Classroom Activities
THE LAND: Shaping the Earth
Falconer Dan O'Brien's ranch is near a famous South Dakota landmark – Bear
Butte. Bear Butte – Mato Paha in Lakota – is not truly a flat-topped butte. It
is actually mountain shaped. If you venture even further into the past, you'll find that
ancient seas once covered the area where Bear Butte stands.
The Formation of
Bear Butte
Objective: As a result of this activity, students be able to describe and demonstrate
how different major geological processes shape the physical environment of the earth.
STANDARDS
View the standards correlated with these activities.
STUDENT PRODUCTS:
Group oral presentation with visual aids and 200-word group report.
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES:
Videotape of "Falconer's Memoir" to view prior to beginning unit; research
materials to include library resources, internet resources, textbooks, and content
experts; modeling clay, sand, dirt, water tables, and other materials to build models that
will demonstrate the formation of buttes or other land forms; poster board, markers,
presentation software and hardware, overhead projector, or other materials for students to
make visual aids for group presentation
Check out more about Bear Butte.
Also, more related information about Devil's Tower
in Wyoming.
A variety of activities are provided in the curriculum unit, "The National Parks: Teaching the Geology of America." The
unit has these objectives: to present introductory geologic terminology and concepts; to
develop an understanding of those terms using specific examples found in the National
Parks; to develop an understanding in the student of the vastness and diversity of our
geologic resources; to provide activities and demonstrations to reinforce understanding of
the scientific principles illustrated by geologic process; and, to instill an appreciation
of the value of the National Parks and a sense of pride in their collective ownership of
the Parks. The unit is divided into four major headings; Volcanism, The Mobile Crust,
Erosional Forces, and Social Implications of the Parks and includes terminology, selected
representative parks, and developed classroom activities.
ACTIVITY:
- Upon completion of a unit on geological/physical processes and viewing "Falconer's
Memoir," students will work in small groups to research physical processes such as
those that cause formations like Bear Butte in South Dakota.
"A Falconer’s Memoir" does not specifically address the geological
processes that form buttes and other similar landforms. However, excellent views of Bear
Butte may be seen throughout the video, especially within the first five minutes of the
program.
- Teachers may wish to have students use the following web sites to study the geological
processes:
Geologic
Scenery Images
Illustrates how geology is expressed in the landscape. Images include deposition of layers
and erosion into a canyon, erosion of layers into a mesa and a buttes, tilted layers and
their topographic expression, and others.
Geology Overview of Colorado
Looks at geological periods and formation events (ancient seas, volcanic action,
sedimentary layers, metamorphic layers, igneous layers, glacial leftovers, and erosion.)
Building
Volcano Models
Gives step-by-step instructions for building working models of volcanoes.
- Students may decide to research and report on land formations from their region of the
country. Students' research should include processes such as water and wind erosion,
weather phenomena, volcanic activity, geological shifts, and the advance and retreat of
glaciers.
- Then, each small group will choose to develop either a model project or give an in-class
group presentation that demonstrates how the major earth processes caused the formation of
their chosen landform.
- Each group will also produce a group report of 200-300 words that summarizes their
findings.
STANDARDS
Geography Standard: 7
Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on Earth's surface.
Benchmarks:
Level III (6-8):
Knows the major processes that shape patterns in the physical environment (e.g., the
erosional agents such as water and ice, earthquake zones and volcanic activity, the ocean
circulation system.)
Knows the consequences of a specific physical process operating on Earth surface (e.g.,
effects of an extreme weather phenomenon)
Level IV (9-12)
Understands how physical systems are dynamic and interactive (e.g., the relationships
between changes in landforms and the effects of climate such as the erosion of hill slopes
by precipitation, deposition of sediments by floods, and shaping of land surfaces by
wind.)
Understands how physical processes affect different regions of the United States and
the world (e.g., effects of desertification and soil degradation, flash floods, dust
storms, soil erosion.)
Language Arts Standard 1:
Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
Benchmarks:
Level III (6-8) and Level IV (9-12)
Prewriting: Uses a variety of prewriting strategies.
Drafting and Revising: Uses a variety of strategies to draft and revise
written work.
Editing and Publishing: Uses a variety of strategies to edit and publish
written work.
Evaluates own and others' writing.
Writes expository compositions.
Language Arts Standard 2:
Demonstrates competence in the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing.
Benchmarks:
Level III (6-8) and Level IV (9-12)
Uses paragraph form in writing.
Uses a variety of sentence structures to express expanded ideas.
Uses explicit transitional devices.
Level IV (9-12):
Organizes ideas to achieve cohesion in writing.
Language Arts Standard 3:
Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions.
Benchmarks:
Level III (6-8) and Level IV (9-12) – All benchmarks.
Language Arts Standard 8:
Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening as tools for learning.
Benchmarks:
Level III (6-8):
Presents simple prepared reports to the class.
Uses explicit techniques for oral presentations.
Level IV (9-12):
Adjusts message wording & delivery to particular audiences and for particular
purposes.
Makes formal presentations to the class.
Uses a variety of explicit techniques for presentations.
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