Mountain Building
By Erin Lopez/Angela Lopez
Description
Students will build the “sturdiest mountain possible using sand and water. Groups will
be allowed to conduct tests on OTHER mountains in order to find whose mountain is
best. Students will be asked to make measurements of their mountains before and after
testing.
Objectives and Relevance
In this lab students will discover what makes a mountain sturdy, what makes the grooves
and dents in the mountain, what forces affect the earth most and if you want, you can
throw in a little math to see if they can judge where they should build a town next to your
mountain. This activity will reinforce their ability to measure diameter and calculate
circumference.
Sunshine State Standards
SC.C.2.4 – the student understands that the types of force that act on an object and the
effect of that force can be described, measured, and predicted
SC.D.1.4- The student recognizes that processes in the lithosphere, atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and biosphere interact to shape the earth.
SC.H.2.4-The student understands that most natural events occur in comprehensible,
consistent patterns
Learning challenges
They won’t know what forces have the greatest impact, and they will all want to make
their mountain pointy, but they don’t realize that a rounded mountain is better in the long
run. They won’t know where the grooves in a mountain come from and they will have a
lot of misconceptions about what an earthquake is and what it does.
Inquiry question
Which factors affect the strength of a mountain?
Conclusion statement
A sturdy mountain can withstand many forces acting against it, so it should be rounded,
compact, and have little rainstorms and little wind and hopefully never an earthquake.
Circumference is calculated as pi times diameter.
“A-Ha!” moment
This usually comes with the rainstorms to see the grooves form and the earthquake to see
how they work and how they affect the land up top.
Tools needed
Garbage bag, sand, water, straws (enough for everyone in the group) pipettes or watering
can, white boards, bowls to pick sand up with. Beakers to hold water, goggles
Materials
garbage bags, 2 white boards, sand, straw, beakers of water, pipette/watering can, paper
with dots, ruler, String and pencil.
Inquiry Activity
Give your students all the necessary materials to build mountains. They will build these
on top of garbage bags which are on top of 2 white boards side by side. This
arrangement makes it possible to create an “earthquake”.
In the end, we see whose mountain stood up the best to all the tests and talk about
differences in how it was built while relating that to real mountains. Do they realize that
old mountains are rounded and sturdier, while young ones are pointed? Grooves come
from rain storms, plains and plateaus come from the earthquakes, and wind takes a long
time to affect a mountain. You may discuss specific mountains in the world to illustrate
their conclusions.
Ask students to quantify the changes in their mountains. They can do this with
measurements of diameter or circumference.
Student Procedure
1. Build your mountain – make it as sturdy as possible considering amount of sand,
water, and shape.
2. It must withstand rainstorms, earthquakes, etc.
3. Measure the diameter and circumference of your mountain before and after
testing is done.
4. You will move to another group’s mountain and conduct tests to evaluate how
sturdy it is.
a. Wind storm – blow air through the straw from above and then from the
side
b. Light storm – dip hand in water and shake over mountain
c. Large storm – use pipette or watering can to simulate
d. Earthquake – slide white boards back and forth in opposing directions
Questions
1. Describe how you made it with your hands and how that affected the sturdiness.
2. Which had the most devastating effect, wind or water?
3. Where do all the grooves (dents) in the mountainside come from?
4. What did the earthquake do to the top of your mountain?
5. Name one other natural factor that you think would influence the building up or
breaking down of your mountain.
Discussion of solutions
1. Have them look back at their mountain and compare/contrast what they saw with
theirs and the one they tested.
2. Water should have the more devastating effect.
3. The rain storms and earthquakes.
4. They destroy it usually.
5. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, mudslides, etc.
Names _____________________________________________________________
Original Mountain
1. Diameter = __________ 2. Radius = _________ 3. Circumference = ___________
New Mountain
4. Diameter = __________ 5. Radius = _________ 6. Circumference = ___________
7. Is T on the inside or the out side now that the mountain has changed shape? ________
8. You have created a mountain and study the effects wind, rain, and earthquakes have
on mountains. The point labeled T is a town. Knowing now the effects time has had on
the measure measurements of the circle would you still build a town in the same
location? Why or why not. Write 2-3 complete sentences _________________________
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