Water Shapes Earth's Surface
Aligned to HS-ESS2-5 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Water's unusual properties make it a powerful agent of change. It dissolves minerals, and because it expands when it freezes, it can crack solid rock apart. These properties let water sculpt caves, canyons, and coastlines.
Worked example
In a limestone region, slightly acidic rainwater seeps into cracks and slowly dissolves the rock, hollowing out underground caves over thousands of years. Where water freezes in the cracks, its expansion pries the rock into loose fragments.
Practice questions
- Observe: Water expands as it freezes and can dissolve certain rocks. What does that tell you about how it might break down a cliff face?
- Model: Plan an investigation to test whether freezing water can widen a crack in rock, listing your variables and what you would measure.
- Explain: Two identical rocks sit outside, one in a warm climate and one where temperatures swing above and below freezing. Predict which weathers faster and explain why.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
El agua moldea la superficie
Las propiedades inusuales del agua la hacen un agente de cambio poderoso. Disuelve minerales y, como se expande al congelarse, puede partir roca sólida. Estas propiedades le permiten esculpir cuevas, cañones y costas.
Ejemplo: En una región de piedra caliza, el agua de lluvia ligeramente ácida se filtra en las grietas y disuelve lentamente la roca, ahuecando cuevas subterráneas a lo largo de miles de años. Donde el agua se congela en las grietas, su expansión rompe la roca en fragmentos sueltos.
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