Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan

Stephanie Winslow

Lesson Rationale
- This lesson is important for the students as they build a foundational understanding of the
Earth to build upon when learning about: Earthquakes, volcanos, etc.
Readiness
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal:
1. Students will identify the different continents and plates of the world.
2. Students will identify which layer of the Earth people live on.
B. Objectives:
1. Through completing this lesson, students will identify the seven different
continents of the world and where we reside on a map.
2. By completing a plates puzzle activity, students will identify where on the
Earth earthquakes occur.
C. Standard:
1. 4.ESS.3 – Describe how geological forces change the shape of land
suddenly and over time.

II. Management
Materials:
 Anchor chart with layers of the Earth
 Large map of the world
 Smaller map of the world
 Anchor chart to list the continents
 Plates puzzle for each student
 Science Journals
Time per element:
 Anticipatory Set – 5 minutes
 Instruction – 25 minutes
 Closure – 5 minutes
Space:
 Anticapatory set – at carpet
 Beginning of instruction – at the carpet
 Students will return to their desk clusters after completing the review, prior to the
plates puzzle activity, and remain at their desk for the remainder of the lesson
Behavior:
 s tudents will be expected to be fully participating in discussions, as well as the
individual work time. Students should be engaged in discussions which assist
learning for this lesson. I will reward Giant Tickets for students who remain on
task and show diligence in their work.
Groups:
 Usual groups for science (students at their desk clusters)
III. Anticipatory Set
 - We will rewatch Scrat Continental Crack Up from the previous lesson. Before starting
the video, I will ask the students the following: “We are going to rewatch the video we
saw last week. I want you to think about how the changes of the Earth have impacted the
Earth, and as a result how it has impacted us, those who live on Earth.”
- We will talk about what stood out to the students from the video.
- https://youtu.be/zocutif0cQY

IV. Purpose Statement: “Today we are going to learn more about the crust of the Earth, and
how this specific layer of the Earth impacts us.”

Plan for Instruction

V. Adaptation to Diverse Students

- J, Bri. and B will be at the back table with an adult to complete the activities within this lesson.

VI. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

 Building Upon Previous Lesson*
 Inquiry question: What would happen if the Crust of the Earth moved every day?
 We will begin on the carpet, I will ask students who can remember what the three layers
of the Earth are. (Core, Mantle, Crust) When students have given all three layers, I will
once again display the anchor chart from the previous lesson, which displays the layers of
the Earth and their names. I will ask the students, Which layer do you think we live on?
(The crust) That is correct. Every person lives on the crust! But, we don’t all live in the
same place, do we? No, people live across the whole Earth. People live in different cities,
in different countries… and what else? I am looking for the word continent. Yes, people
live in different continents around the world also! Does anyone know how many
continents there are in the world? There are seven. I need some help in naming all seven
of them. We will brainstorm together, and I will write the names of the continents on the
anchor chart. North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antartica, Europe.
Has anyone ever been to a different country? Do you know what continent it was on? I
will have a map, and if students name a country, I will have them come up and we will
find the continent it is located on, making tally marks of where students have been. I have
been to a few different countries and continents. I have been to Kazakhstan. That is in
Asia! I have been to Australia, which is its own continent! I have been to the Dominican
Republic, which is still in North America.
 Students will go back to their table groups for the following activity. Before beginning
the activity, we will discuss what the plates of the Earth are and the impact it has on the
world. “The crust is divided into what are called plates. These plates make up the crust,
but they sit on top of the second layer of the Earth, which is what?” (The mantle). I will
pass out a “plates puzzle” for students to assemble. But, before assembling it, I will ask
them a question. Can anyone find the United States on here? If students are able to find
it, I will ask them to identify which continent it is on. If not, I will first display a map and
point out where the U.S. is located. The U.S. is found in North America. Students will
then break up into groups of two (or three) to work on the plates puzzle. Students will be
instructed to begin piecing together the puzzle. When they have completed the puzzle,
they must raise their hand to have it checked by myself, or Mrs. Veatch. When students
 have correctly completed the puzzle, they may glue it into their science journals. Once
they have glued the puzzle into their journal, they will label the continents on the map. If
they have questions about the continents, the students should ask their partner first, then
raise their hand to ask a teacher.
 Once all students have completed the task, we will come back together to review the map
which they have glued into their science notebook. I will display my version on the doc
camera, and ask the students to think about where on the map they think Earthquakes
happen. Students will respond to the prompt in their journal, “Earthquakes occur
____________________________________________________ on the Earth’s crust. I
know this because __________________________________________________.” I will
have the prompt displayed on the board, and be available to walk around for students who
may need assistance with spelling or getting started jotting down their response to the
prompt.

VII. Check for Understanding

- Review questions: layers of the Earth. Reviewing the anchor chart.
- Student’s abilities to locate the plates and continents which reside on the Earth.
- Student’s ability to identify where Earthquakes occur and the reason for it.

VIII. Review Learning Outcomes/Closure

- I will ask a few students to share where they think Earthquake’s occur, and how they
came to that conclusion. This is the prompt which they wrote in their science journal.

Plan for Assessment

 Student science journals – answering the question of where Earthquake’s occur and how
they know that. Glued plates puzzle.
 Observing student answers throughout the lesson. What the layers of the Earth are,
identifying the continents and where people reside on the Earth (the crust)

Reflection and Post-Lesson Analysis

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all my students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
7. How could I strengthen my anticipatory set?
8. How could I pre-correct behavior better?
9. How could I make my lesson delivery clearer?
Plate Puzzle: