4.ESS.3: The surface of Earth changes due to erosion and deposition

Rocks and Erosion: How Land Changes Shape Grade 4

Why some rocks scratch and some fizz, how a trickle of water carves a canyon, what keeps a hillside in place, and how a boulder ends up as sand. Four hands-on lessons on rocks, weathering and erosion.

• Can water carve a canyon? 50–60 min

  Students build a stream table in a foil pan of damp sand, let a steady trickle of 'rain' run down a gentle slope and a steep one, and measure the channel each time. They use the measurements to explain how running water carves valleys and canyons and drops sand where it slows down.

• What protects a hillside from washing away? 55–60 min

  Teams build model hillsides of soil in foil pans, some bare, some covered with leaves or mulch and some held together with string 'roots', then make it rain on each one the same way. They measure the runoff and the mud it carries, and recommend the best way to protect a real slope.

Printable practice for 4.ESS.3

These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to 4.ESS.3 is partial.

• Rocks and Erosion: How Land Changes Shape workbook included with the unit

  4 readings, 3 English-support pages, 3 practice pages, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Living with Water: Salt, Rice and the Mekong workbook included with the unit

  4 readings, 2 practice pages, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Restless Earth: Fossils, Soils, Volcanoes and Plates workbook included with the unit

  1 word wall, 1 English-support page, 1 practice page, 1 reading, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

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