05 Weathering and Erosion
👩🏫 Teacher’s Guide
Objective
Students will differentiate weathering and erosion and explain how they reshape landforms.
Vocabulary
landform, weathering, erosion, gravity, sediment, deposit
Teaching Notes
- Start with a quick demo or model to visualize the concept.
- Pre-teach key vocabulary with gestures or sketches.
- Prompt students to predict, observe, and explain in full sentences.
- Check for understanding using either/or and short-answer prompts.
🧒 Student Worksheet
Concept and Helping Material
No videos found.
Definition. Weathering breaks rock; erosion moves it. Together they change landscapes over time.
Helping ideas and samples:
- Try a quick sort, draw-and-label, or compare-and-contrast.
- Name one place you see this idea at home or at school.
- Safety: follow teacher directions and handle materials carefully.
Vocabulary and Definition
- — a natural feature of Earth’s surface
- — breaking down of rock by wind or water
- — moving of rock and soil by water, wind, ice, or gravity
- — force pulling objects toward Earth
- — small pieces of rock and minerals
- — to lay down material carried by wind, water, or ice
Words to Learn
, , , , ,
Sentences to Fill In
1. Waves that smooth rocks are an example of .
2. A river carrying sand downstream shows .
3. Small pieces of rock are called .
4. When sediment is laid down it is .
5. A canyon is a kind of .
Hands-On Experiment or Activities
What You Need: simple classroom items.
What You Do: Sand vs. soil: build small towers of dry and wet sand/soil; test with wind (fan) and water spray to see which resists erosion.
Think and Talk: What changed? What stayed the same?
Reflection
- Which materials resisted wind and water best? Why?
- Where have you seen weathering or erosion near your home?