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Snowdrift Connections at the Tram Turnaround

Analyze snow-depth data from a town tram turnaround and model how wind, snow, land, and spruce trees interact.

Grade 5ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to5-ESS2-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 5
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer, Drawing

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students compare snow-depth measurements to explain how wind redistributes snow.
Students model interactions among land, water, air, and living things using labeled arrows.
Students support a claim about Earth-system interactions with measurements and observations.

How to use

Read the field notes and graph together. Have students solve the questions, then explain how their model arrows connect the measured snow changes to other observations.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

5-ESS2-1

Model how land, water, air and living things interact.

Preview

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Name Date

Snowdrift Connections at the Tram Turnaround

Use snow measurements to model connections among land, water, air, and living things.

1. Investigate the Snow Measurements

Read the field notes and graph. Use both measurements and observations to answer the questions.

Field Notes from the Planting Strip

A snowy town has a wide planting strip beside its tram turnaround. The strip is separated from the tram tracks by a fence. Town naturalist Dev studies three spots there: an open patch, a spot just behind a group of spruce trees, and a shallow hollow without trees. A hollow is a low area in the land. Dev places a marked measuring rod at each spot before a windy day. The graph shows his sample field measurements.

At dawn, Dev reads the snow depth beside each rod. He returns that afternoon and reads the same rods in the same way. He keeps the measuring locations and tools unchanged while observing what happens during the windy hours. He does not add or remove snow. No new snow falls between readings. Air temperatures stay between −6°C and −4°C, below water's freezing point. The snow remains dry and loose. Dev sees wind carry flakes across the open patch. Swirling flakes settle behind the spruce trees and in the hollow.

Dev also hangs matching cloth strips at the same height in the open patch and behind the spruce trees. During the same gusts, the open strip stretches nearly sideways, while the strip behind the trees hangs closer to downward. The spruce branches remain in place, though their tips move. Dev sketches the ground's shape and marks where drifting snow settles. Each measuring rod reports depth at one point. It does not measure the total volume of snow across the planting strip or across town.

Several days later, warmer air arrives. The temperature rises to 4°C, and some snow melts. Dev watches liquid water move downhill into the hollow. Some water then seeps into the soil. Spruce roots extend through nearby soil. Roots can take up liquid water when water is available and the soil is not frozen. For his model, Dev groups soil and ground shape as land, snow and liquid water as water, the surrounding atmosphere as air, and spruce trees as living things. Model arrows should explain movement or an effect, rather than simply connect nearby objects.