1. Investigating Boomtown’s Weather: Activity 27
An abundant amount of rainfall can:
increase speed of the river
flood streets and homes
Saturate the soil
Saturate: (synonyms: soak, drench, flood) to become thoroughly soaked with liquid so that no more can be absorbed.

2. Activity 27 Key Vocabulary
Average - The central, or typical, value of a numerical data set. See mean, median, and mode.
Mean - A central value of a numerical data set calculated by adding up all the data points in the data set and dividing this sum by the total number of data points in the data set.
Median - The middle value in a data set arranged in numerical order.
Mode - The most frequently occurring data point of a numerical data set.
Sample size - The number of data points in a data set.

3. Look at the following data for rainfall for a five-year period
Look at the following data for rainfall for a five-year period. What is the mean, median, and mode rainfall for the time period?
Year
Rainfall (cm)
2010 50
2011 65
2012 42
2015
2016 62
Mean? (hint: the average)
Median? (hint: the middle)
Mode? (hint: appears most often)

4. Look at the following data for rainfall for a five-year period
Look at the following data for rainfall for a five-year period. What is the mean, median, and mode rainfall for the time period?
Year
Rainfall (cm)
2010 50
2011 65
2012 42
2015
2016 62
Mean? (hint: the average) 53.8 cm
Median? (hint: the middle) 50 cm
Mode? (hint: appears most often) 50 cm

7. Proper Bar Graph Guidelines

8. First Graph: Procedure
This is a graph of the total annual rainfall for each year over 10 year period.
Has Boomtown gotten the same amount of rainfall over the last 10 years?
Table 1: Annual Rainfall in Boomtown:
Month
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Total Rainfall
(centimeters) 92 99 89 94 84 97 85 72
(inches) 36 39 35 37 33 38 28

9. Second Graph: Analysis
In terms of flooding when should Boomtown be most concerned and least concerned?
Table 3: Monthly Rainfall in Boomtown in 2006
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Rainfall
(centimeters) 6 7 5 15 11
(inches) 2 3 4

10. Canyons and Building Deltas-Activity 28
Delta - A fan-shaped area that develops in the flat, low area where a river empties into a large body of water.
Model - Any representation of a system, or its components, to help one study and understand how it works.
River channel - The depression in the land through which a river flows.
Sediments - Small bits of decomposed earth materials such as rocks, minerals, and shells.

11. Follow-up Q and A A B Hills Marsh Hills Marsh
Which Boomtown landform best represents the top of the river table model?
Which Boomtown landform best represents the bottom of the river table model?
In a real river, what is travelling from point A to point B?
Hills A
Marsh B
Hills
Marsh

12. Follow-up Q and A
Cliffs C
What would the model look like if you were simulating point C to point B?
Cliffs
Marsh B
Huge change in slope.
Marsh

13. Canyons and Building Deltas-Activity 28 Analysis
1a. How is your river model like a real river?
The river model contains a river bottom, sand, and water. This is like a real river, with earth materials at the bottom and water flowing in it.
1b. How is it not like a real river?
The model is straighter and much smaller than a real river and contains much less water. Unlike most rivers, it does not flow constantly. It also contains less varied earth materials (i.e. no pebbles, rocks, animals, etc.)

14. Canyons and Building Deltas-Activity 28 Analysis Questions
2. Describe the biggest changes that you observed during the river model investigation.
Water moves the sand from a higher elevation to a lower elevation, where it gathers in a heap.

15. Analysis Questions
3. Observe the photograph behind text. It shows a river at the bottom of a canyon with hard rock walls.
a. Explain how the water flowing down the river created the canyon.
b. Explain what happened to the rock that once filled up the canyon.
Answer a and b: Solid rock is more cohesive than sand therefore flowing water removes the particles much more slowly and can create a steep-walled canyon because the walls do not slump down as easily as softer walls. The rock that once filled the canyon is carried away and is deposited somewhere along the river.

16. Analysis Questions
5a. How could the movement of sediments cause a problem if someone builds on: Delta Marsh
Movement of sediments could wash away the soil of the marsh and make the soil less stable for buildings. Alternatively, movement of sediments could result in undesired earth materials in people’s yards.
Delta Marsh
Area

17. Analysis Questions
5b. How could the movement of sediments cause a problem if someone builds on: Green Hill
Movement of sediments away from the hillsides could cause the hillside to collapse on top of building below. Movement could also weaken buildings’ support or foundations.
Green Hill
Area

18. Analysis Questions
5c. How could the movement of sediments cause a problem if someone builds on: Seaside Cliff
The movement of sediments from the cliff could weaken or wash away the cliff. The results could be disastrous depending on the structure’s proximity to the cliff’s edge.
Seaside Cliff
Area

19. Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition
Slow moving ice can carve through mountains.
How do you think New Jersey has benefited from weathering and erosion?

20. Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Activity 29:Analysis 1
Why is weathering important to the process of erosion?
Weathering breaks rocks up in small enough pieces that they can be carried away by erosion. Without weathering, wind and water might not be strong enough to move rocks.

21. Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Activity 29:Analysis 2
2) Why does erosion always lead to deposition?
Eventually, wind and water must slow or stop moving. Rivers typically end at in a large body of water. In Boomtown, the Rolling River ends at the East Bay. When the river slows down or stops, sediment fall and are deposited.

22. Concept Map Earth Processes Analysis Question 3 Weathering Erosion
Destructive forces
Constructive forces
Weathering
Erosion
Deposition
Breaks down rocks
Transports sediments
Sediments
settle
moved by
caused by
changes environment
changes environment
Ice
slowing water or wind
Water
Wind
Positive
(or neutral)
effects
Positive
effects
Negative
effects
Negative
effects
makes landforms
nutrients
moved to soil
makes landforms
rivers
block waterways
valleys
canyons
beaches
marshes
lakes
fill in lakes
can damage man-made structures
(roads, buildings, bridges, etc.)
multiplied by
toxins moved to pure soil
construction in poorly chosen areas
bad farming practices

23. Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Activity 29:Analysis 4
Bay Erosion
4) Question Summary: Identify a topographical change in Boomtown due to weathering, erosion, and deposition. Explain.
Weathering breaks rocks up in the hills and cliffs. Erosion carries the rock sediments to the delta where they are deposited. The delta has increased in size over time, whereas the hills and cliffs have decreased in size.
Weathering in the Cliffs
River Erosion
Weathering in the Hills
Deposition in the Delta Marsh

24. Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Activity 29:Analysis 5
5) At which of the three building sites-Delta Marsh, Green Hill, and Seaside Cliff-would you expect:
Weathering to have the most effect on land
Deposition to have the most effect on land

25. Activity 29 Vocabulary
Constructive - A force or earth process that builds up earth materials to create landforms.
Deposit - (noun) Earth materials that have been left in a particular location as a result of an earth process that drops sediments that were previously suspended in air, water, or ice. (verb) To leave material in a particular location.
Deposition - The earth process that results in a deposit of earth materials.
Destructive - A force or earth process that breaks down or removes earth material.
Earth processes - Dynamic actions that occur both on the earth’s surface and inside the earth.
Erode - To lose earth materials in a place by natural processes.
Erosion - The earth process by which earth materials are removed from one place, commonly by wind or water, and transported elsewhere.
Floodplain - The relatively level area on either side of a river that becomes covered with water when the water level in the river rises above its banks and overflows.
Weathering - The breakup of rock caused by mechanical (physical) or chemical processes.