Mountain Histories: Culminating Activity

This lesson is the culminating activity to assess student learning. Students write an informative caption for each of the mountains in the Mountain Photo Archive based on what they have learned.

Concepts and
learning outcomes

Students will understand that:

All mountains have a history and there are many features of a mountain that provide information about that history.

Time requirements

2 to 3 50-minute class periods. Can also be assigned as homework.

Materials / Preparation

Each group will need:
- Computer with Internet access.
- Completed student maps from Lesson 5, Activity 1 with the mountain locations plotted on page 27 in their Mountain Building Journals.
- Completed Mountain Data Table and Mountain Diagnostic Table on pages 32 and 33 in their Journals.
- Example write-up page 34 in their Journals.
- Photos of the Mountains on page 35 to 40 in their Journals.

Grouping

Groups of two

Teacher tips

Students may need additional guidance to complete this activity.

NOTE: This is the culminating activity of this unit. Students are asked to bring together all that they have learned to write the captions for the photo journal.

Procedures

Students will now be ready to write the photo captions. You will have to decide if you want the students to do additional research to expand the captions. At a minimum the caption should include:
- Mountain’s name (provided),
- Location (Country, state, latitude and Longitude)
- Elevation
- Hypothesis of geologic origin (should include the mountain type terms, but students must explain how each mountain formed in their own words. They should also mention the key evidence they used to come to this conclusion.)
- Composition (description of layering, rock type, etc.)
- Description of its shape (low and rounded, jagged, etc.).
- Relationship to plate boundaries
- Optional: When were the mountains formed (geologic time)
Have groups of students share their photo captions with one another and discuss any differences of interpretation.