Starved Rock State Park

and Surrounding Areas

Suggestions and Extensions for the Teacher

• See if the students know of any famous dams, such as the Hoover Dam and show pictures or slides of different kinds of dams. Discuss what other reasons humans would construct dams, such as electricity, flood control, irrigation, etc. A supplemental field trip could be to go to a beaver dam if one can be found.
  
• Discuss with the students the uses of coal and other natural resources in the world today, including the importance of mining activities as a practical and cost effective way to retrieve these natural resources.
  
• As a classroom project, a teacher could have the students determine the effects of erosion and runoff on unconsolidated piles containing bedrock (using wood or plastic pieces to represent the bedrock material) and compare their results with the effects of erosion and runoff on natural undisturbed ground surfaces.
  
• As classroom project you could set up boxes containing various materials simulating glacial till, such as sand, clay, rocks, etc. Run water through the boxes to determine the effects of the water on the various materials. Vary the amount of water and the flow of water to determine how much water and how fast the flow rate would have to be to move the various materials.
  
• Discuss water as an important form of energy in the world today. Use the erosional effects of water, as seen at this site, as an example of the potential energy of water. Have the students research ways in which water is used today as an energy source.
  
• Create a classroom project in which the students collect sand particles and glue them together. Have the students glue together several different piles of sand, varying the amount of glue used on each pile. Run water over the piles and observe the effects the water has on each pile. Be careful not to change the amount of water or the flow rate of the water from pile to pile.
  
• Discuss other forms of energy and have the students build a model that uses one of our natural energy sources, like a windmill.
• Play the telephone game and show the students how easy it is to end up with the wrong message. Relate this to historical events through time and remind them that sometimes the facts (especially when only passed down by word of mouth) get twisted and can eventually turn into legends.