GIZMOS Student Exploration River Erosion

Exam (elaborations) GIZMOS Student Exploration River Erosion Student Exploration: River Erosion Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Vocabulary: cutbank, discharge, erosion, flood, floodplain, meander, meandering river, oxbow lake, point bar, river speed, sediments, slope, streambank, streambed, tributary, weathering Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. The image above shows a raging mountain river in full flood. What do you think is making the water brown in color? Mud from the mountains 2. What impact do you think the flooding river will have on the surrounding landscape? It can damade buildings and electrical systems. Gizmo Warm-up If you stand by the bank of a river, it may seem that very little is happening. But over thousands and even millions of years, rivers can have a profound effect on the landscape. In the River Erosion Gizmo, you will see how rivers move materials and how they affect landscapes. To begin, check that Mountain stream and Short-term erosion are selected. The Gizmo shows a typical stream that is moving through a hilly area. 1. The two movie cameras ( ) allow you to observe different parts of the stream up close. Click on the left movie camera. What do you see? fish swimming over bolders in the river. 2. Sediments are small rock fragments such as sand or pebbles. What evidence do you see that sediments are being transported? where the river is leading to 3. Now select the right movie camera to see the bank of the mountain stream. What is happening to sediments on the bank? they are falling down the river Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :44:25 GMT -05:00 This study resource was shared via CourseH GIZMOS Student Exploration River Erosion Activity A: Mountain streams Get the Gizmo ready: ● Check that Mountain stream and Short-term erosion are selected. ● If necessary, click outside the circle to close the zoomed-in view. Introduction: Erosion occurs when sediments and other materials are moved from one place to another. Along with weathering, which is the breakdown of large rocks into smaller sediments, erosion can have a profound impact on the landscape. Question: How does river erosion affect landscapes in the mountains? 1. Label: First, get to know some of the different parts of a mountain stream. Turn on Show labels. ️Label the image to the right, then fill in the word that goes with each description. A small stream that flows into a larger stream: tributary A place along a stream where water drops straight down: water fall A letter that describes the shape of a typical mountain valley: v shaped The side of a stream: stream bank The bottom of a stream: stream bed 2. Observe: Turn off Show labels. Next to “Release barrel,” click Play ( ). Observe how fast the barrel moves as it floats down the stream. What happens when the barrel goes over the waterfall? speeds up 3. Calculate: The two red flags are 100 meters apart. The time at which the barrel passes the flag is shown. Remember, there are 60 seconds in a minute. A. How many seconds did it take for the barrel to go 100 meters? 3:09 min B. To find the barrel’s speed, use a calculator to divide the distance traveled (100 m) by the time it took the barrel to float 100 m. The units are meters per second (m/s). What is the speed of the barrel? 1.89 m/s Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :44:25 GMT -05:00 This study resource was shared via CourseH 4. Record: Click Reset ( ). Turn on Show data. A. The slope of the channel is how steep it is, or how many meters the streambed drops for every horizontal kilometer. What is the slope of the stream? 22m / km B. River speed is a measure of how fast water flows. What is the river speed? 1.1 m/s C. How does the river speed compare to the speed of the barrel you calculated on the previous page? The barrel was faster than thwe river D. Discharge is the water volume that flows past a given point every second, measured in cubic meters per second (m3/s). What is the stream’s discharge? 2.3 m^3/s E. What types of sediments are transported by this stream? sand,silt,and clay Sediments are classified by size. The smallest sediments are clay particles, followed by silt, sand, and pebbles. Larger sediments include cobbles and boulders. 5. Observe: Turn off Show data. Next to River flow, select Flood. Look at the landscape, and then click on the movie cameras to see zoomed-in views. Describe what you notice below. It shows the river way dirtier than the sediment moving. 6. Calculate: Click Play to release the barrel. How many seconds does it take the barrel to get from one flag to the other? What is the speed of the barrel? Time: 2:04 Speed: 1.24 7. Compare: Turn on Show data. During a flood, how do the river speed, discharge, and transported sediments compare to normal flow conditions? The river speed and discharge is way faster than theirs pebbles now in the river. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :44:25 GMT -05:00 This study res