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Science lesson plan · 2nd grade (Year 3 in England) · 60 minutes

Earth changes: fast or slow?

Earth and rocks

CCSS NGSS.2-ESS1-1England: KS2 Y3 RocksEngland: KS1 Geography links

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Earth changes: fast or slow?.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Name the landform from its description

Leads to: Ways to slow wind and water from wearing away land

Materials: Rock samples, Hand lenses, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Name the landform from its description). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which landform is this: a rounded rise of land, lower than a mountain? (plateau / hill / peninsula / island) → hillPrompt: Is it high or low? Flat or steep? Is water around it?
  2. Which description matches an island? (a deep, narrow valley with steep rock walls cut by a river / land with water all around it / a wide, flat area of land / land with water on three sides) → land with water all around itPrompt: Picture the landform from above and from the side.
  3. True or false? Mountains are higher and steeper than hills. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Picture each landform: high, low, flat or surrounded by water?

Hook · 6 min

  • Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
  • Share the objective: Earth changes: fast or slow?. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Is this a fast change or a slow change: a storm washing away part of a beach?
  • Step 1: These changes happen suddenly.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: fast (minutes to days)
  • Answer: fast (minutes to days)
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Is this a fast change or a slow change: a glacier carving a valley? (fast (minutes to days) / slow (many years)) → slow (many years)Prompt: Could you watch it happen in one day?
  2. Three of these are slow changes. Which one is NOT? (a flood covering fields / a glacier carving a valley / mountains wearing down / a river carving a canyon) → a flood covering fieldsPrompt: How long does each change take?

You do: independent practice · 17 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. A hillside slid down onto a road after days of heavy rain. Is this fast or slow? (fast / slow / it is not a change) → fastPrompt: How long did the slide itself take?
  2. Is this a fast change or a slow change: mountains wearing down? (fast (minutes to days) / slow (many years)) → slow (many years)Prompt: Could you watch it happen in one day?

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Name the landform from its description.
  • Use concrete materials: rock samples.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Ways to slow wind and water from wearing away land.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-2.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Earth changes: fast or slow?

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    What do a volcano erupting and an earthquake have in common?

    • A. Neither changes the land.
    • B. Both are caused by the wind.
    • C. Both can change the land quickly.
    • D. Both take millions of years.

  2. Question 2

    Is this a fast change or a slow change: a cave forming in limestone?

    • A. fast (minutes to days)
    • B. slow (many years)

  3. Question 3

    Three of these are fast changes. Which one is NOT?

    • A. a river carving a canyon
    • B. a storm washing away part of a beach
    • C. a flood covering fields
    • D. a landslide after heavy rain

  4. Question 4

    A sharp, jagged mountain range and an old, rounded mountain range are both made of hard rock. Which has probably been wearing down for longer?

    • A. both wore down in one day
    • B. the rounded mountains
    • C. mountains never wear down
    • D. the sharp, jagged mountains

  5. Question 5

    Is this a fast change or a slow change: a storm washing away part of a beach?

    • A. fast (minutes to days)
    • B. slow (many years)

  6. Question 6

    Three of these are slow changes. Which one is NOT?

    • A. an earthquake cracking a road
    • B. mountains wearing down
    • C. waves slowly shaping a cliff
    • D. a cave forming in limestone

  7. Question 7

    Is this a fast change or a slow change: a volcano erupting?

    • A. fast (minutes to days)
    • B. slow (many years)

  8. Question 8

    Scientists say the Grand Canyon took millions of years to form. What evidence suggests this?

    • A. The canyon looked the same last week.
    • B. The river wears away only a tiny amount of rock each year, but the canyon is very deep.
    • C. Canyons are always old.
    • D. People dug it with spades.

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Answer key: Earth changes: fast or slow?

  1. 1. C. Both can change the land quickly.

  2. 2. B. slow (many years)

  3. 3. A. a river carving a canyon

  4. 4. B. the rounded mountains

  5. 5. A. fast (minutes to days)

  6. 6. A. an earthquake cracking a road

  7. 7. A. fast (minutes to days)

  8. 8. B. The river wears away only a tiny amount of rock each year, but the canyon is very deep.