Sample Lesson Plans

INTRODUCTION

What follows is a series of lesson plans based on statements from different units of the syllabus, accompanied by teaching resources on which the learning activities are based. These activities are suggested rather than prescribed; in many cases they can be viewed as a menu of options from which the teacher can choose according to the level taught or the ability of the class. The statements and syllabus units selected tend to emphasise what is new in the syllabus.

Each lesson plan is set out in a template which brings together the main strands of teaching for understanding and assessment for learning. The aim is to provide a framework in which teachers are encouraged to plan the delivery of each lesson in accordance with sound theory and best practice. A blank template is available for photocopying and use by the teacher.

The resources on which the lessons are based include O.S. maps, aerial and satellite photographs, graphs, tables and textual sources extracted from newspapers or magazines. They are either reproduced or web addresses provided from whence they can be downloaded. The student's learning is guided through the completion of the suggested activities, having received clear direction from the teacher. The student's learning is assessed through performing the tasks suggested, having been given criteria by which to judge success. Feedback should be given at the conclusion of the assessment through written or verbal comment, showing what is required for improvement.

The recommended time for each lesson is a single classperiod, unless follow-on activities are indicated;however it can be extended over two or more classperiods if needed.

TITLE OF LESSON:

The learning intention:
What the lesson is intended to achieve ­ this can be based on the outcomes listed at the beginning of each syllabus unit.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Introduces continuity into planning. Builds on Junior Certificate course.

Reference can be made to current events, news stories, students' interests e.g. nationality of soccer players etc.

Students will have developed their skills in:
Where possible, skills should be integrated into lesson.

They will use these resources:
The maps, photographs, statistics, graphs and diagrams through which understanding will be developed.

They will have been introduced to new content:
By isolating the new content the learning task can be made more manageable to the student.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Devising meaningful activities which will allow students to show their understanding. This should involve a number of activities which would allow multiple intelligences to be employed. The activities can be undertaken as classwork or homework. Past examination questions can be utilised if appropriate.

Contained in syllabus statements:
This ensures that each lesson is firmly rooted in syllabus statements.

The statements can be taken from more than one syllabus unit.

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Detailed break down of activities.

Build in use of resource materials.

Possible format:

• introduction ­ what the lesson aims to achieve
• recap on previous learning
• introduction of new content
• setting assignments to reinforce learning/reveal understanding - classwork and homework
• recap of what has been covered in lesson.

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 1: LEINSTER GRANITE

The learning intention:
Students will understand that

• the landscape familiar to many students is the result of processes involving the interaction of the tectonic cycle, rock cycle and surface processes
• the present location of fold mountains results from the historic movements of plates
• these past tectonic events contributed to the recycling and modification of rock which is evidenced by the present day distribution of rock types

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Plate tectonics

The rock cycle

Weathering and erosion (Junior Certificate)

Students will have developed their skills in:
Interpreting maps and diagrams.

O.S. map interpretation.

They will use these resources:
Information sheets 1 and 2.

O.S. map extract of Co.Wicklow e.g. Glendalough or Avoca.

They will have been introduced to new content:
Ireland's position relative to plate movements in the past.

The Leinster chain as a result of plate movements.

The recycling of rocks as part of the tectonic process.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Describing the rocks from which the Leinster Chain is formed and relating this to the rock cycle.

Describing the earth movements responsible for the formation of the Leinster chain and relating them to plate tectonic theory.

Drawing diagrams to illustrate these processes.

Recognising structure and processes on O.S. maps.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Ireland's position relating to plate boundaries in the past (Core Unit 1.1)

Irish rock types (Core Unit 1.2)

Landforms are influenced by geological structures which have resulted from the operation of the tectonic cycle (Core Unit 1.3)

Landforms are influenced by operation of rock cycle (Core Unit 1.4)

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Students will be asked to study Fig. 1 - a geological map of the Leinster Chain and identify the axis of folding. They will be asked to study Fig. 2 ­ a diagram of a section across the Leinster Chain. Arrows are used to indicate some of the processes which have contributed to the present landscape formation. These are: A: folding due to plate movement, B: igneous intrusion, C: contact metamorphism and D: sub-aerial denudation. Students can be asked to describe in detail these processes and their causes, and how they have contributed to the present landscape.

INFORMATION SHEET 1

CALEDONIAN IRELAND

Key terms: plate tectonics; plate convergence and collision; oceanic plate subduction; volcanic arc development; orogenesis.

In ancient geological times, extending through the PreCambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician and into the Silurian periods, an oceanic area existed in the southern hemisphere, sandwiched between three continental plates, referred to as Laurentia, Baltica and the micro-continent of Avalonia. This ocean, called Iapetus, was at its maximum width in late Cambrian times but it proceeded to close up as the continental plates converged. This convergence involved the subduction of the oceanic plate materials beneath the continents, causing volcanic island arc development through the re-melting of ocean floor rocks. Sediments that had been deposited on the floor of Iapetus were scraped up and accreted onto the continental plate margins. Eventually, the final collision of the continental plates resulted in a major event of mountain building or orogenesis referred to as the Caledonian orogeny. This involved considerable deformation (folding and faulting) and thickening of the crust and also the emplacement of deep-seated magma chambers in the form of plutons or even larger batholiths.

The suture which joined the colliding continents runs diagonally across Ireland in a line roughly from Limerick to Louth. Thus, southeastern Ireland and northwestern Ireland originated on entirely separate plates. The clear evidence of the Caledonian orogeny can be seen throughout Ireland with its predominantly northeast to southwest trending structural grain as it can in much of northern Great Britain, especially Scotland (hence the

name 'Caledonian'), western Scandinavia and eastern Greenland and also in the eastern United States in the Appalachian area. Since this episode the entire continental unit has drifted northwards into the northern hemisphere and experienced major modifications through geological time - most notably, the opening up of the Atlantic in Mesozoic time which separated the Caledonian areas of Europe and North America on different plates.

With regard to Irish geology, the volcanic rocks in southeastern Ireland (south Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford and also in parts of the north and west) represent the product of volcanic island arc activity associated with the subduction of and closure of Iapetus. The Leinster batholith and other plutonic emplacements of the north and west owe their existence to the orogenic episode also. The Ordovician and Silurian sandstones and shales of the Longford-Down axis area represent the scrapings of ocean floor sediments accreted against the northern continental margin in faulted structures. Much of the northeast-southwest structural grain in Irish geology has since been masked by later deposition, especially in the south and midlands (Devonian and Carboniferous sediments). Later deformation (mainly affecting the south) due to the Armorican orogeny, which involved different episodes of plate convergence, produced a different structural orientation in the south. Much later igneous activity in Tertiary times (probably associated with the opening of the north Atlantic) produced the volcanic outpourings of the Antrim basalts and the emplacement of the plutons of the Mourne and Carlingford mountains.