8th Grade Science Project From

¶ … 8th Grade Science Project

From Niagara Falls in America to Victoria Falls in Africa, some of the world's most famous natural wonders are waterfalls. When a flowing river erodes the soft rock of a streambed, this process can create a shelf of hard rock that does not erode. This erosion forces the water to flow over the shelf and fall downward with the force of gravity, and this is known as a waterfall. As time passes, the waterfall's impact on the soil and rock underneath it causes even more erosion, as silt and sand swirls around and breaks the ground up. Over time, a waterfall becomes longer and longer because the ground underneath it is being broken up and washed away. While waterfalls can be found in nearly every ecosystem on planet Earth, from the rainforests to arctic glaciers, the most common setting for waterfalls to exist naturally is the mountains (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). The upper reaches of mountain ranges are known to be areas of high precipitation, with snow and rain falling from the nearby clouds, and whenever rain falls the water that results immediately begins to flow downhill. Mountain regions with constant rainfall and snowfall, like those found in the Andes of South America, are home to many of world's most impressive waterfalls. In fact, the world's largest and longest waterfall is the 3,212 ft. Angel Falls in Venezeula, which is created by the area's long rainy season and the especially tall peaks of the Andes Mountains (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012).

A science project to recreate the action of a mountain waterfall can be created with a mix of science and creativity. Start by stacking six shoeboxes together, with three on top of one another in the back, two more stacked next to them, and the last one in front. This should create a mountain-like foundation to build from. Next, after crumpling newspaper into different sized shapes meant to resemble a mountains rocky texture, glue these to your shoebox foundation. You can paint the assembled mountain brown or grey to look more realistic, with green for trees making a nice touch. Next, carefully cut a cardboard paper towel roll in half to create a slide-like feature, and wedge the slide in between the newspaper crumples to create the waterfall. This can be painted blue to resemble a real waterfalls path through a mountainside, and if you use toilet paper rolls instead of paper towel rolls, you can make the river wind its way down more realistically. After placing a plastic bucket underneath a table or desk, place the assembled mountain on the edge of the table over the bucket and slowly pour a pitcher of water down the river path. You can see how the river flows slowly down the mountain before reaching the edge of the shelf, before plunging downward in a long waterfall. This science project shows how a waterfall in a mountain setting is a unique system of nature, created by extended rainy seasons, natural streambeds, and the process of erosion.