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Distribution of Elements in Earth’s Crust

Image from the activity

Topic

  • Earth Science
  • Earth History
  • Geology

Resource Type

  • Activities
  • Lessons

Level

High School — General
Saved By
12 Users
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Description

In this activity, students read a passage about how planets in our solar system formed and why the element iridium is so rare in Earth’s crust. They then answer questions about the information presented, testing their non-fiction reading comprehension.

Students read a passage entitled “Iridium: Calling Card from Outer Space,” which contextualizes information that is key to developing an in-depth understanding of the concepts presented in the film The Day the Mesozoic Died. The passage can be used as a prefilm activity or an extension activity after watching the film. After reading the passage and answering the analysis questions, students can also be given a reading comprehension assessment, included at the end of the “Teacher Materials.”

Student Learning Targets

  • Determine the central ideas and themes of a scientific text.

  • Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

  • Identify and determine the meaning of key terms in the scientific domain based on context and by using reference resources.

  • Explain the conditions necessary for the formation of our solar system and Earth-like planets.

  • Describe the value of chemical analysis for identifying the origin of a substance or material.

Estimated Time

One 50-minute class period.

Key Terms

asteroid, big bang, coalesce, differentiation, fusion, heavy elements, iridium, meteor, meteorite, nebula, planet, planetesimal, solar wind, star, supernova

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.

Version History

Date Published 03.05.12

NGSS (2013)

HS-ESS1-1, HS-ESS1-2, HS-ESS1-3, HS-ESS1-6; SEP6

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9–12.1, ELA.RST.9–12.4

Vision and Change (2009)

CC5; DP1, DP4

Materials

Student Handout (PDF) 150 KB
Teacher Materials (PDF) 180 KB

Use This Resource With

Video Resource
The Day the Mesozoic Died

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