Hello!
For this post I will be reflecting on my learning of plate tectonics. The big idea is that the theory of plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains Earth’s geological processes. These plates aren’t the kind of plates that you eat off of, but the land masses that make up the earth and move seven centimetres a year. Throughout this unit I learned more about our earth than I thought I possible. Many people say that “the Earth works in mysterious ways,” but when you learn the science behind it, the geological process of the Earth isn’t that complicated. For this unit we focused on plate tectonics and how mantle convection influences the movement of the plates.
After gaining knowledge of plate tectonics through various books and activities, we had the opportunity to present our learning. The project idea was to construct any kind of book that exhibits our learning of this unit. We started off with a project mind map to put down ideas for the book. We had a wide variety of types and themes that we could of chose from. The options ranged from creating a children’s book or an informational magazine to deciding whether to make the book fiction or non fiction. In the end, I decided to construct a children’s story book that was a realistic sci-fi about a monstrosity that occurred in a world much like our own. For this project we used the core competencies to help us throughout the project. I found that having these ideas to guide us throughout the project was very important and helpful for curating the best final project.
The first competency was: “demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence.”
For this competency the point was to include ten key concepts from the tectonics textbook and to explain them in a detailed manner. Having to make a story and also include scientific facts was quite the challenge for me. Although, after many attempts of trying to curate a informational but still intriguing book, I finalized a very well constructed book about plate tectonics. After I thought I was done, I knew that I still had room for improvements, so I decided to extend my learning by inserting a few extra key ideas into my book than what was required.
The second competency was to “demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest.”
For this competency the main idea was use the class time that we had efficiently for our project and work without distractions. I thought that I used the class time that we have had to my full advantage. Another goal of this competency was to stay on task and pay full attention to the the lesson in the moment. I found that I had no troubles following this competency and tried to give it my all during the time we had in class. Out of all of the competencies we followed, I personally think that this was the most helpful when it comes to constructing an exceptional work ethic.
The third competency included the big idea of making sure that in your book “the theory of plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains Earths geological processes.”
This competency was definitely the most interesting to me. Throughout this project, I learned more than expected about the theory of plate tectonics and how it shapes our earth. For the book, the requirements were to have a detailed and well crafted story. This competency focused on the creativity of the book and how I used my learning to make an informational and unique book. I thought that I was most successful in covering this competency and even extended my learning once again by illustrating the pictures all by hand. Even though, making every illustration took up a lot of the time that we had to use in class.
Overall, I learned a tremendous amount about the theory of plate tectonics and how they have shaped our Earth and continue to do so. I am now happy to call myself an expert on this unit. I also believe that knowing about the evolution of our Earth is extremely important. Feel free to comment your thoughts on this post below.
Bye!