4th Grade Unit Plan
Changes to Earth’s Surface- Weathering, Erosion, and Rapid Process Changes
This is a unit plan to cover different types of weathering, erosion, and events which cause rapid changes
to Earth’s surface. All activities can be used, or the teacher can pick and choose to make a shorter unit.
NC Essential Standard: 4.E.2.3 Give examples of how the surface of the earth changes due to slow
processes such as erosion and weathering, and rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions,
and earthquakes.
Lesson Objective(s): Students will analyze causes of change to earth’s surface and categorize those
changes as either slow or fast processes. Students will investigate and model examples of weathering
and erosion through a variety of lab based stations. Students will research and present information
about rapid processes which cause changes and use that knowledge to create a culminating essay.
Engagement: What events cause changes to earth’s surface? Students will brainstorm causes of surface
change and create a tree diagram to categorize causes of surface change into two groups (slow
processes and rapid processes). Use Flashcards Weathering and Flashcards Erosion from Linda’s eChalk
NCSCOS 2004 page under 5th Grade Goal 2 along with pictures found by teacher of earthquakes,
landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Play matching game with flashcards by matching pictures/definitions
with words.
Exploration/Explanation:
This section of the unit is divided into three distinct sections: weathering, erosion, and rapid processes.
There are explanations and lab based learning experiences that go with each of the three sections. Do
all of the activities or pick and choose several depending on time allotted.
Weathering AIMS lesson “Chalk It Up to Weathering”- test chalk in vinegar, chalk and quartz on sandpaper,
and learn about and sort effects based on the type of weathering that caused them (physical,
chemical, and biological).
 NCDPI Landforms Curriculum Unit from Linda’s NCSCOS 2004 page under 5th Grade- covers
weathering (and erosion) with several stations. Experiments include blowing across sand,
shaking a bottle of water containing sandstone, rubbing ice cubes containing sand over pieces of
stone, freezing a water balloon and plaster of Paris, putting chalk in vinegar, etc.
 Alternate labs- geologyonline.museum.state.il.us activities include putting a sugar cube in a bag
of gravel to show weathering, dropping water from an eye dropper onto a sugar cube, blowing
across a student formed sand dune, etc.
 Colored chalk in a cup of coarse salt- swirl it around a specified number of times and watch the
chalk break down as the salt changes colors
 Copper penny in vinegar to see chemical reaction make the copper shiny


AIMS 2012 book- Radishes Rock Activity to show how plants change earth’s surface
Chocolate Chip Cookie mining- remove chips from a cookie using a toothpick to show how
humans effect the surface of the earth through mining
Erosion AIMS 2012 book- Evidence for Erosion lesson- covers 4 erosion stations with pictures and a
student observation log
 Stream tables from 5th grade FOSS kit for showing erosion and pointing out various landforms
created through erosion (can discuss deposition here if desired)
 Erosion/Vegetation Tag game- Play this game in a wide open grassy area. Assign 2 students to
be pieces of vegetation. “Plant” those students in the center of the grassy area, spaced apart.
They cannot move from that spot, but they can sway in place as needed. All other students are
pieces of sediment. The sediment students will walk through the field and try to get from one
side of the area to the other without being tagged by a vegetation student. If a student is
tagged, he/she must freeze for the remainder of that round. As the rounds of the game
continue, add more vegetation students to show that the more vegetation you plant, the less
sediment is eroded.
 Dust Bowl- Contour Plowing on Linda’s NCSCOS 2004 site under 5th grade- connect this to the
Dust Bowl with passages from Curriculum Associates EOG Practice book, Out of the Dust novel,
Dust Bowl story from the 5th grade Harcourt Reading text, Smart Exchange Dust Bowl/Great
Depression/Out of the Dust lesson, clips from Ken Burns documentary on the Dust Bowl
 AIMS 2012 A Wash Out lesson- a hands-on activity to show how plants and animals are affected
by erosion. Students will build a stream bed to observe the effects of erosion on a tree and a
muskrat’s home.
Rapid Changes- This section will consist of a research project. Students will be divided into pairs or
small groups and assigned a different topic (landslides, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions). The result
of the research project will be a presentation (either multi-media or poster) which will include the
following information:
 Event and definition
 Causes and effects of the event- create a multi-flow map
 Color code positive and negative effects on multi-flow map
 Illustration or model
 Map of where that type of event is most prevalent
 Presentation- students will present whole class or jigsaw style as other students take notes. Use
the multi-flow map to create an essay.
Elaboration Science A to Z- ifiles under Changing Landforms/Erosion- Look at cards illustrating different
types of landforms created by erosion and rapid process events
 Science A to Z- Earth’s Changing Face book
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
fifthgrademtzhicks.weebly.com- online book titled Changes to the Earth’s Surface containing
great photos and information about gravity and avalanches
Literature Connection- Teaching Science Through Trade Books
o Earthquakes by Ellen Prager
o Earthquakes by Seymour Simon
EvaluationFormative Assessments can be found in the following books:
 Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Vol.1
o Beach Sand p163
o Mountain Age p169
 Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Vol.2
o Mountaintop Fossil p165- formation of mountains/use after teaching both fossil
formation and earth changing processes
Vocabulary:
Weathering (physical, chemical, biological)
Erosion
Glacier
Sediment
Vegetation
Deposition
Soil
Landslide
Earthquake
Volcanic eruption
Corrosion
Decompose
Dissolve
Gravity
Acid/acid rain
Process
Surface
Volcano
Lava