I presented a clay fault lines lesson to a 9-year-old and a six-year-old. The lesson was simple. They layered up clay to create a few different models. I explained that the layers were representing the different layers of the Earth. We then reviewed what an earthquake was and used total physical response to act it out as well as did practice drills of standing in the doorway for safety.
Once we established what and earthquake was, we turned to our models to explore the different kind of fault lines and how different geological features were formed. They made cuts and moved the clay to simulate the faults and movements. I found that through repetition the children were able to remember what the different kind of fault lines were.
When I did a short assessment at the end and asked them to recreate the faults as I called them out, the children were able to do so. I could tell that they met the learning objectives.
I did nto have any difficulty implementing the lesson. I only struggled with differentiating the lesson for the students. I found it to be too simple for the older child and a bit too challenging for the younger child. As a middle school teacher, I am also unfamiliar with the depth that the related learning targets are usually taught. I was not sure if I had made an age-appropriate lesson. The only insight i got in that area was for a friend who teaches elementary to review and give pointers on my lesson before it was implemented.
The only other challenge is that I could see my advanced students quickly becoming bored of the lesson. I would welcome any input you might have on how to differentiate for my advanced students.
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