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Distance Learning Uncategorized Young Naturalists Club

Caves and Rock Shelters: a Virtual Field Trip

A caver sits by an underground lake in Wind Cave. NPS Photo.

How are caves made? On this week’s virtual field trip, we’ll ask a Cave Interpreter about it! Then we’ll visit a “rock shelter” right here in southeast Ohio. It turns out that our rock shelters were formed in a completely different way than underground caves most people know about.

Sometimes we call rock shelters “caves.” For example

Old Man’s Cave in the Hocking Hills is actually an example of a rock shelter, not a true cave. Photo: Daveynin
CHOICES FOR LEARNING ABOUT CAVES AND ROCK SHELTERS

Attend the virtual field trip, Friday, Nov. 6 at 10:30. See Wind Cave and an Ohio rock shelter.

Learn about erosion and rock formations in Hocking Hills: Watch these fun videos from Camp Oty’Okwa.

Virtual Field Trip: Friday, Nov. 6 at 10:30 am

Friday, October 23, 10:30am

Every Friday from 10:30 to 11:15 am, we hold a Zoom call live from the woods. This week, we’ll meet a Cave Interpreter, and visit a rock shelter here in Southeast Ohio.

If you haven’t registered for our fall field trips yet, visit here:

You’ll receive the Zoom link for our virtual field trips in your email.

~~We’ll post the recording of the field trip here the following Monday~~

Inside Wind Cave. NPS Photo.

Long Live Rock (Shelters)! The story of the Hocking Hills

First, let’s take a big jump back in time. Can you imagine most of Ohio covered in ice? Millions of years ago, it was! 

A glacier is a huge, slow-moving sheet of ice. As glaciers moved across the land, they left their mark on the landscape. Many of Ohio’s landforms, which are features that you can see on the surface of the Earth, were created by glaciers.

Argentina: Glaciers | Evaneos
This is a glacier in Argentina

If you live in southeast Ohio, you live in the part of Ohio that is “unglaciated” . That just means the glacier didn’t go through that area. Take a journey with Miranda to see some of southeast Ohio’s geology and how it was created. 

Miranda introduces us to a cool sandstone rock formation in the Hocking Hills. What used to be there millions of years ago that deposited that sand?

The structure in the video is commonly called a rock shelter. A rock shelter is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. This is different from other landforms such as caves because it doesn’t go underground. In the next video

Kauf von Zithromax online
, we will see a fun example of how a structure like this is created.

Miranda shows us how rock turned into this rock shelter.

In this next video we will explore what erosion, weathering, and deposition and what their impact on the land is. Here is a chart that explains each:

So now we know what weathering is! Let’s explore the 3 different kinds of weathering. 

Here are some examples to think about:

Physical weathering: rust on a tool that was left outside

Biological weathering: weeds coming up through a sidewalk

Chemical weathering: old gravestones disintegrating 

In the second video, we did the Oreo cookie example. Miranda talked about how some of the rock was softer than the other. Click on the next video to see a cool experiment with some of the rocks from the rock shelter.

Thank you for watching! Make sure you go out and practice spotting erosion, weathering, and deposition in your area!


Art Activity: Draw what you learned

  •  Using what you learned in the lesson, draw a picture that includes weathering, erosion, and depositions and as many landforms as you want. Make sure everything is labeled. I attached my example: 
Miranda's drawing of different landforms and how they are forming.

On Your Own: Take an Erosion Walk!

Now that you’ve learned about how rocks change, it’s time to take a walk outside! Erosion and weathering doesn’t always look like big rock shelters or cliffs. It can also happen to the soil in your yard, along sidewalks or construction sites, on the edges of creeks…any soil or rock might be affected!

Review some of the words you learned above, and hunt for signs of:

  • erosion
  • physical weathering
  • biological weathering
  • chemical weathering
  • deposition.

Tell us what you find or share a photo in the comments!

Categories
Distance Learning Units for Teachers

Landforms, Weathering, Erosion, Oh My!

Objectives

  1. Students will be able to identify different landforms
  2. Students will investigate weathering, erosion, and deposition 
  3. Students will be able to explain different types of weathering 

Direct connection to learning standard(s):

  • 4.ESS.1: Earth’s surface has specific characteristics and landforms that can be identified. 
  • 4.ESS.2: The surface of Earth changes due to weathering.
  • 4.ESS.3: The surface of Earth changes due to erosion and deposition.

Intro: A landform is a natural feature of the earth’s surface. Examples include: oceans, rivers, valleys, plateaus, mountains, plains, hills and glaciers.

KWL      

No internet required Remote learning In classroom

What I already know about landforms
What I wonder about landformsWhat I learned about landforms
(Write your thoughts here before doing the activities)(Write your thoughts here before doing the activities) (Write your thoughts here after doing the activities)













  • Draw a chart like the one above, and write down your ideas before doing the activities.

Create landforms with clay

In Classroom

Landform dictionary

No internet required Remote learning In classroom

Step 1: Get at least 3 pieces of paper to make a mini dictionary of the terms from this lesson.

Step 2: Fold your papers in half to create a booklet. Staple them on the sides.

Step 3: Title the booklet “Landform Dictionary” or something similar.

Step 4: Create a page for each vocabulary word and write the definitions. Include a drawing with each landform. 

Step 5: More in depth: Create one for just Ohio landforms.

Key

  • Mountain: rises above the surrounding land in a limited area , usually in the form of a peak.
  • Volcano: an opening in the earth’s crust through which lava, ash, and gases escape.
  • Island: a piece of land surrounded by water.
  • Hill: a naturally raised area of land, not as high or craggy as a mountain.
  • Ocean: the whole body of salt water that covers nearly three fourths of the surface of the earth.
  • River: is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater.
  • Valley: a lower part in the land, between two higher parts which might be hills or mountains.
  • Plateau: a flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. 
  • Peninsula: an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for one part connecting it with the mainland.
  • Canyon: a deep narrow valley with steep sides and often with a stream flowing through it.
  • Plains: a large area of flat land with few trees.
  • Lake: a large body of water surrounded by land.
  • Desert:  a dry, hot, sandy, usually barren and uninhabited area.

Test your knowledge with an online worksheet


Learn: Recognize Ohio Landforms in the Hocking Hills

Sense of place: Now that we can recognize different landforms from all over our planet, let’s dig into some Ohio landforms!

First, let’s take a big jump back in time. Can you imagine most of Ohio covered in ice? Millions of years ago, it was! 

A glacier is a huge, slow-moving sheet of ice. As glaciers moved across the land, they left their mark on the landscape. Many of Ohio’s landforms, which are features that you can see on the surface of the Earth, were created by glaciers.

Argentina: Glaciers | Evaneos
This is a glacier in Argentina

If you live in southeast Ohio, you live in the part of Ohio that is “unglaciated” . That just means the glacier didn’t go through that area. Take a journey with Miranda to see some of southeast Ohio’s geology and how it was created. 

Miranda introduces us to a cool sandstone rock formation in the Hocking Hills. What used to be there millions of years ago that deposited that sand?

The structure in the video is commonly called a rock shelter. A rock shelter is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. This is different from other landforms such as caves because it doesn’t go underground. In the next video, we will see a fun example of how a structure like this is created.

Miranda shows us how rock turned into this rock shelter.

In this next video we will explore what erosion, weathering, and deposition and what their impact on the land is. Here is a chart that explains each:

So now we know what weathering is! Let’s explore the 3 different kinds of weathering. 

Here are some examples to think about:

Physical weathering: rust on a tool that was left outside

Biological weathering: weeds coming up through a sidewalk

Chemical weathering: old gravestones disintegrating 

In the second video, we did the Oreo cookie example. Miranda talked about how some of the rock was softer than the other. Click on the next video to see a cool experiment with some of the rocks from the rock shelter.

Thank you for watching! Make sure you go out and practice spotting erosion, weathering, and deposition in your area!


Art Activity: Draw what you learned

  •  Using what you learned in the lesson, draw a picture that includes weathering, erosion, and depositions and as many landforms as you want. Make sure everything is labeled. I attached my example: 
Miranda's drawing of different landforms and how they are forming.