The Canyon Experience & Design
The Experience
Students encounter the world of canyon and delta formation through the innovative cold air inflatable experience. Time speeds up as the audience watches a 15ft deep canyon erode before their eyes. Focus shifts to the movement of sediments down river to form a delta through deposition. The experience then travels inside the canyon wall where the students find a fossil record and an oil deposit to examine. This creative, interactive approach to the difficult concept of erosion and deposition will ignite student learning and give students a virtual experience making an abstract concept "real".
The Canyon Construction
The canyon is presently under construction by J.D. Inflatables. The following will explain the canyon design, how it functions, and the graphics.
Design: The canyon will sit on a 30' by 30' tarp depicting land and ocean. The window on the top of section C allows light into the interior of the canyon. This diagram shows the overall shape of the canyon.
Function: The canyon is constructed in three connecting inflatable pieces that combine to make one large landform. A blue translucent fabric river cascades down Section B across the "land" and "ocean." As Section B deflates, fabric-born sediments extend under the river and out to the ocean to form a delta. The students then go inside of Section C where they study an airbrushed fossil record and oil deposit on the back wall.
Graphics: High resolution graphics depict sedimentary layers on the canyon walls. Inside Secion C students find fossils and an oil deposit airbrushed into the sediment layers on the inside of the canyon. The canyon sits on a 30' by 30' tarp (below) showing land and ocean.
The Support
Once you have booked your Big Canyon Balloon date, your campus will have access to support materials via this website (under construction). Included in this support is:
- inquiry based investigations
- extension activities
- vocabulary games and ideas
- smart board activities
- web quests
- e-instruction activities
- center activities and games
- assessments
- rubrics
- notebooking tutorials
- background information
- links to great websites
- information on "best practices"