Summary
Starting with the White Mountain National Forest quarter, students will explain magma intrusion and how it affects the formation of mountain ranges, particularly Mt. Chocorua and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Coin Type(s)
- Quarter
Coin Program(s)
- America the Beautiful Quarters
Objectives
Students will explain magma intrusion and how it affects the formation of mountain ranges, particularly Mt. Chocorua and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Major Subject Area Connections
- Social Studies
- Science
Minor/supporting Subject Area Connections
- Art
Grades
- 7th
- 8th
Class Time
- Sessions: Two
- Session Length: 45-60 minutes
- Total Length: 91-120 minutes
Groupings
- Whole group
- Individual work
Materials
- Worksheets:
- "White Mountain National Forest Quarter"
- "Mountains Arise"
- "Mountains Arise Key"
- "White Mountain Comic Strip Rubric" (1/2 page per student)
- Age-appropriate, relevant Web sites, such as:
- White Mountain National Forest Web site: www.fs.usda.gov/whitemountain
- www.ready.gov/kidsfun-games/comic-strips
- Geological Origin of the New England Chain: oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03mountains/background/geology/geology.html
Worksheets
Worksheets and files (PDF)
Lesson Steps
- Display and examine the "White Mountain National Forest Quarter" page. Locate this national site on a class map. Note its position in relation to your school's location. Tell the students that the front of a coin is called the "obverse" and the back is called the "reverse." Explain to the students that the United States Mint began to issue the quarters in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program in 2010. By the time the program ends in 2021, there will be a total of 56 designs. Each design will focus on a different national site—one from each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.
- Read the coin information on the White Mountain National Forest Quarter page and examine the design using the zoom feature. Explain to the students that Mt. Chocorua is located in the White Mountains, which is part of the Sandwich Range and the Appalachian Mountains.
- Introduce to the students the concepts of plate tectonics and magma intrusions. Have the students research the process for the formation of mountains and mountain ranges, particularly Mt. Chocorua and the White Mountains of New England. Have the students record the steps in the formation of the mountains on the "Mountains Arise" worksheet.
- Share some examples of comic strips with the students. Have the students create a comic strip illustrating the formation of the mountains. Emphasize the importance of creative storytelling in the comic strip while conveying the facts.
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Assess
Use the "White Mountain Comic Strip Rubric" to evaluate whether the students have met the lesson objective.
Common Core Standards
This lesson plan is not associated with any Common Core Standards.
National Standards
Discipline: Science
Domain: 5-8 Content Standards
Cluster: Earth and Space Science
Grade(s): Grades 5–8
Standards:
- Structure of the Earth system
- Earth’s history
- Earth in the solar system
Discipline: Visual Arts and Music
Domain: 5-8 Visual Arts
Cluster: Standard 6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines
Grade(s): Grades 5–8
Standards:
- Students compare multiple purposes for creating works of art
- Students analyze contemporary and historic meanings in specific artworks through cultural and aesthetic inquiry
- Students describe and compare a variety of individual responses to their own artworks and to artworks from various eras and cultures
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