The Mystery of the Saylorville Stones

This video shows large boulders that have been moved along the banks of the Saylorville Reservoir while mysteriously leaving smaller stones undisturbed.

Possible Guiding, Compelling and/or Anchoring Questions

• How did these stones move?
• How much force would be needed to move these stones?

Classroom Suggestions

• This would be a great lesson for discussions on water’s phase changes and the ability of water to change and modify the surface of the earth.  
• There is also an opportunity to connect this back to some basic physics concepts like force, work, and friction. 
• This phenomenon provides a great inquiry platform into discussions of the water cycle.

Related Resources

• Live Science: Mystery of Death Valley’s Sailing Stones Solved: A great connection to the “sailing stones” of Death Valley, plus an explanation of how they moved.
• The U.S. Sun: NASA explains mysterious sailing stones that move around death valley on their own: Further information on the Death Valley stones, plus a connection to fossils that show this same process.
• Atlas Obscura: What is an “ice shove”?: Great article explaining the process of “ice shove” that is common at the Saylorville Reservoir.