Title: An Instructional Plan for Teaching Earthquake and its causes, integrated into the “Science” subject.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:

1. explain what an earthquake is
2. describe the causes of an earthquake
3. develop an evacuation plan during an earthquake.

The ASSURE instructional plan that I plan is about “Earthquake and Its Causes”. In one of the learning objectives where a student is supposed to be able to describe the causes of an earthquake, I consider creating a manipulative material using Oreo Cookies. An Oreo cookie has 2 sides and a filling, using these parts, students will be able to mimic different types of faults by sliding and breaking the cookie in half. The two sides will represent tectonic plates and the movement of the two sides represent the earthquake. The student will be asked to bring Oreo cookies in groups and then simultaneously in class, they would be able to see how earthquake happen and what causes it.

Using a well known snack to students provides the sense of familiarity that provides a deeper connection and understanding towards them and the object that is prepared (Kamina & Iyer, 2009).

Assessment:

Design Elements	Description
Significance	This kind of teacher-made manipulative material captures the importance of familiarity which plays a significant part in grabbing the attention of the learners.
Effectiveness	The use of a popular snack for this activity shows how easy and simple understanding the movement of the faults in an earthquake.
Cost	If bought in groups, and each children take a piece it does not cost much.

Reference:

Kamina, Penina, and Iyer, Nithya N., “From Concrete to Abstract: Teaching for Transfer of Learning when Using Manipulatives” (2009). NERA Conference Proceedings 2009.