🛰️
Grade 5 Science · World 2: Earth Watchers · Level 14
Build to Protect
Weigh seawalls, levees, dune plants, terraces, and earthquake-resistant buildings.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 14
- We can't stop every flood or storm, but engineers can limit the damage.
- Levees hold rivers back. Seawalls block waves. Terraces slow water running down a hill.
- Nature can help. Sea oats hold sand, and marshes soak up storm water.
- In earthquake country, buildings have flexible frames that sway without breaking.
- Every solution has a cost. A seawall can protect one spot and speed up erosion next door. Engineers weigh both sides.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science:
- S5E1.c — Ask questions to obtain information on how technology is used to limit and/or predict the impact of constructive and destructive processes. (Clarification statement: Examples could include seismological studies, flood forecasting (GIS maps), engineering/construction methods and materials, and infrared/satellite imagery.)