ES: Geography, Climate, and Human Cities

12 Components
Unit Overview
Geography, Human Cities, and Climate Change Unit Plan Where Would You Live? Performance Task Unit 7 Regent-Based Item Bank
5E Instructional Model Plans
Geographical Representations (Topographic/Contour Maps) 5E Instructional Model Plan What is Climate? 5E Instructional Model Plan Altitude, Mountain Ranges, and Bodies of Water 5E Instructional Model Plan Coastal vs. Inland Climate 5E Instructional Model Plan Climate Change 5E Instructional Model Plan
Laboratory Experience
Make a Contour Map Lab
Highlighted Resources
What Do the Contour Lines Tell Us? Lake Effect Snow How Does El Nino Affect Climate?
ES Unit 7: ES: Geography, Climate, and Human Cities
Browse Components
Unit Overview
Geography, Human Cities, and Climate Change Unit Plan Where Would You Live? Performance Task Unit 7 Regent-Based Item Bank
5E Instructional Model Plans
Geographical Representations (Topographic/Contour Maps) 5E Instructional Model Plan What is Climate? 5E Instructional Model Plan Altitude, Mountain Ranges, and Bodies of Water 5E Instructional Model Plan Coastal vs. Inland Climate 5E Instructional Model Plan Climate Change 5E Instructional Model Plan
Laboratory Experience
Make a Contour Map Lab
Highlighted Resources
What Do the Contour Lines Tell Us? Lake Effect Snow How Does El Nino Affect Climate?
5E Instructional Model Plan:

Geographical Representations (Topographic/Contour Maps) 5E Instructional Model Plan

Plan for teaching natural selection using the 5E Instructional Model as a framework

5-7 days
See Standards
Earth Science (NY State Core Curriculum, 2005) - Standard 4:
ES 2

Key Idea 2: Many of the phenomena that we observe on Earth involve interactions among components of air, water, and land.

ES 2.1

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 2.1: Use the concepts of density and heat energy to explain observations of weather patterns, seasonal changes, and the movements of Earth's plates.

ES 2.1q

MAJOR UNDERSTANDING 2.1q: Topographic maps represent landforms through the use of contour lines that are isolines connecting points of equal elevation. Gradients and profiles can be determined from changes in elevation over a given distance.

Analysis, Inquiry, and Design SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (NY State Core Curriculum, 2005) - Standard 1:
SI 1

KEY IDEA 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing and creative process

SI 1.2

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 1.2: Hone ideas through reasoning, library research, and discussion with others, including experts

SI 3

KEY IDEA 3: The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into natural phenomena.

SI 3.1

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 3.1: Use various methods of representing and organizing observations (e.g. diagrams, tables, charts, graphs, equations matrices) and insightfully interpret the organized data

Common Core Learning Standards - Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects:
9-10.R.ST.3

Reading: Key Ideas and Details

Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text. 

9-10.R.ST.4

Reading: Craft and Structure

Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.

9-10.R.ST.7

Reading: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.

9-10.R.ST.10

Reading: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently

9-10.W.HST.10

Writing: Range of Writing

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Students learn about topographic maps, including contour maps, by collecting data from a 3D model of a landform to create a contour map. Then the teacher provides direct instruction on contour map features, creating profiles, and calculating gradient, and students create profiles and calculate gradients for the contour map they created during the explore phase. Finally, students match typical geographical features to representations on a contour map and extend their thinking by identifying erosional processes on a contour map.

Resources: