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Overview:
In this lesson, students will learn about how the Grand Canyon was formed and what the region looked like at the time each layer of rock was deposited. They will draw diagrams of the canyon and its layers and write captions to describe what they have drawn.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, earth sciences
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 7: "The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface"
Time:
Two hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
- Drawing materials
Objectives:
Students will
- brainstorm how the Grand Canyon was formed;
- read information that explains how the canyon was formed and discuss their findings;
- identify and describe the major rock layers of the canyon and their characteristics;
- draw diagrams of the canyon's layers; and
- write captions to describe their drawings.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Development:
Have students use the following two Web sites to find answers to the question "How was the Grand Canyon formed?" In particular, ask them to look for answers to these questions:
- How was the canyon carved? How long ago did this happen?
- Where did the rock layers come from in the first place?
Grand Canyon Explorer: The Geology of the Grand Canyon
National Park Service: The Geologic Story at Grand Canyon
Discuss students' answers to the above questions as a class.
Have students go to Grand Canyon Interpretation and scroll down to the second diagram showing the Grand Canyon's layers with small illustrations of what life might have looked like at each layer. Discuss the differences between the layers, as shown in these illustrations. How do they think there could have been sharks and squid in this part of Arizona?
Ask students to scroll down to the section entitled "Geological Time." This section allows them to click on the canyon's layers to see drawings and read descriptions of what the area might have looked like when each layer was deposited.
Ask students to click on each layer. On their own paper, have them write the following information: the name of the layer, its dates, the overall appearance of the landscape (or seascape, as it may be), and one or two species that lived at that time and place.
Closing:
Discuss the climate and landscape that existed during the times when each layer was deposited. Also discuss the answer to the question "How could there have been sharks and squid in this part of Arizona?"
Suggested Student Assessment:
Have students draw diagrams of the Grand Canyon and its layers. Their drawings should show all the layers they saw at the Grand Canyon Interpretation Web site.
Have students write captions around or below their diagrams to describe
- the time periods when the layers were deposited;
- how the layers were deposited;
- how the canyon was carved; and
- what the landscape looked like in two of the layers.
Ask students to draw arrows from the captions to different places on the diagram to specify the parts of the canyon that the captions describe.
Extending the Lesson:
Have students imagine that they're planning to hike into the Grand Canyon. They will be looking for fossils on their hike. Ask them to use the resources they've already seen in this lesson, particularly Grand Canyon Interpretation, to find out what types of fossils they might expect to see in the different layers of the canyon.
Students can learn more about the types of fossils they might see by going to the Web Geological Time Machine and locating the time periods in the right-hand column that correspond to the time periods of the canyon's layers. They can click on the period, scroll down, and link to "Ancient Life" to find out more about life at that time.
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