Erosion Rates Gizmos Worksheet
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School
Howard Community College *
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Course
101
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
6
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Erosion Rates Gizmo
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1.
Erosion
is the removal and movement of soil, rocks, and other materials from one place to another on Earth’s surface. What are some forces that might cause erosion to occur?
Some forces that might cause erosion to occur are precipitation, land forces, and human actiity.
2.
How quickly erosion occurs depends on many factors. In each box of the table below, highlight the choice you think would cause erosion to occur more
quickly.
Hard rocks
Soft rocks
Lots of rain
Little rain
Hot weather
Cold weathe
r
Many plants
Few plants
Gizmo Warm-up
The Erosion Rates Gizmo models erosion in a simulated 3D landscape. Using the Gizmo, you will see how quickly erosion happens and observe the long-term effects of erosion on a landscape.
1.
Click Play
(
). Wait for about 20,000 simulated years, then
click Pause
(
). If you want, you can drag the landscape to
rotate the view. How much does the landscape change? The eroded rock is 0.42km^3. It isn’t much of a change overall but it is still a change in the land's surface area and overall structure.
2.
Click Play
, and wait for another 80,000 years or so. Based on what you see, does erosion tend to occur quickly or slowly? In year 80,000 the amount of eroded rock is 1.11km^3. Based on this, erosion tends to occur slowly as there isn’t much eroded rock.
Explain.
Activity A: Effects of climate on erosion rates
Get the Gizmo ready
: ●
Click Reset
(
). Check that Landscape 1
is shown. (If not, restart the Gizmo.)
●
Select the Pause every 100,000 years checkbox.
Introduction:
Climate
describes the average weather in an area over time. Climate takes into account factors such as temperature and amounts of precipitation
, or how much it rains and snows. Climate also determines what types of vegetation
, or plants, live in a region. In this activity, you will see how climate also affects erosion. Question: How do climate and vegetation affect rates of erosion?
1.
Observe
: The Gizmo shows a simplified model of erosion in a hilly area. Check that the Precipitation is 100 cm/yr (39 in/yr), the Average temperature
is 20 °C (68 °F), and the Vegetation cover
is 50%. Click Play
, wait for 100,000 simulated years, and click Pause
. The amount of eroded rock is measured in cubic kilometers (km
3
). A cubic kilometer is a cube that measures 1 km on each side. How many km
3
of rock were eroded? 2.
Predict
: How do you think precipitation, temperature, and vegetation will affect how quickly rocks are eroded? Fill in each box
with “increase” or “decrease.”
●
As precipitation increases, the rate of erosion will:
.
●
As temperature increases, the rate of erosion will: .
●
As the amount of vegetation increases, the rate of erosion will: .
3.
Experiment
: Click Reset
. Set Precipitation to 10 cm/yr. A.
Click Play
and wait 100,000 years. How much rock was eroded? B.
Click Reset
, and repeat the experiment with the Precipitation set to 200 cm/yr. How much erosion occurred this time? C.
How does precipitation affect the rate of erosion? D.
Why do you think precipitation has this effect? 4.
Experiment
: Click Reset
and Return to original settings
. Use the same procedure to see how temperature and vegetation cover affect the rate of erosion. Fill in your findings below:
●
Erosion with temperature of 5 °C: ●
Erosion with temperature of 35 °C:
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●
Erosion with vegetation of 0%: ●
Erosion with vegetation of 100%: 5.
Draw a conclusion
: What can you conclude about the effects of temperature and vegetation on erosion rates? 6.
Infer
: Weathering
is the breakdown of rock into soil. A.
How does weathering relate to erosion? B.
In general, weathering tends to occur more rapidly in warm climates than in cool climates. How does this trend explain the effect of temperature on erosion rates?
7.
Explain
: Why do you think increasing vegetation slows the rate of erosion? 8.
Compare
: Click Reset and Return to original settings
. Using the Gizmo, create a scenario
where the maximum
amount of erosion happens in 100,000 years. (Note: Do not change the
rock type.) Which Gizmo settings did you choose?
Precipitation: Temperature:
Vegetation: How much erosion occurred in 100,000 years? Click and drag to rotate the landscape. What changes do you notice? Activity B: Rock type and erosion
Get the Gizmo ready
: ●
Click Reset
(
). Check that Landscape 1
is selected and Pause every 100,000 years is on.
Introduction:
Sandstone
is a rock made from cemented grains of sand. It is very hard and is sometimes used in buildings. Shale
is a softer rock made of clay and other tiny particles. In this activity, you will compare the erosion of sandstone to that of shale.
Question: How does rock type affect erosion?
1.
Predict
: Which type of rock do you think will erode more quickly, and why? 2.
Experiment
: In the dropdown menu, select Shale
. Set Precipitation to 200 cm/yr, Average temperature
to 35 °C, and Vegetation cover to 0%. A.
Click Play
and wait 100,000 years. How much rock was eroded? B.
Click Reset
. Select Sandstone
. Click Play and wait 100,000 years. How much erosion occurred this time?
C.
How did the results compare to your prediction? 3.
Explore
: With Sandstone still selected, click Play
and wait 200,000 years. After the simulation pauses, rotate the landscape to see the features that were formed.
A.
What evidence do you see that water has eroded the landscape? B.
Rotate the landscape to show the largest valley
that forms. Click the Camera
(
) at
upper right to take a snapshot. Right-click the image, select Copy
, and then paste the image below:
C.
Click Reset
. Select Shale
and play the simulation for about 125,000 years. (This length of time results in about the same volume of eroded rock as 200,000 years of sandstone erosion.) Take a snapshot and paste the image below:
D.
Compare the two images. What do you notice? Hard rocks such as sandstone and limestone tend to form deep canyons and steep cliffs. Softer rocks such as shale erode into wider valleys with more gentle slopes. In places like the Grand Canyon, you can recognize the high cliffs formed from sandstone and limestone and the broad slopes formed by layers of shale.
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