Erosion, Valleys, and Canyons

This lesson has 2 parts! First, you will learn a little bit about how water erodes the land, and set up an experiment to see if still-water or moving-water is better at causing erosion.

After you do the experiment, you’ll learn more about erosion, how it molded Earth’s surface, and how it created some of the interesting landforms we have today. Then, you’ll get to make a model of a canyon, and watch it form right in front of you before researching real-world canyons and valleys to find out how they formed!

Related topics and things you might want to know already:

All of the Work of Water, but especially the following lessons:

• The River
• Sedimentation

What you’ll learn:

• How water erodes the land.
• Whether still-water or moving-water is better at eroding the land.
• What types of landforms are created by river erosion.

Pre-lesson discussion questions:

• Do you remember anything about the work of the river?
• Do you remember anything about sedimentation?