Gravity...

Sorry it's been awhile. With the newest addition to the family, the usual schedule has been flipped upside down, turned inside out, and spun for a loop! I've added a Science Fun section along the right of the blog here for you to enjoy some fun science experiments at home of your own for the fun of it. Check it, I'd love to hear or see what you do and what you think!

We've been talking about weathering and erosion in Science class. We recently had an assignment in class that the students will use as a study guide for their test. The question was written as follows:

"How does gravity contribute to the weathering of steep mountain slopes?"

Some of my favorite responses?

Student A: "The steepness."

Student B: "Because gravity has air."

Student C: "It makes the rocks go up." (This was my favorite by far)

Then you get a response like this:
"Gravity contributes to the weathering of a mountain by doing several things. As water moves down the mountain and picks up sediment, gravity makes the water flow more quickly down the mountain side and causes quicker weathering. Also, if a rock falls off a mountain gravity causes it to impact the rocks below with more force than a rocks that gently tumbles down a slope. This also increases the weathering rate."

It can be very challenging to try to set up a lesson that both challenges your students who could write the science book, and those that still don't know they're in science class! But I'm glad I have both in class because it makes my day much more interesting...