Download letter for 5th graders - ASFM Tech Integration

- What are these processes and how do they work together to affect rocks
- What are the types of weathering and give examples of each
- What are the types of erosion and give examples of each
- Why weathering and erosion are important to us in Monterrey
Dear 5th Graders,
Today we are going to learn about weathering and erosion. First of all
weathering is the process that breaks down rocks into smaller pieces. An example of
it is when water goes in a crack when the water freezes it expands and the cracks
then opened a little bit wider. Year’s pass on and pieces of rock can split off the rock
because the crack got wider witch are broken down into smaller pieces. Erosion is
the movement of weathered rock material from one place to another. An example of
it is the Mount Everest if it ha an avalanche it moves smaller pieces of rock down
the mountain
Now the three types of weathering are Physical (Mechanical), Chemical and
finally biological. Physical weathering means that the process it’s caused by a
physical force. This can be caused by water, ice, and wind and, temperature changes
(thermal expansion & contraction). We can see this in oceans when a wave hits a
rock several times the rock start to break down into smaller pieces. Chemical
weathering occurs when there is a chemical reaction between water, air, or another
substance and the materials in rocks. This can be caused by water and air, we
usually see this in Mexican cenotes were formed by the chemical weathering of
limestone rock and when oxygen reacts with rocks that have iron minerals it creates
rust. Finally the third type is biological weathering which is weathering (physical or
chemical) that is caused by living things, and example of it is when leaves of trees
acidic and when they fall they weathered the rock
On the other hand the types of erosion are glaciers (ice), running water,
waves, wind and gravity. Glaciers happened where its usually cold, usually glaciers
move downhill which causes weathering but the can also more little rocks that hade
been broken down into smaller pieces before. A second example is running water,
when running water slides thru land it removes a large amount of rocks and soil. A
third example is waves when waves hit land it caused erosions. One of the most
common ways of erosion is wind; the strong wind can carry small pieces of rock
long distances. Finally the last example is gravity. Most of the time gravity makes
huge rocks or big chinks of land fall down. Weathering and erosion have been very
important in Monterrey because. If it was not more that wouldn’t have this
mountains that protects us from many natural disasters