Amber Platowski

Background on the Unit:

This unit of study focuses on the interactions between the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The
Parallel Curriculum Model is used as a guide to structure the unit. The foundation of
the unit is a novel-study of two books by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The first is Life as We
Knew It and the second is The Dead and the Gone. In both novels, an asteroid has
hit the Moon, forcing it closer to Earth. Since the Moons gravitational pull on the
Earth would now be greater because gravity depends on mass and distance, many
natural disasters take place such as tsunamis, flooding, earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. These in turn cause power outages, famine, and epidemics. The novels are
written from two different perspectives in the United States. Students will read one of
the novels and work in small groups to examine it. Activities include research,
student-led literature circle discussions, podcast recordings, and more. Since the main
characters in both books are teenagers, students should be able to better identify with
their struggles and develop their own ideas about what they would do if they were put
in those situations.
I.

Content/Standards

Big Ideas: A. Earth in Space and Time

B. Science and Society
Metaconcepts:
1. Survival
2. Family
3. Gravity
4. Systems
5. Famine
6. Structure
7. Resources

8. Catastrophe
9. Technology
10. Change
11. Cause-Effect
Essential Questions :
1. How does the Moons gravitational pull affect geologic features of Earth?
2. What parts of the world would be most affected by those events?
3. What role does the Law of Universal Gravitation play in the relative distances
between Earth and the Moon?
4. What problems should scientists and researchers focus on as the most crucial
during the catastrophic events portrayed in Life as We Knew It and The Dead
and the Gone?
5. What policies and procedures could be implemented in the novel to benefit the
most people?
6. How does changing one thing (the distance between the Earth and the Moon)
cause so many other things to change?
7. How do the control of resources affect status and power during a catastrophe?
8. What role does technology play during situations in which most peoples sole goal
is survival?
9. Does catastrophe tend to bring people together or pit them against each other?
Why? What examples from history can be cited for supporting evidence?
10. What types of technological advancements would be most important to you?
11. What role do relationships play during catastrophic events?
Benchmarks:
SC.8.E.5.4: Explore the Law of Universal Gravitation by explaining the role that
gravity plays in the formation of planets, stars, and solar systems and in determining
their motions.
SC.8.E.5.9: Explain the impact of objects in space on each other including:
1. the Sun on the Earth including seasons and gravitational attraction
2. the Moon on the Earth, including phases, tides, and eclipses, and the relative
position of each body.
SC.8.N.4: As tomorrows citizens, students should be able to identify issues about
which society could provide input, formulate scientifically investigable questions
about those issues, construct investigations of their questions, collect and evaluate
data from their investigations, and develop scientific recommendations based upon
their findings.
SC.8.N.4.1: Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform
decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.

SC.8.N.4.2: Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science,
and vice versa.
Assessment
Throughout this unit, there will be a variety of assessments. There will be an initial
diagnostic pre-assessment which is also the introductory activity. This will access
students prior knowledge and help the teacher guide instruction based on what the
students already know and to identify any misconceptions that need to be addressed.
The majority of the products for this unit double as assessment tools as well. The
teacher will circulate during Literature Circle discussions and observe students depth
of knowledge, and critical comprehension of the Metaconcepts as well as connections
to the standards. Literature Circle notes/roles will be kept in a composition book and
collected midway through the unit as well as at the end. Students will also
periodically write a reflection piece on their literature circle roles, which will be used
as a formative assessment. At the end of the unit, students will write a 5-paragraph
essay in an unsent letter format to the main characters from the books, giving them
advice based on what they have learned about the interactions between the sun, Earth
and moon. This essay will be a summative assessment, documenting the students
understanding of the content.

Introductory Activities
In order to gauge students prior knowledge of the content as well as to identify
misconceptions, a Discussion Starter will be used as an introductory activity.
Students are to read the statement, and based upon their prior knowledge, they should

agree, disagree or mark unsure. They key component to this tool is the
evidence column in which the students must support their decision. At the end,
there are blank spaces for students to either write questions they have about the topic,
or to create their own T/F statements. When finished, the students discuss their ideas
with their group members, supporting their claim with as much scientific evidence as
they have. Since this is an introductory activity, many of their choices will be based
on logic, or even guesses without much evidence. The point is to open discussion on
the topics presented and to get the students thinking about the science.
As a hook to get the students excited about the novels they are about to read,
the teacher shows them the trailer to the BBC show Aftermath: When the Earth
Stops Spinning.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXPZKA219m0) This is a
dramatic minute and a half movie trailer about what would happen if the Earth
stopped rotating on its axis. Although the premise of the novels is about the Moons
gravitational pull on the Earth increasing, the short video clip gets students thinking
about all the What ifs associated with the Earth-Sun-Moon system. It also gives
them an example similar to the movie trailer product they will be creating later in the
unit.

Teaching Methods
Teaching methodology for this unit is varied. Throughout much of the unit, the
teacher will act as a facilitator, accompanying the students as they lead their own
Literature Circle discussions. Throughout the unit, the teacher will guide, coach, and
support students in their learning. There will be some direct instruction regarding the

science concepts of the unit. The teacher will use various reading strategies as
students become familiar with the effects of the Sun and Moon on the Earth. The
Glencoe Science Reading Essentials Packet on the Sun-Moon-Earth system will
provide a foundation for the students understanding of gravity, tides, and moon
phases, and their interactions. The students will also role-play as they conduct a radio
broadcast (podcast) from various places in the US. (Radio broadcast will be discussed
in more detail under Learning Activities). Cooperative learning strategies such as
Fan-n-Pick will allow students to explore higher level questions and make
predictions and draw conclusions about various scenarios in a lower-pressure
environment than a class discussion. During the introductory activity, students will
use cooperative learning to share their thoughts on the Discussion Starter. There will
certainly be a problem-solving component to this unit in which students formulate
hypotheses about technological solutions to the various problems associated with the
major event that takes place in the novels.
Learning Activities
First of all, throughout the reading of the novels, students will be working in groups
of 4, alternating roles during a process called Literature Circles. Each section of
reading, they will take turns with the assigned roles, and document their notes in a
composition book, which will be collected for assessment. Another learning activity
the students will partake in, will be the creation of a podcast. The students will be
assigned one of the following locations to create a radio broadcast from.
1. Outside a volcanic region
2. On the coast

3. At a plate boundary
4. Central United States (away from the coast, volcanoes, and plate boundaries)
The students will need to explain the science behind what has happened at that
location, and why it is so devastating to the population, challenges the survivors are
facing, and a short interview with a survivor. The last learning activity for this unit
is a research project. Students will need to choose an event from the book
(earthquake, volcano, tsunami, massive flooding, West Nile Virus outbreak, or flu
epidemic) and determine whether the shift in position of the Moon could in fact cause
their event. Students will need to write a 1-2 page paper explaining the cause-effect
relationship between the shift of the Moons position and their event, citing at least 3
sources. Based upon the learning activities described above, the following thinking
skills will be addressed: identifying characteristics, making observations, comparing
and contrasting, categorizing, prioritizing, seeing relationships, determining cause and
effect, predicting, deductive reasoning, determining reality and fantasy, identifying
points of view, identifying fact and opinion, identifying missing information, judging
the accuracy of information, identifying exaggeration, metacognition, formulating
questions, developing hypotheses, decision making, planning, flexibility and
originality.
Grouping Strategies
For the majority of the unit, students will be working with their Literature Circle
groups. They will alternate roles within the group and work cooperatively. The
podcast will be completed in groups of 2 and students will be paired with someone
who is reading the other novel, in order to gain more perspective. The movie trailer

(discussed in products) will be done with partners that are reading the same novel.
The research project will be done individually, as will the jackdaw project. (to be
discussed under products.)
Products
There are two main products, other than the podcast project that the students will be
creating. The first one is a movie trailer for the novel. As stated previously, the movie
trailer project will be done in teams of 2 students who are reading the same novel, but
not necessarily in the same Literature Circle group. The purpose of the movie trailer
is to provide a visual hook to get other people to want to read the novels. The
students will use the program iMovie to create the movie trailer on the computers.
The trailer should show that the students read the book but shouldnt give away too
many details of what happens so that potential readers are still curious. The second
product is called a jackdaw. A jackdaw is a bird that scavenges material to build its
nest. The students are to create a nest or book box, using artifacts to represent
ideas, events, characters, and/or themes from the novels. Each artifact should be
labeled including a brief description of its importance to the book. A quote from the
book should accompany each artifact.

Extension Activities
As an extension activity, and a culmination of the unit, the class will have an
opportunity to Skype with an astronomer from the Southwest Research Institute in
Boulder, Co. Dr. Kevin Walsh is an expert on solar system formation and a professor
at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Students will be able to formulate questions

ahead of time and interview Dr. Walsh about the likelihood and probability that an
asteroid could change the relative position of the Moon with the Earth. Students can
also ask about Dr. Walshs education plan and how he was able to make the transition
from a summer camp counselor working at an astronomy program to getting his PhD
and becoming an actual astronomer.
II.

Modifications Based on Learner Needs

Ascending Intellectual Demand in the Parallel Curriculum Model seems make the
most sense as far as modifying this unit based on student needs, growth and
conceptual understanding. Their interests in the topics being presented could take
off and in order to ensure continual challenge and growth, projects, assessments and
expectations may need to be modified. Whether it be changing to topic of the final
essay to something more technical associated with the extension activity, or
modifying a rubric based on prior writing assessments. Another way to modify based
on learner needs would be to create additional extension activities/expectations for
students who have shown mastery of the learning objectives.