On Monday, the fifth graders spent the day discussing and observing erosion and weathering.  In the morning, we were joined by botanists Dana and Justin, who taught the fifth graders about Missouri geology.  Highlights included demonstrations showing Missouri’s geological layers and how plant life (and especially native species) slow erosion. Did you know that eastern Missouri used to be a volcano?  Ask your fifth grader about it!

After our discussion and wonderful demonstrations, we took our learning on the road!  Down at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center, we took a long looping hike that brought us to an overlook of the highway (where we discussed how engineers try to limit erosion caused by runoff from roads), then down along Galloway Creek that led us to Lake Springfield.  Along the way, the students pointed to places where we could observe erosion happening and learned about methods people use to limit it.  From retaining walls to logs sunk into walkways to switchback trails, the examples were everywhere to see!

We stopped by Galloway Creek to learn about how waterways both cause and suffer from erosion and how to identify healthy waterways (another great question to ask your fifth grader as it was one of our big takeaways).  Along the way, we observed and identified different types of rocks, observed and identified native plant species, and even found a large fossilized tooth (identification of animal pending).  All in all, it was a super successful trip – many thanks to the weather for cooperating so nicely and to Justin and Dana who shared an immense amount of knowledge with us!

The fifth graders were so enthusiastic about this topic (or possibly the interesting terminology), they convinced me to make our spelling list this week out of words related to our unit on erosion and weathering.  It didn’t take much convincing.  It was a great idea.