Earth
Our planet is old, so old it is hard to imagine. And children have so little reference for time. So why teach about Earth? It is important for even young children to learn about our planet, and when we begin with the things they know, we can begin to build our students’ knowledge about Earth.
Each of the Earth unit’s four modules begins with the students’ prior knowledge, relating the study of the Earth to subjects students already know and whetting their appetites for new knowledge.
The Earth unit begins with the History of Earth module. Students learn about Earth’s long history and the place of exciting things like volcanoes, dinosaurs, and giant bugs within that history.
The Earth’s Materials module taps into student knowledge immediately by beginning with a story about a class rock collection. Students use a dichotomous key to sort materials based on their attributes, such as whether they are natural or man-made, rough or smooth. This activity builds both science and language skills as students classify materials and build deeper understanding of new vocabulary.
In the Earth’s Features module, students explore mountains, volcanoes, caves, rivers and oceans and their place on Earth. In one online activity, students guess which living things make their homes in Earth’s features.
The Weather module allows students to explore Earth’s ordinary and extreme weather in safety. Activities include using the weather information to decide what an online character should wear and learning about how to stay safe during extreme weather.
Our planet is ancient and fascinating. The Earth unit allows students to learn and think about our changing Earth. Online and offline activities allow students to study both the slow change of life on Earth over millions of years and the sudden change of extreme storms, earthquakes or volcanoes. As they learn, students create a base of concepts and vocabulary to build upon as they grow.
