Summary
Students will use common household items to build landforms and simulate weathering and erosion.
Materials
- Small plastic wading
pool
- Two 5-gallon buckets of
sand
- Bicycle pump/needle/
deflated playground ball
- Garden water can
- Five gallons of water and a tray of ice cubes
- Hair dryer
Additional Resources
Books
- Mountain Dance, by Thomas Locker; ISBN 0-15-202622-3
- The Usborne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth, by Anna Claybourne;
ISBN 1580862608
- Earthquakes and Volcanoes (Understanding Geography Series),
by F. Watt; ISBN 0-88110-592-9
- Earthdance, by Cynthia Pratt Nicolson; ISBN 1-55074-155-1
- Icebergs and Glaciers, by Seymour Simon; ISBN 0-688-16705-5
- Mountains, by Seymour Simon; ISBN 0-688-15477-8
Videos
- Eyewitness Volcano, (DK Publishing, available from Amazon.com);
ASIN: 6304165323
- Earth's Crust, by Bill Nye (Disney Educational Productions,
1-800-295-5010, http://dep.disney.go.com/educational/index);
VHS Product ID: 68A51VL00, DVD Product ID: 77A09VL00
Background for Teachers
Earth is alive and in constant motion. The shape of the land is
constantly being changed by weathering and erosion. Weathering causes
rocks to fragment, crack, crumble, or break down chemically,
biologically, and physically. Erosion loosens and carries away rock,
debris, and soil.
Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Use Science Process and Thinking Skills
2. Manifest Scientific Attitudes and Interests
3. Understand Science Concepts and Principles
Instructional Procedures
Invitation to Learn
Read Mountain Dance by Thomas Locker.
Instructional Procedures
- Divide into groups. Explain to students that they need to build an
Earth model in the sand with landforms from high mountains all
the way to sea level, including a river, a lake, and a valley. Use
pictures of landforms and build
landforms.
- Use ice cubes to form a glacier on the side of the mountain. It
may be beneficial to have students build at least two mountains
for comparisons.
- Add "rain" with a garden water can.
- Record observations in a science journal.
- Inflate a playground ball and place beneath the pool. Observe and
record account of uplift in a science journal.
- Use a hair dryer to simulate wind.
- Create a book using terms and drawings learned in activities.
Stress use of science language.
Extensions
- Find pictures in magazines and books of similar landforms.
- Forms may be built in the school’s playground sandbox.
Family Connections
- Share books.
- Read books to a younger child.
- Quiz parents.
Assessment Plan
Created: 10/29/2004
Updated: 09/29/2022
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