I have found that teaching scientific concepts through the use of models is a highly effective way of helping students to access the information that they need. For a unit in Earth Science, I had to teach my students about the structures of the Earth as well and teach them about plate tectonics. First, as an anticipatory set, I read a story called How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World which showed the depth, composition, and temperatures of the various layers. The students had to then work in partners to design an "earthcraft" which was a vehicle that could drill to the center of the Earth and be able to withstand the challenges of such a journey.
I also showed them several videos that vividly depicted the different layers of the Earth. “Layers of the Earth” (YouTube, 2009) explains the layers of the Earth to a musical tune, which appealed to my sixth-grade students. Another video, “Inside the Earth” (YouTube, 2010), showed the layers, discussed the depth of each layer, and explained in a very basic manner why lava is hot. I then showed “Plate Tectonics” (YouTube, 2010), a short but dramatically visual video that vividly demonstrated the process of the continental plates moving and how the intense heat inside the Earth causes volcanoes and earthquakes through the movements of the plates.
Making a model of the Earth's layers was a very engaging activity for my students. They each created a small ball of red modeling clay to represent the inner core. They then wrapped that ball in subsequent layers of yellow, black, and brown clay to represent the outer core, mantle, and crust, respectively. They then used a piece of string to slice through their "Earth" to cut it in half, revealing the different layers (see photo above).
The final activity was to give each student a hard-boiled egg. They were then instructed to gently crack the egg, leaving the shell around the white part. They could then see how the shell, representing the Earth's crust, could slide around on top of the white part of the egg, which represented the mantle (see photo below). The students really enjoyed this activity, especially since they were allowed to eat the egg after they were done demonstrating their knowledge of continental movement.
The use of models to help students understand key scientific concepts is highly effective and engaging. I believe that students learn better by doing, not by reading information out of a textbook, so I strive to provide as many hands-on activities as I can when teaching science. Plus it's a lot more fun, both me and my students!
References:
Inside the Earth. (2009, November 10). Retrieved September 27, 2011, from YouTube
website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV0Rl0gKiSI&feature=related
Layers of the Earth. (2009, November 15). Retrieved September 27, 2011, from YouTube
website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9j1xGaxYzY
McNutty, F. (1979). How to dig a hole to the other side of the world. New York, NY:
HarperCollins Publishers.
Plate tectonics. (2010, September 3). Retrieved September 27, 2011 from YouTube
website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE&feature=related
