Erode Your Own Canyon
LEVEL
Ages: general audiences
RATIONALE
The Colorado Plateau is famous for its beautiful red rock canyons carved into solid bedrock over millions of years. Water is a very effective agent of erosion and given enough time, can strip unimaginable amounts of rock and soil from a landscape causing drastic change. In this activity, students can make their own “Grand Canyon”
LENGTH An hour, in advance, to prepare the roll.
10-15 minutes for demonstration, plus 10 minutes or so to re-roll.
MATERIALS
PROCEDURE
Step 1: Place the board on the ground. This experiment is best performed outside because it will result in soil washing off the board.
Step 2: Place a thin layer of soil over the entire board. The soil should be about 1 inch deep for this experiment.
Step 3: Tilt up the board so it is not level. One end of the board should be 3 to 4 inches (75 to 100 mm) higher than the other end. Use some of the extra soil or some rocks under one end to prop it up.
Step 4: Cut a 1/2 inch (13 mm) diameter hole in the bottom of the milk jug using the scissors. The hole does not need to be perfectly round, but the size should be close to 1/2 inch (13 mm).
Step 5: Plug the hole in the milk jug using a small piece of clay so the jug holds water.
Step 6: Fill the milk jug with water.
Step 7: Place the milk jug filled with water on the high side of the board.
Step 8: Release the water by removing the piece of clay from the opening in the bottom of the jug.
Step 9: Observe what happens to the soil on the board.
Notice how the water channelizes and carves a narrow cut into the soil “landscape.” If carved into rock, this cut is called a canyon.
Exercise 8 – Life Forms (Advanced School Activity )
Life on Earth is thought to have started 3.8 billion years ago. Most species of organisms that have lived on the planet have gone extinct.
For today’s exercise Students are asked to establish: