Earth
Materials
Dwellings
A Third Grade STEM Project
Erosion and weathering change the
Earth’s surface. Weathering breaks
down rock into smaller pieces, and
erosion removes parts of the land.
Erosion can be caused by water or
wind.
Grand Canyon- caused by erosion
from the Colorado River
Sediment is what we call the
parts of the land that are carried
away. (sand, soil, rock)
Pedestal Rock- caused by wind
erosion
Earth Materials
What are they?
Any material that
comes from the Earth
and is not living now.
Many earth materials
start out in a mine.
Mines provide many
Earth materials used
to make products.
Examples of Minerals: Minerals
are an example of an Earth
material.
Zinc- used in paint and
sun block
These earth
materials solve
human problems
such as sun burn and
improve our quality
of life!
Calcite- used to make
glass, paper, chalk
Every object in our life comes from Earth materials!
Plasticmade
from oil
T-shirtCotton is an
Earth
material.
Glasscomes
from sand
Papercomes
from
wood
STEM Challenge:
Your group will build an
Earth Dwelling (home made
from Earth materials). We
will test it to see if it can
stand up to wind and water
weathering.
Examples of Earth Dwellings from
Ancient People
Materials:
You will have a $20 budget to spend on
the purchase of materials.
$3/bag-Sand
$8/block-Clay
$5/bag-Soil
Notice that glue and tape
are NOT on the list!
$5/bag-Straw
Free-Water
Free-Sticks
$3-Bucket (for mixing only)
Testing:
We will test your dwelling to make sure it
can stand up to wind and water
weathering in the following ways:
-Wind Weathering: The Fan Test!
-Water Weathering: The Strainer Test!
Schedule:
Today:
-Introduce lesson
-Draw and label blueprint
-Write budget
-Upload budget and blueprint to wall
Next week:
-Build dwellings
-Test Dwellings
-Write improvement plan