Erosion:

 A 4th grade science Webquest

 

Written by Lisa Garofalo

November 2004

lgarofalo@ellingtonschools.net

 

Objective:

Students will create a teaching poster to describe and give examples of the three kinds of erosion.

 

 

The Task

Congratulations! Our school has been chosen to display student work in an exhibition at the Capitol Building in Hartford. To represent fourth grade, your group is going to demonstrate what you have learned about erosion. As a group, you will need to create a teaching poster that describes and illustrates the three kinds of erosion. 

 

Process

1.   In groups of three students, look back in your notes and vocabulary cards to review the three kinds of erosion.

2.   Assign one type of erosion to each person in your group. Each person will turn in notes and a paragraph on one type of erosion.

3.   As a group, help each other take notes on each kind of erosion. You should use the resources below along with your notes to answer the following questions:

What is a good definition of this kind of erosion?

How does this erosion affect the earth’s crust?

How are landforms created from this erosion? What do they look like?

What can slow this erosion? Can this erosion be prevented?

Click here for a note taking form you can print.

4.   Each person will take his or her notes and write [type] a paragraph about one kind of erosion.

5.   Using the resources below, print a couple of good photographs or illustrations of each kind of erosion.

6.   Using colored pencils, draw 1 or 2 illustrations (on white paper) to go with each paragraph.

7.   Mount your paragraphs and illustrations onto a poster board.

8.   At the top of the poster please include the title, authors, and basic definition of erosion.

9.   Check your project. Make sure you have completed everything from steps 1-8. Is all your spelling correct? Is your poster neat and organized? Remember this will be displayed in the capitol building representing your school.

10. When you have completed all the above steps, please turn in your finished poster along with your notes and rough drafts of the paragraphs (all parts will count for your grade).

 

Resources

 

 

Wind erosion http://www.agriculturedictionary.com/term/wind_erosion

Wind erosion prevention http://www.environment.ualberta.ca/SoilPosters/wind.cfm

Water erosion prevention http://www.environment.ualberta.ca/SoilPosters/water.cfm

Water erosion http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/mass_movement_weathering/water_erosion.html

Wikipedia Erosion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosion

Erosion from Answers.com http://www.answers.com/topic/erosion

Erosion, by Wind and Ice

http://www.nps.gov/brca/Geodetect/Earth%20Systems/icewind%20erosion.htm

 

The geology of the Grand Canyon by Bob Ribokas

http://www.kaibab.org/geology/gc_geol.htm

 

What’s the difference between weathering and erosion?

http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/misc/gweaero.html

 

Glaciers

http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/glacier/glacier.html

 

This simple animation provides you with a visualization of how the Colorado River has "downcut" into the rock layers of the Grand Canyon.

http://www.edu-source.com/GCpages/CVOpage4.html

 

Soil Erosion

http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/facts/erosion.htm

 

Understanding Wind Erosion And Its Control

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/Soil/g474.htm

 

Erosion http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=15803

 

Arches National Park http://www.nps.gov/arch/pphtml/forkids.html

 

 

 

Evaluation

 

Your poster will be evaluated on both individual and teamwork effort. Each person will be graded individually and points will be awarded for teamwork.

 

 

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

Outstanding

4

Score

The student worked well with their team.

The student did not work with their team.

The student worked well with their team for some parts of the assignment.

The student worked well with their team most of the time.

The student always worked well with their team.

 

The student completed and turned in all steps of the process (notes, draft, final product)

The student did not turn in their notes and rough draft.

Notes and/or a rough draft were minimal with some parts missing.

The student turned in notes and a rough draft.

Notes were detailed and the rough draft was complete.

 

The content of the student’s paragraph and illustration are correct.

The student’s work contained inaccurate information.

The student’s work was mostly accurate, but had minor errors.

The student’s work was accurate.

The student’s work was accurate and included information beyond basic requirements.

 

The final product was neat with correct grammar and spelling.

The student’s final product was not neat and had grammar and spelling errors that affected the readers' understanding of the content.

The student’s final product had occasional errors of neatness or grammar and spelling, but was understandable.

The student’s final product was mostly neat and correctly edited for grammar and spelling.

The final product was neat without grammar or spelling mistakes.

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Thank you for your hard work! You should now know all about the three types of erosion that affect the landscape of the Earth. If your group is chosen for the capitol, you should be able to accurately describe all the information displayed on the poster!