Landslide (Beta)
Using their knowledge of weathering and erosion, the crew will try to save a colony from landslides.
A colony on Vespus is in a state of emergency. Many of their buildings have been swept away by landslides, and it’s continuing to happen! The city had an emergency meeting to talk about what might be causing the landslides. In that meeting, they came up with a list of possible reasons this is happening. We need to investigate those allocations and provide a solution before the whole city is destroyed!
Est. time: 35 min
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
A. Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
B. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
C. Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
D. Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
A. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
B. Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.
C. Link opinions and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).
D. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
A. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).
B. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point[s]”).
Phenomenon
Science and Engineering Practices
Asking questions or defining problems
- Ask questions that can be investigated and predict reasonable outcomes based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships.
Analyzing and interpreting data
- Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation.
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or support an explanation or design a solution to a problem.
Identify the evidence that supports particular points in an explanation.
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
- Respectfully provide and receive critiques from peers about a proposed procedure, explanation, or model by citing relevant evidence and posing specific questions.
- Construct and/or support an argument with evidence, data, and/or a model.
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
- Read and comprehend grade appropriate complex texts and/or other reliable media to summarize and obtain scientific and technical ideas and describe how they are supported by evidence.
Crosscutting Concepts
Cause and effect
- Students routinely identify and test casual relationships and use these relationships to explain change. They understand events that occur together with regularity might or might not signify a cause-and-effect relationship.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
- Four major Earth systems interact. Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller pieces and move them around.