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ErosionReduction&MudslidePreventionUnit

Inthisunit,studentswilllearnaboutsoilerosionanditsimpactontheenvironmentastheyaretasked
withdevelopingaplantopreventfuturemudslidedisastersfromstrikingthepeopleofOso,
Washingtonwhoexperienceseveremudslidesin2014.Studentswillfirstengageinhandson
experimentsandexploreseveralrealworldexamplestolearnaboutsoilerosionanditseffectsonthe
landscape.Studentswillcollectdataondifferentvariablesthatcanaffectsoilerosion.Usingdata
fromtheirinvestigationandtextbasedevidencefromresearchstudentswilldevelopaclaimaboutthe
effectofthesevariablesonsoilerosion.StudentswillbereviewandresearchtheOsoWashington
mudslideproblemthroughengagingnewsreports.Usingtheirnewfoundknowledgeofsoilerosion,
theywillmakerecommendationstothetownofOso,Washingtonastowhatshouldbedoneto
preventandreducetheimpactoffuturemudslides.Studentswillbuildamodeltotesttheirerosion
reductionrecommendationsandusethedatacollectedtoinformtheirfinalwritingtask.

Transfer

Studentswillbeabletoindependentlyusetheirlearningto
conductaninvestigationtocollectinformationaboutdifferentvariables
analyzedatatodeterminetheeffectsonerosion
compareandcontrastdifferentrealworldexamplesoferosion
explainenvironmentalfactorscontributingtomudslides
justifyrecommendationsforerosionreductionandmudslideprevention
usedataandbackgroundresearchtosupportaclaim
read,write,listenandspeakforunderstanding

Meaning

EssentialQuestions

Studentunderstandings

Howcansoilerosionimpactthe
landscape?
Whatenvironmentalfactorsimpactsoil
erosion?
Howcansoilerosionandmudslidesbe
prevented?

Slope,soiltype,rainfallintensity,and
amountofvegetationarevariablesthat
affecttheamountofsoilerosion
Datacollectedfromscienceinvestigations
canbeusedtoinformdesign
Mudslidesaffectacommunity
environmentally,sociallyand
economically.


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Acquisition

Studentswillknow

NGSSDisciplinaryCoreIDeas

Studentswillbeskilledat

TheRolesofWaterinEarth'sSurface
Processes(
MSESS22.C
)
EarthsMaterials&Systems

(
MSESS2.A
)

NGSS
DesignwithCriteria&Constraints
(
MSETS11)
DataAnalysis(MSETS14)
Evaluation(MSETS12)
DevelopingArguments
(MSPS35

Evidence

PerformanceTask:
StudentswilldeterminethebestwaytopreventfuturemudslidesfromoccurringinOso,
Washingtonusingwhattheyhavelearnedaboutsoilerosionfromtheirscientificinvestigations.
Studentswillthenresearchdifferenterosioncasestudiestolearnaboutmethodsofreducingor
preventingsoilerosioninareaswhereitisacommonoccurrence.Thenstudentswilltestwhich
erosionreductionmethodtheybelievetobethemosteffectiveinthemostextremesituation
(landscapewithsteepestslope,greatestamountofrainfall,novegetation,andpoorsoiltype).After
collectingdataandsharingtheirsolutionswiththeirpeers,studentswillmakeaclaimforthebest
plantopreventmudslidesfromoccurringinOsousingtheirerosioncasestudyresearchandthe
datacollectedfromtestingtheirpreventionmethod.

FormativeAssessments:

ErosionExperimentalDesignDiagram
and
ErosionClaim,Evidence,andReasoning

ErosionCaseStudyJigsaw

SummativeAssessment:
Toculminatealloftheirunderstandingaboutthecausesofsoilerosionandmethodsofprevention,
studentswillcompletethe
ErosionFinalWritingTask

astheirsummativeassessmentforthelearning
set.


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Engage:
WhatisErosion?
Duration:23classperiods
Materials:
LetsTalkAboutSoilvideo
,
PhotoGallery:ErosionandWeathering

IV
ReadingsforSoilErosion
,

Studentswillengageina
LetsTalkAboutSoilvideo
anda
PhotoGallery:ErosionandWeathering
to
makeobservationsabouttheimportanceofsoiltothelandscapeandhowitisaffectedbyweathering
anderosion.Theclasswillbedividedintogroupswheretheywillreceiveareadingonan
independentvariable(IV)thataffectserosion:eitherslope,vegetation,soiltype,andrainfallintensity.
(
IVReadingsforSoilErosion
)Studentswillanswerreflectionquestionstodemonstratetheir
understandingoftheassignedvariablesimpactonerosion

Explore:
DesigningandTestingSoilErosionExperiment
Duration:23classperiods
Materials:
ExperimentalDesignDiagram
,
TeacherResource:ErosionExperimental
DesignDiagramandLabSetup

Inthisstageofthelearningset,studentswillexploretheirassignedvariablesrelationshipwithsoil
erosionbydesigningtheirownexperimentusingan
ExperimentalDesignDiagram
,Theywilldevelop
ahypothesisbasedonresearchfromtheirarticleanddesignafairexperimentaccountingforall
variables.Studentswilltesttheirassignedvariableinthreedifferentsetupsandcollectdataonthe
amountofsoilrunoff.Theclasswilldecideonauniversalmethodtodeterminethemeasurementfor
soilrunoff.Studentswillinputtheirdataintoa
classgoogledoc
tobesharedwiththeentireclass.

Explain:

SoilErosionClaim
Duration:1period
Materials:Accesstoclassdataandsoilerosionarticles

Inthisstageofthelearningset,studentswillusethedatacollectedfromtheirscientificinvestigation
todevelopaclaimexplainingtherelationshipbetweentheirtestedvariableandsoilerosion.Groups
thattestedthesamevariablewillcompareandanalyzetheirresults.Studentswillhavetoinclude
datafromtheirexperimentaswellasbackgroundresearchfromtheirassignedarticleintheirclaim.
Eachgroupwillsharetheirclaimwiththeclasssoallstudentscanviewtheresultsfromallofthe
experimentstofurthertheirunderstandingofsoilerosion.


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Elaborate:
ErosionJigsaw
Duration:1classperiod
Materials:Accesstoorcopiesof
SoilErosionCaseStudies

andthegraphicorganizer
foreachsectionandthejigsawnotesorganizer(
ErosionJigsaw
)

Inthisstageofthelearningset,studentswillreviewdifferentcasestudiesoferosionusingajigsaw
protocoltoelaborateontheirunderstandingofsoilerosion.Firsttheteacherwillmodelhowtoread
thearticlesandextractkeyinformationwiththefirstexamplethatwillbecompletedwiththewhole
class.Thenstudentswillbeassignedoneoftheremainingfourcasestudies.Eachcasestudy
highlightsadifferentareaintheworldimpactedbysoilerosionanddiscussesadifferentstrategyto
combaterosion.Studentswillmeetinexpertgroups(studentsthatwereassignedthesamecase
study)andreviewtheircasestudy.Thenstudentswillreportbacktotheirhomegroupandsharewhat
theylearnedfromtheircasestudytocompiletheirunderstandingsaboutsoilerosionpreventionand
reductionintoonegraphicorganizer.

Evaluate:
ErosionFinalWritingTask
Duration:46Periods
Materials:accesstointernettoconductresearch,labmaterialsfromsoilerosion
investigationinexplorestage,videosandarticlesfromOsoWashingtonmudslide
casestudy.

Inthisstageofthelearningset,studentswillbeintroducedtothe
OsoWashingtonMudslidecase
study
throughvideos,pictures,andarticlesandusetheirknowledgeofsoilerosiontoevaluatethe
bestsolutiontopreventfuturemudslide.Studentswillfirstbrainstormsolutionsusingtheirknowledge
andadditionalresearchandwillthenhavetodesignawaytotesttheirideausingahighsoilerosion
testingscenario(45degreeslope,pouringwater,sandysoil,andnoadditionalvegetation).Groups
willbuildtheirmudslidepreventionplanandtestitinthehighsoilerosiontestingconditions.Groups
willcollecttheirowndataandsharetheirresultswiththeclass.

Toculminatealloftheirunderstandingaboutthecausesofsoilerosionandmethodsofprevention,
studentswillcompletethe
ErosionFinalWritingTask
astheirsummativeassessmentforthelearning
set.