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Dust bowl
Investigating wind erosion

Ask pupils if they have ever had sand blown in

their faces in a strong wind.
Set up a pile of dry sediment of mixed sizes to
create a ‘mini-desert’ on the table. Check that no
pupil suffers from asthma or a dust allergy.
Show the pupils a drinking straw, (or the barrel of
a cheap pen with the ink tube removed)

A dust cloud formed of blown topsoil, engulfing a farm in

Stratford, Texas in the 1930s.
(NASA 01_theb1365 NOAA Photo Library, Historic NWS
Collection)

A pile of mixed dry sediment being blown gently with a straw

(Photo: P. Kennett)

Ask the pupils:

• What will happen if we aim at the pile of
sediment with the tube and produce a ‘wind’ by
blowing down it?
• Which of the materials is most likely to move
first? Topsoil, eroded by the wind and deposited in a roadside ditch,
• What would we need to do to get the Iowa, USA (AGI hkeamf © NRCS)
remaining materials to move?
• How far do you think the materials will travel?
Which will go the furthest?
Get small groups of pupils to set up their own
piles of sediment and to blow steadily through the
tube.
Encourage them to test their answers to the
questions above.
Ask them to describe any results which were not
as they had expected and to try to explain them.
Ask them how they think this activity relates to the
real world, e.g. in their own locality; in a dry
ploughed field; in a dusty school playground; on a
beach; in a desert. Sand dunes formed by the deposition of wind-blown sand,
California, USA (AGI ha469y © Marli Miller, University of
Oregon)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………..
The back up
Title: Dust bowl • describe how wind picks up and moves
particles of sediment;
Subtitle: Investigating wind erosion • show that wind can transport sediment away
from its original location;
Topic: Investigating the effects of different wind • explain why stronger winds can move greater
strengths and particle sizes on the erosion, quantities and larger particles;
transportation and deposition of sediment by wind. • explain why wind erosion could be a big
problem to a farming economy.
Age range of pupils: 8 -14 years
Context: The activity could form part of a lesson
Time needed to complete activity: 20 minutes looking at the mechanism of sediment movement.
It could also lead to an understanding of the
Pupil learning outcomes: Pupils can: effects of wind erosion in flat, exposed areas and
dry climates. Wind erosion and subsequent
1
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deposition of the load is an important source of • Moving air can move larger particles as ‘bed-
fertile soils in the area of deposition. load’ by dragging or rolling them or by causing
• What will happen if we aim at the pile of them to jump into the air for a short time, and
sediment with the tube and produce a ‘wind’ by displacing other particles as they land.
blowing down it? Some of the particles will • Large particles can protect areas of smaller
begin to move ‘downwind’. Some will move ones, creating ‘sand shadows’.
along the table, but others will be lifted up into • Friction against the land surface eventually
the space above the table. reduces the wind velocity to the point where it
• Which of the materials is most likely to move will deposit its load of sediment.
first? The smallest particles are usually the first • Wind erosion can have devastating effects on
to move and are also more likely to lift off the a region’s soil, if measures are not taken to
table into suspension in the ‘wind’. protect it.
• What would we need to do to get the
remaining materials to move? The wind Thinking skill development:
strength could be increased by blowing harder Investigating the movement of sediment is a
down the tube, or the tube could be directed constructive activity. Cognitive conflict arises
more closely towards them. Fine particles when trying to predict how the particles will move,
could be dislodged from behind larger ones by especially smaller ones in the shadow of larger
moving the tube over them. ones. Applying the principles to a real flat-lying or
• How far do you think the materials will travel? arid environment involves bridging.
Which will go the furthest? Pupils will have
their own ideas about the actual distance, Resource list:
which can be tested. Finer particles travel Per small group:
further than large ones, although once a large • sand
particle has begun to move, its momentum can • pebbles (various sizes)
make it travel further than expected. • talcum powder, or a similar fine, harmless
powder
Following up the activity: • drinking straws, or the barrels of pens with the
• Spray the sediment lightly with water and carry ink tubes removed
out the investigation again, to see the • smooth surface, e.g. table top or the bottom of
importance of water as a binding agent, a large box with the two ends removed but the
reducing the erosive effects of the wind. sides left in place.
• Sow some fast-growing seeds onto the Assess and minimise the risk to asthma sufferers,
dampened sediment pile. Once they have to pupils’ eyes, and of the spread of airborne
germinated, test the effects of vegetation as a infections.
binding agent.
• Try other Earthlearningidea activities dealing Useful links:
with related themes, e.g. Why does soil get www.oznet.ksu.edu/fieldday/kids/wind/erosion
washed away?; Mighty river in a small gutter.
• Carry out a web search on the ‘Dustbowl’ of Source: “Science Through the Window” -
the American mid-west in the 1930s, or look Investigating the Science of Atmosphere, Soil,
for an example which is local to the school. Weathering, Erosion and Landscape. Earth
Science Education Unit, for the National
Underlying principles: Curriculum of Scotland, 2004
• Moving air can pick up small particles and
carry them in suspension.

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