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Science / Geology / Grade 5 / sg5e1

Read a Wind-Blown Sediment Record

Use the recorded action, not just the presence of wind or water, to name a process.

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Learn the skill

First find the action in each record. Weathering breaks or changes rock in place. Erosion removes and transports material. Deposition leaves transported grains in a new location. One agent can take part in different processes. A final pile alone does not tell you the whole journey.

Worked example

A root widens a crack without moving the rock: weathering. Later, water carries the loose pieces: erosion and transport. When those pieces settle in a quiet pool, that is deposition. The water did not do the same job in both records.

Three labeled records: K shows a rock cracking in place, L shows grains carried by wind, and M shows carried grains settling behind a barrier. Arrows distinguish movement from settling.
K, L and M describe actions. The separate note N does not explain a journey.

Four Invented Field Notes

K: Repeated temperature changes crack a rock into pieces where it lies. L: Wind lifts loose grains and carries them across a bare patch. M: Those carried grains settle behind a barrier as the air slows. N: A separate note shows loose grains beside a wall but gives no record of how they arrived. Use only these written observations. No outdoor visit or rock experiment is needed.

Question 1 Which process is stated in record K?
Question 2 Which process is stated in record L?
Question 3 Which process is stated in record M?
Question 4 What can note N establish about how its grains reached the wall?
Question 5 Why do L and M have different process names although both involve air?