Do Now Task What questions could you ask about this picture? Write down 3.

How was the Grand Canyon Formed? L/O: To investigate how water, rock, climate and volcanoes can shape a landscape and how it can benefit people who live there Starter: Key word What is a canyon? A deep gorge, usually with a river flowing through it

Where is the Grand Canyon? Use an atlas and the clues to the right to explain where the Grand Canyon is in the world! Can you use lines of longitude and latitude to describe where it is? Which river runs through the canyon? Where do you think the MOUTH or SOURCE of this river is? canyon.html

Why is the Grand Canyon a Fantastic Place?

So how do YOU think it was formed? Can you come up with a theory in your pairs that includes all or some of these? Water Rock Climate Volcanoes You have 5 minutes!

How was it formed? While no one knows for sure how the Grand Canyon was formed geologists have used the scientific method to make some really good guesses. Geologists believe that Water Rock Climate Volcanoes......have all played a role in shaping the biggest canyon in the U.S.

Grand Canyon Worksheet Link up the 8 boxes to put the description in the correct order to explain how the scientists think the Grand Canyon was formed. Once upon a time - hundreds of millions of years ago - changes in the weather brought changes to the environment. The area that is now the Grand Canyon was constantly changing from deserts to swamps to inland seas and back to desert again. With each new environment a new layer of material was deposited on top of the previous one. This created the stripes in the canyon wall we see today. Tectonic plates, blocks of the Earth's crust, were important too. The plates movement, 75 million years ago forced the land to lift up high. This uplift created the Colorado River which eroded the area. The river to flow fast and eroded quickly but it wasn't until the Ice Ages, 2 million years ago, that the Colorado River did most of its work. The Colorado river was swollen from melted snow and eroded more rock and soil than ever before. But for the Grand Canyon to look as it does today one last thing had to happen. One million years ago or so a volcano erupted to the north spewing ash and lava onto Grand Canyon and created its last layer of rock.

Once upon a time - hundreds of millions of years ago - changes in the weather brought changes to the environment. The area that is now the Grand Canyon was constantly changing from deserts to swamps to inland seas and back to desert again. With each new environment a new layer of material was deposited on top of the previous one. This created the stripes in the canyon wall we see today. Tectonic plates, blocks of the Earth's crust, were important too. The plates movement, 75 million years ago forced the land to lift up high. This uplift created the Colorado River which eroded the area. The river to flow fast and eroded quickly but it wasn't until the Ice Ages, 2 million years ago, that the Colorado River did most of its work. The Colorado river was swollen from melted snow and eroded more rock and soil than ever before. But for the Grand Canyon to look as it does today one last thing had to happen. One million years ago or so a volcano erupted to the north spewing ash and lava onto Grand Canyon and created its last layer of rock.

Fantastic for humans? Many people benefit from the Gran Canyon. Why might people benefit from living near the canyon? Suggest ways that the canyon could be protected from human effects while still making money from it.

Plenary Discuss What could spoil a Grand Canyon visit?