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Unit Plan

Earthly Waves

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Earthly Waves unit plan also includes:

How did scientists discover what lies beneath the earth's surface? Dig a hole? X-ray vision? Guide your class through the types of seismic waves and how these waves helped shed light on Earth's many layers. The included resources provide a variety of strategies designed to give amateur geologists hands-on experience in the behavior of waves traveling through different media.

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CCSS: Designed
Concepts
s waves, p waves, seismic waves, data analysis, the earth's layers, reflections, refraction, earthquakes, graphing data
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Additional Tags
science
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Instructional Ideas
  • Use the mystery cup demonstration as an icebreaker that simultaneously lets you assess prior knowledge
  • Provide cut-away models of Earth's layers, if possible, to give 3-D visual cues
Classroom Considerations
  • Plan for plenty of space and prep time to conduct the what's your wave activity, either indoors or out; adjust materials accordingly
  • Many of the components are designed for paired learning
Pros
  • Includes a variety of resources and strategies to enable pupils to visualize wave types and understand how scientists learned about Earth's layers
  • Paired strategy helps to reinforce science as a collaborative effort
Cons
  • Khan Academy tutorial for reinforcing Earth's composition does not work