A lesson plan for grade 8 Science

Objectives

In this lesson about archaeological soils, students will:

• determine components of a soil sample;
• evaluate how archaeologists use soils to interpret sites.

Materials

• For the teacher, a large box of crayons and a sheet of paper divided into four blocks.
• For each student, copies of “What is My Soil?” instruction and activity sheets, and an “Archaeological Soils Triangle” activity sheet; a baby food jar, a colored pencil or marker, and a soil sample in a plastic bag.
• For each four or five students, a pitcher of water, a magic marker, and a ruler.

Vocabulary

Clay: a type of soil whose particles are too small to be seen or felt. When wet, clay is sticky and plastic.

Geomorphologist: a scientist who studies the characteristics, origins, and development of landforms, including soil.

Loam: a rich soil containing a relatively equal mixture of sand and silt, and a smaller proportion of clay.

Munsell Color Chart: a book whose pages contain color chips that are used to determine soil color.

Proportion: the amount of a portion or a constituent in relation to the whole.

Sand: a type of soil whose particles are large enough to be easily seen and felt. Sand particles do not adhere or stick to one another, and grate against each other when rubbed together.

Silt: a type of soil whose particles are too small to be easily seen with the naked eye. Particles of silt are intermediate in size between those of clay and sand.

Soil triangle: a chart used by archaeologists and geomorphologists to determine soil texture.

Suspension: a state or condition where particles of a substance are mixed with a fluid, but are not dissolved.

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Purpose

To examine and evaluate changes in diet and lifestyle from prehistoric to modern times and how these differences have spurred the development (and better treatment) of heart disease.


Context

This lesson is the second of a two-part series that explores different aspects of the human heart and the various changing conditions that have affected the health of billions of people from prehistoric to modern times.

This first lesson, Heart 1: Transplant, focuses on the state of medical care of the human heart today and on modern medical advances—such as heart transplants—that give today's human beings a better chance of staying healthy than their forebears had, as noted in the first part of the benchmark for this lesson. This second lesson, Heart 2: Changing Lifestyles and Health, examines the history of human diet and trends in care of the heart, comparing it with today's eating habits and lifestyles, many of which may not be good for human health.

Few students walk around in the hustle and bustle of modern life being fully aware of themselves as human organisms that are made up of a plethora of body parts and systems that require certain types and amounts of food and exercise to optimize and prolong their performance and life. However, by the end of elementary school, students should know that good health involves a healthy diet, regular exercise, and the avoidance or limitation of certain substances that negatively impact healthy body operation—like tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and pollution.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• analyze an author’s style.
• practice sentence combining.
• verbalize at least one strategy to combine sentences.
• make observations about how the author structured the sentences in her opening paragraph.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

• A copy of “Beach People, Mountain People” by Suzanne Britt. This essay was original published during the 1970’s in the Raleigh News & Observer and can be found in her collection of essays entitled Show and Tell.
• Overhead transparency of model sentences for each sentence-combining strategy.
• Overhead transparency of Model Sentences
• Overhead transparency of Sentence Combining
• Overhead transparency of the first paragraph of “Beach People, Mountain People.”
• Blank overhead transparencies and markers
• Paper and pencil

Technology resources

Overhead Projector.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• identify reasons people come to America.
• identify personal goals in relation to the American dream.
• create a product which expresses the American dream or the dream in general.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 days

Materials/resources

• Song, “Only in America,” by Jay and the Americans
• Song, “America,” by Neil Diamond

Technology resources

Teacher may need to search for songs and lyrics on the internet.

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