We suggest students work in groups of four. Homeschool students can work alone.

Prepare “Paper Boulders”

Cut or tear each sheet of construction paper into about 12 pieces. We used a paper cutter to cut many sheets at the same time, making irregularly shaped pieces, but tearing or cutting with scissors will also work.

Each group (or single homeschool student) should start with 3 sheets worth of boulders (about 36). We recommend providing plenty of boulders at the beginning so that the students will still have large boulders at the end of the activity. That way, students will be able to see how the sizes of the rocks change as they move downstream.