Modeling
Earth Science
Students begin the lesson by first
demonstrating the following vocabulary words, compression and tension. It is important that students understand
these two words before beginning the lesson.
I begin the lesson by having students roll up their play dough in a tube
shape. We first talk about the word
compression. To help the students
remember this word, I tell the students to have their hands “come together and
press”. All of the students then
practice compression with their play dough.
The next vocabulary word we demonstrate is tension. The students roll the play dough in a
tube. Then we discuss the word
tension. Students then slowly put
tension on their play dough and pull the play dough apart. Once students understand these two concepts;
we begin creating the faults.
| Tension |
| compression |
Students begin creating their models by
making lay dough into the shape of a rectangle. Students
are working in groups of four. The next step is to cut their play dough into
a diagonal, using dental floss. By cutting
at a diagonal, the students are creating a footwall and a hanging wall. The students then place their two diagonal
pieces of play dough together. We
demonstrate what happens at a reverse fault that has compression. The students slowly push their pieces
together. I tell the students to notice
that their footwall looks like a sliding board.
The students then slowly slide their hanging wall up the foot wall. Tillery, Enger, and Ross (2008) state that at
a reverse fault, the hanging wall moves upward relative to the footwall. We then describe what type of land
formations could occur at this type of fault, such as mountains. Students then draw their observations in
their science journal.
We
then discus what happens at a fault with tension. The students put their pieces together and
slowly pull their pieces away. I tell
the students to relax their hands and look at what happens to the hanging wall.
Tillery, Enger, and Ross (2008) state, that the hanging wall moves downward
relative to the footwall at a normal fault. Students then draw what they see at this type
of boundary, such as faultblock mountains.
Finally, the students mold their play
dough into a rectangle again. Instead of
cutting at a diangle, student cut the play dough in half. We then use these two pieces to discuss what
happens at a strike slip fault. Students
then predict if this type of plate movement can create mountains. Students draw what they see at this type of
boundary.
|
Normal Fault
|
|
I feel the lesson was a success. By using the model, students were able to
visualize the faults and land formations that occur at the faults. Perhaps, if larger pieces are used, students
could visualize the landscape on a larger scale. Braile (2000) also suggests using foam to
create fault boundaries. Braile (2000)
states that foam models aid in visual understanding at plate boundaries since
the models are three dimensional. Play
dough also serves as a three dimensional model, since foam can be
expensive. Students can also use the play
dough to create large scale boundaries and add detail to their models. Adding
details like color for an ocean boundary or adding volcanoes and mountains to
the model can increase student understanding.
Students can practice the different types of folds with their play dough,
such as anticline, syncline and monocline
folds.
Whether you use clay, paper, and foam or
play dough, I feel models are an important part of the science classroom. MacKay (2012) states that using models enhance
student learning. Models also allow
students to visualize aspects of the world they may never see. Models allow students to gain a boarder understanding
of the topic and visualization of the model leaves a lasting impression on the students
References
Braile,
L.W. (2000). Teaching about plate tectonics using foam models. Explorations
in Earth Science. Retrieved from http://web.ics.purdue,edu/~braile
Mackay,
B. (2012). Teaching with models.
Retrieved from serc.carleton.edu/ntrogeo/models/index.html.
Tillery,
B. W., Enger, E. D., & Ross, F. C. (2008). Integrated science (4th
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
