Name: Ashley Hull

Class: ELED 3221

Date: March 18, 2015
edTPA Indirect Instruction Lesson Plan Template
Earthquakes
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Big Idea: A dramatic change in the earths surface can be caused by the vibrations that are
produced by earthquakes. These vibrations can cause destruction in the area surrounding the
epicenter.
Grade Level: 4th
NC Essential Standard(s): 4.E.2.3 Students know that the surface of the earth changes over
time. Students know that there are many factors that contribute to these changes. Students know
that such changes may be slow or rapid, subtle or drastic. Erosion and weathering are processes
that change the Earth. Wind, water (including ice), and chemicals break down rock and can carry
soil from one place to another. Under the right conditions, gravity can cause large sections of soil
and rock to move suddenly down an incline. This is known as a landslide. Volcanic eruptions
occur when heat and pressure of melted rock and gases under the ground cause the crust of the
Earth to crack and release these materials. Solid rock can deform or break if it is subject to
sufficient pressure. The vibration produced by this is called an earthquake.
Next Generation Science Standard(s): 4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to
describe patterns of Earths features. [Clarification Statement: Maps can include topographic
maps of Earths land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental
boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.] 4-ESS3-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions
to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.* [Clarification Statement:
Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving
monitoring of volcanic activity.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to earthquakes,
floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.]
Four Strands of Science Learning:
Strand 1: Represents the Engage stage of the lesson plan as the students discuss prior knowledge
of earthquakes and other environmental factors.

Strand 2: Represents the Explore stage of the lesson plan where students conduct research with
building stable structures.
Strand 3: Represents the Explain stage of the lesson as the students discuss their findings and
make conclusive decisions from the information they collected to share with their peers.
Strand 4: Represents the Elaborate stage of the lesson where students create a chart to present
explaining the information theyve collected during their trials and present it to their peers.
21st Century Skills: Using the 21st Century Skills Map-Science available on Moodle, choose
the two or three skills that are emphasized your lesson. Explain why you chose these.
Communication and Collaboration - Students must work collaboratively together discussing
the design of their buildings and analyzing their data after testing the stability of their structures
at different magnitude levels.
Creativity and Innovation - Students use a wide range of ideas and creative techniques to
construct a building structure that will withstand the damage that occurs during different
magnitudes of earthquakes. The students will first record their data from their experiments, then
using their prior knowledge they will analyze that data, and finally re-design their models to
result in a better outcome.
Academic Language Demand

Language Function: In the table below highlight the one most

important language function for your lesson. Explain why you chose
this.
Analyze

Argue

Categorize Compare/cont Describe

rast

Interpret

Predict

Question

Retell

Explain

Summarize

Analyze - Analyze is the most important language function for this lesson
plan because the students must analyze the data collected during each of
their trials in order to reconstruct a new structure that will provide improved
results from their prior research.

Scientific Vocabulary: What are the key scientific terms that your students
will learn through this lesson? Earthquake, faults, seismograph, seismogram, richter
scale, magnitude, primary wave, secondary wave, seismic wave, surface waves, etc.
Instructional Objective: Students will conduct test trials, collect and analyze data based on
those trials, and then present their results explaining how the stability of structures can be
affected during varying earthquake magnitudes.
Prior Knowledge (student): Students should already have knowledge of how the surface of the
earth changes over time. Students should know that there are many factors that contribute to
these changes and that they may be slow or rapid, subtle or drastic. Students should already
know the concepts and how the process of erosion and weathering affect the Earth.
Content Knowledge (teacher): Teacher must be familiar with what an earthquake is and how it
effects the earth. Teachers must understand how engineers take the data theyve collected from
monitoring the effects of earthquakes in their designs to build structures that provide stability.
The teacher must also know different vocabulary terms that relate to the understanding of how
earthquakes happen and why. They must be aware of the different machines that are used to
understand the magnitude of an earthquake and the distances that vibrations are carried outward
from the epicenter.
Connections to Students Lives: Earthquakes happen daily around the earth. As engineers test
the stability of how structures are being built, they provide buildings that are capable of
withstanding the damaging effects Earthquakes can cause, which provides safety and the ability
to save more lives.
Accommodations for Students with Special Needs (individual and/or small group): Students
with IEPs will be given specific materials that consists of undemanding formation to create a
stable structure when conducting their research.
Visual: Videos and PowerPoint
Auditory: Videos and discussions
Kinesthetic: Cooperative learning groups, creation/design of structure, recording results on chart
table, and presentation of results.
Interpersonal: Student groups varied in academic levels
Exceptional Needs Students: Students will be given harder materials to complete their
structures.
ELL Students: Make sure to pair ELL student with partner in cooperative learning group.
Materials and Technology Requirements: Powerpoint and videos

Total Estimated Time:

Introductory Science Discussion: 5 minutes
Introductory Design Challenge: 10 minutes
Testing/Reflection: 30 minutes
Clean-Up 5 minutes
Presentation - 10 minutes
Wrap-up - 10 minutes
Exit Ticket - 5 minutes
Source of Inspiration for the Lesson: My inspiration came from different lessons found on
Pinterest. I wanted to to present a lesson that allowed the students to have a hands on experience
while learning about earthquakes.
Safety Considerations: Safety concerns for this particular lesson would be the use of small
materials and whether they are being used correctly. Student groups will need to be monitored to
insure no accidental consumption or inappropriate play with the given materials.
Content and Strategies (Procedure)
Engage: Students will be asked to share what they already know about earthquakes. Students
will then watch two videos, one about engineers conducting tests for structural stability and
another discussing the construction of a building in Japan that is considered to have the ability to
withstand the damages incurred by earthquakes.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF204Pgfeo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-js9gXSME ]Students will write down the
following questions to find answers to while watching the videos: How do architects and
structural engineers design buildings to withstand the damaging effects of earthquakes? What
types of tests are conducted by engineers to test the strength and stability of a structure. What
type of base and core components are used to support a structures stability and how does it help
it from collapsing? Have students copy down a few guiding questions to think about during their
testing: How did your structure hold up during your first test at ____ magnitude? Why do you
think that happened? How do you think you could make your structure stronger and more stable?
Was your building more or less resistant than it was for the first shaking tests?
Explore: Inform students that they will be working in groups of five to conduct their research in
building structures that withstand the effects of earthquakes. Inform students that each group of
engineers will be given a specific set of materials in which they must build a structure and
conduct research and then present their pre-selected groups on the smart-board. Group one will

be given marshmallows and toothpicks. Group two with be given popsicle sticks. Group three
will be given Legos. Group four will be given index cards. Group five will be given straws.
Group six will will be given zoobs. Each group of engineers will double check their findings by
conducting two tests for each magnitude of earthquake - small (1-4), medium (5-7), and large (810). Between tests groups will revise their structural design to improve their results. Explain to
students that during their research they will create a table which accurately displays their
findings at each different magnitude level, they must also display the materials used in their
initial designs, the changes they made based on their results, and give an explanation to why they
made those changes. After testing, the groups will present their data and changes to their
structural models to their classmates. The chart table must consist of organized, accurate details,
their collaborative model design, and how their results changed based on magnitude levels and
design. Guiding questions for student research and presentation: Which design had the best
stability? What was different about that specific design compared to the others? How did the
components of your design help to stabilize the structure? What did you have to do to your
structure to keep it from falling down? What was the most important reinforcement you made
and why?
Explain: Have students return to the carpet with their results and chart. Have each group present
their chart and findings by explaining the materials used to create their initial designs, the
changes they made during their re-designs based on results from testing, and then to give an
explanation as to why those changes were made. Finally, have the answer the question: If you
had to design a building to withstand an earthquake, what would you do to make sure it was
strong enough, and why?
Elaborate: After research is complete, have students watch a video on Earthquakes
[http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/rocks-mineralslandforms/earthquakes.htm]. After watching video, allow students to discuss, explain and share
information within their group. Students should use research notes to guide their discussions.
Then using a powerpoint presentation to explain to the students about earthquakes. Earthquakes
can cause walls to crack, foundations to move and even entire buildings to crumple, engineers
incorporate into their structural designs techniques that withstand damage from earthquake
forces, for example, cross bracing, large bases and tapered geometry. Earthquake-proof buildings
are intended to bend and sway with the motion of earthquakes, or are isolated from the
movement by sliders. Engineers come up with an idea, test it, and then re-engineer the structure
based on its performance. An earthquake is movement of the ground caused by the release of
energy from a sudden shift of rocks in Earth's crust. The location inside the Earth where an
earthquake begins is called the focus. The point at the Earths surface directly above the focus is
called the epicenter. The strongest shaking happens at the epicenter. Earthquakes happen when

rock below the Earths surface moves abruptly. Usually, the rock is moving along large cracks in
Earths crust called faults. Most earthquakes happen at or near the boundaries between Earths
tectonic plates because thats where there is usually a large concentration of faults. Some faults
crack through the Earth because of the stress and strain of the moving plates. A seismogram is a
record of the seismic waves from an earthquake. We can determine how big an earthquake is by
measuring the size of the signal directly from the seismogram. A seismograph or seismometer is
the measuring instrument that creates the seismogram. A Richter Scale is measurement of the
magnitude of an earthquake based on the readings of a seismograph. The Richter scale is a
logarithmic scale ranging from 0 to 9, with each number representing a 10-fold increase in
ground motion, and a 30-fold increase in energy released. When large blocks of rock that make
up the earth's crust are moved by plate tectonics, they come in contact at faults. Sometimes they
slide smoothly past each other and other times the rocks becomes stuck restricting their
movement along the fault. When there is no movement the plate tectonics force will continue to
push the rocks so the energy builds up over time, eventually the energy is released as an
earthquake when the force is large enough. A fault is a break in Earth's crust where movement of
rock occurs. Earthquakes can cause damage to things like buildings, bridges, and roads.
Earthquakes can cause landslides and mudslides, too. If a large earthquake happens under the
ocean it can cause a tsunami a giant ocean wave or series of waves. Scientists called
Seismologists can figure out whether an earthquake is likely to happen in a place by studying
plate tectonics, the faults underground, and the history of the areas earthquakes. However,
unlike weather events, earthquakes can not be forecast ahead of time. Magnitude: the
measurement of the total strength or amount of energy released by an earthquake. P (Primary)
wave: the fastest moving type of seismic wave, which expands and compresses rock, like the
movement of a slinky. Also known as pressure waves. P waves can travel through both liquids
and solids. S (Secondary) wave: the second-fastest moving type of seismic wave, which moves
rock horizontally from side to side. Also known as shear waves. S waves cannot pass through
liquids, and therefore cannot pass through Earth's liquid outer core. Seismic wave: a vibration
that travels through Earth carrying the energy released during an earthquake. Surface waves:
seismic waves that move along Earth's surface. They can have an up-and-down motion or a
horizontal motion. Surface waves travel slower than P or S waves and usually cause the most
damage.
Evaluate: Students will be informally assessed throughout the lesson. This will be done by
observing their knowledge of previous material during the engage part of the lesson.
Observations of students pre-knowledge and the building of new knowledge during stages
explore, explain and elaborate help to see their progress. Students will be formally assessed on
the creation of their charts, their cooperation during group work and their presentations.

Mastery - Students worked effectively in their groups, made predictions based on sound
reasoning, followed directions and built the structures correctly, performed the experiments
correctly, and were able to draw conclusions from the experiments. Partial Mastery - students
worked somewhat effectively in their groups, made predictions based on somewhat sound
reasoning, followed directions and performed the experiments adequately, and were able to draw
some conclusions from the experiments. Non-Mastery - students had difficulty working in their
groups, made predictions that were largely guesses, followed directions but had difficulty
performing the experiments, and had difficulty drawing conclusions from the experiments.
Students will also be assessed on their conclusive understanding of material by completing a exit
ticket answering the questions: What is an epicenter? How does the location of a building affect
whether the it collapses or stays standing? What happens to landforms during natural disasters,
such as earthquakes? What can we do to help reduce the damage.