a joint degree program between the
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES and
THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
Soil Erosion: Getting Washed Away in Indiana. How Bad Could it be? (PDF) (WORD)
Grades 9-12
Orvil L. White, Indiana University School of Education
Table of Contents |
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| I. | Introduction to the 5-E learning cycle. (This is for those who may not be familiar with this type of lesson design.) |
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| II | Rationale for teaching | |||||
| III | Teaching background information. (For use in the Explain and Extend parts of the lessons) |
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| A. Defining the problem | ||||||
| a. Soil erosion | ||||||
| b. Soil erodibility | ||||||
| c. Forms of erosion | ||||||
| B. | Factors affecting amounts of so8il erosion | |||||
| a. concentrations and types of vegetation | ||||||
| i. | the importance of plants | |||||
| ii. | the effects of plants | |||||
| b. slope | ||||||
| c. rainfall | ||||||
| d. soil grain size | ||||||
| e. human activities | ||||||
| C. | Effects of erosion | |||||
| a. erosion by water | ||||||
| i. | sheet and rill erosion | |||||
| ii. | gully erosion | |||||
| iii. | stream and ditch bank erosion | |||||
| b. erosion by wind | ||||||
| c. resulting effects | ||||||
| i. | on-site effects | |||||
| ii. | off-site effects | |||||
| D. | Soil erosion in agricultural areas | |||||
| a. reducing soil erosion | ||||||
| b. historical perspectives | ||||||
| E. | Preventing erosion and conservation measures | |||||
| F. | Measuring water clarity in still water | |||||
| IV | Meeting the education standards | |||||
| A. | Indiana Education Standards (Science) | |||||
| B. | Indiana Education Standards (U.S. History) | |||||
| C. | National Science Standards | |||||
| D. | Principles for School Mathematics | |||||
| E. | North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) | |||||
| V. | Unit Goals and Objectives | |||||
| VI. | Timeline of unit lessons (These will follow the learning cycle and will be a series of the ‘Explore’ and ‘Explain’ parts and the unit can last from 5 to 10 days based on the number of the ‘Extend’ activities used and the number of days devoted to research and reporting.) | |||||
| A. | Day 1 | |||||
| a. Explore 1 (What happens to the materials carried away by rivers?) | ||||||
| b. Explore 2 (How do the rivers change over time? What factors lead to these changes? This part will be done in 3 stages). |
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| B. | Day 2 | |||||
| a. Explore 3 (What other landforms are created due to erosion?) | ||||||
| b. Explore 4 (What other factors contribute to the movement of earth materials?) | ||||||
| C. | Day 3 Extend Activities (One or all may be used and this will allow the extension of the unit to more than 5 days). | |||||
| a. School yard survey | ||||||
| b. Map surveys | ||||||
| c. Measuring water quality using a Secchi disk | ||||||
| i. | on the lake | |||||
| ii. | modeling in the classroom | |||||
| D. | Day 4 Research and Writing | |||||
| E. | Day 5 Research Reports | |||||
| VII. | Evaluation Rubrics | |||||
| A. | Participation | |||||
| B. | Written report | |||||
| C. | Oral report | |||||
| VIII. | Required materials | |||||
| IX. | Safety considerations | |||||
| X. | Appendices | |||||
| A. | Sketch sheet for schoolyard erosion | |||||
| B. | Sample of student sketches | |||||
| C. | Using a Secchi disk | |||||
| D. | Measuring water clarity with a Secchi disk bottle | |||||
| E. | Evaluation Rubrics | |||||
| F. | References | |||||