Erosion Lesson Plan

1. Stretch & pray.

2. Discuss Psalm 102:25-28.

3. How do rivers weather rocks? Let children drop small, freshly broken pieces of rock or brick in a large jar. We used limestone. Softer rocks such as sandstone, shale, or limestone work best. Fill the jar about halfway with water. Set aside a few pieces of the broken rock to keep for comparison. Close the lid of the jar and let the children pass it around and shake it a bunch of times as we had the discussion below - activity #4. Take the rocks out and compare their appearance with the rock pieces that weren't shaken. Pour the water from the jar through a coffee filter (or funnel lined with paper towels) and notice the bits of rock. Compare this with what happens to rocks in a river? Rocks in rivers and streams are weathered by water and movement. (This activity came from this mini-unit.)
TEACHER/PARENT 1: YOU WILL NEED: glass jar with a lid, freshly broken pieces of rock or brick, & coffee filter

4. (While shaking up the jar in the above activity) Brainstorm all the ways the surface of Earth can change. Review the flood and changes to the earth. Briefly discuss erosion and how the flood eroded much of the Earth. Since the flood two forces, weathering and erosion, are constantly at work wearing away the rocks that make up Earth's crust. Weathering causes rocks to fragment, crack, crumble, or break down chemically. Erosion loosens and carries away the rock debris caused by weathering. Over time these two forces, working together, change the shape of the land.

***Divide children into pairs for the remaining activities.***

5. Wind erosion: Each pair will get a clear shoebox that has been filled with about 1/4 full of dry sand. Blow air over the sand (keeping your eyes closed). Try to "carve" gullies and valleys with the air. Observe the movement of sand - where it blows and the shapes it forms. Ask, "What happened to the sand as you blew?" and "Could you make the whole pile move if you blew across it long enough?" Next place some stones around the sand in order to try to keep the sand from moving. Again make wind by blowing. Ask, "Do the rocks make a difference in how the soil is eroded?" and, "Can you think of any examples of wind erosion in nature?" Show pictures of the Sahara or Gobi Desserts.
TEACHER/PARENT 2: YOU WILL NEED: 12-24 small rocks, 6 clear shoeboxes, sand, pictures of deserts

6. Water erosion: Ask who has walked along the Suwannee River. Have they noticed what the water does to the bank? Where does the soil go that falls into the water? Raise one end of the erosion tray. Sprinkle water on the sand. Notice the movement of sand. It should be forming gullies. Place several rocks across the surface and sprinkle again. Ask, "Do the rocks change the way the water eroded the sand?" Discuss the direction that eroded material travels (uphill, downhill?) Have the students form a mountain with the sand. Make one side rather steep. Aim water at the base of the cliff. Demonstrate how water can undercut a hillside and cause a landslide. Push the sand to one end to form a beach. Use fingers to cause waves and watch the sand erode away. Show pictures of water erosion.
(Use the sand, containers, rocks, etc. from activity 4.)
TEACHER/PARENT 3: YOU WILL NEED: containers to use for sprinkling water & pictures of water erosion

7. (Optional) Show pictures of the Grand Canyon. Begin playing Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé in the background. Briefly talk about Providence Canyon. Using a pre-made model of the Grand Canyon*, pour boiling hot water over the model. Ask children to describe the effect the different layers have on the erosion of the canyon. Point out this is what happened during the flood.

*To make a model of the Grand Canyon: Cut out the middle section of one of the short sides of a cardboard box. (The lid of a shoe box works well.) Cover the bottom of the box with a layer of mud or wet soil. Allow the mud to dry. Cover this layer with another layer of a different color. Repeat with many layers until the box is full, allowing each layer time to dry. If you don't have different colors of soil, you can mix in some colored playground sand with each layer of mud. This takes about a week to complete.
TEACHER/PARENT 4: YOU WILL NEED: model of Grand Canyon (see above directions), pictures of Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé, & CD player

8. Glacier Erosion: Press an ice cube against the flat surface of modeling clay and move it back and forth several times and observe. Then place a small pile of sand on the clay. The ice cube should be placed on top of the sand and left for one minute (count to 60 by 2's, 5's, and 10's). Then pick up the ice cube and observe the surface of the cube that was touching the sand. The same side of the ice cube should then be placed on the sandy part of the clay and moved back and forth several times. The ice cube should be removed, the sand should be wiped away from the surface of the clay, and the clay's surface texture should be recorded.

Ask:
- What happened to the clay the first time you wiped the cube against it?
- What happened to the ice cube after it sat on the on the sand?
- What did the surface of the clay look like after you rubbed the cube against it the second time?
- Can you give any examples of Glacier erosion?

Show pictures of Hubbard Glacier in Alaska or Matterhorn in Switzerland
TEACHER/PARENT 1: YOU WILL NEED: 6 pieces of modeling clay and sand

9. How can you stop some erosion? Place a piece of sod in one erosion tray (i.e. the lid to the plastic shoebox). Fill another half full of just soil. Tilt both trays. Put an equal amount of water in two watering cans. Water each tray. Compare how much water and soil has collected at the bottom of the tray.
TEACHER/PARENT 2: YOU WILL NEED: soil and a piece of sod

10. 5 Minute Review of what we learned.

11. Continue with the Earth Science Presentations and Wrap-up.

Konos Curriculum
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Konos Home School Mentor
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