Year 10 Geology Assessment

I have been reevaluating the assessment for the Year 10 Geology Unit. Although the assessment task itself is a good one, it needed more scaffolding to help the students to understand what is required.

I have spent some time putting together scaffolding resources to support students in this process.

I decided to give the students an exemplar of what was required to get to excellence standard, and along the way I also made a resource showing how I thought through the requirements, and another on how I recorded my information prior to putting my final document together.

When introducing the assessment task I showed the students all of these things, and talked through them with the students, before giving them access to them on Google Classroom.

The exemplar was also highlighted to identify which parts satisfied Level 4, and which Level 5. The student were informed that the expectation is that at Year 10, they need to be working at Level 5 or "Merit", but many students are aiming for the Level 6 assessment grade.

This is a continuation of the revised assessment task I created in 2016 in response to the absence of a reliable assessment task.

The Rock Cycle with 10NR

10NR have been more engaged in this Earth Science unit than for most this year. I believe it is a combination of a growing maturity and improved literacy skills, certain students having been relocated to another class and the change of teaching plans. I have been actively seeking more demonstative and interactive learning experiences and Earth Science is a unit where this is easier to do than in others.

Two girls went to the SSC immediately at the start of the lesson as one of them had red raised knuckles and the seond went for moral support.

Today was the rock cycle which was the perfect time to do a hands on activity. The crayon rock cycle. an oldie but a goody. I have done it a few times before, but I have yet to perfect the execution.
10NR were as predicted very enthusiastic about the smashing of crayons with a hammer, the jumping on crayon bits, and the melting of crayon bits. I'm never sure how much I am getting through to them as to why we are doing the activity and getting them to link the smashing and jumping with the weathering and pressure that they represent.

The theory work that came afterwards was resisted, but after Friday the girls were insistent on music so the deal was as long as the work was being done, they could have music.

Oddly calm

Last Period on a Friday is usually a tricky lesson particularly with 10NR who are resistant to learning at the best of times. On Friday they were unusally docile.

The lesson started with a YouTube clip of the Tangiwai train crash from the docudrama on TV a while ago, then I explained Volcanoes, and set them to work. It was colouring and cutting and pasting, but they had to label stuff as they went. I also had clips of volcanic activity on the screen for them to watch. Perhaps it was the two pronged approach. As they gave up on one activity they were caught by the screen, and when they were bored of the volcanic clips they went back to the cutting and pasting. It probably isn't helping to develop a long attention span, but it did seem to keep them on topic in the classroom.

New and Improved Rock Cycle

After doing the crayon rock cycle with limited success I had to try a new way of doing things. In a quirk of timing just after  teaching it to my Year 10's I had the opportunity to do it as a demonstration lesson on a interview. This time I tried with playdough of different colours and textures. The playdough is less solid and rock like, but it has the advantage of sticking together when the rocks are sedimentary,and it is easy to break pieces off for weathering. The metamorphic rocks are less pronounced, but by working the playdough until all colours merge a satisfactory igneous rock develops. I think I shall work with the playdough version in the future.

Different assessment

Since there is no department wide assessment used for the Earth Science I have decided to to use as assessment a research project. They can research a natural disaster of their choosing, then present information about it in their own way be that a song or rap, an animation, a poster or a presentation.
Assessment

Edible Geology

10NR are a difficult class that is hard to engage in learning. For Earth Science I tried using their stomachs. At home I made mini muffins with choco-caramel lollies pushed into the middle, then at school we made jelly and sat them in the middle of sugar crusted patty tins. the intent was to make a model of the earth with the sugar as the crust, the jelly as the mantle, the mini-muffin as the Outer core and the lolly as the inner core.

The lollies needed to be pushed further in when they are put into the mini-muffin mix before baking, the jelly needed to be more concentrated, and the sugar needed to be put on after the jelly had set pretty solidly. The actual Edible earths did not turn out very well.
The main aim of engaging the class worked more successfully. Most of them completed the written portion of the class as I intimated I was going to hold their Earths hostage.