by Physwiz

3D relief map of Franconia Notch and the surrounding peaks in the New Hampshire White Mountains.  Created with USGS topographic data.  Includes Mts. Lafayette, Liberty, Flume, Cannon, North and South Kinsman.

Print Settings

Notes:

Printing with higher layer thickness will add a topographic line effect to the print.  Adjust size of print to suit your needs.  Use fewer layers in base to save material and speed up print.

How I Designed This

Downloaded topographic data from USGS as IMG and cropped to area of interest in in Preview.  Used Blender to create mesh and finished model with Fusion 360.  Used this You Tube video as a guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSNy9iUqDbI

Standards

                               NGSS                                                                        

Overview and Background

Use model to show evidence of glaciation and hydraulic erosion.

Lesson Plan and Activity

Franconia Notch, New Hampshire is a classic northern Appalachian glaciated valley. It has geomorphic features from pre-glacial times, from the glaciation itself, from glacial meltwater, and from post-glacial times.  See reference for detailed discussion about the formation of these features. https://serc.carleton.edu/75595

The Notch itself is a "U-shaped" valley. The "U" refers to the shape of its cross-section. Valley glaciers deepen and widen pre-existing "V-shaped" (stream) valleys.  Both can be seen in this model.

Students can identify these features and create hypotheses about their origins.  Brave teachers can guide students through the model creation process using the attached video as a reference so students can create their own 3D maps of other regions.

Source:
Davis, Lawrence R. “Glacial Features of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire.” Using Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning, 15 Nov. 2016, serc.carleton.edu/vignettes/collection/43373.html.

Materials Needed

Model can be used in class as a manipulative with no other materials necessary.

Teachers also can guide students through model creation.  I used Blender and Fusion 360 to construct the model.  Blender is free and Fusion 360 is free for educational use.  Both require a Mac or PC.  Large complex models are taxing on graphics hardware.

References

Davis, Lawrence R. “Glacial Features of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire.” Using Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning, 15 Nov. 2016, serc.carleton.edu/vignettes/collection/43373.html.