Florida SC.4.E.6.4
The Standard
Describe the basic differences between physical weathering (breaking down of rock by wind, water, ice, temperature change, and plants) and erosion (movement of rock by gravity, wind, water, and ice).
Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students tell whether rock is being broken into smaller pieces or carried to a new place. They identify the force causing each change and explain that both processes can happen in sequence.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly label examples involving roots, freezing, flowing water, wind, ice, or gravity. They explain that weathering changes rock size or shape, while erosion changes its location.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think weathering only involves daily weather or that erosion means rock breaking apart. They may also overlook gravity as a cause of erosion or assume movement must follow weathering immediately.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: “Ice cracks a boulder, then melting water carries the pieces downhill. Name each process and explain your choices.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Shake chalk pieces with pebbles in a sealed jar, then move the fragments down a tilted sand tray.
Discuss: “A root cracks a sidewalk, then rain carries chips away. What happened first, and what evidence supports your answer?”
Sort scenario cards into weathering, erosion, or both, then have partners challenge one another’s choices.
Walk around the schoolyard and map one place where material is breaking apart and one place where sediment has moved.
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Printable SC.4.E.6.4 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SC.8.P.9.2
Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.
- SC.6.E.6.1
Describe and give examples of ways in which Earth's surface is built up and torn down by physical and chemical weathering, erosion, and deposition.
- SC.6.E.7.6
Differentiate between weather and climate.
- SC.7.E.6.2
Identify the patterns within the rock cycle and relate them to surface events (weathering and erosion) and sub-surface events (plate tectonics and mountain buil...
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