1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Alice Keeler is a mother of 5 and a teacher in Fresno, California. She has her B.A in Mathematics, M.S. in Educational Media Design and Technology and is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Technology with an emphasis in games and simulations. EdTech speaker, blogger, and presenter. Founder of coffeeEDU, a 1 hour conference event for educators. New Media Consortium Horizon report advisory panel member. High school math teacher for 14 years. Currently teaching pre-service teachers curriculum, instruction and technology at California State University Fresno. Teaches online for Fresno Pacific University in the Masters in Educational Technology. Passionate that kids are not failures, researches gamification in education to increase student motivation.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W E Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9-10 texts and topics.

2. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?
© Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?
Just south of Point Arena, California is a stretch of beach on the Pacific where the waves have eroded away soft sedimentary material to reveal concretions, boulders buried within. This is Bowling Ball Beach. Ocean tides have smoothed the rocks out, so that during low tide, the beach can look like the rack of bowling balls at your local lanes.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?1
Image Search
Use Bing images to locate images of erosion that take on geometrical patterns. 2
Video Search
Locate a video that describes the effects of erosion to shape the landscape. 3
Web Search
How does water erode rocks and stones? 4
Thinking
Why is the erosion pattern seen at the bowling ball beach not more prevalent in other places?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?1
Image Search
Use Bing images to locate images of erosion that take on geometrical patterns. 2
Video Search
Locate a video that describes the effects of erosion to shape the landscape. 3
Web Search
How does water erode rocks and stones? 4
Thinking
Why is the erosion pattern seen at the bowling ball beach not more prevalent in other places?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?1
Image Search
Use Bing images to locate images of erosion that take on geometrical patterns.
(Possible Search Queries: “erosion”, “ocean erosion” “geometric erosion”)
Sources

8. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?2
Video Search
Locate a video that describes the effects of erosion to shape the landscape.
(Possible Search Queries: “erosion patterns”, “bowling ball beach”, “science erosion”)
Sources
Predicting Coastal Erosion:
Bowling Ball Beach:
Bill Nye the Science Guy:
Erosion and Deposition:

9. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?3
Web Search
How does water erode rocks and stones?
(Possible Search Queries: “water erosion rocks”, “water erosion rock”)
Sources
Wikipedia:
National Geographic:
National Geographic:
In soil water will pick up particulates as it flows, causing the soft soil to displace. At the coast, the physical force of the pounding of the water can wear away at the rocks and coastline. The carbonic acid in the sea water can cause corrosion of the rocks on the coast. Water can pool in cracks of rocks. The changing temperature can cause the water to turn to ice, breaking up the rock.

10. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?4
Thinking
Why is the erosion pattern seen at the bowling ball beach not more prevalent in other places?
Possible Search Queries: “cause of erosion bowling ball beach”
Sources
Best California Beach:
Geologic Trips:
Student answers will vary. They may mention the composition of the rock is different than other types of rocks which would cause them to erode differently. The geography of bowling ball beach may be unique to cause the ocean water to act in a swirling rather than pounding motion.

11. What are the conditions that cause erosion to occur in geometrical patterns?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.