Lesson Plan

Science Olympiad
Rock Hound

Day 1: Get Acquainted

In order to get started, you need to begin by reading the rule manual description of your
event with your partner. This is a close read activity where you will follow these steps:
1. First read: Read it independently. When you are finished, discuss the main
idea, summarize it, retell it in your own words, and notice key details with your
partner!
2. Second read: Read it together. Circle any new vocabulary that you and your
partner are unfamiliar with. Use a strategy (context clues or word look-up) to
discover the meaning of those words and write them in.
3. Third read: Read it together: Make inferences. What are some things that you
know youre going to need to do as a result of the instructions that you are given.

Day 2: Come Up With a Plan: Raft Writing

Now that you have read your events description, you are going to come up with a plan!
What are the important things that you and your partner are researching for your event?
Were you given specific details about the pieces of information that you will be tested on?
Using the RAFT Writing strategy, you are going to write about your plan. You may choose
your own Role, Audience, and Format, but your Topic will address how you plan to become
Rock Hound experts! These will be shared at the end of the days meeting time.

Role

Audience

Function

Topic

From whose
perspective are your
writing?

Who are you writing

to?

What type of writing

is this?

A
university
Family
Congr
ess
Princi
pal
Parent
s
Pound
Owner

Song
Poem
Speec

What is your plan to

address all of the
topics in the Rock
Hound event?

Dog

Geolo
gist
Presid
ent
Autho
r
Touris
t
A
fictional

h
Letter
Comic
Spoke
n Word
Propo
sal for a new
bill

character
Famo
us singer
_______
______

News
reporter
_______
____

_______
______

Day 3: Analyze Your Sources

Here are a list of sources that your teachers have compiled for you:

Basics of Geology- All About Rocks and Minerals Video

The Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls
Rocks and Minerals
Rock Hound Quizlet

These sources are related to the topics in the Rock Hound event. After reading your event
description, you came up with a plan for how to best study these topics, and today you are
going to analyze the sources that you are given and create an attribute list of their
effectiveness. A good researcher has to be organized, so you located the topics you will be
responsible for, so as you read each source, create an attribute list of things that the source
offers. For example:

This is meant to help you organize your sources in a meaningful way, weed out sources
that do not provide any new information, and identify gaps in knowledge that alert you to
where you will need to do more research.

Day 4: Fill the Gaps!

Today, you will use your attribute list from last week to identify the gaps of knowledge. You
will use your time today researching the information that was missing from the preselected sources. Make sure that as you find new sources, you create an attribute list for
them as well!

Days 5, 6, 7: Create and Configure

By now, you have compiled all of the information that you need to address your topic. You
will spend three meeting days creating ways to help you remember the information in your
sources. A few options could be: a song, a poem, acrostics, diagrams, pneumonic devices,
flashcards, stories, symbols etc... The sky is the limit here! Work with your partner to come
up with different ways to manipulate the information into more meaningful forms that will
be easier to study and remember.

Days 8, 9: Buddy Study!

These next two days will be for you and your buddy to use the tools that you have created
in order to study your topic and memorize the information.
Homework: Create a list of 10 potential questions that you might be asked during the
event. These will be used next week.

Day 10: Visualization and Role Play

Before you get started, close your eyes and imagine yourself arriving at Brookwood High
School for the tournament. Imagine that you are carrying an empty suitcase for all of your
knowledge. While your eyes are closed, discuss with your partner what pieces of knowledge

you can pack in your suitcase and imagine putting each piece in the suitcase. Ask
yourselves, Am I forgetting anything for the trip? Pick up your suitcase- how does it feel?
Heavy? Light? Talk to your neighbor about how the suitcase feels to you Are there items
that you forgot that you need to go back and get? Do you feel like the suitcase is heavy with
knowledge that will help you be extra-prepared for your trip?
After you have discussed your suitcase of information, pull out the 10 potential questions
that you created for homework. Now you are going to role play as if you were in a game
show. The person who is reading their questions first is the host- they will ask the
questions and the other person will answer them. Make it exciting- its a game show after
all! Then switch roles and allow the other person to be the host/contestant. When you are
finished, discuss any gaps in knowledge you discovered as you were role-playing and add
them to the list of things that you were forgetting for your trip in the earlier activity. Make
sure to study those things extra hard before our next meeting!

Day 11, 12: Quiz/ 6 Thinking Hats

Complete the quiz provided to you and then use the key to score it. Using the rule manual
description of your event as a reference, were there questions/topics that you were not
prepared to answer?
Use the 6 Thinking Hats to discuss the problems that you noticed after taking and grading
your quiz. After the Green Hat, spend some time with your partner trying to solve your
problem (do you need to come up with a different way to help you remember some
specific piece of information, did you forget to address a topic?). On Day 12, you and your
partner should complete the fifth and sixth hats. Use the remainder of the time to study
your created materials.