Students will be able to understand the different properties of rocks,
vocabulary used to describe them, and how they are sorted.
 Lesson 14: Students will be able to identify different properties of rocks.
 Lesson 15: Students will be able to identify clay and its different properties.
 Lesson 16: Students will be able to apply what they have learned about rocks within real
life.
 Lesson 17: Students will be able to understand the ways rocks are used in daily life.
 Lesson 18 & 19: Students will be able to identify topics discussed in the past unit.

Scope: The scope of my unit was the properties of different rocks and how to differentiate
between various earth materials.

Sequence: This unit was planned out in a way that allows students to discover the different
properties of various earth materials. First, the different earth material would be introduced
and explored in an introductory lesson. This would be followed by a sorting activity that
allowed students to look deeper into the different properties, through sorting. The whole unit is
broken up into different kinds of earth materials, but each lesson has students exploring
properties. Towards the end of the unit, students are learning about how these earth materials
are connected with their daily life. This closes out the unit, leaving students to reflect about
how the different properties create tools for civilization.