Subscribe

2nd grade · Science · Unit 6 of 7

Fast & Slow Earth Changes

Volcanoes in a day, canyons over ages.

What your child practices

Practices sorting Earth events into fast ones (eruptions, landslides, floods) and slow ones (erosion, carving canyons), and comparing ways people slow wind and water from changing land.

Alaska content standards learning standard: 2-ESS1-1; 2-ESS2-1 · Earth events happen quickly or slowly, and ways to stop wind and water from changing land

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Some changes are fast, like volcanoes, landslides and floods.
  2. Some are slow, like wind and water wearing away land over years.
  3. Plant roots and rock walls help slow these changes.

Example: Water carves a canyon over many years. Fast or slow? Many years is a long time. That is a slow change. Answer: slow

Fast & Slow Earth Changes in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 6 of 7 in 2nd grade Science, after Plants, Seeds & Pollinators and before Build, Test & Rebuild.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What can stop soil from washing away?

    • Taking away plants
    • Digging holes
    • Plants with roots
    • Pouring water

  2. Question 2

    Wind blows sand away bit by bit. This is…

    • never happening
    • slow
    • fast
    • instant

  3. Question 3

    An earthquake shakes the ground. It is a…

    • weather pattern
    • plant change
    • fast change
    • slow change

  4. Question 4

    Sand dunes move a little each year. This is…

    • instant
    • frozen
    • slow
    • fast

  5. Question 5

    Which change happens slowly?

    • A flash flood
    • An earthquake
    • A landslide
    • A river carving a canyon

  6. Question 6

    Why do people build dams with spillways?

    • To control water flow
    • To make earthquakes
    • To grow sand
    • To make volcanoes

More 2nd grade