The Changing Earth – History of Planet Earth BUNDLE

The Changing Earth – The History of Planet Earth Fourth Grade Science Stations includes 8 different science stations where students deepen their understanding of how the earth changes over time. The focus is on NGSS 4-ESS1.C and concepts include earthquakes, mountains, fossils, layers of sedimentary rock, weathering, rock cycle, types of rocks, geologists, fossilization, and erosion.

The Changing Earth Stations Include

• Vocabulary Cards in two formats with and without pictures.
• Watch – Students watch one of two videos and then answer questions about the videos. Videos include: earthquakes and how mountains are made.
• Play – Students play a video game and learn about the fossils in rock layers or a video game about rocks and weathering. Students answer questions to reinforce new learning.
• Investigate – Students read about the rock cycle and investigate different types of rocks. Students then answer questions to reinforce the concepts learned.
• Diagram – Students read about fossils in layers of sedimentary rock and complete a diagram of fossils in rock layers. They then answer questions in order to reinforce what they have learned.
• Read a Passage – Students read about geologists. They answer questions in order to reinforce what they have learned.
• Model – Students read about how mountains are made and make a model of the mountain-building process. They answer questions in order to reinforce what they have learned.
• Explore Students read about the process of fossilization and how fossils get exposed in order to explore how scientists understand the history of the changing Earth. They then answer questions about the exploration.
• Sort – Students read about different kinds of erosion. They sort pictures of landscapes into categories describing the forces of erosion that caused the erosion. Students then answer questions in order to reinforce what they have learned.

Google Classroom™️ Components Include:

• Google Form™️ with Reading Passage & Differentiated Questions (for Watch, Investigate, Diagram, Read, Model, Explore and Sort)
• Google Slides™️ with Activity Directions & Worksheets (for Investigate, Diagram, Model, Explore, Sort)

Each station is designed to last about 15-20 minutes. Students may do one a day for eight days, two a day for four days, or any format that works for your classroom. Because there are additional activities for the Watch and Play stations, you can offer those as a choice within that station or offer them as an early finisher station, as well.

By working through this set of stations, students will gain a robust understanding of the patterns in rocks and land formations that explain Earth’s history and how it has changed over time. In Fourth Grade, students are expected to “identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time” (4-ESS1-1). This correlates with the DCI 4-ESS1.C, which states, “Local, regional, and global patterns of rock formations reveal changes over time due to earth forces, such as earthquakes. The presence and location of certain fossil types indicate the order in which rock layers were formed.” All stations in this set meet the DCI, helping students gain an understanding of how rocks, rock layers, and land formations provide evidence of the history of the Planet Earth.