Lesson plan Grade 2 Science

Slowing the Storm on Copperfield Hill: A Barrier-Design Lesson

A 40-minute grade 2 lesson where students test bare, rock-wall, and grass-mat barrier designs to see which one best slows water from washing soil off a hill.

Grade: Grade 2
Subject: Science
Material: Lesson plan
Time: 40 min
Prep: Moderate prep
Materials: 3 shallow trays or foil pans (or 1 tray reused three times), Potting soil, about 2 cups per tray, shaped into a small tilted hill, Small rocks or pebbles, about 15, for the rock-wall design, Yarn or fabric strips, a handful, for the grass-mat design, 3 clear collection cups, one per group, 1-cup measuring cup, A pitcher of water, Paper towels for cleanup

Standards

2-ESS2-1 NGSS

Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.

How this material aligns: Students compare the bare-hill, rock-wall, and grass-mat designs in the Testing step to determine which barrier design best slows water and prevents soil from washing off Copperfield Hill, directly matching this standard's comparison of solutions.

All materials for 2-ESS2-1 →

K-2-ETS1-3 NGSS

Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

How this material aligns: Groups record and compare their collected water's clarity across the three tested designs during the Testing and discussion steps, analyzing simple test data to identify each design's strengths and weaknesses as this standard requires.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-3 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-16.

Objectives

Students will compare three barrier designs to determine which one best slows water from washing soil down a hill.
Students will use data from their tests to explain which design worked best and why.

Vocabulary

Erosion: Erosion is the wearing away and carrying off of soil and rock by moving water, wind, or ice. Fast-moving stormwater can strip soil from bare ground and stream banks.

Also: barrier, slope, compare

Teacher overview

Heavy rain can wash soil straight off a hillside unless something slows the water down first. This lesson has students test three simple barrier designs on a model hill made of soil in a tray: no barrier at all, a row of small rocks, and a mat of yarn standing in for grass roots. Copperfield Hill, a fictional hillside next to a school, gives students a concrete place to imagine testing these designs before they compare which one keeps the most soil in place.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Describe a hillside after a heavy storm, with soil washed onto the sidewalk below it. Ask: "What could people build on the hill to stop the dirt from washing away?" Take two or three guesses without commenting on which is best.

Direct instruction (8 min): Introduce Copperfield Hill and explain that engineers test different barrier designs before building a real one on a slope. Tell the class that today they will test three designs on a model hill: no barrier, a rock wall, and a grass mat made of yarn.

Guided setup (10 min): Working in three groups, each group builds a small soil hill in a tray, tilted so one end is higher than the other. Group 1 leaves its hill bare, with no barrier. Group 2 places a row of small rocks partway down the slope. Group 3 lays a mat of yarn strips partway down the slope. Before class, cut a small notch in the low end of each tray so water can flow out into the cup. Each group places a collection cup at the low end of its tray.

Testing (10 min): One group at a time, students pour the same amount of water, 1 measuring cup, slowly at the top of their hill and watch what collects in the cup at the bottom: clear water, or water with soil mixed into it. Each group records whether their collected water is "mostly clear," "a little muddy," or "very muddy" on the board.

Class discussion and formative check (5 min): Compare the three results as a class. Ask: "Which design's collected water was the clearest? What does that tell us about how well that barrier worked?" Call on three different students to answer using the word "barrier" in their response.

Closure (2 min): Repeat the class sentence: "A barrier that slows the water down keeps more soil in place." Tell students that real towns use rock walls, planted slopes, and other barriers to protect hillsides in the same way their model barriers did. Have everyone wash their hands after handling the soil.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: The rock-wall and grass-mat designs should collect clearer water than the bare hill, because both barriers slow the water down and give soil more of a chance to settle instead of washing straight into the collection cup.
Discussion question: "Which barrier worked best in our class's tests, and how do you know?" Answer: Accept whichever barrier, rock wall or grass mat, produced the clearest collected water in a given class's own tests, with an explanation that a clearer result means that barrier slowed the water enough for soil to stay on the hill.

Differentiation

Support

Pre-build the bare-hill, no-barrier tray as a whole-class demonstration before groups build their own rock-wall or grass-mat trays, so students see one complete example first. Provide the three clarity choices, "mostly clear," "a little muddy," and "very muddy," as picture cards students can point to instead of writing.

Extension

Ask groups that finish early to test a fourth design, combining both the rock wall and the grass mat on the same hill, and predict in writing whether the combined barrier will collect even clearer water than either barrier alone.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "barrier," "slope," and "erosion" with a simple gesture, such as hands forming a wall shape for barrier and a tilted flat hand for slope. Allow groups to report their clarity results by holding up the matching picture card instead of speaking a full sentence.