Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 60 minutes

Patterns on maps: mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes

Earth and rocks

CCSS NGSS.4-ESS2-2England: KS2 Geography linksEngland: KS3 Chemistry: Earth and atmosphere

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Patterns on maps: mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes.

  • 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: Use map scale and compass directions; Reduce the impact of earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis

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 deep, narrow valley with steep rock walls cut by a river? (hill / peninsula / valley / canyon) → canyonPrompt: Is it high or low? Flat or steep? Is water around it?
  2. Which description matches a plain? (a deep, narrow valley with steep rock walls cut by a river / a wide, flat area of land / low land between hills or mountains, often with a river / land with water all around it) → a wide, flat area of landPrompt: 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: Patterns on maps: mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes. 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: On a world map, where are most earthquakes and volcanoes found?
  • Step 1: Plate edges are where most earthquakes and volcanoes happen.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: in long belts along the edges of Earth's plates
  • Answer: in long belts along the edges of Earth's plates
  • 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. What is the "Ring of Fire"? (a circle of forest fires in Africa / a desert in Australia / the Sun's outer layer / a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean) → a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific OceanPrompt: Think of Japan, Chile and the west coast of the USA.
  2. True or false? The continents have never moved. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Where do plates meet, and what forms there?

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. How did this feature form: the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? (formed where plates push together / formed where plates pull apart) → formed where plates pull apartPrompt: Is it a high mountain range or deep trench, or a crack and ridge where new rock appears?
  2. What is the "Ring of Fire"? (a circle of forest fires in Africa / the Sun's outer layer / a desert in Australia / a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean) → a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific OceanPrompt: Think of Japan, Chile and the west coast of the USA.

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: Use map scale and compass directions; Reduce the impact of earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis.
  • 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-4.

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

eurekami

Patterns on maps: mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    True or false? Many volcanoes form where plates meet.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  2. Question 2

    Where is the deepest part of the ocean?

    • A. next to every beach
    • B. under the North Pole
    • C. in a trench where one plate dives under another
    • D. in the middle of a calm bay

  3. Question 3

    How did this feature form: the Andes?

    • A. formed where plates push together
    • B. formed where plates pull apart

  4. Question 4

    True or false? Earth's outer layer is made of large plates that slowly move.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  5. Question 5

    How did this feature form: the Mariana Trench?

    • A. formed where plates push together
    • B. formed where plates pull apart

  6. Question 6

    True or false? The continents have never moved.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  7. Question 7

    What is the "Ring of Fire"?

    • A. a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean
    • B. a circle of forest fires in Africa
    • C. a desert in Australia
    • D. the Sun's outer layer

  8. Question 8

    How did this feature form: the Himalayas?

    • A. formed where plates push together
    • B. formed where plates pull apart

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Patterns on maps: mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes

  1. 1. A. True

  2. 2. C. in a trench where one plate dives under another

  3. 3. A. formed where plates push together

  4. 4. A. True

  5. 5. A. formed where plates push together

  6. 6. B. False

  7. 7. A. a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean

  8. 8. A. formed where plates push together