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| Water runoff through vegetation |
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Stream (photo taken by student)
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This week, I implemented an instructional plan using a model of erosion. I took the students to a local stream to look for signs that the water was changing the ground around it. I was thrilled to see the kids even making some observations about the edge of the parking lot surface starting to give way near the stream. We then followed this up with an inquiry activity using an erosion model. The students mixed soil, gravel, and sand in a rectangular foil pan. They raised one end of the pan, and then used a watering can to simulate precipitation. The repeated this process to see the effects of the varying degrees of the slope. They then tried to use the model to answer questions that they had journaled at the stream. I was very pleased to see that the questions were appropriate and showed an understanding of the erosion process. I loved using the model and so did the children. I look forward to discovering more models for the concepts that I teach.
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| Erosion model in action |
Tammi,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great connection between the natural world and an inquiry-based lesson. Did students have questions regarding different variables, such as material being eroded? I could see students trying different sediment types such as sand, silt, clay, or gravel and exploring the differences in erosion. Thanks for sharing your activity!!
Tammi,
ReplyDeleteAmanda has some great questions/ideas. I was also thinking that perhaps as an extension the students could try to prevent erosion in their models using different materials (ie. small rocks, miniature sandbags, etc). Amy