Students were most intrigued, however, when I put the volcano under an "ocean." Students contemplated what underwater volcanoes are like and posted their questions during a "chalk talk." We used their inquiries to lead the remainder of our lesson and learned lots of interesting information!
Students also explored 3D physical maps of the United States. They were quick to conclude that the ocean floor would have similar geologic features. We talked about sonar mapping and saw examples of marine geologists at work.
At the end of the day, second graders put their learning to action when beginning their unit performance assessments: creating an ocean mural that shows the geology and biology of our vast ocean. Each week, we'll be adding to the mural, and today, students mapped out the ocean floor. They used data gathered from "sonar" and measured the distances from the surface. Students connected their measurements, and their ocean floor landforms began to appear!
