Parent plan · Week 10 · Rocks, Landscapes & Water — connect and apply — Earth & Space Science

Parent teaching plan · 36 weeks

Units to teach or revisit

Chapter 3 · Rocks, Landscapes & Water

Assigned readings

This chapter follows the question: How do Earth materials change and move?

This week’s goals

Read What happens to rain after it reaches the ground? before starting this chapter. Use the linked unit explanations and source records during the assigned sessions.

Five flexible sessions normally about 45 minutes. Assessment slots explicitly combine or extend sessions to the existing paper’s full time. Slow down and use consolidation sessions for reteaching when an explanation is not secure.

Session 1 · Weathering, Erosion & Deposition — connect mechanisms

Deposition is accumulation of transported material, not necessarily a complete stop in fluid motion. Where a stream spreads into a basin, flow conditions change and some grains may settle while water continues through the system. Coarser or denser grains can behave differently from fine particles or dissolved material. Layering, sorting and structures can help test a depositional-environment interpretation, but sediment supply and later changes matter too. Explain what changed in transport capacity for the selected material rather than using deposition as a synonym for no motion.

Your task

Study Parts 3–4 and any source records. Complete the whole-unit application with a labeled diagram, calculations and a limitation.

  1. Define each new quantity and its unit.
  2. Compare the diagrams and stated evidence.
  3. Attempt the whole-unit application without copying guidance.
  4. Check intermediate reasoning and annotate a correction.
Hint and response guidance

Read the stated evidence and diagram captions; separate quantities, reference frames and assumptions before deciding.

Different grain sizes, densities and shapes have different settling/transport behavior under the changed flow conditions. Depositing one fraction does not stop all water or all material transport. Covered exports less mass, 6 g rather than 8 g, but has greater concentration, 0.15 rather than 0.10 g/mL. State which outcome the design criterion concerns.

  • Use the stated evidence and units accurately.
  • Explain a mechanism or evidence relationship.
  • Show a labeled model, graph or intermediate calculation.
  • State a limitation and a useful revision/test.

Session 2 · Weathering, Erosion & Deposition — explain and transfer

Use the unit’s worked cases and changed independent application.

Your task

Study the illustrated worked case, attempt practice and the changed case, then revise the opening explanation and complete the exit response.

  1. Explain the worked diagram in your own words.
  2. Attempt varied practice and the independent changed case.
  3. Check evidence/calculations using the rubric.
  4. Return to the first model and explain a revision before the exit response.
Hint and response guidance

Read the stated evidence and diagram captions; separate quantities, reference frames and assumptions before deciding.

B exports less mass (9 vs 12 g) but greater concentration (0.15 vs 0.10 g/mL). Control rain input, slope, material and collection interval, except for the planned cover change.

  • Use the stated evidence and units accurately.
  • Explain a mechanism or evidence relationship.
  • Show a labeled model, graph or intermediate calculation.
  • State a limitation and a useful revision/test.

Session 3 · Groundwater, Watersheds & Water Budgets — observe and build

Illustrative evidence case. A supplied monthly budget loses 15 m³ from an initial 500 m³. A pump locally lowers the water table, and two materials differ in pore connectivity.

Your task

Read the chapter context and the unit language notes. Make a first model, study the core explanation and Parts 1–2, and attempt their visual and reasoning checks.

  1. Read the assigned context and note two observations.
  2. Draw a first explanation with one uncertain feature.
  3. Study Parts 1–2 and trace each diagram label.
  4. Attempt checks before consulting guidance and record one revision.
Hint and response guidance

Read the stated evidence and diagram captions; separate quantities, reference frames and assumptions before deciding.

It can remain in unsaturated storage, recharge saturated material or travel slowly along groundwater pathways before discharge. Timing and connectivity matter. Flow also depends on pore size/connectivity, hydraulic gradient and fluid/material properties. Large total pore space can coexist with slow transmission.

  • Use the stated evidence and units accurately.
  • Explain a mechanism or evidence relationship.
  • Show a labeled model, graph or intermediate calculation.
  • State a limitation and a useful revision/test.

Session 4 · Groundwater, Watersheds & Water Budgets — connect mechanisms

Hydraulic head is a measure combining elevation and fluid-pressure effects; its differences help drive groundwater through permeable pathways. Pumping lowers the local head and can change directions of flow toward a well. The resulting drawdown pattern is often described as a cone of depression. A falling water level does not identify the cause by itself: recharge variation, nearby withdrawals, geological barriers and measurement timing matter. Contaminants can follow connected paths but may react, adsorb or move differently from the bulk water.

Your task

Study Parts 3–4 and any source records. Complete the whole-unit application with a labeled diagram, calculations and a limitation.

  1. Define each new quantity and its unit.
  2. Compare the diagrams and stated evidence.
  3. Attempt the whole-unit application without copying guidance.
  4. Check intermediate reasoning and annotate a correction.
Hint and response guidance

Read the stated evidence and diagram captions; separate quantities, reference frames and assumptions before deciding.

Compare pumping volumes/times, rainfall and recharge estimates, water levels in several wells and local geology. A single falling-level series cannot distinguish all causes. Final storage is 185 m³ if the stated inputs/outputs include all transfers and the boundary is consistent. Missing pathways or measurement error could change the inferred budget.

  • Use the stated evidence and units accurately.
  • Explain a mechanism or evidence relationship.
  • Show a labeled model, graph or intermediate calculation.
  • State a limitation and a useful revision/test.

Session 5 · Groundwater, Watersheds & Water Budgets — explain and transfer

Use the unit’s worked cases and changed independent application.

Your task

Study the illustrated worked case, attempt practice and the changed case, then revise the opening explanation and complete the exit response.

  1. Explain the worked diagram in your own words.
  2. Attempt varied practice and the independent changed case.
  3. Check evidence/calculations using the rubric.
  4. Return to the first model and explain a revision before the exit response.
Hint and response guidance

Read the stated evidence and diagram captions; separate quantities, reference frames and assumptions before deciding.

Storage change is 100−70−45 = −15 m³ and final storage is 285 m³. Transmission also depends on connected pathways, permeability, gradients and conditions; porosity alone is a storage fraction.

  • Use the stated evidence and units accurately.
  • Explain a mechanism or evidence relationship.
  • Show a labeled model, graph or intermediate calculation.
  • State a limitation and a useful revision/test.

Submit this week

Parent / teacher weekly conference

Assess explanations against the task criteria, discuss a real attempt before opening guidance, and adapt pacing to the learner. These home-study sessions do not certify NYSED laboratory eligibility.

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