Crystals Lesson Plan: Earth’s Systems
*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Crystals Lesson Plan.
This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Crystals, and supports the standard of describing ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Display an image of a crystal, like this one:
Ask students:
- What do you notice about the crystal?
- How does the crystal compare to a rock?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Read the description on the Crystals topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Have students read one of the Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Students take the Crystals Quiz, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Step 4: EXTEND and DEEPEN
Students express what they learned about crystals while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
- Make-a-Movie: Imagine you are a geologist investigating a cave. Produce a video journal that describes the crystals you observe and what you can infer about how they were formed.
- Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying the process of crystal formation.
- Creative Coding: Code a sorting game that challenges players to categorize crystals by lattice type.
More to Explore
Simulation: Crystal Cave: Form crystals by stacking molecules.
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of natural formations with these topics: Rock Cycle, Types of Rocks, Mineral Identification.
Teacher Support Resources:
- Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
