Causes and Effects of Earthquakes and Tsunamis
Lesson will be based on the cause and effect of earthquakes and tsunamis concerning the one that just happened in Indonesia.
I would do this lesson with 4th or 5th graders because there are some pretty graphic topics discussed in the article. I would also only do this lesson after I knew that my class had a pretty good idea about how earthquakes and tsunamis come about. Rather than a geological lesson, this will be more of a review of the cause and a discussion on the effect.
The focus of this lesson will be unlocking the mysteries of the universe because we will be talking about tectonic plates and even though they will already have a pretty good understanding about them it is still a hard concept to wrap your brain around.
I will use a turn and talk technique and will give my students two prompts, one on the cause of earthquakes and tsunamis and another on the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis. We will have discussion about each with the class using the points that each group wrote down in their turn and talk.
I will then show them the article about the tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia and the students will see what a bad natural disaster can do.
I would be able to see if I need to re-cover any content on earthquakes and tsunamis (tectonic plates) by what each group brings to the conversation with the points they write down.
Standard: ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy when objects collide. http://montanateach.org/resources/montana-science-model-curriculum-guide-by-grade-level-grade-4/
