lesson

Breaking down and moving are different processes

1 · Learn

Weathering breaks down or chemically changes rock in place. Erosion removes and transports material, for example by moving water, wind or ice. Deposition occurs when transported material is laid down.

A landscape can show all these processes, but naming one does not explain every change. Match the process to the evidence about what happened and whether material moved.

Weathering: in placeErosion: removal/transportDeposition: settling
Key words and supplied examples.

2 · Worked example

Fragments loosen from a cliff, are carried along a river and settle downstream. Breaking down, transport and settling describe distinct parts of the story.

3 · Your turn

Sand carried by a river settles when the flow slows. Which process is described by the settling?

Check your answer

Deposition.

4 · Apply your learning

Sequence labelled observations and justify each process name rather than using 'erosion' for every change.

Adult guidance and safety

Use supplied evidence and approved models. Practical science needs a qualified adult, appropriate equipment and a risk assessment. Do not attempt chemical reactions, heating, mains electricity or solar observation independently. Never request personal health or genetic disclosures.

Open your writing and drawing pad

Write, draw or show your working. Use a mouse, pen or finger. This pad is not a submitted answer.

Not saved to your account. Download your drawing as PNG and your typed notes as TXT before leaving or refreshing. They are separate files. Do not enter private information.

Open a picture saved on this device to draw on it again. Opening replaces the drawing, but Undo can restore it. PNG only, up to 4 MB and 4096 × 4096 pixels. The picture stays in this browser; it is not uploaded. Paper lines in a saved picture become part of that picture.

Drawing is unavailable. Use the typed working area below.

Your pad is empty.

Open a UTF-8 TXT file from this device, up to 40 KB and 10,000 characters. It stays in this browser. Opening can be undone until you type again. Downloads keep a new copy; they do not change the file you opened.

Typed notes are not submitted answers.

Check a calculation · Year 5 onward

Use this only when your teacher or adult allows a calculator for the task. Show your thinking first. It does not replace mental or written arithmetic and does not mark your lesson answer.

Powers, roots and trigonometry · Year 7 onward

Use only when the task allows a calculator. Choose one operation at a time and record your working. Trigonometry here always uses degrees (DEG), not radians. Inverse sine, cosine and tangent return an angle, not a reciprocal. Keep exact fractions and π in answers when requested.

Approximate numerical results use up to 12 significant digits. Inverse sine returns −90° to 90°, inverse cosine 0° to 180°, and inverse tangent −90° to 90°; these are principal values, not every possible solution of a trigonometric equation.

My observation notebook

Follow your teacher's approved method and safety instructions. Record the sample or supplied dataset, conditions, measurements with units and uncertainties where appropriate. Distinguish observations from explanations. A described experiment is not permission to carry it out; do not improvise equipment or invent missing results.

Ask your teacher for support with the method and recording. A prediction is what you think might happen; an observation is what you actually see, hear or feel safely.

Keep your notebook: use Download notebook before leaving. Nothing is sent to the website or saved to your account. Reopen the downloaded notebook here to add another day's record. Do not include names, addresses or other private information.

Practice this lesson

Lesson resources

Browse the available practice activities and worksheets for this lesson.

Open course resources

Your progress

Ready to continue?