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Free scope and sequences, TEKS breakdowns, phenomenon ideas, and engagement activities for the 2024 Texas science standards.

I'm Chris Kesler, a former award-winning Texas middle school science teacher. This is the site I wish I'd had in the classroom. One hub with TEKS breakdowns, scope and sequences, phenomenon starters, engagement ideas, and resources, all aligned to the standards you actually teach.

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All standards updated for the 2024 TEKS revision

TEKS Details | Texas Hub Module

4th Grade TEKS Standards

Click any standard to see what it means, how to teach it, where students get stuck, and aligned resources.

TEKS S.4.10B • Earth's Processes

Weathering, Erosion & Deposition

The Standard

"Model and describe slow changes to Earth's surface caused by weathering, erosion, and deposition from water, wind, and ice; and"

💡 What This Standard Actually Means

The Key Verb

"Model and describe". Fourth graders are building physical models and explaining what they show. The TEKS names three slow processes: weathering (rock breaking down into smaller pieces), erosion (those pieces being moved somewhere else), and deposition (the pieces being dropped off in a new spot). The TEKS also names three things that cause those processes: water, wind, and ice. Three processes times three causes equals nine combinations kids should be able to spot in the real world. None of it happens fast. The standard specifically calls these "slow changes."

The Earth's surface looks the way it does because of things that have been happening slowly for thousands and millions of years. Mountains used to be sharper. Beaches used to be cliffs. Rivers used to run in different places. 4.10B is the standard where 4th graders learn the three processes that constantly reshape the land, plus the three forces that drive them.

The processes go in order. First, weathering breaks rocks into smaller pieces. A crack in a sidewalk freezes overnight, expands, and chips a piece off. A wave smashes a chunk of cliff into pebbles. A windstorm sandblasts a rock face into sand. Second, erosion picks up those pieces and moves them. A river carries pebbles downstream. The wind blows sand across a desert. A glacier scrapes dirt and rocks for miles. Third, deposition drops the pieces off in a new place. The river slows down and dumps its load to make a sandbar. The wind drops its sand to build a dune. The glacier melts and leaves piles of rock behind.

The three causes are water, wind, and ice. All three can cause weathering, all three can cause erosion, and all three can cause deposition. By the end of this unit, kids should be able to look at any landscape (a Texas riverbed, a beach, a canyon, a sand dune) and explain which of the three processes shaped it and which of the three forces did the work. The standard wants both modeling (building a small example of it happening) and describing (explaining what they see in their model).

💬 From Chris's Classroom

If I were teaching this standard, I'd build the lesson around a "stream table." A long, shallow plastic bin propped up on one end with a brick. Pour a thin layer of sand and small pebbles in. Slowly pour water down the high end. Within seconds, kids can see the water cutting little channels (erosion) and dropping the sand at the low end (deposition). It's the whole process happening in a tray in two minutes. Then add a "wind" station (a hair dryer pointed at a tray of sand) and an "ice" station (a frozen ice block sliding across a tray of dirt to mimic glaciers). Three causes, all visible. Don't try to teach this with just diagrams. Kids need the visual of stuff actually moving from one place to another. The "slow" part of the standard is fine to acknowledge in the class discussion: the model works in two minutes, but in real life, this took thousands of years to shape the Grand Canyon.

⚠️ Misconceptions Your Students May Have

These are some of the most common misconceptions. Knowing what to look for can help you get ahead of them.

"Weathering and erosion are the same thing"

✓

They're two different steps. Weathering is rocks BREAKING DOWN into smaller pieces. Erosion is those pieces getting MOVED to a new spot. Weathering happens in place. Erosion involves transportation. A rock cracking on a mountain (weathering) is different from the broken pieces being washed downstream (erosion).

"Only water causes erosion"

✓

Water is the most common one, but wind and ice cause erosion too. Wind picks up sand in the desert and moves it across miles. Glaciers (giant slow-moving ice) scrape up rocks and dirt and carry them along. The TEKS specifically names water, wind, AND ice as causes. All three matter.

"Deposition is when stuff just sits there"

✓

Deposition is the active dropping-off step. After erosion moves pieces of rock or sand somewhere new, deposition is when the water, wind, or ice loses its energy and DROPS the load. Sandbars in rivers, sand dunes in deserts, and big piles of rock left behind by glaciers are all deposition in action. It's the opposite of erosion: erosion picks up, deposition drops off.

"Earth's surface used to look exactly the way it does now"

✓

Earth's surface is constantly being reshaped. The Grand Canyon used to be a flat plateau before the Colorado River carved it for millions of years. Texas beaches used to be different shapes. Even the mountains have been wearing down a tiny bit each year. The changes are slow, but they never stop.

📓 Teaching Resources for 4.10B

These resources are aligned to this standard.

Complete 5E Lesson

Model Slow Changes to Earth Complete Science Lesson

The full unit for 4.10B: differentiated station labs, editable presentations, interactive notebooks (English + Spanish), student-choice projects, and assessments covering weathering, erosion, and deposition from water, wind, and ice. Built on the 5E model.

⏱ Best for: Full unit coverage • Multiple class periods

Station Lab

Model Slow Changes to Earth Station Lab

9-station hands-on lab where 4th graders model and describe slow changes to Earth's surface caused by weathering, erosion, and deposition from water, wind, and ice. Input stations (Explore It!, Watch It!, Read It!, Research It!) and output stations (Organize It!, Illustrate It!, Write It!, Assess It!). Print and digital. English and Spanish.

🔬 Best for: Core instruction • 1-2 class periods

Student Choice Projects

Model Slow Changes to Earth Student Choice Projects

Choice board with nine project options plus a "design your own" pathway. Students show what they know about weathering, erosion, and deposition through writing, building, illustrating, presenting, or digital formats.

🎓 Best for: Project-based assessment • 2-3 class periods

🌎 Phenomenon Ideas for 4.10B

Use these real-world phenomena to anchor your lesson. Show students the phenomenon first, let them wonder, then build toward Weathering, Erosion & Deposition as the explanation.

🔎

Phenomenon 1

The Mini Canyon

Fill a long, shallow tray with damp sand and pat it flat. Prop one end up on a thick book so it's tilted. Slowly pour a cup of water down the high end. Watch the water cut a thin channel as it runs down the slope. Then it slows down at the bottom and drops a little fan of sand. Two-minute Grand Canyon. The kids will want to do it 12 more times.

💬 Discussion Prompt

"What did the water do at the top of the slope? What did it do at the bottom? How is this exactly like what real rivers do over thousands of years?"

🔎

Phenomenon 2

The Hair Dryer Desert

Pour a flat layer of dry sand on a baking sheet. Put a small toy or rock on top of the sand to act as a barrier. Turn on a hair dryer (low setting) and aim it across the sand. The wind picks up grains of sand and carries them across the tray. Behind the toy, a small "dune" of sand piles up where the wind slowed down. Wind erosion AND wind deposition in 30 seconds.

💬 Discussion Prompt

"Why did sand pile up behind the toy and not in front of it? What does this tell us about how wind moves and drops sand? Where on Earth do you see this happening for real?"

🔎

Phenomenon 3

The Freeze-Crack Demo

Day 1: Show a plastic bottle filled to the very top with water. Put the cap on. Place it in the freezer. Day 2: Take it out. The bottle has bulged or cracked because water expands when it freezes. Now imagine that same thing happening in a tiny crack in a rock, every winter, for thousands of years. The rock breaks apart a little bit each time. That's ice weathering.

💬 Discussion Prompt

"What did the ice do to the bottle? What would happen if water got into a crack in a rock and froze every winter for a thousand years? What kind of slow change would that cause?"

💡 Free Engagement Ideas for 4.10B

Three-Tray Stream Lab

Set up three identical sand-and-pebble trays propped on books. At Tray 1, kids pour a slow trickle of water. At Tray 2, they pour a fast pour. At Tray 3, they dump a sudden flood. They observe how much erosion happens and how big the deposition fan is at the bottom of each. The faster the water, the more erosion. Real model, real comparison.

Materials: 3 long shallow trays, sand, small pebbles, water in pitchers, books for propping, towels for spills

Wind Erosion Station

Each group gets a tray of dry sand, a small toy or rock, and a hair dryer. They run three trials: hair dryer on low, on medium, and on high. Each time they record how far the sand traveled and where the dune piled up. Connects wind erosion (sand moving) with wind deposition (sand piling up).

Materials: Trays of dry sand, hair dryers (one per group, low-heat or no-heat setting), small toys or rocks, ruler, recording sheet

Ice-Glacier Demo

Freeze a small block of ice with bits of gravel and dirt embedded in it (use a small plastic container). Once frozen, slide the ice block across a tray of soft modeling clay or wet sand. The block scrapes a wide groove and leaves chunks of dirt behind as it melts. Models a glacier carving the ground and depositing rocks. Big "whoa" moment when kids see real grooves in the clay.

Materials: Plastic containers, water, gravel and dirt, freezer access, modeling clay or wet sand trays

Spot the Process Photo Sort

Print 12 photos of real landscapes (Grand Canyon, Texas beaches, sand dunes in the Sahara, glacier valleys in Alaska, eroded farmland, Texas Hill Country rivers, deltas, sandbars). Kids work in pairs to sort each photo into "weathering," "erosion," or "deposition" piles, and underneath each photo write "water," "wind," or "ice." Forces kids to use the full vocabulary the TEKS asks for.

Materials: Printed landscape photo cards, sorting mats, recording sheet

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Texas Science Teacher Resource Hub

🚀 Jump to Your Grade

4th Grade TEKS Standards

Weathering, Erosion & Deposition

💡 What This Standard Actually Means

⚠️ Misconceptions Your Students May Have

📓 Teaching Resources for 4.10B

🌎 Phenomenon Ideas for 4.10B

The Mini Canyon

The Hair Dryer Desert

The Freeze-Crack Demo

💡 Free Engagement Ideas for 4.10B

Three-Tray Stream Lab

Wind Erosion Station

Ice-Glacier Demo

Spot the Process Photo Sort

Year-at-a-Glance Pacing Guides

Trusted Across Texas

Texas Schools and DistrictsLove Kesler Science

What Teachers Are Saying

Give Your Science Teachers Everything They Need

See It in Action

Texas Schools and Districts
Love Kesler Science