Shaping the Earth: Explore Horseshoe Bend with Merge EDU

From weathering and erosion to river systems and rock layers, geology is a subject best understood when students can see it—and even better, hold it.

With Merge EDU, students can explore one of the most iconic geological formations in the United States, gaining a deeper understanding of the forces that shape our planet—all from the palm of their hand.

🌀 What Is Horseshoe Bend?

Located in Arizona near the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend is a dramatic meander in the Colorado River that showcases millions of years of erosion, sedimentation, and geological change. Its curved cliffs, deep canyon walls, and layered rock formations are a powerful visual example of how rivers sculpt the Earth over time.

Now, with Merge EDU, your students can examine this landmark from every angle—no field trip required.

✋ Hands-On Geology: Learning Through Interaction

With the Horseshoe Bend simulation found in the Merge Explorer app, students can:

• Adjust the timescale to see how the river carved through layers of rock over time
• Make connections between water movement and landscape formation
• Visualize water erosion in the palm of their hand

It’s one thing to show a photo of a canyon. It’s another to let students hold one, explore it in 3D, and understand the processes behind its formation in an intuitive, hands-on way.

Horseshoe Bend

Have you ever heard the proverb, “Constant dripping wears away a stone?” This old saying comes from the observation that when water follows the same path for years and years, it can gradually wear away rock, creating valleys and canyons. In this simulation, you will experience a river slowly carving out a canyon in a rocky landscape. The simulation starts out far in the past, but you can control time by moving the slider in the control panel. Watch what happens to the rock as you get closer to the present day - how much time passes before the canyon starts to take shape?

Merge Explorer

🪨 Explore the Rock History of Earth with Merge EDU 

In addition to the simulation of the formation of Horseshoe Bend, the Merge Explorer app also lets students explore other concepts from Geology:

• Layers of Fossils - Perform your own virtual dig to uncover fossils in each rock layer.
• Layers of Rock – Watch the layers of rock build up over time to give us the strata we see today in the Grand Canyon.
• Pangea - Watch the giant supercontinent of Pangea split up to create today’s continents

Extra Credit – Pair the AR simulations in Merge Explorer with rock and mineral collections from Merge Object Viewer

Rocks

In this rock collection, students will see the differences between sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks, and will be able to understand their composition and texture as they examine them from every angle.

Object Viewer for MERGE Cube

Minerals

Discover various types of minerals like sulfates, oxides, halides, and silicates. Each mineral in this collection includes information about luster, hardness, streak, cleavage, and color.

Object Viewer for MERGE Cube

Gemstones

View and inspect precious and non precious gems (including minerals, rocks, and other organic materials), in this collection of gemstones. Some are in their cut and polished form, while others are in their raw, uncut form.

Object Viewer for MERGE Cube

🌍 From the Canyon to the Classroom

Not every school can visit a canyon or dig up fossils. But every classroom can explore these concepts with Merge EDU to help make geology tangible and help students visualize large-scale changes to the Earth’s surface.

👉 Start exploring for free today! Sign up for the free trial at TryMerge.com, and print out Merge Paper Cubes for your students at MergeCube.com/paper.