Rapid earth changes
Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) or slowly (erosion, mountain building)
What a learner can do afterwards
- Give at least two examples of rapid Earth events (earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, flood)
- Give at least two examples of slow Earth processes (erosion, mountain formation, canyon carving)
- Use evidence from text, images, or video to support the distinction between fast and slow changes
The lesson
Earth is always changing. Some changes happen in just a few seconds, like an earthquake shaking the ground. Other changes take a very, very long time, like a river slowly cutting through rock. Both kinds of change are real, they just happen at different speeds.
Mia watches a video of a volcano erupting. Hot lava pours out in just a few minutes. Later, she looks at old photos of a canyon taken 50 years apart. The canyon looks only a little bit deeper. The river carved that canyon slowly, over thousands of years.
To tell if a change is fast or slow, think about your evidence. A video that shows the whole change happening is a clue it was fast. Old photos that barely look different are a clue the change was slow.
Some Earth changes happen in seconds, like an earthquake or a volcano. Others take thousands of years, like a river carving a canyon.
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Where it sits
Learn first
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.