Introduction:

Earth’s surface: Louisiana Landforms is a curriculum web that introduces students to issues surrounding the changing nature of Louisiana’s Landforms and its effect on different parts of the state. The curriculum web is based on Unit 4 (Landforms and Topography) of the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum for 8 th grade science. Hurricane Katrina and the devastation caused by it have been used to enlighten students to the effects of a major storm in Louisiana. The reasons for the storm and its effects are used to teach students how Louisiana’s landforms have contributed as well as changed due to the storm. While following its path and day to day occurrences students will learn about (1) the forces of nature that shape the land, (2) wind impact on landforms, (3) water effect on landforms, (4) topography and contour lines, (5) ocean floor, and (6) use of technology to study landforms. A Personal Digital Assistant activity will be used to teach the students how to use the digital camera feature on the PDAs to take photographs while doing the different activities and to develop specific activity projects and presentations (as mentioned in the activities). Landform Blog included with interesting resources and a questionnaire for students to complete about the Landform Curriculum Web.

Schedule:

The students will individually or in collaborative groups of 3-4 students complete 8 different activities across a period of 4 weeks using the following schedule:

Week 1: Introduction and Shaping the Land.

Week 2: Water and Wind Impact.

Week 3: Oh! What a relief (Topography and contour lines) and Ocean Floor

Week 4: Technology and PDA activity

Aim:

The aim of this project was to promote understanding of different landforms and topography found in the state of Louisiana to make the students more aware of human and natural factors that affect the landforms and the topography in our state. The secondary aim of the project was to encourage students to learn how to use different types of technology to explore different scientific concepts, to report on their findings and to demonstrate understanding of these concepts by teaching their peers using different media (e.g., digital pictures taken with the PDA).

Rationale:

The rationales for teaching this unit are stated as follows:

1. Students in Louisiana need to understand that the landforms and coastal areas of Louisiana.
2. They need to understand the present natural processes, as well as human actions that are responsible for changes in the landforms.
3. They need understand how to measure these changes using and creating topographical map using real time data.
4. Students need to learn how to use technology in realistic situations in order to demonstrate understanding of abstract scientific concepts.

Student characteristics:

The students for whom the project is designed are eighth grade students in a local public school. There are 33 students in the class (3 students are displaced from New Orleans Public Schools due to Hurricane Katrina). The eight grade has four classes, one had all girls in the class, the other only boys whereas two others were coed, boys and girls. This kind of classification was used to see whether there gender was a factor in learning mathematics and science skills. In addition, nine special education students were also present in the classroom. The special education students were mainly students with learning disabilities. Two of them were dyslexic as well.

Prerequisites:

The students have some basic general knowledge of landforms from previous year’s social studies curriculum (e.g., land masses, continents and oceans). However, it is assumed that the students have no knowledge of Louisiana’s landforms or any general knowledge of topography. All students had basic computer skills in that they could use the keyboard and mouse. They are comfortable using a word processing program and could navigate comfortable using tool bars on the screen.

Based on the fact that there are special education students in the classroom, it is assumed at the students have diverse learning styles. Some of them maybe more auditory learners and need to hear a lecture on different landforms whereas others may need more manipulative learners and need concrete objects to learn abstract scientific concepts (e.g., hands-on activities building stream tables, etc). Still others may be visual learners and need to see a demonstration before they can grasp the concept of topography. Student motivation is generally good but varies with the time of the day and the topic. A mixture of lecture format, hands-on individual and small group activities as well as written assignments makes the lessons more motivational.

Curriculum Web Format and Content Structure

A problem-centered curriculum was chosen to teach the landforms unit. The Louisiana comprehensive curriculum uses a series of activities to teach different grade level expectations. Hurricane Katrina was used an authentic real life activity. Four activities from Landforms unit of the curriculum were embedded and linked to the different types of effects Hurricane Katrina had on Louisiana (e.g., day one – wind effect, day two – water effect).

Topics taught through this curriculum included:

• Introduction:
• Recalling past knowledge of different landforms
• Effects of Hurricane Katrina on cities and coast line of Louisiana
• Constructive and Destructive forces that shape the land
  • Water stream table experiment (done in small groups)
  • Quiz on water stream table experiment
• Wind impact
  • Wind speeds of Hurricane Katrina
  • Effect of wind speeds on different types of buildings
  • Wind speed experiment (done in pairs)
  • Wind speed work sheet
• Water impact
  • Effect of the storm surge during Hurricane Katrina
  • New Orleans and the Levee system
  • Delta formation
  • Subsidence and erosion
  • Presentation on Mississippi delta formation, subsidence and erosion in Louisiana and their effects on landforms during a hurricane storm surge (evaluation rubric included).
• Oh! What a relief (topography and contour lines)
  • Topography and contour lines of Louisiana
  • Landforms model (small group activity)
  • Contour lines map
  • Presentation to the class (Jeopardy power point game included for assessment)
• Ocean Floor
  • Ocean floor changes in Louisiana
  • Monologue activity
  • Multiple choice test
• Technology
  • Technology Scavenger Hunt
  • Resources for different types of technology
  • Paper on scavenger hunt
• PDA activity
  • Overview of the Palm One Zire 72 Handheld computer
  • Video of how to take photographs with the handheld computers and how to transfer them to the computer

Curriculum goals and objectives:

Students will learn about the scientific process of inquiry.

• Students will use a variety of sources to answer questions (SI-M-A1)
• Students will use consistency and precision in data collection, analysis, and reporting (SI-M-A3)
• Students will construct, use, and interpret appropriate graphical representations to collect, record, and report data (e.g., tables, charts, circle graphs, bar and line graphs, diagrams, scatter plots, symbols) (SI-M-A4)
• Students will identify patterns in data to explain natural events (SI-M-A4)
• Students will develop models to illustrate or explain conclusions reached through investigation (SI-M-A5)
• Students will identify and explain the limitations of models used to represent the natural world (SI-M-A5)
• Students will communicate ideas in a variety of ways (e.g., symbols, illustrations, graphs, charts, spreadsheets, concept maps, oral and written reports, equations) (SI-M-A7)
• Students will use relevant safety procedures and equipment to conduct scientific investigations (SI-M-A8)
• Students will recognize that investigations generally begin with a review of the work of others (SI-M-B2)
• Students will evaluate models, identify problems in design, and make recommendations for improvement (SI-M-B4)
• Students will explain how skepticism about accepted scientific explanations (i.e., hypotheses and theories) leads to new understanding (SI-M-B5)
• Students will explain that, through the use of scientific processes and knowledge, people can solve problems, make decisions, and form new ideas (SI-M-B6)
• Students will identify areas in which technology has changed human lives (e.g., transportation, communication, geographic information systems, DNA fingerprinting) (SI-M-B7)
• Students will evaluate the impact of research on scientific thought, society, and the environment (SI-M-B7)
• Students will describe the forces that have formed and shaped Louisiana.
• Students will determine the results of constructive and destructive forces upon landform development with the aid of geologic maps of Louisiana (ESS-M-A7)
• Students interpret contour lines and topographic profiles.
• Read and interpret topographic maps (ESS-M-A9)
• Compare ocean floor topography to continental topography by using topographic maps (ESS-M-A9)
• Communicate ways that information from space exploration and technological research have advanced understanding about Earth, the solar system, and the universe (ESS-M-C8)
• Identify practical applications of technological advances resulting from space exploration and scientific and technological research (ESS-M-C)
• Students will describe factors that have impacted Louisiana’s coastal region.
• Analyze the consequences of human activities on global Earth systems (SE-M-A4)
• Describe how humans’ actions and natural processes have modified coastal regions in Louisiana and other locations (ESS-M-A8)
• Students will become proficient in use of different technologies and media.
• Students will learn to use different methods of using the computer to find different types of real time data including World Wide Web and the Internet
• Students will learn how to use different forms of media for presentation (e.g., taking photographs using the Palm One Zire 72 for taking photographs).
• Students will learn how to use a word processor to report their data.

Instructional Plan:  

General preparation:

• Make sure the students are familiar with different parts of the computer and how to use it
• Turn it on
• Open a browser
• Type in the URL
• Navigate to different pages within the website
• Limit students’ time on the computer while they explore websites. This will help to control “clicker happy” students who might take off exploring.
• Poll the students to see if they have computers at home or access to the internet so they can complete assignments at home when they are not completed at school due to time constrains.
• Do a “dry run” of the website and see whether all the links are working. Problems with the links can be discussed with the technology person at school or by contacting the web designers (names available in the credits section or via Blackboard).
• Have a back up plan. If the internet is not working, use a website CD or take screen shots of all the activities and present them to the students as handouts.
• All activities have various World Wide Web exploration activities which can be conducted in the computer lab or with the use of the mobile lab. If the lab is not available, the teacher can use her computer to explore the activity with input from the students.
• The PDA activity requires students to transfer the pictures take by them to the computer. This transfer can be done in the computer lab after saving them on the Palm One handheld computers.
• Hands-on activities will need to be done in the classroom and worksheets (printed out ahead of time) filled out after the activity.
• Print out all the quizzes for each activity ahead of time.
• Certain games and quizzes that have answers available on the game (e.g., Jeopardy power point game) are available only to the teacher and can be done as a group activity with the whole class or printed out ahead of time without the answers.
• Rubrics are used for students to evaluate their own work. A general rubric used to evaluate student performance on the entire unit as well as rubrics are used in certain activities (e.g., water impact) to help students evaluate their progress.
• Other assessments and evaluations include presentations, quizzes, monologue activities, scavenger hunt, and worksheets.

Introduction of the web curriculum:

Before introducing the website discuss the following:

1. It might be important to discuss the scientific inquiry process before introducing the web page.
2. Discuss safety tips (e.g., use of goggles) during experiments.
3. Talk about hurricanes and the effects they can have.
4. Talk specifically about Hurricane Katrina and its effects.
5. Talk about what the students did to prepare for the storm.
6. Ask some of them to share their experiences during the storm.

Step-by-step directions and explanations for individual activities:

Introduction:

Introduction lesson may be conducted as an individual or paired web browsing activity in a computer lab, since the students are asked to review and explore a few sites. If labs are not available, teacher-guided or student-guide whole class review activity in the science classroom with one projected computer is also possible. Web pages maybe printed out with groups of students reviewing different materials and then giving a report to the class.

Shaping the Land:

• This activity should be conducted in the science lab.
• The teacher will first divide students into small groups of 3-4 students. Each student can be assigned different roles (e.g., note taker, observer, and investigator). Switch roles mid way during the activity. Make sure each student gets a turn.
• As preparation for this activity it is necessary to build a water stream table (directions are provided below) and to print out the quiz before beginning this activity. Each group will need a water stream table and a quiz sheet.

Directions and materials needed for the stream table.

A stream table box should be constructed that is approximately 16" long by 12" wide by 4" deep (also consider Ward's plastic model economy Stream Table Kit, catalog #36E4211 for $38). This wooden box should be made watertight by either caulking the seams or lining it with materials such as plastic, tin or tar paper. One end of the box should be notched with a V 1.5" deep and a spout attached in the V so that runoff water will flow into your waiting pail.

You will also need a watering can with 1/2 gallon or larger capacity, a plastic protractor, a pail to catch the excess water, some blocks to elevate the stream table - 4 inch squares cut out of dressed 2x4s work well and let you raise the elevation in approximately 1.5 inch increments, and a mop or towels to deal with any spills.

Different soil types will be needed for the various tests and this may create a need for pails and a trowel or small shovel.

Various types of mulch such as hay, pine needles, shredded newsprint or paper will also be needed.

A supply of small pebbles is needed to construct the check dams.

• Next explore the website on the classroom computer with the students.
• After each webpage activity, stop and ask the students to conduct the experiment using their water tables.
• Start with sand and a standard stream table
• Next elevate the stream table with blocks and watch the way water flows and shapes the land
• Next replace the sand with clay, hay, pine needles and finally with paper. Watch which type of terrain is affected the most with water flowing down the stream table
• Build a dam with pebbles and watch the way water flows around the dam.
• Ask the note taker in each group to complete the quiz (with feedback from the other group members) while conducting the experiment.

This quiz will be the first addition in the student's portfolio.

Wind impact:

Students are encouraged to look at different websites where they can tract the different wind speeds as Katrina made its way across the Gulf of Mexico.

The second website demonstrates the wind impact on different buildings and landforms.

Finally they are guided through an activity which helps them to determine how wind affects different terrains, whether they are dry or wet, and the angle of the speed of wind. The students will work in pairs for this activity.

The worksheet completed at the end of this activity will be the second addition in the student's portfolio.

Water impact:

Divide students into groups of three. In the selection of each group members, take each student’s strength into account.

First Step: Group Web-Based Activities. The use of computer lab recommended. Each group needs one computer. The computer needs to be connected to the Internet and a printer.

Second Step: Individual Research Activity. This activity could be assigned as homework. In case students who do not have access to the Internet from home want to use the Internet on their research, it is recommended that the school’s computer lab is made available to those students.

Third Step: Poster Creation / Presentation Activities. The use of a classroom equipped with large tables and a computer/projector recommended. Large tables are for students’ poster creation and presentation.

As to the creation of poster, a sheet of paper and colored pens should be prepared for each group.

Evaluation Rubric should be printed out for each student.

Points to be included for presentation should be printed out for each group if necessary.

Preparation

Open the Water Impact page and show Third Step: Group Presentation to students using the projector. Instruct students to review their worksheets, and discuss the points that should be covered in the presentation. If the points to be covered are hard for students to read, print the points out and provide the sheet to each group.

Procedure. Instruct students that:

• Groups will be paired up later, and each group will make a 10 minute presentation to its partner group.
• As visual support for the presentation, each group will create a poster.

Prepare students for the creation of a poster. Instruct students to discuss:

• What kind of topics should be included in the poster?
• How each topic should be designed on the poster?
• How they could use the poster effectively as a visual aid in their presentation?

Provide a sheet of poster paper and colored pens to each group, and instruct the students to create a poster. Tell students how much time is given for poster creation. It is recommended that students be told if the use of graphics from the Internet is allowed or not. If it is allowed, further instructions are needed: if there is a limitation in the number of in its use, where to find a computer connected to the color printer, etc.

When poster creation is completed, give this Evaluation Rubric to each student, and explain the points to be evaluated. This rubric will be used for evaluating partner group's presentation.

Instruct students to start preparation for the presentation. Tell students that the presentation must be 10 minutes long, and the student need to plan for a question and answer session.

Presentation

Pair up groups, and instruct them to get together at one table. Students need to bring the poster, the Evaluation Rubric, and a pencil.

Instruct students that while one group is making a presentation, each member of the partner group needs to fill in the evaluation sheet.

Instruct first group to start presentation. Time 10 minutes. Notify students when three minutes are left and then at the one minute limit, so the students can wrap up their presentation. When the first group finishes its presentation, instruct the second group to start presentation.

Evaluation

When both groups finish their presentation, instruct each group to discuss how each member evaluated its partner group’s presentation.

Explain what constructive feedback is, and instruct them to give constructive feedback. Instruct each group to give feedback to its partner group.

Conclusion Activity:

Web-Based Activity included. The use of computer lab recommended. Each group needs one computer connected to the Internet and a color printer.

Explain to students that they will include the following items in their portfolio.

• First Step Worksheet
• Second Step Worksheet
• A picture of the poster created

Explain the picture will be taken using a Palm One Zire 72 Handheld PDA computer, and the picture will be downloaded to a computer and printed out.

Each group will need a PDA, a cable (to connect the PDA to the computer) and access to a computer to download pictures.

Instruct each group to visit the PDA Activity page to watch a video to learn how to take a picture, how to download it to a computer and then print the picture for the each student's portfolio.

Instruct each group to take a picture, connect the PDA to a computer, download the picture and print it out for each member.

Instruct how the worksheets and the picture should be included in their portfolio.

The following three materials will be included in the students' portfolio as the third edition: 1) First Step Worksheet, 2) Second Step Worksheet, and 3) A picture of the poster created.

Oh! What a relief:

 

Divide students into groups of three. When selecting group members, the teacher should take the strength of the students into account.

Tell students that two conditions must be met in constructing the landform model: Features and Size (see below).

• To understand how various landforms, which are three dimensional, are indicated on a map, (the map is two dimensional).
• To be able to interpret the features shown in a topographic map.

Tell students that the following will be included in their portfolio. Evaluation is based on the accuracy and understanding demonstrated in these materials.

• Landform Model Pictures
• Cross-Sectional Profiles of the Landform Model
• Contour Map Picture
• Topography Map Worksheet

Directions

First Step: First half is Web-Based Activities. The use of computer lab is recommended.

Each group needs one computer connected to the Internet and a printer.

Strict time management is recommended so that all groups move on to the next constructing activity smoothly.

The latter half is the creation of a landform model. The use of a classroom with large tables is recommended.

Materials to be provided for each group

• A clear container
• Two pounds of clay
• Paper such as newspaper or butcher paper will be needed to keep the table clean

Instructions

The following two conditions must be met in constructing the landform model.

1. Features:

• Must have a mountain
• One side of the mountain has a gentle slope and the other side has a steep slope
• The steep slope of the mountain leads to a valley

2. Size:

• Must fit completely inside the container and not protrude past the top of it. (Container is provided only to show this size limitation)

Strict time management is recommended so that all groups are able to start the next step at the same time.

After the construction, give each student a Cross-Sectional Profile Sheet or instruct the students to print the sheet from the Ooh What a Relief It Is page.

Explain how the two activities should be completed: drawing cross-sectional profiles and taking pictures from different perspectives.

Cross-Sectional Profile:

• Explain that each student is required to draw a cross-sectional profile from different perspectives.
• From which direction each profile is drawn must be recorded on the sheet. Explain how it should be recorded on the sheet.
• To draw a cross-sectional profile, direct students to bring the landform model to the height of their eyes, and draw how it is seen.
• When all members complete their work, make two copies of each work so that each member could obtain three different cross-sectional profiles.
• After the completion of drawing the profile, give each group the Palm One Zire 72 Handheld computer.
• Instruct them to take pictures of the model from 5 different perspectives so that the image of the entire model is captured. For one of the pictures a student must be able to be above the model to take a full picture from looking downward over the model.
• The pictures will then be downloaded to a school computer and printed out for each member of the group. If students have problems with the use of the Palm One Zire 72 Handheld computer , direct them to PDA Activity
• Instruct students that the Cross-Sectional Profile Sheet and Pictures are to be included in their portfolio.

 

Second Step: Web-Based Activities. The use of computer lab is recommended. Each student needs access to a computer connected to the Internet and a printer.

Strict time management is recommended so that all students are able to start the next activity all together.

Instruct students to work on Step 1 to Step 3 at this point, and the rest will be completed after creating a contour map.

 

Third Step: Creating of a contour map. The use of a classroom with large tables recommended.

In order for every student to understand the procedure, reading Third Step Directions together recommended.

Make sure that students understand the concept of the following terms:

Contour line - A line on a map that joins points of equal elevation.

Relief - The variations in elevation of an area of the earth's surface.

Contour interval - Any of the spaces between vertical lines on a topographic map or globe; the difference in elevation such an interval represents.

Make sure that each group understands that they need to get an approval from the teacher for their set up before they start drawing a contour map at Step 6.

Tell students that they have time limitation in creating a contour map.

Instruct the students to carefully remove the contour map from the container when they are ready.

Give each group the Palm One Zire 72 Handheld computer, and instruct the students to take a picture of the contour map. Instruct them to download the picture to a school computer and print out for each member.

 

Conclusion Activity: Web-Based Activities. The use of computer lab is recommended. Each group needs one computer connected to the Internet and a printer.

Instruct students to work on the rest of the Topography Map Worksheet by visiting How Are Landforms Represented on Flat Maps

 

Further Evaluation:

Besides evaluating materials included in each student's portfolio, in order to measure students' understanding thus far, a Power Point Presentation game is provided. The topic includes types of landforms, maps, Louisiana landforms, water impact, and hurricane Katrina. This evaluation game is not included in this curriculum web and is provided to the teacher in the form of Power Point Presentation file. This is because answers are included in the file. It is recommended that students should try to answer the questions first, and answers should be provided later. Jeopardy Answer Sheet

The following three materials will be included to the students' portfolio as the fourth edition: 1) Landform Model Pictures, 2) Cross-Sectional Profiles of the Landform Model, 3) Contour Map Picture, and 4) Topography Map Worksheet.

 

Ocean floor:

This activity helps the students to learn about the changes in Louisiana Landforms over time.

Students are required to visit different websites and complete a monologue activity while explaining how landforms in Louisiana have changed over time.  

With this activity there is a multiple choice quiz to test the students’ knowledge of weather terms. This quiz was created on the http://school.discovery.com website.

http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/worksheetgenerator/archive/970341545.html

This is the fifth addition to the portfolio.

 

Technology:

This activity helps students learn about the different technology that is used by scientists to explore different landforms. A scavenger hunt is used to help students explore this technology. Students are encouraged to research different websites and then write a 250 word paper describing the different technological innovations.

Here is a matching quiz on Landforms for the students to test their knowledge.

http://school.discovery.com/quizzes32/hcarruth/LandformsQuiz.html

This is the final addition to the portfolio.

 

PDA activity:

This activity teaches students how to use the Palm One Zire 72 handheld computers to take pictures and transfer them to the computer and print them out.

Different parts of the handheld computer are explained by exploring Palm One website. A video is used to teach the students how to take pictures using the Palm One and then transfer them to their computers.

 

Enrichment Activities

Weather Worksheet

In this activity, the students will plot what type of weather has occurred over the past 12 months. The students will receive the worksheet from their teacher and record their findings in the appropriate areas on the sheet.

Please click on the rain cloud to open the weather worksheet. After opening the worksheet, please print out for students. After printing the worksheet please click the back button of your browser to return to the Teachers Guide page.

 

Landform Worksheet

In this activity the students will answer questions about Louisiana Landforms. They will record what types of rivers or bodies of water are located in Louisiana, if the land is hilly, flat, rich or barren soil, how much of the land is covered in forests, if there are any mountain ranges in the state, and explain what type of landforms border Louisiana with Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi. The students will receive the worksheet from their teacher and record their findings in the appropriate areas on the sheet.

Please click on the volcano to open the weather worksheet. After opening the worksheet, please print out for students. After printing the worksheet please click the back button of your browser to return to the Teachers Guide page.

 

Evaluation and assessment:

Students’ achievement can be evaluated using three types of assessments: (1) a portfolio, (2) a rubric, (3) a Power Point Game, (4) Student Questionnaire on the Landform Blog, (5) Student Feedback Questions, and (6) Teacher Feedback Questions.

Portfolio:

This will consists of:

• Completed quiz from the water stream table activity.
• Completed worksheet completed from the wind impact activity.
• Completed worksheets and a picture of the poster created from the Water Impact Activity.
• Completed worksheets and pictures of a landform model and contour map from Relief Activity.
• Completed timeline worksheet and a monologue on Louisiana from the Ocean floor activity.
• Completed scavenger hunt worksheet and a 250 word paper from the Technology activity.

Rubric:

A rubric is used to evaluate the progress of the students. The students have access to the rubric so that they are able to judge their progress as they go through the webquest.

Power Point Game:

A power point game is not included in this curriculum web, but is presented to the teacher in the format of power point file.

Landform Blog with Student Questionnaire

A questionnaire is used to evaluate the progress of the students and the curriculum web. The students have access to the blog after each unit so that they are able to voice their likes/dislikes or understanding/confusion as they go through the webquest.

Student Interview Questions

How do you like this unit as compared to other units? In your
opinion, what are the major differences between your learning in this
unit and in other units?

Did you enjoy the learning in this unit? What aspects make this unit
more interesting? Which activity did you enjoy the most? Why?

Is this unit easy to learn? What aspects of this unit helped you learn?

What in Shaping the Land section of the webquest was NOT useful in
completing the projects? Why?

What are some suggestions you would have for helping you learn better
in this webquest?

 

Student Feedback Questionnaire

Please click on the image to open the student feedback questionnaire. Please print out for the questionnaire for students. After printing the questionnaire please click the back button of your browser to return to the Teachers Guide page.

 

Teacher Feedback Questionnaire

Please click on the image to open the student feedback questionnaire. Please print out for the questionnaire for students. After printing the questionnaire please click the back button of your browser to return to the Teachers Guide page.

 

Conclusion:

This website on Landforms was designed to follow the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum and to teach students about the different landforms, how to create stream tables, what effects wind and water have on landforms, what types of destruction happens when a hurricane makes landfall and the changes to the coastline over hundreds of years of destruction. The students also learned how to use a Zire Palm One Handheld computers to take pictures of each other and then to use it in their presentations and papers. A video was created to teach the students the uses of the PDA, how to save photos to the PDA, upload the pictures and data to their computer and then what the program looks like that they can use to edit and print their photos and data.

Click the Student to go back to index page!