r-o-l-a-i-d-s

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r-o-l-a-i-d-s
By j

This is a difficult topic, especially for 4th. Sounds like it's time for hands-on learning! The best thing that I have used to teach this concept is to: have the kids make a "mountain" or other 3-D figure. Materials: clay,
some type of plastic transparent container (some tupperware-type bowls or, if you are lucky large beakers marked for different water levels), water, wet erase markers, piece of plexiglass/glass to cover the container, transparency, pencil/yarn/string.
Mark off 1 cm or inch increments on the side of the container. Students make a figure inside the container then pour water up to the

first line. They then use a pencil to trace along the mountain where the water is touching (or you can use colorful string--probably best for these kids). Repeat the water and tracing until they reach the top. Put glass on the top, lay a piece of trans. over it(tape it down!) and with marker have kids translate the lines on the mountain to the transparency. When finished they can compare to others, topo maps of the area (mine cost about $7.00), etc.

Some tips: Assign jobs. Encourage kids to make creative designs. The vis-a-vis markers make it easy to fix mistakes, but students must be careful of spilling water on them--you may want to try something else. Have students push mts. firmly into container so that they do not move. Once they are finished you may want them to use tracing paper to copy transparency so that they have something to keep. This is an excellent activity which has always been well liked. Good luck!