Our Amazing Earth
A Classrooms Unleashed Program
for Fourth Grade Students
Students become geologists and explore how the Earth’s surface can change over time. In the classroom, students will discover the causes of weathering and its effects on the Earth. Students will investigate the effects of weathering using evidence from hands-on simulations with rock samples, photos, and models. Students are introduced to the concept of erosion and are invited to explore its impact on the environment. The field trip will allow students to apply their knowledge by observing weathering and erosion in action.
All of our lessons are backward designed from Next Generation Science Standards for fourth grade. In addition to the Sierra Nevada Journeys-led lessons, classroom teachers will be provided with 3-4 easy-to-use learning experiences to reinforce concepts and vocabulary, as well as pre- and post-assessments.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Classroom LessoN: WEATHERING and Erosion
Fourth-grade geologists use hands-on simulations to discover the concept of weathering and investigate the causes and effects this natural process has on rocks.
Students explore how different factors affect the rate of erosion. Then, they will use their understanding of how sediment moves to collaboratively build a landscape with the goal of increasing or decreasing the rate of erosion.
Outdoors at a local nature area: WEATHERING AND EROSION IN THE REAL WORLD
This field study at a nearby park or preserve has your geologists practicing their observation skills to explore the outdoors and use what they’ve learned about weathering and erosion to investigate and interpret the causes of observed changes to the landscape.
Field Trip Locations:
Deer Creek Hills Nature Preserve, Sloughhouse, CA (Primary site)
River Bend Park, Sacramento, CA (Alternative site during flood season)
Galena Creek Regional Park, Reno, NV (Primary site)
Sun Valley Regional Parks, Sun Valley, NV (Alternative site during snow season)
TEACHER INFORMATION
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
4-ESS2-1: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems. Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around.
In partnership with:
