Land and Water Lesson III

What: Students have been studying the water cycle and looking at how in different
places in the world, water is found in different forms. The third lesson of the unit is
about erosion, runoff, and rain. Erosion is defined as the wearing away and movement of
weathered materials like soil, and runoff is the movement of water, and the substances it
is carrying from the surface of land. Erosion and runoff are difficult subjects to
understand without actually seeing them occur. Students will use rain simulation to view
how the landmass in their stream table is being eroded and will catch the runoff from the
erosion in a bucket to observe how the water has changed.
How: Students have created a land mass in the prior experiment and will reuse it to help
make the transition to this experiment smoother. Students will continue to work in
groups of 5 or 6 and all have an essential part in making sure the experiment runs and we
will discuss as a class why we work in teams. Students already have experience in taking
observations from the prior lesson, so that will be a quick review. Student directions will
either be posted on the board or read aloud for everyone to hear as we move step by step
through the experiment. Students will have a graphic organizer to help them organize
their thoughts and observations.

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 4:44 AM

Comment [1]: I like the term land mass.

Why: Philadelphia is one of the most forward thinking cities in terms of controlling
runoff. Students will learn the background science knowledge behind runoff and erosion.
The next step will be applying this knowledge to where they live and why they should
think about how runoff affects them. Students really enjoyed working with the stream
tables in prior lessons and have repeatedly asked if they are going to get to use them
again. This helps keep the students engaged and excited about science, as they get to use
their hands and actually make a model of real world scenarios.
Goals/Objectives:
Students will be able to discuss and write about rains affect on land, including runoff and
erosion.
Standards(from NSTA Framework):
Physical Science Developing and Using Models
- Systems and system models
- Stability and change
Materials and preparation:
4 Stream tables
4 .5 liter bottles
4 large absorbent pad
4 plastic plaster spreader
4 catch buckets
4 sprinkler heads
For each group: 1500 ml of sand, 500 ml of humus, 500 ml of gravel, 250 ml of
clay

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 4:47 AM

Comment [2]: I know. NGSS, NAS, NSTA
it all runs together. But the Framework for K12 science was not produced by NSTA
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 4:49 AM
Comment [3]: Please divide these up so that
I see the three dimensions represented
(Practices, Cross-cutting concepts,
Disciplinary Core Ideas.)

Water
Masking tape
4 catch buckets
Clean up supplies
Electrical tape
Science notebooks
Graduated beaker

Classroom arrangement and management issues:

The classroom is already separated into 4 groups with 5 or 6 students in each group, these
will be the groups that the students will remain in for the lesson. Two students have their
desks separated from any of the groups but they know which table they belong to during
group work. Students will remain at their desks for the entirety of the lesson, as Nick and
I will pass out the materials and be walking around to look at students answers. There
should not be any issues, students know the classroom expectations and will be reminded
of them before the lesson begins. Clean-up will be modeled by Nick and I or a student,
then rest of the students will be expected to follow the same protocols.
Plan:
1. Remind students of expectations for the class and the experiment
2. Refer back to lesson 1, 2, and SNAPs as well as water cycle lesson in class to
introduce the experiment, show students the completed teacher model.
3. Discuss why scientists work in teams? How that could help them? collect more
observations and information, and draw conclusions
4. Show students the sprinkler head and ask, what is the sprinkler head going to
model?
5. Put key terms, erosion, runoff, weathering, stream on the board, define with the
students have them write it down in their science notebooks
Weathering wear away or change by wind/water
Erosion wearing away and movement of weathered materials like soil
Runoff the movement of water, and substances its carrying, from the surface of land
6. Put directions up on the board go over student directions
A. Put large absorbent pad down (We will put stream table on top of it)
B. Stream Tables will then be distributed by Mr. G and me.
C. Students will see that they now have a stopper (or duck tape only on the outside of the
stream table)
D. Mix the soil up and push it away from the hole, like last experiment
E. Make the soil much more flat than last time, like a block of soil, then make it a ramp
with the side farthest from the whole the highest, but dont make the ramp end at the
ground, make it a cliff
- Talk about why the land should be about the same in all the stream tables ex. In a
race people have to run the same distance or else it isnt fair
F. Move the stream table to the edge of the table so that the hole is at the end of the table
G. Put a small absorbent pad on the floor underneath where the hole in the stream is
- this is where you will hole the cup to catch the water
H. Mr. G or I will show you how to pour the water onto the soil

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 4:52 AM

Comment [4]: Nicely described.
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:14 AM
Comment [5]: Please add time estimates for
each activity. Ideally you would go back to the
lesson plan after the lesson and make notes on
whether the estimated times were low, right, or
high, to improve the lesson plan for the next
year.
This looks like a long introduction to me.
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:14 AM
Comment [6]: Good use of term in context.
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:18 AM
Comment [7]: Oh, but then you talk about
terms in isolation. I would have students do the
activity, and then use what they saw to define
these terms. In other words, they do the
activity and write what they saw [I saw water
push dirt down off the land into the stream.]
But meanwhile you and Nick are walking
around, listening and commenting, Yes, there
is a term for that, it is called erosion. But later
you could either give them the definitions (a
sheet to be glued into the notebook?) or have
them use the definitions to label a diagram to
indicate where the erosion occurred and where
the runoff went. (They dont really see
weathering in this activity.)
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:09 AM
Deleted: I
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:10 AM
Comment [8]: I know what you mean here,
but that ground represents the bed of a
stream or river.

I. Pour all the water out of the bottle, take turns, everyone should get to go
J. Once you start pouring the water, do not touch the soil and remember to rotate
having someone hold the bucket under the hole
K. After all of the water has been poured in, and the water has stopped draining out of
the hole, take notes on the graphic organizer on your groups steam table
L. We will then take turns walking around to view each others tables and taking notes
in our graphic organizer as well, each table will be called the same that we do in
class, with the students knowing which is table 1, 2, 3 and 4.
7. Discuss with students
i.
What happened to the land as it rained? Why?
ii.
Where did the water go?
iii.
Compare the water in the bucket to the water you rained on the land with.
How are they different? Can you explain why?
iv.
In what ways might heavy or light rain affect land differently?
8. Collect graphic organizer. Return to Learned section of KWL and write down
what they have learned.
9. Next lesson we will be looking at streams
10. Clean-Up
Assessment:
Students will be writing in their Learned section of their KWL charts in their
notebooks, and will write down what they predict and observe during the experiment in a
graphic organizer.

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:38 AM

Comment [9]: sprinkle

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:38 AM

Comment [10]: How different will these
be? Is it worth having them answer the same
question for each of these? I know you want to
focus their attention. So maybe it would be
appropriate to ask, How is this one different?
Or you could just ask, do you want to see each
others tables? If they say yes, say that they
can do that, indicate the direction of rotation
and tell them that they need to move quietly
and that they will have two minutes at each
station.
The tables should not be significantly different.

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:52 AM

Comment [11]: I am worried that this part
of the lesson will not get enough time. This is
where the consolidation of the understanding
happens. In a less artificial situation you could
have the kids write a paragraph about what
happened (as a literacy lesson) using both the
terms and their original descriptions, as a way
of defining the terms.
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:39 AM
Comment [12]: So, they are back in their
own seats now? Where are the stream tables?
(I think I would clean up before the discussion.
Easier to concentrate on discussion, less time
spent telling kids not to touch the materials.)
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 6:02 AM
Comment [13]: This feels worth writing
about. Maybe they should do that when they
get back from viewing the other tables? In
some sense this could be an exit slip if they
know what happened on the land, they should
understand why the water looks as it does.

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:40 AM

Comment [14]: Try not to ask yes or no
questions. You want them to explain, so say
so. Why is that?
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 5:59 AM
Comment [15]: Good this requires
application of what they just learned.

Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 6:00 AM

Comment [16]: OK, so this is the
paragraph I described above. But think about
how much time is spent on writing in this
lesson. Children do not write quickly.
Bergey, Nancylee 12/8/16 6:07 AM
Comment [17]: I dont see predictions on
your worksheet. And I am OK with that. What
are they to predict?