Drexel-SDP GK-12 ACTIVITY
Subject areas: physical science, life science (Landforms, Environments)
Unit title: Exploring Engineering with SimCity 4
Activity title: Carving Canals! (Activity 2 of 3)
Grade level: 6
Time required: two 60 minute lessons
Keywords: landforms, geology, erosion
Educational standards:
3.1.7B, 3.1.7D, 3.2.7B, 3.3.7D, 3.5.7A, 3.6.7B, 3.8.7C, 4.6…A, 4.7.7A, 4.7.7B
Concept/Vocabulary
Students will continue using simulation software to construct a variety of landform types. Students
should be familiar with the basic vocabulary used in this activity from their FOSS kit materials and
from class discussion. They will likely need to do online research to investigate the meanings of the
advanced vocabulary.
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mesa
plateau
mountain
hill
valley
crater
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foothill
ridge
geology
geography
craggy
Objectives
Students will…
• use SimCity 4 software to explore and develop landform and environment concepts.
• describe scale as a form of ratio and apply it to a life situation.
• apply models to predict specific results and observations.
• describe processes involved in the creation of geologic features and that these processes seen
today are similar to those in the past.
Materials
These activities require SimCity 4 software, published by Electronic Arts/Aspyr. Please see Carving
Canals (Activity 1 in this module series) for more detailed information.
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
This activity is a follow-up to the basic terraforming training provided in Activity 1. Students will
continue to learning about the software interface by recreating a number of terrain types found in
the Landforms curriculum. They may once again work in small teams.
In this activity, students should be allowed more freedom to explore the various terraforming
functions of SimCity. Each group will produce a unique landscape.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TEACHERS
Activity 2: THE EVER-CHANGING EARTH
• Students should once again launch the SimCity 4 software. In the default Region View, they
should select a large, relatively flat and featureless piece of terrain with which to work.
Students should select one of the
large flat pieces of land in the
Region View.
• After loading their selected landscape, and before undertaking this activity, students may wish to
use the Terrain Effects tools (the cloud button at the left of the screen) to further smooth and
flatten their land. The Smooth tool will diminish the features of the landscape and flatten it. It
may also remove many of the trees, which the students can replace later.
In the Terrain
Effect tools, the
Smooth
function can be
used to flatten
the landscape.
The Terraform
tools will be
used to create a
variety of
different
terrains.
• After performing any necessary landscape smoothing, the students should be asked to use the
Terraform tools (found by clicking the tree button along the left of the screen) to create a number
of different terrain types:
o rolling hills
o steep, rocky mountains
o rounded impact craters
o leveled mesa plateaus
o gently sloping valleys and steep cliffs
o riverbeds
• Students may be reminded that the size of the Terraform “paintbrush” can be changed by
adjusting the magnification of the map. To alter the terrain of a large area of the map, students
should use the Zoom Out command to view more of the map at once. To change smaller regions
of the terrain, students should use the Zoom In command to magnify the portion of the map they
wish to alter.
• Students should be invited to work together as a group to create their own landscapes. If the
students are ever unhappy with the results they obtain, encourage them to correct their landscape
using the Terraform and Terrain Effect tools, rather than starting over from scratch. Below are
some examples.
Here we have used the Hill
tool to create an area of
rolling hills. We made small
by using the Zoom In
command to magnify a
small region of the map,
and then used the Zoom
Out command to reduce
magnification to examine
our newly formed hills.
Now we have used the
Mountain tool to create a
larger and more elevated
structure near the smaller
hills, which we could now
call “foothills” (since they lie
at the base or foot of a
larger mountain).
By dragging the Mountain
tool brush from side to side,
we can a mountain ridge, or
a long and narrow elevation
crest.
Using the Valley tool found in the
Gouge Valleys button, we can carve
out a mountain pass in our mountain
ridge. In the Level Terrain set of
tools, we can use the Plains brush to
smooth the land in this newly made
valley.
With further use of the Canyon tools
(and some patience!) students can
create a river that cuts through their
mountain pass.
Using the Crater command, students can
create impact craters, such as those
formed when cosmic debris strikes the
earth. If the crater is formed on
relatively low-lying land and is deep
enough, a crater lake will appear at the
bottom.
The crater pictured is likely
to be a geologically “young”
feature, since its rocky
peaks are still quite sharp
and craggy. By using the
Erosion tool in Level
Terrain toolkit, students
can “age” the crater by
eroding its sharp features at
a high level of Zoom In
magnification.
This image is the
same crater shown
above, after many
hundred thousands or
even millions of years
of erosion have been
applied.
Students can find the Mesa and Plateau commands to
create elevated geological features with flattened tops.
By this point, students will have likely
generated an interested geological
landscape, featuring many landforms
found in the science curriculum.
However, the land will likely be
without trees and wildlife as a result
of the extensive terraforming.
Students can replace these
components using the Seed Forests
and Create Fauna commands in the
Terraform toolkit.
Students can save their finalized
landscapes by selecting the Options
button at the bottom of the screen
(the blue oval with three white dots),
and then pressing the Save City disk.
They can then use the Exit to
Region button to go back to the
Region View or can exit the game
entirely with the Quit button.
Assessment: A handout with assessment questions is attached on the following page.
Owner: Drexel University GK-12 program, Engineering as a Contextual Vehicle for Science and
Mathematics Education, supported in part by National Science Foundation Award No. DGE-0538476
Author: Matthew D. Cathell
Copyright: Copyright 2007 by Matthew D. Cathell
Name ______________________________________________ Date _____________
THE EVER-CHANGING EARTH!
DISCUSSION
You have just created your very own landscape, full of
mountains, valleys, rivers, hills, craters, forests, and
more. In just a few minutes, you’ve accomplished
what nature takes hundreds of thousands or even
millions of years.
Your landscape probably looks similar in some ways to
the one shown to the right, but it’s also probably quite
different. In the image shown here, how do you think
the river canyon through the mountain ridge formed?
How about the smaller round lake? Take a few
minutes and discuss your hypotheses with your team.
Now, let’s pretend that we are explorers, setting out across the wild and untamed areas of the United
States, just like Meriwether Lewis and William Clark did in the early 1800s. If you came across a
landscape like the one shown above, how would you safely travel through it? What if you wanted to
form a settlement in the area shown above? What would be the best possible locations to set up
your town? In the mountains? In the forest hills? How about along the river, or beside the lake?
Discuss some advantages and disadvantages for each.
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
On the map above are two different types of depressions (or areas of lower elevation) – the river
canyon and the crater lake. One of these landforms was created very quickly, and one took many
years to form. One of these landforms was formed by water, and the other simply filled with water
after it was already created. Write in your science notebook how you hypothesize the river canyon
and crater lake were formed.
Some landform-creating processes occur very within seconds, days, weeks or months. Other
processes can take many years, decades, centuries, or even longer! Make a chart in your notebook
with two columns. Label the first column Quick Changes and the second column Slow Changes.
Categorize the following processes, which can all create new landforms, as either quick or slow.
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volcano eruption
wind erosion of desert rock
water erosion of river rock
rockslide
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drilling of mountain passes by civil
engineers
sediment formation at a river delta
coastline erosion by seawater
Now, you will need to become an expert on two of our country’s breathtaking natural parks – the
Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and the Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Using the
web, research these two parks and pay special attention to how the canyon and crater landforms
were created. Take notes in your science notebook. Do you need to make any changes to your
original hypotheses about how river canyons and crater lakes are formed?