ICAT Name: Jenna Hunter

Lesson Title: Stream Studies

Curriculum Materials Used: Gray Changing Earth Kit

Grade Level: 4th Grade

LEARNING GOALS (Part 1)

Driving Question: How does water change Earths surface as it flows from high
places to low place?

Ideal Response: Stream channels change over time. When water that is flowing
faster, the river or stream will be deeper and straighter. The water picks up earth
materials and carries them along before dropping them again. If a lake forms at the
downhill end, the speed of the stream slows and the slow moving water deposits
the sand.

Connections to Standards
NGSS Performance Expectation:

4-ESS2-1.
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of
weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. [Clarification
Statement: Examples of variables to test could include angle of slope in the
downhill movement of water, amount of vegetation, speed of wind, relative rate of
deposition, cycles of freezing and thawing of water, cycles of heating and cooling,
and volume of water flow.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to a
single form of weathering or erosion.]

Cross-Cutting Concept:
Everyone must include patterns. Your second one should come from your
performance expectation.
1. Patterns
2. Cause and Effect

NGSS Practices:
Include no more than 3. The first one should be from our performance expectation.
1. Developing and using models
2. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
3. Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Arizona State Standard: (include strand, concept, and PO)

Strand 6: Earth and Space Science

Concept 2: Earths Processes and Systems
PO 3. Describe the role that water plays in the following processes
that alter the Earths surface features:
erosion
deposition
weathering

Learning Goals
KNOWINGS: This is what students must know in order to meet the standard. Think
of this as the knowledge part of learning objectives. Include no more than 3.

Students will know that:

1. Stream channels change over time
2. Faster moving water will make the stream beds straighter and deeper
3. Faster moving water will pick up more materials and slower water will
deposit material down the river

DOINGS: This is what students will be able to do with what they know. Note, this is
more than just what they do in the lesson. It is about how they will be able to use
the knowledge. Think of this as the behavior part of learning objectives. Include no
more than 3.

Students will be able to:

1. Explain how downhill flowing water changes the Earths surface
2. Explain how materials are moved and deposited in a river/stream bed

Language Goals
Goals for ALL students for speaking, reading, and writing in science.
1. Students will talk in small groups about how water changes the Earths
surface
2. Students will record observations in their science notebooks.
Observations and explanations should be evidence based and include words
and pictures
Considerations for English Language Learners
1. ELLs may talk with a language buddy
2. ELLs may use a word wall or pictoral cards as an aid when writing
explanations
EPE Table
Experiences (with Patterns Explanations (ideal
phenomena) answer; explains how
and why)

- Planning/creating a - Faster flowing water Stream channels change

downhill stream table
model using sand and
other materials
- Experiences making
streams with water
flowing in different paths
and at different speeds
- Thinking about streams
and downhill flowing
water in their own lives
(colorado river, gila river,
other rivers, washes or
streams near tucson)
creates deeper and over time. When water
straighter stream beds that is flowing faster, the
- Water picks up river or stream will be
materials and deposits deeper and straighter.
them further down the The water picks up earth
stream materials and carries
- Slower moving water them along before
deposits earth materials dropping them again. If a
lake forms at the
downhill end, the speed
of the stream slows and
the slow moving water
deposits the sand.

Inquiry

Application

Summative Assessment
What activity will you use to determine if students have met your learning goals?
- Students will write one paragraph explaining how a river changes the
Earths surface

What will you look for in student performance that tells you if they met the learning
goals? Be sure to have at least one indicator for each knowing and doing.
- Paragraph includes:
- How faster moving water picks up materials
- How materials are deposited along the river
- How the earths surface is affected by downhill flowing
water
Reflection / Contributions (done separately if working with a partner)
a. What did you learn about learning goals from working on this assignment?
Learning goals are connected to all parts of the lesson. The state standards, the
NGSS, the driving question, and the assessment should all relate back to the
learning goals and help the student to reach a deeper understanding of the
concepts.

b. Why are learning goals important?

Learning goals help us to plan and implement our lessons. They make sure that we
as teachers keep our students on track and can change our instruction accordingly
so that our students have the opportunity to experience the phenomena they are
learning about.

__________________________________________________________________
Time Needed: 50 minutes
Lesson Overview
This lesson is about studies streams and how water changes earths surface.
Students will be working in small groups of 4 students (their table groups) and
will conduct the experiment in these groups. This lesson fits into a sequence of
lessons that the students are doing on stream studies and is towards the end of
the changing earth unit. Students will use the materials to create a stream bed
and will model multiple events that they will observe and study for patterns.
Materials

Student Materials per Group: (6 groups)

Stream box trays
Empty plastic container
5 cups of sand
2-3 thick books (to raise one end of stream box)
1 large bucket
2 large trash bags
Paper towels

Materials per Student:
Science notebooks
Pencils
Science books

Teacher Materials:
Lesson plan
 Teacher guide book
Extra trash bags
Water supply for students
Preparation
Students will be grouped in teams of 6 and be working at their desks
(use regular table groups for support students).
Items and materials will be arranged in the back of the room.
Roles will be assigned with playing cards and responsibilities will be
written on the whiteboard.

Manager=1 (responsible for collecting all the materials for their team)
Messenger=2 (asking any questions/voicing concern/communication)
Supervisor=3 (making sure teams area is staying tidy throughout the lesson)
Clean up crew = 4 (return all the materials to the back of the room)
Water refill= 5 (refilling water jug after each event)
Stream cup= 6 (holds the stream cup for each event)
Safety
Make sure that students do not put sand down the drain.
Students will need to be cautioned about pouring water and the
teacher should demonstrate how to do so before the students begin.
Monitor students being sent to restroom to wash hands
General safety precautions and responsible behavior are expected.
Lesson

1 Title: Introduce Driving Question I-AIM Stage & Function

Question: Establish driving
question- elicit initial ideas

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and

what the teacher says/does.
1. Open science notebooks and do procedural set up (table of
contents etc.)
2. Teacher introduces driving question and asks students to think
about it and writes it in science notebooks.
3. Teacher asks students to write down their ideas in their science
notebooks- make predictions.

Assessment:
Pre-Assessment:
What are students initial ideas about how water changes the
earths surface?
Are they using scientific talk and referring to concepts such as
 erosion or deposition?

Accommodations/Adaptations:
Level of Support/Input: orally discuss ideas with students (who need extra
support) before they write

2 Title: Experimenting with Stream I-AIM Stage & Function

Models Explore and Investigate:
Explore phenomena for patterns

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and

what the teacher says/does.
1. Teacher demonstrates how to use the materials to build a stream
box
2. Manager collects the team's materials
3. Students use materials to build a stream box model
4. In teams, students use materials to test different water events
listed in their science books
5. Students will conduct event # 1, 2, 3, 6,
6. Students record their observations in their science notebooks
after/during each event
Respond to questions listed in student science books
Encourage students to include pictures of how their
stream channels looked before and after each event
Use arrows to mark where sand has moved

Assessment:
Formative:
Are students noticing how the speed of water affects the sand?
Are students noticing that faster traveling water makes the channel
straighter and deeper?
Are students noticing that slower moving water deposits grains of
sand along the edges of the channel?

Accommodations/Adaptations:
Quantity/Time: add/remove events depending on time
Participation: have students switch jobs to increase participation

3 Title: Identifying Patterns I-AIM Stage & Function

Explore and Investigate:
 Identify Patterns

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and

what the teacher says/does.
1. Students will talk with group members to discuss their
observations for each event
2. Teacher compiles student results on the board (by event #1,2,3,6)
Make a table on the board with each event
Call on groups to share their observations
3. Class identifies patterns
Ask students to think about how the sand moved
Ask students to think about where sand moved
Ask students to consider event 6 does the
speed/amount of water affect the sand?
4. Students write patterns in notebooks (take home message)

Assessment:
Formative: Can students identify the patterns? (from activity 2)
Are students noticing how the speed of water affects the sand?
Are students noticing that faster traveling water makes the channel
straighter and deeper?
Are students noticing that slower moving water deposits grains of
sand along the edges of the channel?

Accommodations/Adaptations:
Input: Using cues and prompting to elicit student ideas, rephrase student
thoughts
Participation: ask specific students to share their observations

4 Title: Exit Ticket I-AIM Stage & Function

Explain: Students compare
initial ideas with scientific ideas

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and

what the teacher says/does.
1. Teacher asks students to re-answer the driving in one paragraph
2. Students write their answer on a sheet of paper and turn it in

Assessment:
Summative: Paragraph includes:
 - How faster moving water picks up materials
- How materials are deposited along the river
- How the earths surface is affected by downhill flowing
water

Accommodations/Adaptations:
N/A- this is an assessment to gauge student understanding

Student Science Toolkits

Describe how your lesson connects to and builds on student
ideas.
This lesson comes at the end of the unit, and draws on students ideas from
the changing earth kit. Students now understand that the earths surface
changes due to the elements, but this lesson allows them the experience to
test out these ideas using water and sand. Students will connect the patterns
that they observed with their initial predictions and write a paragraph about
the patterns they identified as a class. Students have been studying erosion
and may use that vocabulary term, but most students are not familiar with
deposition yet. Students may make the connection with how water pools to
form lakes or feeds into oceans.
Describe how your lesson connects to and builds on students
funds of knowledge
This lesson taps into the students funds of knowledge that from school and
from personal experience. Maybe students have seen a river, beach, or maybe
they have played with water in a sandbox. This could come from family
knowledge and experience, community knowledge and experience, or peer
activities. Since this is the end of the unit, I know that my students all know
that water changes sand.
Bibliography/Sources
This lesson was modified from Lesson 5 Stream Studies from the Gray Foss Kit:
The Changing Earth (4th grade)

1. Explain how you used the curriculum materials analysis and

guidance from your mentor teacher to plan this lesson.
My mentor teacher provided me with this lesson and told me that I
would be beginning on session 2. I used the curriculum materials to help
me refine the lesson and focus on the aspects that were going to give my
students the most meaningful experiences. The materials analysis helped
me to make sure that each part of my lesson was relating back to the
driving question and that there was a cohesiveness to the lesson.
2. Summarize how this lesson plan fits scientists science and I-
AIM.
Each aspect of this lesson directly relates to a stage of I-AIM and they
are labeled accordingly. In this session, students are focusing on the
exploring of the phenomena and identifying patterns. In later sessions,
students will focus more on the explanation of these patterns, but that does
begin to come in towards the end of this lesson.