Erosion

Cortney Houston

Target Age Group: Grades 3-5

Learning Objectives: SWBAT identify the different types of erosion (how they work and what
their results are) and be able to recognize a few landmarks and landforms that were formed by
erosion.
Required Materials: -1 pan, tray, or box for each type of erosion (ideally see through)
-sand or dirt
-a spray bottle or dropper per group (water erosion)
-straw per person (wind erosion)
-a couple cubes of ice per group (glacier erosion)
-slide show of different landforms made by erosion
-optional: rocks that will fall apart when shaken up in a bottle of water
Preparation Time: 30 minutes (personal research, make slideshow, and collect materials)
Activities!
1. Have the students make a KWL chart (know, want to know and learn). Before you start they
would feel out the K column (everything they already know about erosion), then the W column,
what they want to learn. At the end of the lesson, they can feel out the learn column of the things
they learned.
2. Class discussion: What sort of things they have in their Know column
3. Option: Fill a clear plastic or glass jar of water with a couple of rocks (keep one out for
comparison). Shake it up and pass it around the class for the students to look at (it should break
up into smaller pieces). Then talk a little bit about why this happensEROSION!

4. Group stations: Break the class up into groups (3 or 4 per group) and have stations set up
(water erosion, wind erosion, and ice erosion). Rotate the groups through the stations until they
have all had a chance at each station. Fill one side of the tray with sand (enough to create
canyons and valleys in it). You can either have this set up already, or have the students do this
step.
o Water Erosion: Use the spray bottle or dropper to pour water onto the sand area
and have the students observe how the water affects the sand. Have them
experiment with different elevations and amounts of water.
o Wind Erosion: Have each student take turns blowing through their straws to
carve gullies and valleys in the sand.
o Glacier Erosion: Have the students push the ice through the sand. Tell them to
observe what happens to the ice is it still clean?
5. After all the students had the opportunity to experiment and observe the effects of each type of
erosion bring everyone back and talk about each. Ask for their observations and then explain
why each happens and what the results are. While talking about the different types of erosions,
show landmarks that were formed by erosion (ie: Grand Canyon, Matterhorn, Niagara Falls)
Assessment: Over the next couple of days have the students research the types of erosion. Have
them keep an eye out for erosion around the school, at home, the park, etc. Have the make
erosion boards, where they can list the different places they saw erosion on part and then the
other part should be several pictures of each different type of erosion.
Resources: http://youth.net/cec/cecsci/cecsci.03.txt
http://www.ehow.com/info_12022022_erosion-lesson-plans-fifth-grade.html
http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview?LPid=9862