Day 1
“What’s inside the earth?”
Students will use inquiry skills
to predict what is inside the
Earth. (MI: Science.S.IP.E.1)
In this lesson, we worked
together to create a KWL chart
to document the knowledge
students began the unit with.
After completing the K and the
W on this chart, I showed
students their workbooks they
would have for the unit. They
completed the first page
requiring them to make
predictions about what they
thought was inside the earth.
Using colors and labeling,
students drew a picture of their
thinking.
Guided Reading Integration
The Magic School Bus
Inside the Earth by Joanna
Cole
Students will ask questions to
support their comprehension
of informational text. (MI:
ELA.R.MT.3.1)
Using a class set of this book,
we will work on the
comprehension strategy of
questioning as we remember
some of the information we
had learned previously about
rocks and minerals. In this
lesson it was important to
stress the importance of
quality questions and the
difference between questions
about the fiction aspect of the
story and the informational
aspects. After working
together as a class, students
will develop 4 of their own
wondering questions.
Day 2
Comparing the earth to an
apple
Students will compare and
contrast the layers of the Earth
and an apple. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.11)
In this lesson we used apples
as models of the inside of the
earth. We discussed what a
model is and how it helps us
better understand science.
We then read pages 10-15 in
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
by Deborah Merrians to give
students a basic
understanding of what is
actually inside the earth. Next
I gave students half an apple
and asked them to think and
write about how the inside of
the earth is similar and
different to the inside of an
apple.
Guided Reading Integration
The Magic School Bus
Inside the Earth by Joanna
Cole
Students will ask questions to
support their comprehension
of informational text. (MI:
ELA.R.MT.3.1)
We continued the work with
questioning we had done the
previous day. I again helped
students realize the difference
between informational and
fiction questions to help them
think about the science
contained in this book. After
orally reading the second third
of the book, I asked students
to record five wondering
questions about the
informational information in the
book. Students were allowed
to work in pairs or
independently.
Day 3
Layers of the earth
Students will name and create
a model of the layers of the
Earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.11)
We reviewed what students
learned in the previous lesson
about the layers of the earth.
We used this knowledge to
color and label a picture of the
inside of the earth. We then
made predictions about the
possibility of traveling to the
center of the earth. After
writing about their predictions,
they drew a picture about their
prediction. All students
believed it would be
impossible to journey to the
center of the earth and
provided great reasons about
why this was not possible.
Guided Reading Integration
The Magic School Bus
Inside the Earth by Joanna
Cole
Students will ask questions to
support their comprehension
of informational text. (MI:
ELA.R.MT.3.1)
We finished reading this Magic
School Bus book and
concluded our work on
questioning. Students showed
excellent improvement in the
questions they thought about
as they were reading. The
students showed they
understood the difference
between fiction questions and
nonfiction questions. Again,
they had to write five
wondering questions about the
nonfiction information
presented in their reading
today.
 Day 4
Characteristics of each layer
Students will name and
describe characteristics of
each layer of the Earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.22)
To begin this lesson, we
reread the pages about the
inside of the earth from
Earthquakes and Volcanoes to
review characteristics of each
layer of the earth. Also, we
used the posters and charts in
our classroom to add
important distinguishing
characteristics about each
layer to our workbook. We
then discussed plate tectonics
and Pangaea using pictures
and simulations from the
internet projected onto the T.V.
screen. Students were very
interested in the way the earth
has changed.
Guided Reading Integration
Volcanoes by Chuck
Garofano
Students will ask qeustiosn to
support their comprehension
of informational text. (MI:
ELA.R.MT.3.1)
Without thinking about
anything but reading, we read
the first part of the book titled
“The Eruption of Vesuvius.”
After we were done reading,
we thought about what
happened, when, where, why,
and how. Students recorded
what they remembered on a
flip worksheet. I then
explained that it is often helpful
to have questions in mind
when we are reading to help
us understand what we are
reading better. I instructed
students to go back and read
again, thinking about the
questions and record the
information they remembered.
Day 5
Push those plates!
Students will be able to
illustrate the different motions
in which the plates of the earth
move.
(MI:Science.E.SE.3.22)
We did a hands-on experiment
that illustrates to students the
movement of the tectonic plates
and the results that occur. I
passed out the materials students
needed. I demonstrated each
movement with my own
materials, showed a picture of
what the results should be on a
PowerPoint slide, and allowed
the students to do the movement
themselves. I also showed
students a virtual simulation of
moving plates using
http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr
/watch/living_planet/mountains.ht
m. Once students had simulated
all the movements with their
graham crackers, they completed
a page in their workbook.
Guided Reading Integration
Volcanoes by Chuck
Garofano
Students will demonstrate
their comprehension through
written responses to questions
they answered using
informational texts. (MI:
ELA.R.CM.3.1)
We began the lesson by
asking questions about
volcanoes that will guide our
reading. I modeled thinking
about and recorded questions
and then released students to
do it independently. After they
had written their questions,
they read through the book
keeping their questions in
mind and recording the
answers when they came
across them. Modeling is
extremely important in this
lesson because students have
not had a lot of experience
reading for information.
Day 6
Volcano introduction and
parts
Students will demonstrate an
understanding of the natural
process of volcanic explosions
and how they affect the
surface of the earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.E.2)
We began the lesson by
watching a United Streaming
Video about volcanoes. After
the movie we discussed what
we learned. We then talked
about and labeled the parts of
volcanoes to give students an
understanding of the unseen
parts of a volcano.
Guided Reading Integration
Many informational books at
grade level about volcanoes
Students will demonstrate
their comprehension through
written responses to questions
they answered using
informational texts. (MI:
ELA.R.CM.3.1)
We continued what we worked
on in the previous lesson. I
reminded students about what
I had noticed about the work
they had done in the previous
lesson. Some students
needed to think about other
questions that were more
broad and easier to answer. I
again modeled explicitly what
students should be doing as
they are reading for answers.
This modeling helped many
students. All students at least
found answers for two of their
questions allowing us to move
on to the next part of this
 Day 7
Volcano Experiment #1
Students will use inquiry skills
to generate hypotheses and
record observations to learn
about the formation of a
volcano. (MI:
Science.S.IP.E.1)
I began the lesson by
explaining what the different
parts of the cookie/toothpaste
model represented. I
explained what I was going to
do and asked students to
record prediction. After we
discussed predictions students
made, I performed the
experiment and students drew
pictures of their observations.
They recorded how the model
was like a volcano. This
lesson was great to give
students a visual of the inner
workings of a volcano and get
an introduction to the inquiry
process.
Guided Reading Integration
Informational Volcano
Posters
Students will demonstrate
their comprehension through
written responses to questions
they answered using
informational texts. (MI:
ELA.R.CM.3.1)
I went through students work
from the previous lesson and
marked the question and
answer I expected students to
create their poster about. This
ensured the question/answer
was quality and that the class
had a variety of information
represented. Students first
wrote the question they
researched at the top and the
answer on the bottom. After it
was checked by myself for
spelling and punctuation, they
illustrated their response. We
displayed these posters on our
science bulletin board.
Day 8
How do volcanoes form?
Students will orally describe
and illustrate how a volcano
grows and changes the
surface of the earth. (MI:
Science.S.RS.3.11)
I read The Magic School Bus
Blows It’s Top by Joanna Cole
aloud to the class. We
discussed the formation of
underwater volcanoes as we
read through the book. After
our discussion, students
illustrated the process in their
workbooks, showing how the
ocean floor changes after
several volcanic eruptions and
eventually builds up enough to
become an island, like Hawaii.
Guided Reading Integration
Volcano: The Eruption and
Healing of Mount St. Helens
by Patricia Lauber
Students will think about
author’s word choice to
support their comprehension.
(MI: ELA.R.CM.3.1)
We began the lesson by
modeling thinking about word
choice as we read orally. As a
class, we thought about words
the author used to help the
reader visualize and
comprehend what was
occurring. We also talked
about why these were good
words. After reading several
pages, I released students to
try it on their own. Most
students found several good
words but struggled to record
why these were good words to
help the reader. This is a skill
that students need additional
support with.
Day 9
Richter scale
Students will understand how
earthquakes occur, the
changes they cause to the
earth, and the way they are
detected and measured. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.22)
We began the lesson by
discussing how earthquake
occur and they types of
destruction they cause. We
will then look at a map of real
time earthquakes that are
happening around the world
using the following website:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/f
aultline/index.html. Students
will see how many earthquake
are occurring everyday. I next
explained how earthquakes
are detected and measured.
Students then created their
own inventive scale to
measure the destruction
earthquake cause.
Guided Reading Integration
Book Clubs: Earthquake in
the Early Morning by Mary
Pope Osborne
Students will use book clubs
to productively discuss the
reading they have done and
demonstrate their
comprehension. (MI:
ELA.S.DS.3.1)
I introduced book clubs and
explained what they would be
doing. I had arranged groups
that had students of different
levels. Each group had a
different color journal to help
separate them more easily.
After I explained my
expectations, I let the groups
get to work. Each group had a
assigned place to meet in the
room. These book clubs were
a very effective way to learn
about earthquakes while
working on comprehension.
 Day 10
The Great San Francisco
Earthquake
Students will investigate the
destruction an earthquake can
cause to gain a better
understanding of how they
change the surface of the
earth. (MI: Science.S.IA.3.14)
Two days prior to this lesson,
students began investigating
the San Francisco earthquake
in the computer lab using the
internet. We began the lesson
by allowing students to share
their initial findings. Next I
read parts of …If you lived at
the Time of the Great San
Francisco Earthquake by Ellen
Levine. I asked students to
add to the notes they had
about the earthquake in their
journals to gather details
required to write a news
article.
Guided Reading Integration
Book Clubs: Earthquake in
the Early Morning by Mary
Pope Osborne
Students will use book clubs
to productively discuss the
reading they have done and
demonstrate their
comprehension. (MI:
ELA.S.DS.3.1)
We continued the second day
of book clubs. In this lesson
students read chapters three
and four. They completed
their book club journals. We
also began discussing the
nonfiction science facts we
were learning through this
book. They began recording
their findings in the chart at the
back of their book club
journals.
Day 11
The Great San Francisco
Earthquake
Students will investigate the
destruction an earthquake can
cause to gain a better
understanding of how they
change the surface of the
earth. (MI: Science.S.IA.3.14)
We continued reading about the
San Francisco earthquake to
spend one last day gathering
information and details for our
news articles. Today I created
my own article about the
eruption of Mt. Saint Helens to
help students understand the
types of details they needed to
be listening for. I also showed
the book on the document
camera so students could follow
along and see the words and
illustrations. We ended my
making a list of description
about the earthquake.
Guided Reading Integration
Book Clubs: Earthquake in
the Early Morning by Mary
Pope Osborne
Students will use book clubs
to productively discuss the
reading they have done and
demonstrate their
comprehension. (MI:
ELA.S.DS.3.1)
It was the third day of book
clubs. Students continued to
do a good job completing their
book club journals and working
together. It was important to
ensure students were on task
and helping each other, as
they were getting a little lazy.
We continued thinking about
science connections we
discovered in the book.
Day 12
Newspaper Article
Students will demonstrate an
understanding of the
destruction of earthquakes
through a written newspaper
article. (MI: ELA.W.PR.3.1)
We began writing our
newspaper articles in this
lesson. I spent half the lesson
discussing the important
features of a newspaper article
(the 5 Ws, details, anecdotes).
We read back through the
article about the volcano
eruption and identified these
features. We put the list of
description we created up and
let the students get to work on
their articles. About half the
students were really
imaginative the first day.
Others took longer to get the
hang of it.
Guided Reading Integration
Book Clubs: Earthquake in
the Early Morning by Mary
Pope Osborne
Students will use book clubs
to productively discuss the
reading they have done and
demonstrate their
comprehension. (MI:
ELA.S.DS.3.1)
Students completed their forth
day of book clubs. They read
chapters seven and eight
today and continued making
connections to the science
information they are learning
through the book. I also tried
to get students to have more
of a discussion about what
they are reading, rather than
just completing the journal. I
put a question on the T.V. to
discuss with their group. At
the end we discussed the
question as a class.
 Day 13
Newspaper Article
Students will demonstrate an
understanding of the
destruction of earthquakes
through a written newspaper
article. (MI: ELA.W.PR.3.1)
Day 14
Introduction to Erosion
Students will identify and
describe natural causes that
change the surface of the
earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.22)
Day 15
Water Erosion Investigation
Students will describe erosion
an dhow it plays a role in
changing the surface of the
earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.22)

Students continued writing
their newspaper articles. I
read a few examples of good
articles from the day before.
Also, there was a minor
earthquake in Nevada, so we
looked at an actual newspaper
article from a local newspaper.
This example seemed to help
students understand what they
needed to write. All students
finished their writing today.
Some of the students who
struggled just wrote the 5 Ws
and rearranged them into a
logical sequence. Other
students included great detail.
We began this lesson with a
discussion about what things
outside the earth can change it
and how. We then discussed
how these forces cause
erosion and what exactly
erosion is. I showed students
examples of landforms formed
by different forces of erosion.
To finish the lesson, I asked
students to illustrate a
landform and write a sentence
or two about how erosion
formed it.
In this lesson we investigated
how erosion impacts different
types of land. The students
were put into groups. Each
group was given material
(sand, gravel, or both). They
made predictions about what
water would do to a mountain
made of their material. They
used the inquiry process to
construct a mountain, observe
the effects of water, and make
a conclusion. Students did
extremely well with this and
ended the investigation
understanding how powerful
erosion is.

Guided Reading Integration

Book Clubs: Earthquake in
the Early Morning by Mary
Pope Osborne
Students will use book clubs
to productively discuss the
reading they have done and
demonstrate their
comprehension. (MI:
ELA.S.DS.3.1)

Students finished the book

today. They continued to work
on their comprehension
strategies and made one last
connection to science. In
addition to the comprehension
strategies, students also
completed their self-evaluation
of their performance in their
book club. Most students
were fairly accurate about their
work. Overall, book clubs
were very successful. It was a
good way for students to think
about all the comprehension
strategies they know.
 Day 16
Erosion Video and Wrap-up
Students will identify and
describe natural causes that
change the surface of the
earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.22)
We watched the video
Erosion: Earth is Change to
visualize the impact erosion
can have on the surface of the
earth. I asked students to
think about the new
information they are learning
about erosion. After the
movie, we spent a few minutes
discussing what we saw. I
then introduced students to
the idea of weathering and
how it was related to erosion.
Day 17
Acid Rain Experiment
Students will perform the step
of inquiry to discover the
difference between chemical
weathering and water
weathering. (MI:
Science.S.IP.E.1)
I showed students more
examples of how weathering
impacted the earth’s surface
using a PowerPoint. After we
discussed the different things
that cause weathering, we
made predictions about how
chemicals in the air impact the
land. We did an investigation
to find out the effects of acid
rain compared to plain water.
This experiment was
successful but the results are
difficult to see which makes it
more difficult for students to
really understand the impact of
the chemical on the chalk.
Day 18
Erosion or Weathering?
Students will compare and
contrast two outside forces
that cause change to the
earth. (MI:
Science.E.SE.3.22)
In this lesson, we thought
about the differences and
similarities between
weathering and erosion.
Using a Venn diagram we
compared the two outside
forces. This activity helped
students understand the subtle
differences between these
forces and wrapped up our
study of outside forces.
 Day 19
Unit Wrap-up

We finished the unit today by

completing our KWL chart,
adding the information we
learned about how the earth
changes. I required all
students to contribute at least
one idea to our chart.
Students also finished the last
page in their workbook. This
was the summative
assessment for the unit and
asked students to write one
interesting fact they remember
about each different force that
changes the earth. We also
had volcano ice cream
sundaes as a celebration.
 Unit Reflection

Overall, I believe the unit was a success. It is evident that students ended the unit with a strong
understanding of the different forces that work to change the surface of the earth. The KWL chart
illustrates students came to the unit with very little prior knowledge about the layers of the earth,
volcanoes, earthquakes, erosion, and weathering. By the end of the unit everyone knew several facts
about all of these forces and was able to recall them without outside help. In addition to the KWL chart,
the summative assessments each student completed on the last day of the unit show that students left
with an understanding of the forces that change the earth’s surface. All students were able to
independently write at least two facts they learned in the unit, most successfully wrote four different facts.
The parent rubrics, which were sent home with the completed science workbooks, also indicated that
almost all students were able to independently explain what the student had learned while completing the
workbook. This shows that students are able to talk about what they have learned and share the
information. More evidence of student learning still appears when students point out connections in
books they are reading or shows they see on T.V.
The workbooks were a great part of the unit because students had something to draw or write
about during almost every lesson. This forced students to think about what they had learned in each
lesson and reflect on it in their own ways. Without this kind of assessment and understanding, students
may have been more apt to tune out during the lessons and therefore leave the unit with less
understanding.
Planning the unit was time consuming, but paid off when each day was already laid out before the
unit started. It was easy to plan each day. I simply had to gather the materials needed for the lesson
that was already planned. I was surprised at how accurately I followed my original plan. Very few
aspects of the unit changed once I began teaching it. I reflected on every lesson which helped me think
about ways to change the lessons I had coming up next. Creating the workbooks was a great way to
make sure I had copied all the worksheets students needed. I will definitely use this idea in another unit
because it is a great way to stay organized and have assessments of students’ work in one place after
each lesson.
During the lesson, I found technology to be bigger help than I had planned. Because the
information students learned within the unit is not something that is easy to illustrate, using pictures and
simulations from the internet were extremely helpful and benefited the students. Also, integrating so
much reading about the topics we were learning about into guided reading time was so beneficial
because students already came to each science lesson with at least a little background knowledge about
the topic. In addition to helping students understand the science, it gave us a chance to focus some
attention on informational text and practice our comprehension skills on this kind of text.
The investigations that occurred throughout the unit created valuable learning experiences for
students. When students were able to make predictions and think about how the investigation
represented the earth, they really applied their knowledge and had to think about what they observed.
Not only were the activities fun for them, but students learned a great deal and were able to gain a better
understanding of the natural phenomenon we study but do not typically see in everyday life.
The unit calendar was the most helpful part of the unit plan. It forced me to think about the ways
each lesson connected to the standards and benchmarks third graders are required to meet. It also
helped me plan the learning experiences and ensure students had enough exposure and background to
complete each activity. Also the reflection I did after each lesson was so helpful in planning the next day.
After reflecting, I was able to see where students needed more support and planned for that additional
scaffolding in the next lesson. As I was teaching, I felt like each lesson helped inform the next one.
Each day felt like an instructional cycle with each lesson building on what we had learned in the previous
lesson.