CECsci.141


TITLE:    Mountain Building

AUTHOR:   Tom Walker, White City Intermediate,
          White City, OR

GRADE LEVEL:   Grades 4 and up

OVERVIEW:  This activity was a part of a series of
lessons in a continuing study of Change.  It was
designed to give the students hands-on experience
manipulating and controlling some of the variables in
one type of Change, soil erosion.

OBJECTIVES:
1)   The learners will identify variables that
     influence rates of change.
2)   The learners will, through group consensus and
     using the assigned materials, design and build
     what they believe to be the strongest mountain
     possible.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: dish pans, potting soil, rocks,
sand, water, watering can, building plan sheets.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
     The teacher will begin by dividing the class into seven
groups.  (For the sake of saving time the terrarium
study groups may be used.)  The teacher will explain to
the class as a whole that their task will be to build a
mountain in their dish pan that can withstand the
effects of having a watering can emptied out on it.
Two groups must use sand as their building medium, two
groups must use potting soil as their building medium,
two groups must use rocks as their building medium and
the last group will be allowed to use any combination
of materials that they see fit.  All the groups may use
creative extras to complete their mountains but the
main structure must be made from their assigned
materials.
     The groups should be allowed 10-15 minutes to come up
with a building plan before they begin.
     When all groups are finished they will gather with
their mountains and under go the erosion test.  The
teacher  will fill a watering can and pour it over each
mountain in turn.  During the erosion testing each
group should share their building strategies and
theories with the rest of the class.
     The activity will end with a discussion and group
planning session to design the ultimate, ever-lasting
mountain.
     Questions to think about:  "Why did some of the
mountains erode more than others?"  "What are the
variables involved in the structure of a mountain?"
"How can these variables affect the rate of mountain
erosion?"  "Can people change the erosion rate of a
real mountain?"  "How?"  "How did our mountains change
during the erosion?"  "What ways did they stay the
same?"