summit county esc Standards-Based Science Curriculum
GRADE BAND THEME
Order and organization – This theme focuses on helping students use scientific inquiry to discover patterns, trends, structures and relationships that may be described by simple principles. These principles are related to the properties or interactions within and between systems.
SIXTH GRADE
SEVENTH GRADE
EIGHTH GRADE
Science Inquiry and Application (SIA) – These scientific process skills should be integrated into the following grade level content units.
Science Inquiry and Application / Strategies for Teachingand Learning
Science Inquiry and Application
During the years of 5-8, all students must use the following scientific processes, with appropriate laboratory safety techniques, to construct their knowledge and understanding in all science content areas:
¬ Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations;
¬ Design and conduct a scientific investigation;
¬ Use appropriate mathematics, tools and techniques to gather data and information;
¬ Analyze and interpret data;
¬ Develop descriptions, models, explanations and predictions;
¬ Think critically and logically to connect evidence and explanations;
¬ Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions; and
¬ Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.
sixth grade
ROCKS, MINERALS AND SOIL
Earth and Space Science Strand (ESS)
Content Statements / Content Elaboration and Clarification / Strategies for Teachingand Learning
Earth and Space Science
¬ Minerals have specific, quantifiable properties. (6)
· Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids that have a defined chemical composition. Minerals have properties that can be observed and measured. Minerals form in specific environments. / Minerals
¬ Most rocks are composed of one or more minerals.
· Earth’s three layers are involved in the formation of different types of rocks and minerals. The layers include (Review from Third Grade):
° Crust - surface of the earth, solid and thin outside layer that is seen, rocks are solid on the crust
° Mantle - thick middle layer, so hot that some of the rocks are nearly melted and they are soft like taffy
° Core - even hotter than the mantle, outer part of the core is so hot that it is liquid, inner part of the core is much hotter than the mantle although it is solid
· Identify that the lithosphere (i.e., the crust and uppermost mantle) contains Earth’s rocks and minerals.
· Explain that rocks are composed of one or more minerals.
· Compare and contrast rocks and minerals. (V)
¬ Minerals have specific properties that can be used for identification. The properties that can be used for testing minerals include luster, hardness, cleavage, streak, magnetism, fluorescence and/or crystal shape.
· Examine the properties of minerals including, but not limited to:
° Cleavage
° Color
° Crystal shape
° Fluorescence
° Hardness
° Luster
° Magnetism/reaction to a magnet (i.e., magnetic or non-magnetic)
° Reaction with an acid (e.g., acetic acid or vinegar, carbonic acid, etc.)
° Smell
° Specific gravity (i.e., a measure of the density of a mineral based on the ratio or comparison of a mineral’s mass to the mass of an equal volume of water)
° Streak
° Texture (which is often due to crystal structure, crystal size or grain size, etc.)
° Transparency
· There are over 3,500 different minerals and they grow or form in specific crystal shapes. Even though there are so many different minerals, they crystallize into only seven different categories of crystals, which are called crystal systems:
° Cubic/isometric system (e.g., diamond, galena, gold, silver, fluorite, garnet, halite, copper, etc.)
° Hexagonal system (e.g., emerald, benitoite, graphite, molybdenite, vanadinite, etc.)
° Monoclinic (e.g., gypsum, augite, biotite, epidote, hornblende, etc.)
° Orthorhombic system (e.g., aragonite, barite, celestite, goethite, marcasite, etc.)
° Rhombohedral system (e.g., calcite, quartz, rhodochrosite, siderite, dolomite, etc.)
° Tetragonal system (e.g., rutile, scapolite, wulfenite, zircon, etc.)
° Triclinic (e.g., plagioclase feldspar, ulexite, turquoise, albite, etc.)
¬ The emphasis is on learning how to identify the mineral by conducting tests (not through memorization). Common minerals (including those on Mohs’ hardness scale) must be used in the identification process. A representative sample of minerals can be used so that different testing methods can be applied and demonstrated.
· Identify the relative hardness of a mineral using scratch tests and Mohs Scale of Hardness.
· Recognize that minerals have measurable properties that can be used for identification and/or classification. (V)
· Make a dichotomous key, using mineral properties, to use in testing and identifying minerals. (V)
· Identify minerals by their characteristic properties.
¬ Appropriate tools and safety procedures must be used to test mineral properties.
¬ Technology can provide identification information and research materials to assist in mineral investigations.
¬ Minerals present in rocks can help identify the rocks correctly. Minerals can indicate the type of environment in which the rock and/or mineral formed. Some minerals (e.g., halite, varieties of gypsum) form through evaporation and some (e.g., calcite) form through a variety of chemical processes. Other materials (e.g., feldspar varieties, magnetite, varieties of quartz) form in an igneous environment and some minerals (e.g., epidote) form in a metamorphic environment.
· Identify the different processes and/or environments in which minerals can form (i.e., evaporation, chemical processes, sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic). (V)
· Identify the common rock-forming minerals (e.g., calcite, halite, dolomite, gypsum, quartzes, feldspars, micas, talc, kaolinite, chalk, topaz, corundum, etc.). (V)
· Describe how the common rock-forming minerals are formed and classify them according to the type of environment in which they formed. / Pacing Guide:
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Learning Experiences:
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Formative and Summative Assessments:
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Earth and Space Science
¬ Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks have unique characteristics that can be used for identification and/or classification. (6)
· Most rocks are composed of one or more minerals, but there are a few types of sedimentary rocks that contain organic material, such as coal. The composition of the rock, types of mineral present, mineral arrangement, and/or mineral shape and size can be used to identify the rock and to interpret its history of formation, breakdown (weathering) and transport (erosion). / Rocks
¬ Rock identification and classification must be experiential and investigative. Common samples to use in identification should be representative of each type of rock.
· The three types of rock have distinct properties (e.g., color, texture, etc.) and special characteristics depending upon the environment in which they were formed including:
° Igneous - normally contains no fossils, rarely reacts with an acid, usually has no layering, usually made up of two or more minerals, may be light or dark colored, usually made up of mineral crystals of different sizes, sometimes has openings or glass fibers, may be fine-grained or glassy
° Metamorphic - rarely has fossils, may react with an acid, may have alternate bands of light and dark minerals, may be composed of one mineral (e.g., marble, quartzite, etc.), may have layers of visible crystals, usually made up of minerals of different sizes, rarely has pores or openings, may have bent or curved foliation (i.e., layers)
° Sedimentary - often contains fossils, may react with an acid, often has layers that are flat or curved, usually composed of pieces of sediment cemented or pressed together, has great color variety, particle size may be the same or vary, usually has pores between pieces
¬ Igneous samples must include varieties of granite, rhyolite, basalt, obsidian, pumice and andesite.
· Intrusive igneous rocks, which form by the crystallization of magma deep within the earth, are characterized by their large crystal sizes. The cooling of magma deep within the earth is typically much slower than the cooling process at the surface, so larger crystals have time to grow. Extrusive igneous rocks, which form by the crystallization of magma at the surface of the earth, are characterized by their fine-grained textures. The rapid cooling at or near earth’s surface does not provide enough time for larger crystals to grow.
¬ Metamorphic samples must include varieties of schist, gneiss, slate, marble, anthracite and phyllite.
¬ Sedimentary samples must include varieties of limestone, sandstone, shale, conglomerate and breccia.
¬ Other rock samples such as bituminous coal, coquina and chert must be included in identification investigations, but these may not always fall neatly into one specific rock category.
¬ Proper safety protocol and testing procedures must be used.
¬ It is important to use the identification of the minerals, mineral arrangement (within the rock) and quantifiable characteristics of the rock to identify the rock. Analysis of the specific rock characteristics can be conducted in the classroom or in nature with rock samples. Technology can be used to research current identification methods and techniques and assist in methods of determining the quantifiable characteristics of specific rocks.
· Describe how rocks can be classified according to their characteristics.
· Make a chart, table or key to use in the classification of common rocks within each division of rock (i.e., sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic). (V)
¬ The purpose of rock identification must be related to understanding the environment in which the rock formed.
· Recognize that each type of rock has a unique history based upon the environmental conditions that existed when it formed. (V)
Earth and Space Science
¬ Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks form in different ways. (6)
· Magma or lava cools and crystallizes to form igneous rocks. Heat and pressure applied to existing rock forms metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary rock forms as existing rock weathers chemically and/or physically and the weathered material is compressed and then lithifies. Each rock type can provide information about the environment in which it was formed. / Rock Cycle
¬ Rocks and the minerals in rocks form in specific types of environments.
· Rock samples chosen for identification and classification should exemplify how igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are formed.
· Igneous rock forms from crystallized magma or lava that was once melted rock inside the earth. The melted rock reaches the earth’s surface, through an event like a volcanic eruption, and then cools and hardens into solid rock.
· Metamorphic rock forms when extreme heat and pressure deep within the earth causes igneous and/or sedimentary rock to change into metamorphic rock.
· Sedimentary rock forms when existing rock weathers chemically and/or physically and the weathered material is compressed over time and then lithifies.
° When particles of rocks are loosened, but stay put, mechanical or chemical weathering occurs. Mechanical weathering (also called physical weathering) involves physically breaking rocks into fragments without changing the chemical makeup of the minerals within them. Chemical weathering involves chemically breaking rocks into fragments with a chemical change occurring in at least some of the minerals within the rocks.
° Once the rock particles start moving, erosion occurs.
° Weathered and eroded rock particles are carried downstream and settle into layers at the bottoms of rivers, lakes or oceans. Layers are continually deposited on top of the previous ones.
° When weathered or eroded rock particles, called unconsolidated sediment, are exposed to extreme pressure over time, the particles lithify; they convert into solid rock (i.e., change to stone or petrify).
· Compare and contrast physical and chemical weathering.
· Explain what happens when weathered material lithifies.
· Identify the main components of the rock cycle. (V)
· Using the rock cycle as a model, describe the formation, breakdown and reformation of rock and explain how these processes change rock from one type to another over time.
· Use the rock cycle to describe the formation of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. (V)
· Create a dichotomous key to classify rocks as igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic according to the way they were formed.
¬ The rock cycle can be used for a general explanation of the conditions required for igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks to form, but additional information should be added for relevancy. For example, the typical pattern of coal formation is an important connection to energy in Ohio and should be included. Another example would be the formation of Ohio sandstone and limestone indicating that a shallow sea once covered Ohio.
¬ Ohio’s geologic history and past environmental conditions play an important role in understanding the existing bedrock in Ohio.
· Bedrock is the bottom layer of soil that is made up of solid rock. This solid rock is made up of minerals which vary based upon different locations all over the world. Weathering breaks bedrock down into soil.
· The Ohio Department of Natural Resources provides “A Brief Summary of the Geologic History of Ohio” which is critical to understanding types of rock found in Ohio and the environmental conditions in which they were formed.
· Describe in comparative terms the age of disturbed or undisturbed rock layers (e.g., oldest, youngest, etc.).
· Compare and contrast characteristics and/or patterns in rock layers caused by various natural phenomena (e.g., melting glaciers, earthquakes, river currents, wind, erosion, weathering, etc.).
¬ Conducting field investigations, taking field trips, geologic maps, virtual field trips, physical maps and topographic maps can be used to illustrate how types of geologic structures and features help identify the types of rock that may be found in specific areas. This must be connected to an understanding about the environmental conditions that needed to exist during the formation.
· Contour maps are also a useful tool used by geologists to observe types of geologic structures and features found in specific areas.
· Make a geologic map of the local community. Use existing geologic data, historic (geologic) data and field exploration to analyze types of formation that are present. Use the finished map to evaluate possible land and resource uses. Present the map and recommendation to an authentic audience. (V)
· Using a geologic map of a region of the United States, determine what types of rocks are represented (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic). Based on the environment required for these rock types to form, develop a hypothesis regarding the geologic history of the region. Research the actual geologic history of the region and compare to findings. Discuss reasons for the similarities and differences with the class. (V)