HOW DOES EARTH CHANGE? Unit 5: Physical Features of the Earth Lesson 11 — Grades K-1 INSTRUCTIONS REACH Overview In this lesson students will learn how water can change the land and cause erosion. Objectives On successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to: • describe how water changes the land; and • observe local erosion caused by moving water. Alaska Standards Alaska Science Standards [A] A student should understand and be able to apply the processes and applications of scientific inquiry. A student who meets the content standard should: [A.1] develop an understanding of the processes of science used to investigate problems, design and conduct repeatable scientific investigations, and defend scientific arguments. [D] A student should understand and be able to apply the concepts, processes, theories, models, evidence, and systems of earth and space sciences. A student who meets the content standard should: [D.2] develop an understanding of the origins, ongoing processes, and forces that shape the structure, composition, and physical history of the Earth. Alaska Cultural Standards [D] Culturally knowledgeable students are able to engage effectively in learning activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning. Students who meet this cultural standard are able to: [D.3] interact with Elders in a loving and respectful way that demonstrates an appreciation of their role as culture-bearers and educators in the community [E] Culturally knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the relationships and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them. Students who meet this cultural standard are able to: [E.2] understand the ecology and geography of the bioregion they inhabit. REACH ©2013 K-12 Outreach, UA 1 HOW DOES EARTH CHANGE? Unit 5: Physical Features of the Earth Lesson 11 — Grades K-1 INSTRUCTIONS REACH Bering Strait School District Scope & Sequence 1st grade sequence #5: Physical Features of the Earth C. Understands that the earth can be changed by the action of water. D. Use scientific processes to directly support the concepts of the physical features of the earth. Materials • Science journal with 3-5 pages of blank paper for each student • Pencil, crayons, colored pencils Additional Resources Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean (Let’s Read and Find Out Science 2) by Arthur Dorros The Mystery of the Round Rock by Mark Meierhenry and David Volk Erosion: Changing Earth’s Surface (Amazing Science) by Robin Koontz Cracking Up: A Story About Erosion (Science Works) by Jacqui Bailey Grand Canyon by Linda Vieira Activity Preparations 1. Invite a culture bearer to visit the classroom and talk to the students. Meet with the person to discuss what the lesson will be about and what you would like them to talk about. 2. Review Whole Picture section of the lesson for teacher background information. Whole Picture There are several types of erosion that take place in the Bering Strait region. There is erosion from water flowing in streams and rivers during warm months of the year along with erosion during breakup of frozen waterways in the spring. The decline of sea ice is a big factor in erosion of coastal areas. Perhaps the most striking of changes in the water bodies of BSSD come in changes to river, lake, and sea ice. Throughout the region, people have noticed “later freeze-up in fall and earlier breakup in spring; thinner, less reliable river ice; the disappearance of cikullaq, newly frozen ice that in the past formed along open water in cold weather; rougher sea ice along the coast due to freeze-up following fall storms; and fewer evunret (piled ice) as well as evunret appearing in places where they were not previously seen” (Fienup- REACH ©2013 K-12 Outreach, UA 2 HOW DOES EARTH CHANGE? Unit 5: Physical Features of the Earth Lesson 11 — Grades K-1 INSTRUCTIONS REACH Riordan and Rearden, 2012, p.41). These dramatic changes are making it more and more difficult for people to depend on the knowledge passed down through the generations to ensure a successful harvest and food supplies for the winter. In Savoonga, Perry Pungowiyi explained that in the past, the spring whaling season lasted from around the beginning of April through May, but lately, the conditions have only provided for a couple of days of hunting. Others, like respected hunter Chester Noongwook have explained their trepidation at these changes: “I am concerned about this happening … Hunting is different, too because of this changing weather and ice. And the animals are different because they are living along with the ice, like the bowheads, walruses, seals, polar bears, maklaks (bearded seals). They all [used to] come close to our island because of the ice” (Krupnik and Jolly, 2002, p. 189). To make matters worse, the sea ice now forms in patches, where once it was solid and extended outward to the sea. The lack of sturdy sea ice affects not only peoples’ ability to hunt safely, but also animal behavior and predictability. As the ice becomes less stable, hunters must travel farther and farther into the sea to find them (a prospect that is both difficult and dangerous). Especially in those communities where most of their food comes from marine mammals, changes to ocean currents and ice mean changes in life ways. As George Noongwook puts it, “Now, we have to learn new ways of doing things in terms of getting food, because of the changes that are happening” (Noongwook, 2010). Near-shore sea ice cover protects coastal villages from storm surges and erosion; in recent years, increases in the frequency and severity of storms and the resulting erosion has some villages in the Bering Strait region expressing concern about rapidly- encroaching coastlines. (SeaWeb, “Climate Change in Alaska and the Western Arctic”, Ocean Issue Brief). “The land is going away,” said Shelton Kokeok, 65, whose home is on the tip of a bluff that’s been melting in part because of climate change. “I think it’s going to vanish one of these days.” Coastal erosion has been an issue for decades here, but rising global temperatures have started to thaw the permafrost that once helped anchor this village in place. Sea ice that protects Shishmaref’s coast from erosion melts earlier in the spring and forms later in the fall. As a result, the increasingly mushy and exposed soil along Shishmaref’s shore is falling into the water in snowmobile-sized chunks. The crumbling land already toppled one house into the sea. Thirteen other homes -- nearly all of the Kokeoks’ neighbors -- had to be moved inland. The land they stood on washed away. Now the Kokeoks’ wooden residence, which Shelton built by hand 20 years ago, stands alone -- only feet from the edge of this barrier island (Sutter, 2009). REACH ©2013 K-12 Outreach, UA 3 HOW DOES EARTH CHANGE? Unit 5: Physical Features of the Earth Lesson 11 — Grades K-1 INSTRUCTIONS REACH Vocabulary erosion when moving water changes the land by carrying rocks and soil to new places Activity Procedure Part 1 1. Ask students what they know about erosion and moving water. List responses on the board. Write the definition of erosion on the board and discuss it. Ask students where they have seen erosion in their local area and describe it. List the examples given on the board. Make sure students understand that changes caused by erosion can happen slowly or quickly; list additional examples if necessary. 2. Ask a culture bearer to visit the classroom and describe how the changes in sea ice have affected the local area (eroding of land where structures and villages sit, animal behavior, hunting, fishing, whaling, plant gathering, etc.). Part 2 1. Tell students that they will be going outside to observe local erosion caused by moving water. Working with a partner, students will find examples of erosion. Remind students this could be along a stream or riverbank or the shore along a bay, open lake or the ocean. Each student will draw what they observe in their science journal using the pencils, crayons and/or colored pencils provided. When the task is completed, have students share what they observed with the class. Extension Activities • Choose the same local area to make observations during each season. Draw and describe any changes made to the land (erosion) by moving water . • Watch a DVD or video from the Internet about the Grand Canyon, Bryce or Zion National Parks that shows and discusses erosion. REACH ©2013 K-12 Outreach, UA 4 HOW DOES EARTH CHANGE? Unit 5: Physical Features of the Earth Lesson 11 — Grades K-1 INSTRUCTIONS REACH References Fienup-Riordan, Ann, and Alice Rearden. (2012) Ellavut: Our Yup’ik World and Weather. Continuity and change on the Bearing Sea Coast. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. Krupnik, Igor, and Daynna Jolly. (2002). The Earth is Faster Now: Indigenous Observations of Arctic Environmental Change. Arctic Research Consortium of the United States and Smithsonian Institution Presses. Noongwook, George. (2010). “Overview of Impacts from Savoonga.” Stories About Adaptation and Subsistence: Native Voices from the Frontlines of Climate Change. Aksik. Accessed from: http://aksik.org/content/2010-overview-impacts. SeaWeb (date unknown). “Climate Change in Alaska and the Western Arctic” Ocean Issue Brief. Accessed from: www.SeaWeb.org Sutter, John D.,CNN (December 2009). “Climate Change Threatens Life in Shishmaref, Alaska”. Accessed from: www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science12/03/shishmaref.alaska.climate.change/index. html?eref=rss_tech REACH ©2013 K-12 Outreach, UA 5.