Soil Unit Part 1: Weathering

This unit bundle contains 6 lessons (50 minutes each) and a 12 page work bundle that chronologically follows the entire unit. Students and teacher follow a highly visual slideshow road map that includes important fill-in notes (red slides), video and academic links, questions and answers, conduct exciting hands-on activities, such as creating an obelisk where they etch hieroglyphics out of chalk, and then drizzle vinegar over it with eye droppers, to observe chemical weathering, also includes games, crossword puzzle, end of the the bundle assessment, and much more. This bundle converts nicely to google classroom and also includes both a printed and digital version of the work bundle if working remote or posting to Google Classroom. Everything you need to run a fantastic unit is provided.

This PowerPoint begins with an activity where students are given a piece of chalk and tool (butter knife works well or edge of ruler) and they break a piece of chalk down (Inside a Petri-dish or plate) until it is tiny particles / dust size. The question of how soil is formed is framed before the activity. Weathering is then defined over a series of slides. Erosion and Deposition are also described with visuals. A series of visual slides uses all three terms, weathering, erosion, and deposition. A video link is provided for a quick review. Mechanical weathering is then described and examples of mechanical weathering are shown one at a time with supportive visuals (water, sheeting / exfoliation, Ice wedging / frost wedging, thermal expansion, root wedging, animal activity, human causes, wind weathering) Challenge questions follow each which require the students to choose the correct cause of mechanical weathering between two pictures. A brief segment to ice wedging is shown, the expansion of water in its solid state and the demise of the Old Man of the Mountain in New Hampshire among other examples. A weathering field trip is framed that has the students walk around the outside of the building and look for examples of weathering. My school is really old as are all of the sidewalks so pointing out lots of examples is easy. If you teach in a brand new school it might be more difficult so scope out the area in advance. Chemical weathering is then described and its causes. The factors that control the rate of chemical weathering are provided. Examples of types of chemical weathering are shown with supportive visuals in a step by step approach. A neat activity that includes a link to a video that takes your class through a neat activity about chemical weathering. The activity frames Cleopatra's Needles in NYC. Your students scratch in words onto a piece of chalk. Then students use an eye dropper and vinegar. The piece of chalk wears away chemically. Stalagmites and stalactites are briefly discussed as to which is which and how they are formed. An activity with instructions describes how to grow them over a couple of days using some jars, epsom salt and yarn. Sources of chemical weathering are shown and a link to a fun but educational video about rocks and lichens is provided. A connection to rates of weathering and comparison of Earth to Mars is described. The synergism between mechanical and chemical weathering is described over a series of slides. How surface area effects the rate of weathering wraps up this part of the PowerPoint. A concluding activity has students drop Alka-Seltzer tablets into separate glasses of water all at the same time. They drop a whole tablet, tablet broken into 4 pieces, tablet broken into 16 pieces, and one tablet that has been crushed into dust all at once. They record the time it takes to dissolve. Mass movement of Earthen materials is also presented describing mudslides and landslides with some links to great videos. Sinkholes are covered with some great shots of the Great Blue Sinkhole in Belize, and Slump and soil creep is described. A neat play on Bigfoot is provided with bent trees. Soil creep is re-explained and the Bigfoot hoax revealed. Questions and answers follow the activity. A nice 1-10 visual quiz has students recall information from the lesson. Answers are revealed at the end. A series of hidden box games conclude this PowerPoint that have the student guess a relevant picture. Each slide removes boxes above and the picture becomes more clear. This is a really neat PowerPoint that is full of great hands-on activities. A 125+ slide PowerPoint review game covers all of the important parts of the unit. I have the students work in groups and use their journal. An answer key follows the review game and the question is shown one more time before the answer is revealed so the teacher can call upon students. This PowerPoint balances fun activities with bring it back to the center learning. Challenge questions and visuals are spread throughout.