How Can We Keep Land From Washing Away?
How Can We Keep Land from Washing Away? is part of Smithsonian Science for the Classroom, a curriculum series by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. It is designed to address a bundle of grade 2 engineering and earth and space science standards. In this module, students:
- Gather information to better understand a land-change situation and define a problem to solve
- Make observations to provide evidence to explain if wind and water can change the shape of the land
- Obtain additional evidence from a construction site and from a nonfiction text to support their explanation of land change over different time scales
- Test and compare models of four methods used to prevent or reduce erosion
- Apply their understanding of wind- and water-induced erosion to a new engineering problem related to land change at a beach setting
Below are digital resources that support teaching of this module.
Family Letter
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Before starting How Can We Keep Land from Washing Away?, share the Family Letter with students’ caregivers. Indicate how they should submit responses to the letter.
Ada Asks Introduction (2:22)
Ada inspires a discussion about making observations and introduces students to a problem-filled situation that just occurred near her school. Closed captioning is available in the YouTube version by clicking the “CC” icon.
Suggested pause:
“Looking is one way I make observations.” (0:29)
Researching Land
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In the extension activity Science: Rock Research, students review tools used to study Earth and changes to Earth.
Land Change Artwork
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In the extension activity Art and Science: Depicting Land and Predicting Change, students review Smithsonian Institution landscape artwork and discuss how wind and/or water might change the land shown.
Construction Time
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This file is used to guide student discussions.
Solution Research
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This file is used to support students during their research about erosion prevention and reduction methods.
Testing Solutions
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This file is used to guide student discussions.
Ada Asks Design Challenge (1:45)
Ada introduces students to the situation that inspires the design challenge. Closed captioning is available in the YouTube version by clicking the “CC” icon.
Suggested pauses:
What were your ideas about how that happened? (0:13)
What do you think they should do to keep the land from changing when they are done building? (0:43)
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Castle Shapes
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In the extension activity Mathematics: Castle Shapes, students analyze the three-dimensional shapes present in castle designs depicted in artwork from the Smithsonian Institution collections.
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