Landforms Great American Race

Students will:

• Be able to demonstrate understanding of landforms by creating a slide, going through the slide deck to decipher clues.

Vocabulary Words:

1. Landform: A landform is a natural feature of the earth’s surface--introduce students to various kinds of landforms

Note: This activity can be done with a number of concepts. Landforms are used as an example.

To prepare for this lesson:

• Determine the content you want students to engage with--landforms in this case. 
   
• Create a slide deck to be shared with students (all have editing rights). 
   
• Create note-cards that have a # that corresponds with the slide they will edit and the landform assigned to them. Each student or group will receive a note-card. 
   
• Create a Google Form/Quiz that will self check upon submission. Here are instructions for creating a quiz. If you are using Google Classroom, you can create an assignment and choose Quiz. 
  • Depending on how familiar students are with the topic you can consider write-in questions (most difficult), select from a drop-down, or select from three-four choices. Watch this video Google Forms Magic. 

See Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students.net site in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

1. Activate students prior knowledge with a brain-dump about the topic of landforms
    
2. Introduce the concept of Thin Slides--one slide, one picture, one word (a word that is NOT the name of their landform)
    
3. Show students how to add a picture (Explore Tool) and a text box in Google Slides
    
4. Remind them they are all working on the same slide deck and they should respect each other’s work
    
5. Distribute the (super-secret) cards to individuals or teams of two. They should go to the numbered slide, find a picture, and then type a one-word clue about their landform.
    
6. Set a five-six time limit on this step.
    
7. Collect the super-secret cards.
    
8. When time is up you might consider turning editing rights off.
    
9. Establish groups of three-four. They should go through the slide deck and try to identify the correct landform on each slide. 
    
10. Bonus: Have this be a silent activity where they can only communicate on a Google Doc.
     
11. After a few minutes of work time and groups have made a good effort, post the link to the Google Form to have students check their work.
     
12. Have groups keep trying until they get 100%. The team that is the fastest and most accurate wins. 
     
13. Debrief teamwork strategies.

Different options for assessing the students:

• Observations
• Check for understanding
• You could close with a Quizizz (Fast & Curious) to reinforce the learned vocabulary.