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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 wide, flat area of land? (island / plain / volcano / plateau) → plainPrompt: Is it high or low? Flat or steep? Is water around it?
  2. Which description matches a volcano? (a rounded rise of land, lower than a mountain / a mountain with an opening where hot melted rock can come out / low land between hills or mountains, often with a river / a wide, flat area of land) → a mountain with an opening where hot melted rock can come outPrompt: Picture the landform from above and from the side.
  3. True or false? Spain and Italy are peninsulas. (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 landslide after heavy rain? (fast (minutes to days) / slow (many years)) → fast (minutes to days)Prompt: Could you watch it happen in one day?
  2. Three of these are fast changes. Which one is NOT? (a cave forming in limestone / an earthquake cracking a road / a flood covering fields / a landslide after heavy rain) → a cave forming in limestonePrompt: 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. Is this a fast change or a slow change: a landslide after heavy rain? (fast (minutes to days) / slow (many years)) → fast (minutes to days)Prompt: Could you watch it happen in one day?
  2. 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? (mountains never wear down / the rounded mountains / both wore down in one day / the sharp, jagged mountains) → the rounded mountainsPrompt: Wind, rain and ice smooth rock very slowly.

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

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

    • A. a flood covering fields
    • B. a volcano erupting
    • C. mountains wearing down
    • D. a landslide after heavy rain

  2. Question 2

    Is this a fast change or a slow change: a flood covering fields?

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

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

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

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

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

    Is this a fast change or a slow change: a glacier carving a valley?

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

  7. Question 7

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

  8. Question 8

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

    • A. a storm washing away part of a beach
    • B. a river carving a canyon
    • C. mountains wearing down
    • D. a cave forming in limestone

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Answer key: Earth changes: fast or slow?

  1. 1. C. mountains wearing down

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

  3. 3. A. Both can change the land quickly.

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

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

  6. 6. B. slow (many years)

  7. 7. D. the rounded mountains

  8. 8. A. a storm washing away part of a beach