How Water Shapes the Land: Weathering, Erosion and Deposition

ScienceYear 560 minutes

Students explore how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition slowly and sometimes rapidly change Earth's surface, using Australian examples like the Twelve Apostles and the Murray River. The lesson directly tackles the common mix-up between weathering (breaking rock in place) and erosion (moving broken rock), and finishes with a hands-on sand-and-water model.

🧰 What you'll need

Sugar cubes and a screw-top jar with lid, one set per group of four
Shallow tray of sand, a jug of water and a small watering can per group
Photographs of the Twelve Apostles and a Murray River bend (projected)
Recording sheet and coloured pencils, one per student

🪜 Support

Work with the sugar-cube jar first and have students describe each change aloud before writing. Give the word bank (weathering, erosion, deposition) taped to the desk and accept labelled drawings instead of sentences.

🚀 Extension

Ask students to explain why the Twelve Apostles will keep changing, predicting which stack will fall next and justifying it with the processes named in the lesson.

📊 Builds towards

Builds the vocabulary and cause-and-effect reasoning students need for the unit's landform investigation report.

⚠️ Safety: Water and sand trays make floors slippery — set them on a mat, keep the jar lids screwed on during shaking, and have students wash their hands afterwards.

Learning intentions

We are learning to describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition change Earth's surface.
We are learning to tell the difference between weathering and erosion using real examples.
We are learning to explain how these processes work together to shape Australian landforms.

Success criteria

I can define weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition in my own words.
I can explain why weathering and erosion are different processes, not the same thing.
I can put the four processes in the correct order using an example landform.
I can describe an Australian landform that has been shaped by these processes.

Curriculum links

Codes verified against AC v9

AC9S5U02 — describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition cause slow or rapid change to Earth’s surface
AC9S5I02 — plan and conduct repeatable investigations to answer questions, including, as appropriate, deciding the variables to be changed, measured and controlled in fair tests; describing potential risks; planning for the safe use of equipment and materials; and identifying required permissions to conduct investigations on Country/Place
AC9S5I04 — construct and use appropriate representations, including tables, graphs and visual or physical models, to organise and process data and information and describe patterns, trends and relationships

Open slide editor

Slide 1 of 13Title

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How Water Shapes the Land

Weathering, erosion and deposition

Year 5 Science

Teacher notes: Welcome the class and explain they will become 'land detectives' investigating how rivers, rain and waves reshape Australia over time. Set up by asking who has visited a beach, riverbank or gorge and noticed sand, pebbles or cliffs.

Slide 2 of 13Teach

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Did you know…?

The Twelve Apostles were once joined to the mainland cliffs of Victoria.

Photo: pierre pouliquin (BY-NC)

Teacher notes: Pause here for reactions — ask 'so what happened to the rock in between?' Explain the connecting rock was worn away by waves over thousands of years, which is exactly what today's lesson explains. Takes about 3 minutes.

Slide 3 of 13Teach

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Key words

Weathering

rock breaks apart where it sits

Erosion

the wearing away and removal of broken pieces from where they sit

Transportation

pieces are carried by water, wind or ice

Deposition

carried pieces settle and build up in a new place

AI illustration

Teacher notes: Read each term aloud and ask students to make the action with their hands (crack, scoop, carry, settle). Keep these words visible for the rest of the lesson as every checkpoint refers back to them. About 5 minutes.

Slide 4 of 13Teach

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I do: following a rock's journey

Frost cracks a boulder in the mountains — that's weathering.

Rushing water wears away and removes the broken pieces from where they sit — that's erosion.

The river carries the pieces downstream — that's transportation.

The river slows and the pieces settle and build up at its mouth — that's deposition.

Teacher notes: Model this with the diagram, tracing the journey from mountain to river mouth. Emphasise the boulder itself never moves during weathering — that is the idea students most often get wrong. About 6 minutes.

Slide 5 of 13Teach

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Weathering vs erosion: not the same thing

Weathering breaks rock apart but nothing moves away.

Erosion is when those broken pieces are worn away and carried off.

Mixing these up is the most common mistake in this topic.

Weathering vs erosion: not the same thing

AI illustration

Teacher notes: Name the misconception explicitly: many students think 'weathering' and 'erosion' mean the same process. Use the tChart to show a cracked rock sitting still (weathering) versus sand being swept downstream (erosion). About 5 minutes.

Slide 6 of 13Teach

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Quick check: crack but no crawl

Freezing water cracks a rock, but nothing moves away. Which process is this?

🎯 Quick check

Weathering

Erosion

Deposition

Transportation

Teacher notes: Run this as a show-of-hands or mini whiteboards. Choosing Erosion reveals they think breaking equals moving; Deposition reveals confusion with dropping sediment; Transportation reveals confusion with carrying material. About 4 minutes.

Slide 7 of 13Teach

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Why this matters

The Twelve Apostles keep collapsing as waves erode the soft limestone cliffs.

The Murray River carries tonnes of soil that farmers rely on downstream.

Councils use this science to decide where to build seawalls and levees.

Photo: denisbin (BY-ND)

Teacher notes: Link to AC9S5H02 here: communities use scientific knowledge about erosion to make decisions, such as planting vegetation to stop riverbank collapse. About 4 minutes.

Slide 8 of 13Discussion

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Discuss: erosion near you

Have you seen a riverbank, beach or gully changing shape?

What do you think is carrying the soil or sand away?

Could people slow this down, and should they?

AI illustration

Teacher notes: Run as think-pair-share for 5 minutes. Prompt with local examples if students are stuck, such as a local creek bank or a beach after a storm. Listen for whether students can name the process, not just describe the change.

Slide 9 of 13Teach

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We do: a river from mountain to sea

Near the mountain source, frost and rain weather large rocks into smaller chunks.

Fast-flowing water erodes and removes gravel and sand from the mountainside.

The river transports these smaller particles for many kilometres.

Near the mouth, the slower river deposits sand and mud, building a delta.

Teacher notes: Work through this together on the board, labelling each stage on the flow diagram with the class. Ask roving question: 'why does the river slow down near the sea?' (near the sea the ground is much flatter, so the river spreads out wider and loses speed, like water slowing down when it reaches the bottom of a ramp). About 6 minutes.

Slide 10 of 13Teach

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Put it in order

Arrange these four processes in the order a rock experiences them.

🔢 Put these in order

Weathering

Transportation

Deposition

Erosion

Teacher notes: The deck will shuffle the four terms — students reorder them. Correct order is Weathering, Erosion, Transportation, Deposition. Watch for students who put Transportation before Erosion, which suggests they think material moves before it is eroded and removed from where it sits. About 4 minutes.

Slide 11 of 13Activity

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Hands-on: build a mini landscape

In trays of sand and gravel, pour water from a cup down a slope.

Observe which particles move first and where they settle.

Record which process you can see happening at each spot.

AI illustration

Teacher notes: Set up trays with a sloped pile of sand and gravel, a cup of water each. Expected answers: gravel near the top stays put or moves a little (weathering/early erosion), sand washes downhill (erosion and transportation), and a small fan of sediment builds at the bottom of the tray (deposition). Watch for groups who pour too fast and wash everything to the bottom — ask them to slow the pour and observe stages. About 10 minutes.

Slide 12 of 13Teach

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Match the process to what happens

Weathering | rock breaks apart in place, with no movement

Erosion | pieces are worn away and removed from where they sit

Transportation | pieces are carried away by water, wind or ice

Deposition | pieces settle and build up somewhere new

🔗 Match them up

Weathering

pieces are carried away

Erosion

pieces are worn away and removed

Transportation

rock breaks apart in place

Deposition

pieces settle somewhere new

Teacher notes: The deck shuffles the right-hand column. Use this to check students can link vocabulary to meaning after the hands-on activity, not just recite definitions. About 4 minutes.

Slide 13 of 13Recap

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Recap: the rock's whole journey

Weathering breaks rock apart in place, with no movement.

Erosion, transportation and deposition then move and resettle the pieces.

Australian landforms like the Twelve Apostles show these processes happening today.

Teacher notes: Close by asking one student to retell the whole journey from mountain to river mouth using all four key words correctly. This is a quick informal check of the lesson's success criteria.