Session #1 Plate Tectonics Part I

Stressing the Nature of Science

Whenever possible we need to connect our teaching to the nature of science - how science works.

Science seeks to explain the natural world through natural processes. Scientists make observations and propose multiple hypotheses to explain what they observe. By gathering more data, scientists test these hypotheses. They then present their findings to their peers for further review. In this way, science is self-correcting. But it is also a work in progress.

Students can experience the nature of science through some engaging exercises such as The Great Fossil Find during which students reveal fossil finds, bone by bone, and make hypotheses about what they have found.

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Teachers examine the evidence for continental drift.

Presenters

Host: Lisa White, San Francisco State University
Judy Scotchmoor, UC Museum of Paleontology
Richard Sedlock, BAESI and San Jose State University
Carol Tang, California Academy of Sciences

Additional Resources

Earth Science Scope & Sequence
Topical lessons, activities and resources presented in an on-line Scope & Sequence and developed by SFUSD teachers working in partnership with the ISTAT project of UC Berkeley. Several course outlines for the 9th grade are also included.
This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics
A colorfully illustrated 77-page booklet detailing the various aspects of plate tectonics.
The Story of Alfred Lothar Wegener

updated January 28, 2002