Admissions at Northland
Stockton Island tombolo
Theme:
This tombolo is a strand, a land bridge that Mother Nature has created to
connect Stockton Island to Presque Isle together as a part of a web of life.
Goals:
To bring about the understanding of the lengthy work of nature, how it changed
the landscape of both islands and brought it together through time.
To allow students to see what wonderful things Mother Nature has created here and how man can change it very quickly
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Describe how sand is made
- Describe how sand is carried in the water
- Explain why the currents move inward to fill and stop between Presque Isle and Stockton Island
- Explain how a tombolo is created
- List two features that the tombolo has created
Introduction:
This activity is about the tombolo-a and bridge that connects Stockton Island
to Presque Isle. Explain to the students that we will be doing a group of activities
that are required to make a tombolo.
Body:
At first I will tell the students to walk around on the sand, especially at
the beginning of Julian Bay . I would ask them to kick the heels of their feet
while they are walking or rub their hands on the sand to hear the singing sand.
I would point out the difference in the sand grains of regular sand to singing
sand. I would ask them if anyone knows why there is a difference? Then we would
examine the sand closely with our eyes and magnifying glasses. I would then
explain the high pitch sound and tell why it occurs.
Then I would ask them how old the sand might be. I would also ask them if anybody knows how sand is made and how long it takes. To demonstrate how it is made I would use a coffee can with sandstone in it and ask a volunteer to collect some water from the water and put it in the can. We would then take turns in shaking the can until everybody had a turn. I would then ask if anybody knew what we made. I would pass the can around one more time and let them see and feel the sand that was made, and to relate that to time and amount of work involved. I would tell them that the shaking motion would equate to erosion of winds, water, and wave action on the sandstone.
Now that the sand is made, I will talk about how the sand is carried off in the water. How is sand carried in the water? I would tell them through suspension. To demonstrate this I would need a volunteer to fill a clear jar with water that has already had sand I it. Then I would shake the jar and equate the shaking with the constant wave action (cause by winds) that moves the sand.
How does the sand move from one place to another? The moving of the sand is through long shore drift. I would point this out by looking at the angle of the waves as they it the shore. To explain this process we would do an activity. For this activity I would need one person to be Presque Isle and 5-6 people to be Stockton Island to be shorelines, while the rest act as waves. Some volunteers represent sand particles on the waves, by together holding a piece of rope. The "wave" is moving towards the islands and will start to bend as it hits Presque Isle and the eventually reach Stockton Island 's shore. The general direction is:
After everyone is finished I would ask him or her why did they stop? Can anyone understand why the general direction of the wave action on this side of the tombolo is the way it is? By looking at where you are standing as sand particles in this wave pattern, can you guess what the general direction of the wave action is on the other side of the tombolo? I would pull out the rope and explain to them that each time a wave crashes on the shoreline, sand particles are deposited. Each time sand particles are deposited between the island and isle, sand spit is formed. And as this process continues, more and more sand is deposited by the millions, causing the sand spit becomes larger and larger, until it connects Stockton Island shoreline to Presque Isle, forming a tombolo.
Going back to long shore drift and spit, I would ask them what would happen id a tree fell into the water, how could it change the shoreline? We would work with the activity below:
Through the activity we would see that sand is deposited in front of and behind the tree. New changes last only for a sort time because of storms that might blow the tree in the away, or maybe the tree will rot away. This is Mother Nature's work.
If we put a permanent pier in, what would happen? We would change the natural shoreline forever and other things would be permanently affected which would not be a natural process.
Conclusion:
We will do the first activity again and go over
how this tombolo is formed and I will point out that in the process a bog and
dune is also formed. Ask the students what if this tombolo was never created
by another nature? Try to lead them through to the realization that none of
us would be standing here, and the beautiful dune, big, plants, trees, and
wildlife would be altered as well.
Now as everyone comes together and all catch hold of the rope joining to form a circle, I would tell them that the sand particles are connected to wave actions, which are connected to sand spits, which are connected to the tombolo, which is connected to sand dunes, which in turn connects Presque Isle to Stockton Island, and thus the strands form the web of life.