Week 4 - Science - Exploring the Earth: Erosion and Weathering

February 18th, 2021

By: Kate Drish

Today was the day! I taught my first lesson out of a total of five. Today was a science lesson and I was able to teach the students about erosion and weathering. It worked out perfectly that their last unit was 'pebbles, silt, and sand,' so I knew their prior knowledge would benefit them greatly. If I'm being honest, I wasn't too familiar with these concepts since it has been YEARS since I've taken a science class. So, I had to do my research before lesson planning and find a way to present the information in a meaningful way that made sense to the kids. In class, we learned a lot about science instruction and many of the main points was to make instruction engaging and hands-on for the students. This was something I know I wanted to do but how? With virtual learning, this was something I had to think long and hard about.

As I learned more about erosion and weathering, I started to notice patterns between different landforms that have been effected and their similar textures. I began to wonder if it was possible to take the students 'on a trip' to see the similarities that I saw when researching this concept more. Then I got my 'A-HA' moment. A lightbulb went off and I decided I wanted to take the students to different places around the world using Google Earth. The students loved it and felt like they were really able to travel and see the different landforms that had been eroded and weathered. Google Earth was such a great resource because it provided an HD viewpoint of the different textures that can be caused by erosion and weathering. The students and I were literally able to walk through the Grand Canyon as if we were there! We also visited different islands and cliffs. This helped a lot in my lesson plan and paved the way for a great discussion amongst the class as they were eager to participate. Today went so much better than I expected and I'm so excited to start teaching my other lessons!