Virtual Galápagos
Volcanic Islands
Finch Curriculum: Unit 1
Stage 1 - Desired Results
Essential Question:
Questions for Students:
- Why are there no fossils on the Galápagos?
- Why are Wolf and Darwin islands so far away from other islands in the Galápagos?
- Out of all the places in the world, why do whale sharks choose to come to Darwin Island?
- Why do only birds live on Wolf and Darwin island?
- Why are there only 2 different seasons instead of the typical 4 seasons on the Galápagos islands?
Next Generation Science Standards:
Galápagos Contextualized Curriculum Standards
Galápagos Contextualized Curriculum Standards
Factual Knowledge
Students will know:
- How volcanic islands are formed
- What the hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere are
- How currents work
- What wet seasons and dry seasons are
- How the climate affects island vegetation
- What a variable is and how to solve for one
Procedural Knowledge
Students will be able to:
- Create a model that shows how volcanic islands change over time
- Compare and contrast island biospheres by writing observations of different islands
- Create a model that represents water density, including salinity and temperature
- Create a model that represents how currents move around the world in a thermohaline conveyor belt
- Describe island erosion by explaining how currents impact the Galápagos Islands
- Create a model that represents how larger vegetation is necessary for rainwater collection
- Classify observations by climatological vocabulary
- Argue why flora live in specific climates by matching vegetation to habitat settings
- Predict weather patterns using evidence from Galápagos graphical climate data
- Apply radioactive dating to determine the age of the rocks surrounding the fossil
Conceptual Knowledge
Students will understand:
- How the Galápagos islands are formed by volcanoes
- How the formation of Wolf and Darwin islands are unique; that wind helped finches arrive at Wolf and Darwin islands
- How water is distributed on Earth
- Investigate how small birds, like finches, were able to migrate to Wolf and Darwin across a large ocean distance by exploring wind patterns and intensity around these islands
- The use of the fossil record
- What half lives are
Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
- Deducting the age of a rock
- Modeling age of islands over time
- Modeling the movement of currents in the Galápagos
- Explaining how wind affects island erosion
- Predicting weather patterns based on climate data
Unit Pre-Assessment:
A writing or drawing prompt centered around the question: What are the differences between a Hawaiian island and New York City?
Extensions and Differentiation Considerations
There will be options for teachers or videos to explain experiments/activities if students don’t have resources to do so themselves
There will be options for teachers or videos to explain experiments/activities if students don’t have resources to do so themselves
Stage 3 - learning plan
Learning Activities
- Students will understand how wind affects ocean currents through the petri dish experiment
- By using Google Earth, students will gain a stronger understanding of the islands of the Galápagos
- Students can visualize how temperature of water impacts ocean currents through a model
- Plants hold onto water through various ways; and students can explore different methods through the paper towel roll and leaf experiment
Lesson Descriptions
Lesson 1: Fossils →
Students explore different kinds of rocks and discuss the similarities and differences between them. By introducing students to the islands via Google Earth, they begin to question how rocks are made, how old the earth is, and how old the Galápagos islands are. After explaining what the fossil record is and how scientists are able to gauge the age of fossils through radiometric dating, students will be able to practice radiometric dating themselves.
Lesson 2: Island Age →
Google Earth will serve as the foundation of scientific observation of the Wolf and Darwin Islands in this lesson. This will transition into explanatory videos of the formation of the Galápagos Islands, specifically beginning with what a mantle plume is.
Lesson 3: Currents →
Students can model ocean currents through mixing water temperatures. They will begin to relate what they observe from the model onto the Galápagos. Through exploring they will begin to understand better how the islands, specifically the organisms around the islands, are impacted by these currents.
Lesson 4: Atmosphere →
Students explore how Earth's systems interact by examining the relationship between the atmosphere, vegetation, and water in the Galápagos. Through an investigation, they discover how trees have adapted to capture and conserve water in a dry environment.
Lesson 5: Climate →
By engaging with the first step in the scientific process, students can begin to understand Earth and all of the major systems. The activities in this lesson help students identify how the atmosphere, the ocean, and continents of Earth shape the ecosystem around them.
Lesson 1: Fossils →
Students explore different kinds of rocks and discuss the similarities and differences between them. By introducing students to the islands via Google Earth, they begin to question how rocks are made, how old the earth is, and how old the Galápagos islands are. After explaining what the fossil record is and how scientists are able to gauge the age of fossils through radiometric dating, students will be able to practice radiometric dating themselves.
Lesson 2: Island Age →
Google Earth will serve as the foundation of scientific observation of the Wolf and Darwin Islands in this lesson. This will transition into explanatory videos of the formation of the Galápagos Islands, specifically beginning with what a mantle plume is.
Lesson 3: Currents →
Students can model ocean currents through mixing water temperatures. They will begin to relate what they observe from the model onto the Galápagos. Through exploring they will begin to understand better how the islands, specifically the organisms around the islands, are impacted by these currents.
Lesson 4: Atmosphere →
Students explore how Earth's systems interact by examining the relationship between the atmosphere, vegetation, and water in the Galápagos. Through an investigation, they discover how trees have adapted to capture and conserve water in a dry environment.
Lesson 5: Climate →
By engaging with the first step in the scientific process, students can begin to understand Earth and all of the major systems. The activities in this lesson help students identify how the atmosphere, the ocean, and continents of Earth shape the ecosystem around them.
This unit was designed by Jannah Zabadi and Vivian Klemmer, and edited by Dr. Karen Harpp and Daytona Doherty.
You can download the unit plan here:
Virtual Galápagos
virtualgalapagos.colgate.edu
