Continental drift happens over millions of years, but new perspective shows much faster changes. An informative resource offers a short term perspective using a series of satellite images. Viewers observe major changes to a coastline in a little more than 30 years' time. This leads to discussions relating winds, waves, currents, tides, and the movement of sand to each of the observations.

Concepts

coastal erosion, the coast, wind, waves, ocean currents, tides

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Select some of the discussion questions to use as written responses as a type of assessment
• Encourage scholars to design an experiment or model to demonstrate the movement of sand they observed

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of Cape Cod, coastlines, and weathering

Pros

• Links to many other fascinating lessons
• Materials easily adjust higher or lower academic levels depending on the needs of learners

Cons

• None