As a reminder, the science final will be approximately 80 multiple choice questions. Final Study Guides were due 5/15/15. For those of you who did not complete it, here is an additional copy:
6th Grade Final Study Guide 2015: Return completed on separate sheet of paper by May 15 for 5 points extra credit on Final Exam.
Chapter 1 Lesson 1:
1. What are the 4 parts of the Earth’s system and what makes them up?
Chapter 1 Lesson 2:
1. How did geologists learn about the Earth’s interior?
2. What are the layers of the Earth (draw and label a diagram) and what are their characteristics?
Chapter 1 Lesson 3:
1. How do convection currents occur in the Earth’s mantle and what do they cause?
Chapter 2 Lesson 1:
1. Define the 8 terms of how minerals are identified. (color, streak, luster, hardness, density, crystal structure, cleavage and fracture, and special properties)
2. How do minerals form from a solution?
3. How do minerals form from magma and lava?
Chapter 2 Lesson 2:
1. How do geologists classify rocks?
2. How are sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks formed?
Chapter 2 Lesson 3:
1. What is the difference between intrusive and extrusive igneous rock?
2. How does rate of cooling affect the texture of igneous rock?
3. What igneous rock is commonly used as a building material?
Chapter 2 Lesson 4:
1. How do sedimentary rocks form? Define the terms weathering and erosion, deposition, compaction, and cementation, and be familiar with their order.
2. What is the difference between a clastic and an organic rock? List examples of each.
Chapter 2 Lesson 5:
1. How are metamorphic rocks formed?
Chapter 2 Lesson 6:
1. Be familiar with the Rock Cycle Diagram and the processes that change one rock to another on p. 64
Chapter 3 Lesson 1:
1. What was Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis?
2. What did they call the supercontinent?
3. What evidence did Wegener use to support his hypothesis?
4. Was his hypothesis accepted at the time? Why/Why not?
5. What is the theory called to explain Wegener’s hypothesis?
Chapter 3 Lesson 2:
1. What is sea-floor spreading and what are the features that are formed from it called?
2. What is a deep-ocean trench and what happens at it?
Chapter 3 Lesson 3:
1. What is the theory of plate tectonics?
2. What is the difference between a divergent, convergent, and transform boundary and what features occur at each?
Chapter 4 Lesson 1:
1. How do the stresses tension, compression and shearing change the shape and volume of rock?
2. Define Normal Faults, Reverse Faults, and Strike-Slip Faults and know the difference among them.
3. Define folded mountains, fault-block mountains, and plateaus and know what forces created them.
Chapter 4 Lesson 2:
1. What are seismic waves and how do they travel?
2. What does a seismograph record and how can seismographs be used to locate epicenters of earthquakes?
3. Define the following scales and the way they are ranked: Modified Mercalli Scale, Richter Scale, Moment Magnitude Scale.
4. Where on Earth are earthquakes most likely to occur?
Chapter 5 Lesson 1:
1. Where on Earth are volcanoes most likely to occur?
2. What is the difference between magma and lava?
3. What is a hot spot?
Chapter 5 Lesson 2:
1. Study the diagram p. 139 and know the parts of a volcano.
2. What is the difference between a quiet eruption and an explosive eruption?
3. What is the difference among a dormant, extinct, and active volcano?
Chapter 5 Lesson 3:
1. Define cinder-cone, composite, shield and lava plateau and list characteristics of each.
2. Define the landforms that magma creates: volcanic necks, dikes, sills, dome mountains, and batholiths.
The Scientific Method:
1. What are the 7 steps of the scientific method? List and explain.
2. Be familiar with common sense lab safety methods.
3. Be familiar with how to read graphs and make inferences.
5/15/15
Read about small solar systems objects.
Test Tuesday:
Homework and Study Guide: Diagram the sun, 8 planets, asteroid, Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud along with their locations in the Solar System. List 2 unique facts about each planet. Know the names of the inner and outer planets (terrestrial and gas giants). On back of sheet, diagram the sun, include core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona and sunspots.
5/14/15
Read p. 102-109
Do Outer Planets Worksheet
5/13/15
Read p. 94-101 and do Inner Planets worksheet
5/12/15
Read p. 88-93 and answer questions. Do Sun Worksheet.
5/11/15
Read p. 82-87 in Text, and answer questions and do Worksheet: Intro to Solar System
4/27/15
Dark, flat areas of the moon called maria are hardened rock formed from huge lava flows that occurred 3-4 billion years ago. (The singular form of maria is mare meaning sea.) Large round pits called craters can be hundreds of Km across. The moon’s craters were caused by the impacts of meteoroids—chunks of rock or dust from space. Some of the light-colored features you can see that cover most of the moon’s surface are highlands or mountains.
The moon is smaller and less dense than Earth. Its diameter is about one fourth of Earth’s diameter. But, It has only one eightieth as much mass as Earth. The density of the moon is similar to the density of the Earth’s crust. Temps on the moon vary greatly b/c it does not have an atmosphere. The moon’s surface gravity is so weak that gases can easily escape into space. The moon has no liquid water. However, there may be patches of ice near its poles.
Do Figure 2 p. 34 Highest temp. on Earth was recorded at less than 60 degrees Celsius and lowest was -90 degrees Celsius. `Compare these to the moon’s temp (130 to -170) How is the moon warmed? How is the Earth warmed? Why do the temps on the moon vary so much?
Scientists have suggested many theories as to how the moon formed. The collision-ring theory seems to best fit the evidence. This theory holds that ta planet-sized rocky object collided with Earth to form the moon. Material from the object and Earth’s outer layers was ejected into orbit around Earth where it formed a ring. Gravity caused this material to clump together into the moon.
4/24/15
Lesson 6
Vocab: maria, crater, meteor, meteoroid, highlands, collision-ring theory
Read My Planet Diary p. 32
Galileo Galilei’s observations in the early 1600’s were some of the first to show details on the moon’s surface. The moon is dry and airless and has an irregular surface. Compared to Earth, the moon is small and has large variations in its surface temperature.
Homework: Study Guide in Textbook pp. 36-39, Vocab quiz is at end of class on Monday
TEST IS WEDNESDAY 11/29
STUDY GUIDE:
Define the following terms and be familiar with their uses in astronomy:
Solstice, gravity, constellations, inertia, equinox, umbra, penumbra, neap tide, spring tide, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, maria,
Why do we have different seasons?
How long does it take for the Earth to revolve around the sun? Rotate on its axis?
What causes day and night?
What causes the phases of the moon?
Be familiar with the 8 phases of the moon. List them and know what they look like.
What does the word “gibbous” mean?
How long is a lunar cycle?
What is a meteoroid vs a meteor?
Compare revolution vs. rotation.
What is the law of universal gravitation.
What is the difference between the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox?
Why is it warmer at the equator than at the poles?
How do inertia and gravity combine to keep Earth in orbit?
Be familiar with a tide table.
What side of the moon do we see and why?
What is the difference between the atmosphere of the moon and the atmosphere of the Earth and what does this cause?
4/22/15
The sun is so massive, that even though it is about 150 million kM from Earth, its gravity also affects the tides. The sun pulls the water on Earth’s surface toward it. Changes in the positions of the Earth, the moon and the sun affect the heights of the tides during a month. During the new moon, the gravity of the sun and moon pull in the same direction. This produces a tide with the greatest difference btwn, consecutive low and high tides: a spring tide.
The the moon’s first-quarter phase, the line btwn. Earth and the sun is at right angles to the line btwn. Earth and the moon. The sun’s pull is at right angles to the moon’s pull. This produces a neap tide, a tide with the least difference btwn. consecutive low and high tides. Neap tides occur twice a month.
At full moon, the moon and sun are at opposite sides of the Earth. Since there are high tides on both sides of Earth, a spring tide is also produced. It doesn’t matter which order the sun, Earth, and moon line up.
Do Third Quarter Infer p. 30
Do Apply it! p. 31
Homework: Tides Worksheet & Vocab Quiz Due Friday
4/20/15
Read My Planet Diary p. 28
The force of gravity pulls the moon and Earth (including the water on the Earth’s surface) toward each other. Tides are caused mainly by differences in how much gravity from the moon and the sun pulls on different parts of the Earth.
At any one time on Earth, there are two places with high tides and two places with low tides. As Earth rotates, one high tide occurs on the side of Earth that faces the moon because the moon’s gravity pulls a little more strongly there. The second high tide occurs on the opposite side of the Earth because the moon’s gravity pulls more weakly on the water on the far side of the Earth than the Earth as a whole. The Earth is pulled, and water is left behind causing the high tide. Halfway btwn. the high tides, water flows toward the high tides, causing low tides.
Do Figure 1 p. 29
4/17/15
Lesson 5: Tides
Vocab: tide, spring tide, neap tide, consecutive tides, massive
4/16/15
When an object in space comes btwn. the sun and a third object, it casts a shadow on that third object, causing an eclipse to take place. There are two types of eclipses: solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. A solar eclipse occurs at a new moon when the moon passes directly btwn. Earth and the sun, blocking sunlight from the Earth. The moon’s shadow then hits Earth.
The moon’s shadow has two parts. The darker part is the umbra. The larger, lighter part is the penumbra. During a solar eclipse, the sun’s light is completely blocked to people within the umbra. They see a total solar eclipse. Part of the sun’s light remains visible in the penumbra. So, people within the penumbra see a partial solar eclipse.
Ask: Would people in the moon’s penumbra experience a total or a partial eclipse? (partial) Infer whether a solar eclipse can always be viewed from the U.S. (no, sun’s rays are blocked only over a small area)
A lunar eclipse occurs at a full moon when Earth is directly btwn. the moon and the sun. During a lunar eclipse, Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. Lunar eclipses occur only when there is a full moon, because the moon is closest to the Earth at that time.
Earth’s shadow also has an umbra and penumbra. When the moon is in Earth’s umbra, you see a total lunar eclipse. Or most lunar eclipses, Earth, the moon, and the sun are not quite in line, and only a partial lunar eclipse occurs.
Do Figure 5 p. 27 and Assess p. 27
.
Homework: Worksheet
4/14/15
Lesson 4: Phases and Eclipses
Vocabulary: phase, eclipse, solar eclipse, umbra, penumbra, lunar eclipse
Read My Planet Diary p. 22
The different shapes of the moon you see from Earth are called phases. Phases are caused by the motions of the moon around Earth. As the moon orbits Earth, the relative positions of the moon, Earth, and the sun change. The changing relative positions of the moon, Earth, and the sun cause the phases of the moon. The phase of the moon you see depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces Earth.
Do Figure 1 p. 23
The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly tilted with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun. As a result, the moon travels above and below the Earth’s orbit. But on rare occasions, Earth, the moon, and the sun line up.
Do Apply It! and Figure 2 p. 24 Say: During which phases are the moon, Earth, and sun aligned?
Think about it: How could you tell whether the moon was waxing or waning?
4/8/15
The strength of the force of gravity between two objects depends on two factors: the masses of the objects and the distance between them.
Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Because Earth is so massive, it exerts a much greater force on you than this book does. The measure of the force of gravity on an object is called weight. An object’s weight can change depending on its location. On the moon, you would weight about one sixth as much as on Earth. That’s because the moon has less mass than Earth, so the pull of the moon’s gravity on you would also be less. The force of gravity between two objects decreases rapidly as distance between the objects increases. If the distance doubles, the force of gravity decreases to one fourth of its original value.
Do Figure 1 p. 19
Earth and the moon remain in orbit b/c of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist a change in motion. You feel the effects of inertia when you are riding in a car and it stops suddenly. You keep moving forward until your seat belt catches you.
In the classic table cloth/full set of dishes “magic trick”, what role does inertia play in the trick?
The more mass an object has, the greater its inertia. An object with greater inertia is harder to start or stop. Newton stated his ideas about inertia as a scientific law. Newton’s first law of motion says that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with a constant speed and direction unless acted on by a force. Newton concluded that inertia and gravity combine to keep Earth in orbit around the sun and the moon in orbit around the Earth.
Activity: Have students use marbles to demonstrate inertia.
Do Figure 2 p. 20 and Do the Math p. 21
Homework: Earth in Space Worksheet and Vocab Quiz
3/26/15
We presented our Martian All Terrain Transportation system (MATT) prototypes.
3/25/15
Research: Earth’s analemma—the curve created by the sun’s mean positon each day in the sky as viewed from Earth. If you were to plot the positon of the sun in the sky at the same time each day from the same positon on Earth, the resulting curve would look like a figure 8. Look up photos of anelemmas and identify the location of the sun on the two solstices and the two equinoxes. How were these photos created?
Do Do the Math p. 17
Lesson 3: Gravity and Motion
Vocab: force, gravity, law of universal gravitation, mass, weight, inertia, Newton’s first law of motion
Read My Planet Diary p. 18 Ask: did reading this change your perspective of gravity?
Objects in space are affected by different forces. A force is a push or a pull. A force called gravity attracts all objects toward each other. Sir Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every object in the universe attracts every other object.
3/23/15
Do Figure 3 p. 14
If Earth’s axis were straight up and down relative to its orbit, temperatures in an area would remain fairly constant year-round. There would be no seasons. However, Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees from the vertical. So as Earth revolves around the sun, the north end of its axis is tilted away from the sun for part of the year and toward the sun for part of the year. Earth has seasons because its axis is tilted as it revolves around the sun.
The sun appears farthest north or south of the equator twice each year. Each of these days is called a solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around June 21. That is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere. Similarly, around December 21, the winter solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere, while the summer solstice occurs in the Summer Hemisphere. Halfway btwn the solstices, neither hemisphere s tilted toward the sun. Each of these days is called an equinox. On an equinox, the noon sun is directly overhead at the equator, rises due east, and sets due west.
Do Figure 4 p. 15 and Figure 5 p. 16
Homework: Earth's Tilt Worksheet
3/20/15
We took a vocab. quiz.
Do Figure 2 p. 12 Say:
Warm Up: Earth moves at a speed of about 30km/sec as it travels around the sun. How many km does Earth travel in a minute, an hour, a day, a year?
People of many cultures have used the motions of Earth and the moon to establish calendars. A calendar is a system of organizing time that defines the beginning, length, and divisions of a year.
Read p. 13 and Do Sequence p. 12
Activity: Can only paper tables be used as calendars? We looked at a picture of Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice.
Near the equator, sunlight hits Earth’s surface from almost overhead. Near the poles, sunlight arrives at a steep angle. As a result, near the poles sunlight is spread out over a greater area. That’s why it’s warmer near the equator than near the poles.
We investigated the above fact using a flashlight aimed straight ahead vs. at an angle.
3/19/15
We did labs mapping the constellations, investigating how and why they look different from season to season, and modeled night and day using a globe and a lamp.
3/18/15
Lesson 2: Earth in Space
Vocabulary: axis, rotation, revolution, orbit, calendar, solstice, equinox
Read My Planet Diary p. 10
Earth moves in space in two ways: rotation and revolution. Rotation is the spinning of Earth on its axis. Earth’s axis is an imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center and the North and South poles. The rotation of the Earth causes day and night.
Revolution is the movement of one object around another. (revolution means complete change of any kind). Ask: How long does it take Earth to revolve around the sun? (one year) One revolution of Earth around the sun is one year. Earth’s path or orbit around the sun is an ellipse. The ellipse brings the planet closest to the sun in January.
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Friday
3/16/15
Did You Know? “Follow the Drinking Gourd” referred to slaves using the Big Dipper to find the North Star to follow the path north at night to the Northern States.
Video: https://youtu.be/pw6N_eTZP2U
Find star charts in appendix: Which season does following the drinking gourd lead the slaves to the North?
Stars, planets, and other objects move in space, but their actual motions and their apparent, or visible, motions may be very different. The apparent motion of objects in the sky depends on the motions of Earth.
Stars generally appear to move from east to west during the night. This apparent motion is caused by the Earth’s turning from west to east. The sun’s apparent motion during the day is also caused by Earth’s motion. Which constellations you can see varies from season to season. These seasonal changes are caused by Earth’s orbit around the sun. Each night, the position of most stars shifts slightly to the west.
Do Figure 3 p. 8
What planets is sometimes called the Evening Star or the Morning star (the star from Star Light Star Bright, Venus)
Because the planets all orbit the sun in about the same plane, they appear to move through a narrow band in the sky. This band is called the zodiac.
Do Figure 4 p. 9
The stars, sun, and planet only appear to move in the sky. This motion seems to be real, but it is due to the fact that we, as observers, are moving as Earth rotates on its axis.
Time Lapse photo of night sky:https://youtu.be/DSLgAsrcpGQ
3/13/15
Comets are rarer. A comet is a cold mixture of dust and ice that gives up a long trail of light as it approaches the sun. A star is a giant ball of hot gas, mainly composed of hydrogen and He.
A constellation is a pattern or group of stars that people imagine to represent a figure, animal, or object. A star chart can help you find constellations in the night sky.
Do Apply It! p. 6
Activity: find the star chart for today’s date in appendix. What is the constellation at the very bottom in the Southern Hemisphere called?
Homework: Choose one constellation. Research how it got its name. Tell (briefly) the myth of the constellation. Look up one way that people have used constellations.
3/12/15
We watched a movie on the colonization of Mars and brainstormed designs for a Martian Rover.
https://youtu.be/5BCZSpyO6q0
3/9/15
6th Astronomy and Space Science Chapter 1.1
Vocab: satellite, planet, meteor, comet, star, constellation
Read My Planet Diary p. 4
On a clear night, you may see stars, the moon, planets, meteors, and comets. The moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. A satellite is a body that orbits a planet. A planet is an object that orbits the sun, is large enough to have become rounded by its own gravity, and has cleared the area of its orbit. Five planets are visible from Earth without a telescope. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Do Figure 1 p. 5
A meteor is a the streak of light produced when a small object burns up entering Earth’s atmosphere. You can see a meteor on almost any night.
Homework: Vocab Quiz on Friday, Test Due Corrected on Wednesday
3/4/15
We checked our Volcanic Landforms wksht, took a vocabulary quiz, and checked our text Study Guide.
Test tomorrow. See Study Guide below.
3/2/15
Notes:
Sometimes mama cools and hardens into rock before reaching the surface. Over time, forces such as flowing water, ice, or wind may strip away the layers above the hardened magma and expose it. Features formed by magma include volcanic necks, dikes and sills, as well as dome mountains and batholiths. A volcanic neck forms when magma hardens in a volcano’s pipe and the surrounding rock later wears away. Magma that forces itself across rock layers and hardens into a dike. Magma that squeezes btwn. Horizontal rock layers hardens to form a sill.
Do Relate and Figure 3 p. 150
A dome mountain forms when uplift pushes a large body of hardened magma toward the surface, which eventually becomes exposed. A batholith is a mass of rock formed when a large body of magma cools inside the crust.
Do Figure 4 and Assess p. 151
Homework: Volcanic Landforms Worksheet and Guide in Textbook p. 152-155
Volcano TEST Scheduled for next Thursday 3/5/15
Study Session will be Monday, 3/2/15 3:25-3:50
STUDY GUIDE:
6th Grade Volcanoes Study Guide
Where are volcanoes found on Earth’s surface? (Be familiar with the diagram on p. 136)
What happens when a volcano erupts? (stage by stage, starts on p. 138)
Compare/contrast quiet vs. explosive eruptions.
What are the stages of volcanic activity and how do you identify them? (dormant, extinct, active)
How do geologists know what to label the stage of a volcano’s activity?
Know the differences between shield, composite, and cinder cone volcanoes. (How to identify them, how they are formed.)
Know the different volcanic landforms and how they are formed such as a caldera, lava plateau, batholith, dike, sill, volcanic neck, and dome mountain.
Be familiar with the diagram and the parts of a volcano found on p. 139
Know the difference between an island arc and a hot spot.
2/25/15
Notes:
In an explosive eruption, ash, cinders and bombs can build up around the vent in a steep, cone-shaped hill or small mountain called a cinder cone. A cinder cone volcano may be hundreds of meters tall. Composite volcanoes are tall, cone-shaped mountains in which layers of lava alternate with layers of ash. Composite volcanoes can be more than 4,800 meters tall.
Read about cinder cone volcanoes and composite volcanoes and Do Figure 2 graphic organizer p. 148.
Thin layers of lava that pour out of a vent and harden on top of previous layers build a wide, gently sloping mountain called a shield volcano. Hot spot volcanoes on the ocean floor are usually shield volcanoes. Repeated floods of lava can form high, level plateaus called lava plateaus.
Read about shield volcanoes and lava plateaus p. 149 and label pics p. 148 and do Apply it! And Assess p. 149
Vocabulary for Chapter 3: caldera, cinder cone, composite volcano, shield volcano, volcanic neck, dike, sill, batholith
Vocabulary Quiz Wednesday 3/4/15
Homework: Use text p. 148 & 149 for the following task:
Draw and label the three different types of volcanoes in your Notebook. Label them according to their word banks.
COMPOSITE VOLCANO
LAYER OF ASH
LAVA FLOW
LAYER OF LAVA
CRATER
CINDER CONE
LAYERS OF CINDER
CRATER
CENTRAL VENT
SHIELD VOLCANO
OLD LAVA LAYERS
NEW LAVA FLOW/SIDE VENT
MAGMA CHAMBER
CRATER
Now, use your textbook p. 147 to draw and label the three stages of caldera formation in your Notebook. Include main vent, crater, magma chamber, caldera, steep walled cone, caldera lake.
2/25/15
Notes: Both kinds of eruptions can cause damage far from a crater’s rim. A pyroclastic flow is a mixture of hot gases, ash, cinders and bombs that flow down the sides of a volcano when it erupts explosively.
Geologists often use the terms active, dormant, or extinct to describe a volcano’s stages of activity. An active, or live, volcano is one that is erupting or has shown signs that it may erupt in the near future. A dormant, or sleeping, volcano is a volcano that scientists expect to awaken in the future and become active. An extinct, or dead, volcano, is a volcano that is unlikely to ever erupt again.
Volcanoes were named after the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. Vulcan was worshipped to obtain his protection in averting fire.
Do Figure 5 p. 144
Do Figure 6 p. 145
Homework: Volcanic eruptions worksheet
2/23/15
We did the Pegmatites worksheet in class and took a vocab quiz.
Read Did you Know? Do do the Math! p. 140 and Figure 2 p. 141
Pahoehoe forms when the surface of the lava cools faster than the hot material underneath. While the underlying material is still fluid, it may drag along the solidifying material on top, thus forming the rope-like coils.
A volcano erupts explosively if its magma is high in silica. Trapped gases build up pressure until they explode. The erupting gases and steam push the magma out with incredible force.
Do Outline and Figure 3 p. 142
2/20/15
Geologists classify volcanic eruptions as quiet or explosive. Whether an eruption is quiet or explosive depends in part on the magma’s silica content and whether the magma is thin and runny (pahoehoe) or thick and sticky (Aa). Silica is a material found in magma that forms from the elements O and Si. A volcano erupts quietly if its magma is hot or low in silica. The gases in the magma bubble out gently. The lava oozes quietly from the vent and can flow for many kilometers.
We did a worksheet on Pegmatites.
Homework: Vocab quiz Monday
2/18/15
Vocab: magma chamber, pipe, vent, lava flow, crater, silica, pyroclastic flow, dormant, extinct
Read and answer My Planet Diary p. 138
All volcanoes have a pocket of magma beneath the surface called a magma chamber where the magma collects. Magma moves upward through a pipe, a long tube that extends from Earth’s crust up through the top of the volcano, connecting the magma chamber to Earth’s surface. Molten rock and gas leave the volcano through an opening called a vent. A lava flow is the spread of lava as it pours out of a vent. A crater is a bowl-shaped area that may form at the top of a volcano around the central vent.
Do Vocabulary and Figure 1 p. 139
During an eruption, dissolved gases trapped in the magma expand, form bubbles, and exert great force. When a volcano erupts, the force of the expanding gases pushes magma from the magma chamber through the pipe until it flows or explodes out of the vent. (like a soda bottle that has been shaken and opened, pressure is released, so gas comes out along with the liquid)
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Monday
2/11/15
We corrected our tests and our worksheet. We created a diagram of where volcanoes are most likely to form, the description of the plate interactions and drawings in our Notebook.
Homework: None
2/9/15
Homework: Volcano Worksheet (if you have not already done it)
2/6/15
Vocabulary: volcano, magma, lava, Ring of Fire, island arc, hot spot
Volcanoes form along the mid-ocean ridges, where two plates move apart. Along the rift valley, lava pours out of cracks on the ocean floor. The process gradually guilds new mountains. Volcanoes also form along rift valleys on land like the Great Rift Valley in East Africa.
Many volcanoes form near converging oceanic plate boundaries. The resulting volcanoes can create a string of islands called an island arc. Volcanoes also occur where oceanic plates converge under continental plates.
Say: an arc is something shaped like a curve or an arch like a rainbow. An island arc is a string of volcanic islands with a shape that reflects the curved shape of a deep-ocean trench below it.
Read “Converging Boundaries” p. 136 and Do Figure 2 p. 136
A hot spot is an area where material from deep within Earth’s mantle rises to the crust and melts to form magma. A volcano forms above a hot spot when magma erupts through the crust and reaches the surface. Hot spots stay in one place for millions of years while the plate moves over them. Hot spot volcanoes can lie close to plate boundaries or in the middle of plates.
Homework: Vocab Quiz Wednesday
2/5/15
We watched Bill Nye Volcanoes and filled out a worksheet: http://youtu.be/ImBYvdP_bmg
We conducted a lab on viscosity of lava and compared eruptions to seltzer water.
Homework: Finish Lab for homework if not done in class.
2/2/15
We went over the answers to the Study Guide in the Textbook and filled out the Study Guide below.
TEST WEDNESDAY
1/30/15
We watched Bill Nye Earthquakes and filled out a worksheet.
Homework: Study Guide in your Textbook pp. 124-127
Study Guide for Test on 2/4/15 (we will work on in class on 2/2/15):
1. How do faults form? Include the direction the plates are moving, stress forces, and location of hanging and footwall (if applicable).
2. How does plate movement create new landforms?
3. What is the difference between fault-block and folded mountains?
4. What are seismic waves?
5. What is the difference between P, S, and surface waves? (include arrival time, motion and damage caused)
6. What are the scales used to measure earthquakes and what exactly do they measure?
7. What is the difference between the focus and the epicenter of an earthquake?
8. How does a seismograph work?
Define the following:
· Shearing
· Compression
· Tension
· Aftershocks
· Hanging Wall
· Footwall
· Strike-slip fault
· Normal fault
· Reverse fault
· Anticline
· Syncline
· Plateau
· Folded mountain
· Fault-block mountain
· Modified Mercalli scale
· Moment magnitude scale
· Richter scale
1/29/15
We did a lab on recreating a seismograph, mapping earthquake frequencies in the Western U.S., and building earthquake proof structures.
Website on constructing earthquake-proof buildings: http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2011/03/can-you-build-an-earthquake-proof-building/
Quake readiness survey from San Francisco http://quakequizsf.org/
1/28/15
How Do Seismographs Work?
A heavy weight with a pen hangs from a frame over a turning drum. Seismic waves cause a simple seismograph’s drum to vibrate, which in turn causes the pen to record the drum’s vibrations. As the seismic waves arrive at a measuring station, the seismograph vibrates with the ground. The hanging weight resists motion and tends to stay at rest (inertia). The pen records the vibrations as the paper moves under it.
How Does a Simple Seismograph Work?http://youtu.be/Gbd1FcuLJLQ
Seismograph in Iceland during 2008 earthquake: http://youtu.be/RxAFBsTde9w
A seismogram is the record of an earthquake’s seismic waves, produced by a seismograph. The height of the lines drawn by the seismograph tell geologists about the earthquake: if the lines are taller, the earthquake is more severe or is closer to the seismograph.
What Patterns Do Seismographic Data Reveal?
Using past seismographic data, geologists have created maps of where earthquakes occur around the world. The maps show that earthquakes often occur along plate boundaries. Earthquake risk largely depends on how close a given location is to a plate boundary. In the U.S., two plates meet along the Pacific coast; an earthquake map shows that the most serious earthquakes occur in this area.
Many of the world’s earthquakes occur in an area of geologic activity called the Ring of Fire. In this area, plate boundaries form a ring around the Pacific Ocean. Earthquakes are also common in an area where two plates pull apart, like the Arabian Peninsula and the northeast coast of Africa.
1/26/15
We checked our Earthquake worksheet and went over reading graphs for P and S wave arrival times.
Test 2/4
Study Session 2/2 3:25-3:45
1/23/15
The moment magnitude scale rates the total energy an earthquake releases. Each one-point increase in moment magnitude equals the release of about 32 times more energy. Earthquakes with a magnitude below 5 are small and cause little damage, while those with a magnitude above 6 can cause great damage.
Activity: Classify Earthquakes p. 115 Then go back to My Planet Diary p. 110. Use the Modified Mercalli scale to rate the earthquake based on the reporter’s description
How Is an Epicenter Located?
Geologists use seismic waves to locate an earthquake’s epicenter. The difference between arrival times of P and S waves at a seismograph station can be used to tell the distance of an earthquake’s epicenter. The farther away an earthquake is, the greater the difference of arrival times between the two waves. Geologists can then map the distance of the earthquake from at least three seismograph stations to focus in on the epicenter.
Homework: Where is the closest seismograph to Jacksonville? Earthquake Worksheet
Cool animation of the different seismic waves:
http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/Labs/SeismicWaves/
1/22/15
What Are Seismic Waves?
Plate movement increase the stress along a fault until the rock slips or breaks and an earthquake begins. An earthquake is the shaking and trembling that happens when rock under Earth’s surface moves. The focus is the place under Earth’s surface where rock starts to move. The point on the surface directly above the focus is called the epicenter. Some of the energy released during an earthquake travels through Earth in the form of seismic waves. Seismic waves are vibrations that are similar to sound waves. They travel through Earth carrying energy released by an earthquake.
Do Apply it! p. 111
Do Figure 1 p. 112. The Denali fault earthquake happened in 2002. Some land moved as much as several meters horizontally. Given this movement, what kind of fault is the Denali fault? The Denali earthquake was one of the largest ever recorded in the U.S. However, it caused less material damage than smaller earthquakes in other places. Why?
There are 3 main types of seismic waves:
1. P Waves: move the ground like you would pull and stretch a slinky (primary)
2. S Waves: move the ground from side to side or up and down (secondary)
3. Surface Waves: When P and S waves reach the surface. Surface waves can make the ground pitch and roll like ocean waves.
Which of the P or S waves cannot travel through liquid? How is this knowledge important when you are relating how scientists utilized seismographs to determine that there were layers of the earth?
Vocab Quiz Monday
1/21/15
Vocabulary: earthquake, focus, epicenter(epi means above), P wave, S wave, surface wave, seismograph, seismogram, Modified Mercalli scale, magnitude, Richter scale, moment magnitude scale
Vocab Quiz Monday
1/15/15
We worked on three worksheets on faults and the following: Due for homework if you don't finish in class.
1. Look up and draw a picture of the San Andreas Fault. http://www.livescience.com/45294-san-andreas-fault.html
2. Identify the fault line and draw arrows to show the directions in which the two opposing rock slabs moved.
3. What kind of fault is this?
4. Many people believe that California is going to fall into the Pacific Ocean as a result of movement along the San Andreas Fault. What kind of fault would the San Andreas Fault have to be in order for California to slide into the Pacific Ocean?
5. On which side of the fault would be the hanging wall?
6. What is a creeping section?
7. What is the difference between a creeping section and a locked section?
Then: Look up geologic history of the Appalachian Mountains on National Geographic website: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/fold-mountain/?ar_a=1
8. How did the Appalachian Mountains form?
9. What is this process called?
10. How old are the Appalachians?
11. How long is this mountain chain?
12. Where does the Appalachian Mountain Chain begin and where does it end?
13. What are some other folded mountain ranges on Earth?
14. Why aren’t the Appalachian Mountains as tall as these other ranges?
1/14/15
Notes:
Tension forces create normal faults where two plates move away from each other. A fault-block mountain forms when the hanging walls of two normal faults drop down on either side of the footwall.
Forces can also raise plateaus. A plateau is a large area of flat land that was lifted up high above sea level. Some plateaus form when forces in Earth’s crust push up a large, flat block of rock.
Earthquake video from Japan 3/2011. http://youtu.be/EAc3epDW8UM
And another:http://youtu.be/RJCidfj-x9M
1/12/14
Notes:
How Does Plate Movement Create New Landforms?
Over millions of years, the forces of plate movement can change a flat plain into features such as anticlines and synclines, folded mountains, fault-block mountains, and plateaus. Folds are bends in rock that form when Earth’s crust is compressed and gets shorter and thicker. A fold in rock that bends upward in to an arch is an anticline. A fold that bends downward in a V-shape is a syncline.
1/9/15
How Do Faults Form?
When enough stress builds up in rock, the rock breaks and makes a fault. The three main types of faults are:
1. Normal faults: form where rock is pulled apart by tension in Earth’s crust. The block above the angled fault is called the hanging wall. The rock below the fault is called the footwall. The hanging wall slips downward when rock moves along the fault.
2. Reverse fault: has the same structures as a normal fault, but the hanging wall moves up and the footwall moves down. Reverse faults form where compression pushes the rock of the crust together. Shearing produces strike-slip faults.
3. Strike-slip fault: The rocks on either side of a strike-slip fault slip past each other and have little up or down motion. A strike-slip fault that forms the boundary between tow plates is called a transform boundary.
Homework:
In 2010 Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake. 316,000 lives were lost. Go to the following website to answer the questions in your Science Notebook:
http://www.livescience.com/9797-devastating-haiti-earthquake-questions-answers.html
1. What was the magnitude of the Earthquake that affected Haiti in 2010?
2. What caused it?
3. Why was the earthquake so devastating?
4. Did it trigger a tsunami? Why or why not?
1/8/15
Lab: We located the epicenter of an earthquake given the difference in arrival times of P and S waves from 3 different cities.
Earthquake Lab Questions:
1. Geologists use a piece of equipment called a ___________________ to locate an earthquake’s epicenter.
2. Geologists measure the difference of arrival times between _______________ and _______________ to find the radius of the location of the epicenter.
3. _________________ arrive faster than the ___________________.
4. If an earthquake occurs in CA, can a seismograph located in Hawaii help pinpoint the earthquake even though they are an ocean apart? Why/why not?
1/7/15
Notes:
How Does Stress Change Earth’s Crust?
Do My Planet Diary p. 102 Rulers at tables to view mm. Where have you seen changes to Earth’s surface? (shore, mudslide) Earth oftentimes moves too slowly to see, but even though rocks are bending or folding, they are still hard and stiff.
As Earth’s plates move, they can bend or fold rock. Forces created by movement of the Earth’s plates are examples of stress. Stress adds energy to the rock until the rock changes shape or breaks. Three kinds of stress work over millions of years to change the shape and volume of rock in the Earth’s crust:
1. Tension: stress force that pulls on the crust and thins the rock in the middle. It happens when plates pull apart.
2. Compression: stress force that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks. Happens where two plates come together and push against each other.
3. Shearing: stress force that pushes rock in two opposite directions. It happens where two plates slip past each other.
1/5/15
Vocabulary: stress, tension, compression, shearing, normal fault, reverse fault, strike-slip fault, plateau
Homework: Correct Test, Due Wednesday. Vocabulary Quiz Friday
12/18/14
Koch Snowflake STEAM Lab: /uploads/3/7/8/1/37810111/snowflake_steam_lab.docx
12/14/14
We checked our Plate Tectonics Worksheet and reviewed the Study Guide.
12/12/14
Homework: Finish Worksheet p. 91 from Class
Study Guide in Textbook pp. 92-95
Help Session this coming Monday 12/15/14 3:20-3:45PM
12/11/14
Lab: We used clay to model the tension put on rock at different plate boundaries. We used towels to model convergent-collision boundary. We did a foldable on plate boundary interactions.
Homework: Finish Plate Boundary Foldable and answer questions on instruction sheet.
TEST WEDNESDAY, 12/17/14--STUDY GUIDE
Alfred Wegener--who he was (German Scientist in 1910), what his hypothesis was (Pangaea due to continental drift) and how he came about it (landform shapes, fossil and climate rock evidence)
plates--what are they, how do they move (convection currents in the mantle move the lithosphere in the theory of plate tectonics), oceanic vs. continental
Sonar and how it was used to identify sea-floor spreading
Mid-ocean ridges--how and where they form, what they do (cause of sea-floor spreading with magma coming up from a divergent plate boundary), what is the difference in the crust between the crust closest to the ridge (hotter, younger, less dense), and the crust furthest from the ridge (colder, older, more dense)
Deep-ocean trenches--how and where they from, what they do (subduction of older, colder, more dense oceanic crusts on a convergent plate boundary back toward the mantle where the crust is recycled)
Divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries--how they work, where are they located? What do they produce?
12/10/14
Earth’s lithosphere is like an eggshell broken into pieces separated by cracks. These pieces are called plates. Earth’s plates meet at boundaries. Plates move apart at divergent boundaries. Plates come together at convergent boundaries. Plates slip past each other at transform boundaries. In the mid 1960s, geologists combined what they knew about sea-floor spreading, Earth’s plates and plate motions into a single theory called plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s plates are in slow, constant motion driven by convection currents in the mantle.
Con (together) di (apart or in two ways) vergent (to turn or go) trans (along)
*Model divergent, convergent, and trans using hands
The plates move because they are the top part of the large convection current in the Earth’s mantle. During subduction, gravity pulls denser plate edges downward, into the mantle. Plates move very slowly—from about 1 to 12 cm each year. Earth’s plates can carry ocean floor, continents, or continents and oceans together. The movement of Earth’s plates has greatly changed the location of Earth’s continents, landmasses, and oceans.
Faults are breaks in Earth’s crust where rocks have slipped past each other. They form along plate boundaries. Plate movements produce changes in Earth’s surface and on the ocean floor. These changes include the formation of volcanoes, mountain ranges, and deep-ocean trenches.
Most divergent boundaries occur along mid-ocean ridges. Where pieces of Earth’s crust diverge on land, many deep valleys called rift valleys have formed.
Where two plates carrying oceanic crust meet at a trench, the plate that is denser sinks under the less dense plate.
When two plates carrying continental crusts collide, the collision squeezes the crust into high mountain ranges.
Earthquakes often occur when two plates suddenly slip along a transform boundary.
12/8/14
Read pp. 86-91 in textbook. Answer all questions. Read An Ocean is Born p. 97 in text. Diagram what is happening in Afar and answer the following question: When the region finally pulls apart after millions of years, how will the ocean form in the Afar region? Finish for homework.
Homework: Afar question above
12/5/14
Vocabulary: plate, divergent boundary, convergent boundary, plate tectonics, fault, rift valley
12/3/14
The ocean floor eventually plunges into deep underwater canyons called deep-ocean trenches. Here, the oceanic crust bends downward.
Most of the ocean floor is about 5km deep. However, deep ocean trenches are much deeper—ex. The Mariana Trench in the pacific has a depth of 11.2km.
In a process taking millions of years, part of the ocean floor sinks back into the mantle at deep-ocean trenches. The process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle again is called subduction. As subduction occurs, crust closer to a mid-ocean ridge moves away from the ridge and toward a deep-ocean trench.
Do Figure 3 p. 84
The processes of subduction and sea-floor spreading can change the size and shape of the oceans. An ocean surrounded by many trenches may shrink. An ocean that contains more ridge than trenches will probably grow larger.
Show video of conveyor belt: I Love Lucy and chocolates from YouTube How is the ocean floor like a giant conveyor belt?
Do Apply it and Assess p. 85.
Homework: Sea Floor Spreading Worksheet
12/1/14
Sea floor spreading is related to continental drift. How? Sea Floor Spreading summary: crack develops along a mid-ocean ridge, magma rises up into the space and cools to form new ocean crust, sea floor spreads more as new crust forms, existing crust moves outward.
Have students read p. 82. What evidence supports the theory of sea-floor spreading? Eruption of molten material that forms pillow lava along ridges, magnetic stripes, and the increasing age of the oceanic crust away from the ridge. Why does oceanic crust get older farther away from a mid-ocean ridge? Because the crust spreads away from the ridge at which newer and younger rock forms.
What advances since 1910 would have helped Wegener’s mistreated theory of continental drift. (GPS is now used to measure the movement of continents, however it was not available in the 1960s to provide evidence of sea-floor spreading, sonar, deep sea diving capabilities)
Look at the Evidence from Magnetic Stripes paragraph on p. 82. Why do the magnetic properties of the stripes of iron-rich mineral grains change sometimes? (line up with poles and poles reverse themselves) How does the pattern of stripes on either side of the mid-ocean ridge compare? Mirror image=spreading out from center, further away, older the rock.
Do Figure 2 p. 83 and Relate
Homework: Look up the following website and answer these questions: 1. How often do the magnetic poles switch? 2. When was the last time they switched? 3. What kind of impact would them switching have on us today? http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html
11/24/14
Vocab: mid-ocean ridge, sea-floor spreading, deep-ocean trench, subduction, sonar
Warm Up: My Planet Diary p. 80
In some places, the floor of the ocean appears to be stitched together like the seams of a baseball. Scientists found that the seams formed mountain ranges like those on land, but on the ocean floor. These mountain ranges are called mid-ocean ridges.
Do: Figure 1 p. 81
Mid-ocean ridges continually add new crust material to the ocean floor in a process called sea-floor spreading. At the same time, older strips of rock move outward from either side of the ridge.
6th Grade Final Study Guide 2015: Return completed on separate sheet of paper by May 15 for 5 points extra credit on Final Exam.
Chapter 1 Lesson 1:
1. What are the 4 parts of the Earth’s system and what makes them up?
Chapter 1 Lesson 2:
1. How did geologists learn about the Earth’s interior?
2. What are the layers of the Earth (draw and label a diagram) and what are their characteristics?
Chapter 1 Lesson 3:
1. How do convection currents occur in the Earth’s mantle and what do they cause?
Chapter 2 Lesson 1:
1. Define the 8 terms of how minerals are identified. (color, streak, luster, hardness, density, crystal structure, cleavage and fracture, and special properties)
2. How do minerals form from a solution?
3. How do minerals form from magma and lava?
Chapter 2 Lesson 2:
1. How do geologists classify rocks?
2. How are sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks formed?
Chapter 2 Lesson 3:
1. What is the difference between intrusive and extrusive igneous rock?
2. How does rate of cooling affect the texture of igneous rock?
3. What igneous rock is commonly used as a building material?
Chapter 2 Lesson 4:
1. How do sedimentary rocks form? Define the terms weathering and erosion, deposition, compaction, and cementation, and be familiar with their order.
2. What is the difference between a clastic and an organic rock? List examples of each.
Chapter 2 Lesson 5:
1. How are metamorphic rocks formed?
Chapter 2 Lesson 6:
1. Be familiar with the Rock Cycle Diagram and the processes that change one rock to another on p. 64
Chapter 3 Lesson 1:
1. What was Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis?
2. What did they call the supercontinent?
3. What evidence did Wegener use to support his hypothesis?
4. Was his hypothesis accepted at the time? Why/Why not?
5. What is the theory called to explain Wegener’s hypothesis?
Chapter 3 Lesson 2:
1. What is sea-floor spreading and what are the features that are formed from it called?
2. What is a deep-ocean trench and what happens at it?
Chapter 3 Lesson 3:
1. What is the theory of plate tectonics?
2. What is the difference between a divergent, convergent, and transform boundary and what features occur at each?
Chapter 4 Lesson 1:
1. How do the stresses tension, compression and shearing change the shape and volume of rock?
2. Define Normal Faults, Reverse Faults, and Strike-Slip Faults and know the difference among them.
3. Define folded mountains, fault-block mountains, and plateaus and know what forces created them.
Chapter 4 Lesson 2:
1. What are seismic waves and how do they travel?
2. What does a seismograph record and how can seismographs be used to locate epicenters of earthquakes?
3. Define the following scales and the way they are ranked: Modified Mercalli Scale, Richter Scale, Moment Magnitude Scale.
4. Where on Earth are earthquakes most likely to occur?
Chapter 5 Lesson 1:
1. Where on Earth are volcanoes most likely to occur?
2. What is the difference between magma and lava?
3. What is a hot spot?
Chapter 5 Lesson 2:
1. Study the diagram p. 139 and know the parts of a volcano.
2. What is the difference between a quiet eruption and an explosive eruption?
3. What is the difference among a dormant, extinct, and active volcano?
Chapter 5 Lesson 3:
1. Define cinder-cone, composite, shield and lava plateau and list characteristics of each.
2. Define the landforms that magma creates: volcanic necks, dikes, sills, dome mountains, and batholiths.
The Scientific Method:
1. What are the 7 steps of the scientific method? List and explain.
2. Be familiar with common sense lab safety methods.
3. Be familiar with how to read graphs and make inferences.
5/15/15
Read about small solar systems objects.
Test Tuesday:
Homework and Study Guide: Diagram the sun, 8 planets, asteroid, Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud along with their locations in the Solar System. List 2 unique facts about each planet. Know the names of the inner and outer planets (terrestrial and gas giants). On back of sheet, diagram the sun, include core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona and sunspots.
5/14/15
Read p. 102-109
Do Outer Planets Worksheet
5/13/15
Read p. 94-101 and do Inner Planets worksheet
5/12/15
Read p. 88-93 and answer questions. Do Sun Worksheet.
5/11/15
Read p. 82-87 in Text, and answer questions and do Worksheet: Intro to Solar System
4/27/15
Dark, flat areas of the moon called maria are hardened rock formed from huge lava flows that occurred 3-4 billion years ago. (The singular form of maria is mare meaning sea.) Large round pits called craters can be hundreds of Km across. The moon’s craters were caused by the impacts of meteoroids—chunks of rock or dust from space. Some of the light-colored features you can see that cover most of the moon’s surface are highlands or mountains.
The moon is smaller and less dense than Earth. Its diameter is about one fourth of Earth’s diameter. But, It has only one eightieth as much mass as Earth. The density of the moon is similar to the density of the Earth’s crust. Temps on the moon vary greatly b/c it does not have an atmosphere. The moon’s surface gravity is so weak that gases can easily escape into space. The moon has no liquid water. However, there may be patches of ice near its poles.
Do Figure 2 p. 34 Highest temp. on Earth was recorded at less than 60 degrees Celsius and lowest was -90 degrees Celsius. `Compare these to the moon’s temp (130 to -170) How is the moon warmed? How is the Earth warmed? Why do the temps on the moon vary so much?
Scientists have suggested many theories as to how the moon formed. The collision-ring theory seems to best fit the evidence. This theory holds that ta planet-sized rocky object collided with Earth to form the moon. Material from the object and Earth’s outer layers was ejected into orbit around Earth where it formed a ring. Gravity caused this material to clump together into the moon.
4/24/15
Lesson 6
Vocab: maria, crater, meteor, meteoroid, highlands, collision-ring theory
Read My Planet Diary p. 32
Galileo Galilei’s observations in the early 1600’s were some of the first to show details on the moon’s surface. The moon is dry and airless and has an irregular surface. Compared to Earth, the moon is small and has large variations in its surface temperature.
Homework: Study Guide in Textbook pp. 36-39, Vocab quiz is at end of class on Monday
TEST IS WEDNESDAY 11/29
STUDY GUIDE:
Define the following terms and be familiar with their uses in astronomy:
Solstice, gravity, constellations, inertia, equinox, umbra, penumbra, neap tide, spring tide, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, maria,
Why do we have different seasons?
How long does it take for the Earth to revolve around the sun? Rotate on its axis?
What causes day and night?
What causes the phases of the moon?
Be familiar with the 8 phases of the moon. List them and know what they look like.
What does the word “gibbous” mean?
How long is a lunar cycle?
What is a meteoroid vs a meteor?
Compare revolution vs. rotation.
What is the law of universal gravitation.
What is the difference between the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox?
Why is it warmer at the equator than at the poles?
How do inertia and gravity combine to keep Earth in orbit?
Be familiar with a tide table.
What side of the moon do we see and why?
What is the difference between the atmosphere of the moon and the atmosphere of the Earth and what does this cause?
4/22/15
The sun is so massive, that even though it is about 150 million kM from Earth, its gravity also affects the tides. The sun pulls the water on Earth’s surface toward it. Changes in the positions of the Earth, the moon and the sun affect the heights of the tides during a month. During the new moon, the gravity of the sun and moon pull in the same direction. This produces a tide with the greatest difference btwn, consecutive low and high tides: a spring tide.
The the moon’s first-quarter phase, the line btwn. Earth and the sun is at right angles to the line btwn. Earth and the moon. The sun’s pull is at right angles to the moon’s pull. This produces a neap tide, a tide with the least difference btwn. consecutive low and high tides. Neap tides occur twice a month.
At full moon, the moon and sun are at opposite sides of the Earth. Since there are high tides on both sides of Earth, a spring tide is also produced. It doesn’t matter which order the sun, Earth, and moon line up.
Do Third Quarter Infer p. 30
Do Apply it! p. 31
Homework: Tides Worksheet & Vocab Quiz Due Friday
4/20/15
Read My Planet Diary p. 28
The force of gravity pulls the moon and Earth (including the water on the Earth’s surface) toward each other. Tides are caused mainly by differences in how much gravity from the moon and the sun pulls on different parts of the Earth.
At any one time on Earth, there are two places with high tides and two places with low tides. As Earth rotates, one high tide occurs on the side of Earth that faces the moon because the moon’s gravity pulls a little more strongly there. The second high tide occurs on the opposite side of the Earth because the moon’s gravity pulls more weakly on the water on the far side of the Earth than the Earth as a whole. The Earth is pulled, and water is left behind causing the high tide. Halfway btwn. the high tides, water flows toward the high tides, causing low tides.
Do Figure 1 p. 29
4/17/15
Lesson 5: Tides
Vocab: tide, spring tide, neap tide, consecutive tides, massive
4/16/15
When an object in space comes btwn. the sun and a third object, it casts a shadow on that third object, causing an eclipse to take place. There are two types of eclipses: solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. A solar eclipse occurs at a new moon when the moon passes directly btwn. Earth and the sun, blocking sunlight from the Earth. The moon’s shadow then hits Earth.
The moon’s shadow has two parts. The darker part is the umbra. The larger, lighter part is the penumbra. During a solar eclipse, the sun’s light is completely blocked to people within the umbra. They see a total solar eclipse. Part of the sun’s light remains visible in the penumbra. So, people within the penumbra see a partial solar eclipse.
Ask: Would people in the moon’s penumbra experience a total or a partial eclipse? (partial) Infer whether a solar eclipse can always be viewed from the U.S. (no, sun’s rays are blocked only over a small area)
A lunar eclipse occurs at a full moon when Earth is directly btwn. the moon and the sun. During a lunar eclipse, Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. Lunar eclipses occur only when there is a full moon, because the moon is closest to the Earth at that time.
Earth’s shadow also has an umbra and penumbra. When the moon is in Earth’s umbra, you see a total lunar eclipse. Or most lunar eclipses, Earth, the moon, and the sun are not quite in line, and only a partial lunar eclipse occurs.
Do Figure 5 p. 27 and Assess p. 27
.
Homework: Worksheet
4/14/15
Lesson 4: Phases and Eclipses
Vocabulary: phase, eclipse, solar eclipse, umbra, penumbra, lunar eclipse
Read My Planet Diary p. 22
The different shapes of the moon you see from Earth are called phases. Phases are caused by the motions of the moon around Earth. As the moon orbits Earth, the relative positions of the moon, Earth, and the sun change. The changing relative positions of the moon, Earth, and the sun cause the phases of the moon. The phase of the moon you see depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces Earth.
Do Figure 1 p. 23
The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly tilted with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun. As a result, the moon travels above and below the Earth’s orbit. But on rare occasions, Earth, the moon, and the sun line up.
Do Apply It! and Figure 2 p. 24 Say: During which phases are the moon, Earth, and sun aligned?
Think about it: How could you tell whether the moon was waxing or waning?
4/8/15
The strength of the force of gravity between two objects depends on two factors: the masses of the objects and the distance between them.
Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Because Earth is so massive, it exerts a much greater force on you than this book does. The measure of the force of gravity on an object is called weight. An object’s weight can change depending on its location. On the moon, you would weight about one sixth as much as on Earth. That’s because the moon has less mass than Earth, so the pull of the moon’s gravity on you would also be less. The force of gravity between two objects decreases rapidly as distance between the objects increases. If the distance doubles, the force of gravity decreases to one fourth of its original value.
Do Figure 1 p. 19
Earth and the moon remain in orbit b/c of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist a change in motion. You feel the effects of inertia when you are riding in a car and it stops suddenly. You keep moving forward until your seat belt catches you.
In the classic table cloth/full set of dishes “magic trick”, what role does inertia play in the trick?
The more mass an object has, the greater its inertia. An object with greater inertia is harder to start or stop. Newton stated his ideas about inertia as a scientific law. Newton’s first law of motion says that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with a constant speed and direction unless acted on by a force. Newton concluded that inertia and gravity combine to keep Earth in orbit around the sun and the moon in orbit around the Earth.
Activity: Have students use marbles to demonstrate inertia.
Do Figure 2 p. 20 and Do the Math p. 21
Homework: Earth in Space Worksheet and Vocab Quiz
3/26/15
We presented our Martian All Terrain Transportation system (MATT) prototypes.
3/25/15
Research: Earth’s analemma—the curve created by the sun’s mean positon each day in the sky as viewed from Earth. If you were to plot the positon of the sun in the sky at the same time each day from the same positon on Earth, the resulting curve would look like a figure 8. Look up photos of anelemmas and identify the location of the sun on the two solstices and the two equinoxes. How were these photos created?
Do Do the Math p. 17
Lesson 3: Gravity and Motion
Vocab: force, gravity, law of universal gravitation, mass, weight, inertia, Newton’s first law of motion
Read My Planet Diary p. 18 Ask: did reading this change your perspective of gravity?
Objects in space are affected by different forces. A force is a push or a pull. A force called gravity attracts all objects toward each other. Sir Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every object in the universe attracts every other object.
3/23/15
Do Figure 3 p. 14
If Earth’s axis were straight up and down relative to its orbit, temperatures in an area would remain fairly constant year-round. There would be no seasons. However, Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees from the vertical. So as Earth revolves around the sun, the north end of its axis is tilted away from the sun for part of the year and toward the sun for part of the year. Earth has seasons because its axis is tilted as it revolves around the sun.
The sun appears farthest north or south of the equator twice each year. Each of these days is called a solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around June 21. That is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere. Similarly, around December 21, the winter solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere, while the summer solstice occurs in the Summer Hemisphere. Halfway btwn the solstices, neither hemisphere s tilted toward the sun. Each of these days is called an equinox. On an equinox, the noon sun is directly overhead at the equator, rises due east, and sets due west.
Do Figure 4 p. 15 and Figure 5 p. 16
Homework: Earth's Tilt Worksheet
3/20/15
We took a vocab. quiz.
Do Figure 2 p. 12 Say:
Warm Up: Earth moves at a speed of about 30km/sec as it travels around the sun. How many km does Earth travel in a minute, an hour, a day, a year?
People of many cultures have used the motions of Earth and the moon to establish calendars. A calendar is a system of organizing time that defines the beginning, length, and divisions of a year.
Read p. 13 and Do Sequence p. 12
Activity: Can only paper tables be used as calendars? We looked at a picture of Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice.
Near the equator, sunlight hits Earth’s surface from almost overhead. Near the poles, sunlight arrives at a steep angle. As a result, near the poles sunlight is spread out over a greater area. That’s why it’s warmer near the equator than near the poles.
We investigated the above fact using a flashlight aimed straight ahead vs. at an angle.
3/19/15
We did labs mapping the constellations, investigating how and why they look different from season to season, and modeled night and day using a globe and a lamp.
3/18/15
Lesson 2: Earth in Space
Vocabulary: axis, rotation, revolution, orbit, calendar, solstice, equinox
Read My Planet Diary p. 10
Earth moves in space in two ways: rotation and revolution. Rotation is the spinning of Earth on its axis. Earth’s axis is an imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center and the North and South poles. The rotation of the Earth causes day and night.
Revolution is the movement of one object around another. (revolution means complete change of any kind). Ask: How long does it take Earth to revolve around the sun? (one year) One revolution of Earth around the sun is one year. Earth’s path or orbit around the sun is an ellipse. The ellipse brings the planet closest to the sun in January.
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Friday
3/16/15
Did You Know? “Follow the Drinking Gourd” referred to slaves using the Big Dipper to find the North Star to follow the path north at night to the Northern States.
Video: https://youtu.be/pw6N_eTZP2U
Find star charts in appendix: Which season does following the drinking gourd lead the slaves to the North?
Stars, planets, and other objects move in space, but their actual motions and their apparent, or visible, motions may be very different. The apparent motion of objects in the sky depends on the motions of Earth.
Stars generally appear to move from east to west during the night. This apparent motion is caused by the Earth’s turning from west to east. The sun’s apparent motion during the day is also caused by Earth’s motion. Which constellations you can see varies from season to season. These seasonal changes are caused by Earth’s orbit around the sun. Each night, the position of most stars shifts slightly to the west.
Do Figure 3 p. 8
What planets is sometimes called the Evening Star or the Morning star (the star from Star Light Star Bright, Venus)
Because the planets all orbit the sun in about the same plane, they appear to move through a narrow band in the sky. This band is called the zodiac.
Do Figure 4 p. 9
The stars, sun, and planet only appear to move in the sky. This motion seems to be real, but it is due to the fact that we, as observers, are moving as Earth rotates on its axis.
Time Lapse photo of night sky:https://youtu.be/DSLgAsrcpGQ
3/13/15
Comets are rarer. A comet is a cold mixture of dust and ice that gives up a long trail of light as it approaches the sun. A star is a giant ball of hot gas, mainly composed of hydrogen and He.
A constellation is a pattern or group of stars that people imagine to represent a figure, animal, or object. A star chart can help you find constellations in the night sky.
Do Apply It! p. 6
Activity: find the star chart for today’s date in appendix. What is the constellation at the very bottom in the Southern Hemisphere called?
Homework: Choose one constellation. Research how it got its name. Tell (briefly) the myth of the constellation. Look up one way that people have used constellations.
3/12/15
We watched a movie on the colonization of Mars and brainstormed designs for a Martian Rover.
https://youtu.be/5BCZSpyO6q0
3/9/15
6th Astronomy and Space Science Chapter 1.1
Vocab: satellite, planet, meteor, comet, star, constellation
Read My Planet Diary p. 4
On a clear night, you may see stars, the moon, planets, meteors, and comets. The moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. A satellite is a body that orbits a planet. A planet is an object that orbits the sun, is large enough to have become rounded by its own gravity, and has cleared the area of its orbit. Five planets are visible from Earth without a telescope. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Do Figure 1 p. 5
A meteor is a the streak of light produced when a small object burns up entering Earth’s atmosphere. You can see a meteor on almost any night.
Homework: Vocab Quiz on Friday, Test Due Corrected on Wednesday
3/4/15
We checked our Volcanic Landforms wksht, took a vocabulary quiz, and checked our text Study Guide.
Test tomorrow. See Study Guide below.
3/2/15
Notes:
Sometimes mama cools and hardens into rock before reaching the surface. Over time, forces such as flowing water, ice, or wind may strip away the layers above the hardened magma and expose it. Features formed by magma include volcanic necks, dikes and sills, as well as dome mountains and batholiths. A volcanic neck forms when magma hardens in a volcano’s pipe and the surrounding rock later wears away. Magma that forces itself across rock layers and hardens into a dike. Magma that squeezes btwn. Horizontal rock layers hardens to form a sill.
Do Relate and Figure 3 p. 150
A dome mountain forms when uplift pushes a large body of hardened magma toward the surface, which eventually becomes exposed. A batholith is a mass of rock formed when a large body of magma cools inside the crust.
Do Figure 4 and Assess p. 151
Homework: Volcanic Landforms Worksheet and Guide in Textbook p. 152-155
Volcano TEST Scheduled for next Thursday 3/5/15
Study Session will be Monday, 3/2/15 3:25-3:50
STUDY GUIDE:
6th Grade Volcanoes Study Guide
Where are volcanoes found on Earth’s surface? (Be familiar with the diagram on p. 136)
What happens when a volcano erupts? (stage by stage, starts on p. 138)
Compare/contrast quiet vs. explosive eruptions.
What are the stages of volcanic activity and how do you identify them? (dormant, extinct, active)
How do geologists know what to label the stage of a volcano’s activity?
Know the differences between shield, composite, and cinder cone volcanoes. (How to identify them, how they are formed.)
Know the different volcanic landforms and how they are formed such as a caldera, lava plateau, batholith, dike, sill, volcanic neck, and dome mountain.
Be familiar with the diagram and the parts of a volcano found on p. 139
Know the difference between an island arc and a hot spot.
2/25/15
Notes:
In an explosive eruption, ash, cinders and bombs can build up around the vent in a steep, cone-shaped hill or small mountain called a cinder cone. A cinder cone volcano may be hundreds of meters tall. Composite volcanoes are tall, cone-shaped mountains in which layers of lava alternate with layers of ash. Composite volcanoes can be more than 4,800 meters tall.
Read about cinder cone volcanoes and composite volcanoes and Do Figure 2 graphic organizer p. 148.
Thin layers of lava that pour out of a vent and harden on top of previous layers build a wide, gently sloping mountain called a shield volcano. Hot spot volcanoes on the ocean floor are usually shield volcanoes. Repeated floods of lava can form high, level plateaus called lava plateaus.
Read about shield volcanoes and lava plateaus p. 149 and label pics p. 148 and do Apply it! And Assess p. 149
Vocabulary for Chapter 3: caldera, cinder cone, composite volcano, shield volcano, volcanic neck, dike, sill, batholith
Vocabulary Quiz Wednesday 3/4/15
Homework: Use text p. 148 & 149 for the following task:
Draw and label the three different types of volcanoes in your Notebook. Label them according to their word banks.
COMPOSITE VOLCANO
LAYER OF ASH
LAVA FLOW
LAYER OF LAVA
CRATER
CINDER CONE
LAYERS OF CINDER
CRATER
CENTRAL VENT
SHIELD VOLCANO
OLD LAVA LAYERS
NEW LAVA FLOW/SIDE VENT
MAGMA CHAMBER
CRATER
Now, use your textbook p. 147 to draw and label the three stages of caldera formation in your Notebook. Include main vent, crater, magma chamber, caldera, steep walled cone, caldera lake.
2/25/15
Notes: Both kinds of eruptions can cause damage far from a crater’s rim. A pyroclastic flow is a mixture of hot gases, ash, cinders and bombs that flow down the sides of a volcano when it erupts explosively.
Geologists often use the terms active, dormant, or extinct to describe a volcano’s stages of activity. An active, or live, volcano is one that is erupting or has shown signs that it may erupt in the near future. A dormant, or sleeping, volcano is a volcano that scientists expect to awaken in the future and become active. An extinct, or dead, volcano, is a volcano that is unlikely to ever erupt again.
Volcanoes were named after the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. Vulcan was worshipped to obtain his protection in averting fire.
Do Figure 5 p. 144
Do Figure 6 p. 145
Homework: Volcanic eruptions worksheet
2/23/15
We did the Pegmatites worksheet in class and took a vocab quiz.
Read Did you Know? Do do the Math! p. 140 and Figure 2 p. 141
Pahoehoe forms when the surface of the lava cools faster than the hot material underneath. While the underlying material is still fluid, it may drag along the solidifying material on top, thus forming the rope-like coils.
A volcano erupts explosively if its magma is high in silica. Trapped gases build up pressure until they explode. The erupting gases and steam push the magma out with incredible force.
Do Outline and Figure 3 p. 142
2/20/15
Geologists classify volcanic eruptions as quiet or explosive. Whether an eruption is quiet or explosive depends in part on the magma’s silica content and whether the magma is thin and runny (pahoehoe) or thick and sticky (Aa). Silica is a material found in magma that forms from the elements O and Si. A volcano erupts quietly if its magma is hot or low in silica. The gases in the magma bubble out gently. The lava oozes quietly from the vent and can flow for many kilometers.
We did a worksheet on Pegmatites.
Homework: Vocab quiz Monday
2/18/15
Vocab: magma chamber, pipe, vent, lava flow, crater, silica, pyroclastic flow, dormant, extinct
Read and answer My Planet Diary p. 138
All volcanoes have a pocket of magma beneath the surface called a magma chamber where the magma collects. Magma moves upward through a pipe, a long tube that extends from Earth’s crust up through the top of the volcano, connecting the magma chamber to Earth’s surface. Molten rock and gas leave the volcano through an opening called a vent. A lava flow is the spread of lava as it pours out of a vent. A crater is a bowl-shaped area that may form at the top of a volcano around the central vent.
Do Vocabulary and Figure 1 p. 139
During an eruption, dissolved gases trapped in the magma expand, form bubbles, and exert great force. When a volcano erupts, the force of the expanding gases pushes magma from the magma chamber through the pipe until it flows or explodes out of the vent. (like a soda bottle that has been shaken and opened, pressure is released, so gas comes out along with the liquid)
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Monday
2/11/15
We corrected our tests and our worksheet. We created a diagram of where volcanoes are most likely to form, the description of the plate interactions and drawings in our Notebook.
Homework: None
2/9/15
Homework: Volcano Worksheet (if you have not already done it)
2/6/15
Vocabulary: volcano, magma, lava, Ring of Fire, island arc, hot spot
Volcanoes form along the mid-ocean ridges, where two plates move apart. Along the rift valley, lava pours out of cracks on the ocean floor. The process gradually guilds new mountains. Volcanoes also form along rift valleys on land like the Great Rift Valley in East Africa.
Many volcanoes form near converging oceanic plate boundaries. The resulting volcanoes can create a string of islands called an island arc. Volcanoes also occur where oceanic plates converge under continental plates.
Say: an arc is something shaped like a curve or an arch like a rainbow. An island arc is a string of volcanic islands with a shape that reflects the curved shape of a deep-ocean trench below it.
Read “Converging Boundaries” p. 136 and Do Figure 2 p. 136
A hot spot is an area where material from deep within Earth’s mantle rises to the crust and melts to form magma. A volcano forms above a hot spot when magma erupts through the crust and reaches the surface. Hot spots stay in one place for millions of years while the plate moves over them. Hot spot volcanoes can lie close to plate boundaries or in the middle of plates.
Homework: Vocab Quiz Wednesday
2/5/15
We watched Bill Nye Volcanoes and filled out a worksheet: http://youtu.be/ImBYvdP_bmg
We conducted a lab on viscosity of lava and compared eruptions to seltzer water.
Homework: Finish Lab for homework if not done in class.
2/2/15
We went over the answers to the Study Guide in the Textbook and filled out the Study Guide below.
TEST WEDNESDAY
1/30/15
We watched Bill Nye Earthquakes and filled out a worksheet.
Homework: Study Guide in your Textbook pp. 124-127
Study Guide for Test on 2/4/15 (we will work on in class on 2/2/15):
1. How do faults form? Include the direction the plates are moving, stress forces, and location of hanging and footwall (if applicable).
2. How does plate movement create new landforms?
3. What is the difference between fault-block and folded mountains?
4. What are seismic waves?
5. What is the difference between P, S, and surface waves? (include arrival time, motion and damage caused)
6. What are the scales used to measure earthquakes and what exactly do they measure?
7. What is the difference between the focus and the epicenter of an earthquake?
8. How does a seismograph work?
Define the following:
· Shearing
· Compression
· Tension
· Aftershocks
· Hanging Wall
· Footwall
· Strike-slip fault
· Normal fault
· Reverse fault
· Anticline
· Syncline
· Plateau
· Folded mountain
· Fault-block mountain
· Modified Mercalli scale
· Moment magnitude scale
· Richter scale
1/29/15
We did a lab on recreating a seismograph, mapping earthquake frequencies in the Western U.S., and building earthquake proof structures.
Website on constructing earthquake-proof buildings: http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2011/03/can-you-build-an-earthquake-proof-building/
Quake readiness survey from San Francisco http://quakequizsf.org/
1/28/15
How Do Seismographs Work?
A heavy weight with a pen hangs from a frame over a turning drum. Seismic waves cause a simple seismograph’s drum to vibrate, which in turn causes the pen to record the drum’s vibrations. As the seismic waves arrive at a measuring station, the seismograph vibrates with the ground. The hanging weight resists motion and tends to stay at rest (inertia). The pen records the vibrations as the paper moves under it.
How Does a Simple Seismograph Work?http://youtu.be/Gbd1FcuLJLQ
Seismograph in Iceland during 2008 earthquake: http://youtu.be/RxAFBsTde9w
A seismogram is the record of an earthquake’s seismic waves, produced by a seismograph. The height of the lines drawn by the seismograph tell geologists about the earthquake: if the lines are taller, the earthquake is more severe or is closer to the seismograph.
What Patterns Do Seismographic Data Reveal?
Using past seismographic data, geologists have created maps of where earthquakes occur around the world. The maps show that earthquakes often occur along plate boundaries. Earthquake risk largely depends on how close a given location is to a plate boundary. In the U.S., two plates meet along the Pacific coast; an earthquake map shows that the most serious earthquakes occur in this area.
Many of the world’s earthquakes occur in an area of geologic activity called the Ring of Fire. In this area, plate boundaries form a ring around the Pacific Ocean. Earthquakes are also common in an area where two plates pull apart, like the Arabian Peninsula and the northeast coast of Africa.
1/26/15
We checked our Earthquake worksheet and went over reading graphs for P and S wave arrival times.
Test 2/4
Study Session 2/2 3:25-3:45
1/23/15
The moment magnitude scale rates the total energy an earthquake releases. Each one-point increase in moment magnitude equals the release of about 32 times more energy. Earthquakes with a magnitude below 5 are small and cause little damage, while those with a magnitude above 6 can cause great damage.
Activity: Classify Earthquakes p. 115 Then go back to My Planet Diary p. 110. Use the Modified Mercalli scale to rate the earthquake based on the reporter’s description
How Is an Epicenter Located?
Geologists use seismic waves to locate an earthquake’s epicenter. The difference between arrival times of P and S waves at a seismograph station can be used to tell the distance of an earthquake’s epicenter. The farther away an earthquake is, the greater the difference of arrival times between the two waves. Geologists can then map the distance of the earthquake from at least three seismograph stations to focus in on the epicenter.
Homework: Where is the closest seismograph to Jacksonville? Earthquake Worksheet
Cool animation of the different seismic waves:
http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/Labs/SeismicWaves/
1/22/15
What Are Seismic Waves?
Plate movement increase the stress along a fault until the rock slips or breaks and an earthquake begins. An earthquake is the shaking and trembling that happens when rock under Earth’s surface moves. The focus is the place under Earth’s surface where rock starts to move. The point on the surface directly above the focus is called the epicenter. Some of the energy released during an earthquake travels through Earth in the form of seismic waves. Seismic waves are vibrations that are similar to sound waves. They travel through Earth carrying energy released by an earthquake.
Do Apply it! p. 111
Do Figure 1 p. 112. The Denali fault earthquake happened in 2002. Some land moved as much as several meters horizontally. Given this movement, what kind of fault is the Denali fault? The Denali earthquake was one of the largest ever recorded in the U.S. However, it caused less material damage than smaller earthquakes in other places. Why?
There are 3 main types of seismic waves:
1. P Waves: move the ground like you would pull and stretch a slinky (primary)
2. S Waves: move the ground from side to side or up and down (secondary)
3. Surface Waves: When P and S waves reach the surface. Surface waves can make the ground pitch and roll like ocean waves.
Which of the P or S waves cannot travel through liquid? How is this knowledge important when you are relating how scientists utilized seismographs to determine that there were layers of the earth?
Vocab Quiz Monday
1/21/15
Vocabulary: earthquake, focus, epicenter(epi means above), P wave, S wave, surface wave, seismograph, seismogram, Modified Mercalli scale, magnitude, Richter scale, moment magnitude scale
Vocab Quiz Monday
1/15/15
We worked on three worksheets on faults and the following: Due for homework if you don't finish in class.
1. Look up and draw a picture of the San Andreas Fault. http://www.livescience.com/45294-san-andreas-fault.html
2. Identify the fault line and draw arrows to show the directions in which the two opposing rock slabs moved.
3. What kind of fault is this?
4. Many people believe that California is going to fall into the Pacific Ocean as a result of movement along the San Andreas Fault. What kind of fault would the San Andreas Fault have to be in order for California to slide into the Pacific Ocean?
5. On which side of the fault would be the hanging wall?
6. What is a creeping section?
7. What is the difference between a creeping section and a locked section?
Then: Look up geologic history of the Appalachian Mountains on National Geographic website: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/fold-mountain/?ar_a=1
8. How did the Appalachian Mountains form?
9. What is this process called?
10. How old are the Appalachians?
11. How long is this mountain chain?
12. Where does the Appalachian Mountain Chain begin and where does it end?
13. What are some other folded mountain ranges on Earth?
14. Why aren’t the Appalachian Mountains as tall as these other ranges?
1/14/15
Notes:
Tension forces create normal faults where two plates move away from each other. A fault-block mountain forms when the hanging walls of two normal faults drop down on either side of the footwall.
Forces can also raise plateaus. A plateau is a large area of flat land that was lifted up high above sea level. Some plateaus form when forces in Earth’s crust push up a large, flat block of rock.
Earthquake video from Japan 3/2011. http://youtu.be/EAc3epDW8UM
And another:http://youtu.be/RJCidfj-x9M
1/12/14
Notes:
How Does Plate Movement Create New Landforms?
Over millions of years, the forces of plate movement can change a flat plain into features such as anticlines and synclines, folded mountains, fault-block mountains, and plateaus. Folds are bends in rock that form when Earth’s crust is compressed and gets shorter and thicker. A fold in rock that bends upward in to an arch is an anticline. A fold that bends downward in a V-shape is a syncline.
1/9/15
How Do Faults Form?
When enough stress builds up in rock, the rock breaks and makes a fault. The three main types of faults are:
1. Normal faults: form where rock is pulled apart by tension in Earth’s crust. The block above the angled fault is called the hanging wall. The rock below the fault is called the footwall. The hanging wall slips downward when rock moves along the fault.
2. Reverse fault: has the same structures as a normal fault, but the hanging wall moves up and the footwall moves down. Reverse faults form where compression pushes the rock of the crust together. Shearing produces strike-slip faults.
3. Strike-slip fault: The rocks on either side of a strike-slip fault slip past each other and have little up or down motion. A strike-slip fault that forms the boundary between tow plates is called a transform boundary.
Homework:
In 2010 Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake. 316,000 lives were lost. Go to the following website to answer the questions in your Science Notebook:
http://www.livescience.com/9797-devastating-haiti-earthquake-questions-answers.html
1. What was the magnitude of the Earthquake that affected Haiti in 2010?
2. What caused it?
3. Why was the earthquake so devastating?
4. Did it trigger a tsunami? Why or why not?
1/8/15
Lab: We located the epicenter of an earthquake given the difference in arrival times of P and S waves from 3 different cities.
Earthquake Lab Questions:
1. Geologists use a piece of equipment called a ___________________ to locate an earthquake’s epicenter.
2. Geologists measure the difference of arrival times between _______________ and _______________ to find the radius of the location of the epicenter.
3. _________________ arrive faster than the ___________________.
4. If an earthquake occurs in CA, can a seismograph located in Hawaii help pinpoint the earthquake even though they are an ocean apart? Why/why not?
1/7/15
Notes:
How Does Stress Change Earth’s Crust?
Do My Planet Diary p. 102 Rulers at tables to view mm. Where have you seen changes to Earth’s surface? (shore, mudslide) Earth oftentimes moves too slowly to see, but even though rocks are bending or folding, they are still hard and stiff.
As Earth’s plates move, they can bend or fold rock. Forces created by movement of the Earth’s plates are examples of stress. Stress adds energy to the rock until the rock changes shape or breaks. Three kinds of stress work over millions of years to change the shape and volume of rock in the Earth’s crust:
1. Tension: stress force that pulls on the crust and thins the rock in the middle. It happens when plates pull apart.
2. Compression: stress force that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks. Happens where two plates come together and push against each other.
3. Shearing: stress force that pushes rock in two opposite directions. It happens where two plates slip past each other.
1/5/15
Vocabulary: stress, tension, compression, shearing, normal fault, reverse fault, strike-slip fault, plateau
Homework: Correct Test, Due Wednesday. Vocabulary Quiz Friday
12/18/14
Koch Snowflake STEAM Lab: /uploads/3/7/8/1/37810111/snowflake_steam_lab.docx
12/14/14
We checked our Plate Tectonics Worksheet and reviewed the Study Guide.
12/12/14
Homework: Finish Worksheet p. 91 from Class
Study Guide in Textbook pp. 92-95
Help Session this coming Monday 12/15/14 3:20-3:45PM
12/11/14
Lab: We used clay to model the tension put on rock at different plate boundaries. We used towels to model convergent-collision boundary. We did a foldable on plate boundary interactions.
Homework: Finish Plate Boundary Foldable and answer questions on instruction sheet.
TEST WEDNESDAY, 12/17/14--STUDY GUIDE
Alfred Wegener--who he was (German Scientist in 1910), what his hypothesis was (Pangaea due to continental drift) and how he came about it (landform shapes, fossil and climate rock evidence)
plates--what are they, how do they move (convection currents in the mantle move the lithosphere in the theory of plate tectonics), oceanic vs. continental
Sonar and how it was used to identify sea-floor spreading
Mid-ocean ridges--how and where they form, what they do (cause of sea-floor spreading with magma coming up from a divergent plate boundary), what is the difference in the crust between the crust closest to the ridge (hotter, younger, less dense), and the crust furthest from the ridge (colder, older, more dense)
Deep-ocean trenches--how and where they from, what they do (subduction of older, colder, more dense oceanic crusts on a convergent plate boundary back toward the mantle where the crust is recycled)
Divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries--how they work, where are they located? What do they produce?
12/10/14
Earth’s lithosphere is like an eggshell broken into pieces separated by cracks. These pieces are called plates. Earth’s plates meet at boundaries. Plates move apart at divergent boundaries. Plates come together at convergent boundaries. Plates slip past each other at transform boundaries. In the mid 1960s, geologists combined what they knew about sea-floor spreading, Earth’s plates and plate motions into a single theory called plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s plates are in slow, constant motion driven by convection currents in the mantle.
Con (together) di (apart or in two ways) vergent (to turn or go) trans (along)
*Model divergent, convergent, and trans using hands
The plates move because they are the top part of the large convection current in the Earth’s mantle. During subduction, gravity pulls denser plate edges downward, into the mantle. Plates move very slowly—from about 1 to 12 cm each year. Earth’s plates can carry ocean floor, continents, or continents and oceans together. The movement of Earth’s plates has greatly changed the location of Earth’s continents, landmasses, and oceans.
Faults are breaks in Earth’s crust where rocks have slipped past each other. They form along plate boundaries. Plate movements produce changes in Earth’s surface and on the ocean floor. These changes include the formation of volcanoes, mountain ranges, and deep-ocean trenches.
Most divergent boundaries occur along mid-ocean ridges. Where pieces of Earth’s crust diverge on land, many deep valleys called rift valleys have formed.
Where two plates carrying oceanic crust meet at a trench, the plate that is denser sinks under the less dense plate.
When two plates carrying continental crusts collide, the collision squeezes the crust into high mountain ranges.
Earthquakes often occur when two plates suddenly slip along a transform boundary.
12/8/14
Read pp. 86-91 in textbook. Answer all questions. Read An Ocean is Born p. 97 in text. Diagram what is happening in Afar and answer the following question: When the region finally pulls apart after millions of years, how will the ocean form in the Afar region? Finish for homework.
Homework: Afar question above
12/5/14
Vocabulary: plate, divergent boundary, convergent boundary, plate tectonics, fault, rift valley
12/3/14
The ocean floor eventually plunges into deep underwater canyons called deep-ocean trenches. Here, the oceanic crust bends downward.
Most of the ocean floor is about 5km deep. However, deep ocean trenches are much deeper—ex. The Mariana Trench in the pacific has a depth of 11.2km.
In a process taking millions of years, part of the ocean floor sinks back into the mantle at deep-ocean trenches. The process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle again is called subduction. As subduction occurs, crust closer to a mid-ocean ridge moves away from the ridge and toward a deep-ocean trench.
Do Figure 3 p. 84
The processes of subduction and sea-floor spreading can change the size and shape of the oceans. An ocean surrounded by many trenches may shrink. An ocean that contains more ridge than trenches will probably grow larger.
Show video of conveyor belt: I Love Lucy and chocolates from YouTube How is the ocean floor like a giant conveyor belt?
Do Apply it and Assess p. 85.
Homework: Sea Floor Spreading Worksheet
12/1/14
Sea floor spreading is related to continental drift. How? Sea Floor Spreading summary: crack develops along a mid-ocean ridge, magma rises up into the space and cools to form new ocean crust, sea floor spreads more as new crust forms, existing crust moves outward.
Have students read p. 82. What evidence supports the theory of sea-floor spreading? Eruption of molten material that forms pillow lava along ridges, magnetic stripes, and the increasing age of the oceanic crust away from the ridge. Why does oceanic crust get older farther away from a mid-ocean ridge? Because the crust spreads away from the ridge at which newer and younger rock forms.
What advances since 1910 would have helped Wegener’s mistreated theory of continental drift. (GPS is now used to measure the movement of continents, however it was not available in the 1960s to provide evidence of sea-floor spreading, sonar, deep sea diving capabilities)
Look at the Evidence from Magnetic Stripes paragraph on p. 82. Why do the magnetic properties of the stripes of iron-rich mineral grains change sometimes? (line up with poles and poles reverse themselves) How does the pattern of stripes on either side of the mid-ocean ridge compare? Mirror image=spreading out from center, further away, older the rock.
Do Figure 2 p. 83 and Relate
Homework: Look up the following website and answer these questions: 1. How often do the magnetic poles switch? 2. When was the last time they switched? 3. What kind of impact would them switching have on us today? http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html
11/24/14
Vocab: mid-ocean ridge, sea-floor spreading, deep-ocean trench, subduction, sonar
Warm Up: My Planet Diary p. 80
In some places, the floor of the ocean appears to be stitched together like the seams of a baseball. Scientists found that the seams formed mountain ranges like those on land, but on the ocean floor. These mountain ranges are called mid-ocean ridges.
Do: Figure 1 p. 81
Mid-ocean ridges continually add new crust material to the ocean floor in a process called sea-floor spreading. At the same time, older strips of rock move outward from either side of the ridge.
11/20/14
Lab
We recreated Wegener's Pangaea with puzzle pieces of the continents. We watched an animation of Pangaea: https://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization and discussed the physical features of world geography.
11/19/14
A continent is one of Earth’s seven large landmasses. They are North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, Antartica and Africa. In 1910 a German Scientist by the name of Alfred Wegener became curious about why some continents look as though they could fit together. Wegener’s hypothesis was that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart. Wegener’s idea that the continents slowly moved over Earth’s surface became known as continental drift.
Ask: What were the clues you used to assemble the jigsaw puzzle? (shape, fossils, plants) Students evaluate Wegener's hypothesis based on the evidence they observe. Student groups each write a 'position paper' on whether the evidence they researched is compelling and conclusive enough for scientific acceptance of the Theory of Continental Drift.
According to Wegener, the continents were joined together in a supercontinent, or single landmass, about 300 million years ago. Wegener called the supercontinent Pangaea. Greek for pan (all) and gaia (Earth). Over tens of millions of years, Pangaea began to break apart. The pieces of Pangaea slowly moved toward their present-day locations. These pieces became the continents as formed today. Land features on the continents such as mountain ranges and coal fields provided Wegener with evidence for his hypothesis.
Do p. 77 Figure 1
Wegener also used fossils to support his hypothesis. A fossil is any trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in a rock.
Do Figure 2 p. 78
Wegener also used evidence of climate change to support his hypothesis.
Wegener could not provide satisfactory explanation for the force that pushes or pulls the continents because he could not identify the cause of the continental drift, most geologists of his time rejected his ideas.
Locate South Africa on the map. Do apply it and assess, and ask questions on p. 79
Bill Nye on Seafloor spreading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyMLlLxbfa4
Homework: Drifting Continents Worksheet
11/17/14
Vocabulary: continental drift, Pangaea, fossil, continent, geologist
Forces deep inside Earth and at the surface produce a slow cycle that builds, destroys, and changes the rocks in the crust. The rock cycle is a series of processes that occur on Earth’s surface and in the crust and mantle that slowly change rocks from one kind to another.
There are many pathways by which rocks move through the rock cycle. Through melting, erosion, and heat and pressure, the rock cycle constantly changes rocks from one type to another type.
Constructive and destructive forces build up and destroy Earth’s landmasses. However, as rock in Earth’s crust moves through the rock cycle, material is not lost or gained.
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Thursday
Lab
We recreated Wegener's Pangaea with puzzle pieces of the continents. We watched an animation of Pangaea: https://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0806/es0806page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization and discussed the physical features of world geography.
11/19/14
A continent is one of Earth’s seven large landmasses. They are North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, Antartica and Africa. In 1910 a German Scientist by the name of Alfred Wegener became curious about why some continents look as though they could fit together. Wegener’s hypothesis was that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart. Wegener’s idea that the continents slowly moved over Earth’s surface became known as continental drift.
Ask: What were the clues you used to assemble the jigsaw puzzle? (shape, fossils, plants) Students evaluate Wegener's hypothesis based on the evidence they observe. Student groups each write a 'position paper' on whether the evidence they researched is compelling and conclusive enough for scientific acceptance of the Theory of Continental Drift.
According to Wegener, the continents were joined together in a supercontinent, or single landmass, about 300 million years ago. Wegener called the supercontinent Pangaea. Greek for pan (all) and gaia (Earth). Over tens of millions of years, Pangaea began to break apart. The pieces of Pangaea slowly moved toward their present-day locations. These pieces became the continents as formed today. Land features on the continents such as mountain ranges and coal fields provided Wegener with evidence for his hypothesis.
Do p. 77 Figure 1
Wegener also used fossils to support his hypothesis. A fossil is any trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in a rock.
Do Figure 2 p. 78
Wegener also used evidence of climate change to support his hypothesis.
Wegener could not provide satisfactory explanation for the force that pushes or pulls the continents because he could not identify the cause of the continental drift, most geologists of his time rejected his ideas.
Locate South Africa on the map. Do apply it and assess, and ask questions on p. 79
Bill Nye on Seafloor spreading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyMLlLxbfa4
Homework: Drifting Continents Worksheet
11/17/14
Vocabulary: continental drift, Pangaea, fossil, continent, geologist
Forces deep inside Earth and at the surface produce a slow cycle that builds, destroys, and changes the rocks in the crust. The rock cycle is a series of processes that occur on Earth’s surface and in the crust and mantle that slowly change rocks from one kind to another.
There are many pathways by which rocks move through the rock cycle. Through melting, erosion, and heat and pressure, the rock cycle constantly changes rocks from one type to another type.
Constructive and destructive forces build up and destroy Earth’s landmasses. However, as rock in Earth’s crust moves through the rock cycle, material is not lost or gained.
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Thursday
Rock Cycle Cartoon Project. Due Monday, November 24
Instructions: Students will create a comic strip story of their adventures as they journeyed through the Rock Cycle. They should use their textbook, the Rock Cycle App on their iPad, and the BBC link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/science/environment_earth_universe/rock_cycle/revision/1/
Their are 12 boxes in the cartoon. The first box should indicate how the rock began and the last box should show how the rock ended up. There needs to be at least 3 specific rocks named representing the three types of rocks (for example: "granite" as an igneous rock) Students will turn in their adventure log and cartoon together.
Adventure Log and Cartoon: _ (click on underline)
11/14/14
Notes: When great heat and pressure are applied to rock, the rock can change both its shape and its composition without melting it. Any rock that forms from another rock as a result of changes in heat or pressure (or both heat and pressure) is a metamorphic rock.
Pockets of magma can rise through the crust. The high temps of these pockets can change rock into metamorphic rock. Collisions between Earth’s plates can also push rock down toward the heat of the mantle. Plate collisions cause great pressure to be applied to rock while mountains are being formed. The pressure can deform, or change the physical shape of, the rock. Under very high temperature or pressure or both, the minerals in a rock can be changed into other minerals. The appearance, texture, and crystal structure of the minerals in the rock change.
Geologists classify metamorphic rocks according to the arrangement of the grains making up the rocks. Metamorphic rocks that have their grains arranged in either parallel layers or bands are said to be foliated.
Foliated is from Latin word “folium” meaning leaf. Foliated describes the thin, flat layering found in most metamorphic rocks. Crystals in granite can be flattened to create the foliated texture of gneiss. Heat and pressure change the sedimentary rock shale into slate. As shale changes into slate, the mineral composition of shale can change.
Some metamorphic rocks are nonfoliated. The mineral grains in these rocks are arranged randomly. Marble and quartzite are metamorphic rocks that have a nonfoliated texture. Quartzite forms out of quartz sandstone. Marble usually forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The metamorphic rocks marble and slate are important materials for building and sculpture.
Homework: Metamorphic Rocks worksheet
11/12/14
Notes:
Geologists classify sedimentary rocks according to the type of sediments that make up the rock. The three major groups of sedimentary rocks are clastic, organic and chemical rocks. Difference is how they are formed and the materials that make them up—this took millions of years.
Clastic is sedimentary rock formed when rock fragments are squeezed together. Some common clastic rocks are shale, sandstone, conglomerate, and breccia.
Organic rock forms where the remains of plants and animals are deposited in layers. Organic rocks include coal and limestone.
Chemical rock forms when minerals dissolved in water solution crystallize. Chemical rocks include limestone and rock salt.
People have used sedimentary rocks throughout history for many different purposes, including tools and building materials. Chert and flint were used to make spearheads and arrowheads. Sandstone and limestone were used as building materials. Limestone is used to make cement and steel.
Homework: Sedimentary Rock Worksheet, Vocab Quiz
11/10/14
Vocabulary: sediment, organic rock, weathering, erosion, chemical rock, deposition, foliated, compaction, cementation, clastic rock.
We watched Mythbusters vs. Deadliest Catch and determined the scientific method in our favorite myth from the episode.
Episode: http://youtu.be/ohEvD_2dcfw
Worksheet: /uploads/3/7/8/1/37810111/mythbusters_generic_worksheet.doc
Homework: Worksheet Due Wednesday
Vocab Quiz Friday
11/7/14
We checked our Igneous Rock Worksheet and took a vocabulary quiz.
Notes:
Sediment is small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or living things. Sedimentary rocks form when sediment is deposited by water and wind. Most sedimentary rocks are formed through a sequence of processes: weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction, and cementation. Rock on Earth’s surface is constantly broken up by weathering—the effects of freezing and thawing, plant roots, acid, and other forces on rock. After the rock is broken up, the fragments are carried away as a result of erosion—the process by which running water, wind, or ice carry away bits of broken up rock. Deposition is the process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it. The process that presses sediment together is compaction. Cementation is the process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together.
11/6/14
Lab: We went through the Rock Cycle using crayons for rocks. Lab (click on link): _
11/5/14
Session 28
Extrusive rock is igneous rock formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface. Basalt is the most common extrusive rock. Igneous rock that formed when magma hardened beneath the surface of Earth is called intrusive rock. The most abundant type of intrusive rock in the continental crust is granite. The texture of igneous rock depends on the size and shape of its mineral crystals. Rapidly cooling lava forms fine-grained igneous rocks with small crystals or no crystals at all. Slowly cooling magma forms course-grained rocks, such as granite, with large crystals. Intrusive rocks have larger grains than extrusive rocks. Extrusive rocks have a fine-grained or glassy texture.
Lava that is low in silica usually forms dark-colored rocks such as basalt. Magma that is high in silica usually forms light-colored rocks such as granite.
Read p. 50 & Fill out Apply It, Relate Cause and Effect and Assess Your Understanding
People throughout history have used igneous rock for tools and building materials. Granite has been used to build statues, fortresses, bridges and public buildings. Today, thin polished sheets of granite are used in curbstones, kitchen counter tops and floors.
Basalt is used for cobblestones and as a material in landscaping and roads. Pumice is a good abrasive for cleaning and polishing.
Obsidian was used for making sharp tools for cutting and scraping. Perlite is mixed with soil and used for starting vegetable seeds (absorbs water). These are types of natural glass, having a shiny texture like human-made glass.
Homework: Igneous Rocks Worksheet, Vocab Quiz
11/3/14
Session 27
Notes:
Even though all igneous rocks form from magma or lava, igneous rocks can look vastly different from each other. Igneous rocks are classified by their origin, texture, and mineral composition.
Ignis mearns “fire” in Latin. The prefix ex means “out of” and the prefix in means “in”, root is trudere, which means “to thrust.” Extrusive Rock forms outside of the Earth, intrusive rock forms inside the Earth. Classification systems use criteria to group objects. Igneous rock may form on or beneath Earth’s surface. Extrusive rock is igneous rock formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface. Basalt is the most common extrusive rock.
Vocabulary: extrusive rock, intrusive rock, pumice, obsidian, perlite
Homework: Correct Test and have it signed, Vocabulary Quiz Friday
10/29/14
Session 26
We reviewed Pearson online 2.2 in anticipation of the upcoming test.
10/30/14
Lab 8
We had a Halloween-themed STEAM lab this week, experiencing convection currents with Flying Ghosts, delving into density with Disgusting Density, dissolving Worms using different solutions, investigating chemical reactions and density with Squirming Worms and kicked it up a notch with Vomiting Pumpkins. All experiments can be found on this link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/morganshanahan/spooky-stem-projects-for-kiddos-this-halloween
Study Guide for 10/31 Test:
The material that you studied for the Minerals Quiz:
How to identify minerals using the: Moh's Hardness Scale (scratch test), luster, magnetism as a special property, color, streak, density, cleavage, and fracture, and crystalline structure.
The 5 properties that make a mineral (solid, formed from inorganic process, naturally occurring, crystal structure, definite chemical composition,) the 3 ways that minerals form (organic processes, solution, magma and lava cooling) and how heating and cooling affect grain size and texture.
Plus:
How do geologists decide what origin a rock has? (they observe the rock's mineral composition, color and texture.) Granite vs. Basalt. How scientists describe texture using grains (banded vs. nonbanded, fine vs. course.) The three major groups of rocks (metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary,) how they form and where you are most likely to find them.
10/27/14
Session 27
Warm Up: Can minerals be pure elements? (yes) Which elements are minerals? (Mercury, Gold, Silver, Copper)
We reviewed 2.1 for our upcoming test on Pearson online.
We watched the Discovery Video How are granite countertops made? http://youtu.be/INWXbNpqvOo
Homework: Watch video and write a timeline of granite from the quarry to your kitchen.
10/24/14
Session 26
We reviewed and graded our Classifying Rocks worksheet.
Test on 2.1 and 2.2 Minerals and Classifying Rocks 10/31.
10/23/14
Lab 7
We finished our Crystal Hands lab comparing Borax crystals formed from a solution and Salt crystals formed from solution. We categorized rocks as metamorphic, igneous, or sedimentary. We examined slow-cooling crystal growth vs fast cooling crystal growth using a candle wax, hot water and cold water.
10/22/14
Session 25
About 20 minerals make up most of the rocks of the Earth’s crust. These minerals are known as rock-forming minerals.
A rock’s color provides clues to the rock’s mineral composition.
Granite is generally a light-colored rock that has high silica content. That is, it is rich in the elements silicon and oxygen (SiO2) Basalt is a dark-colored rock that has a lower silica content than granite has. But unlike granite, basalt has mineral crystals that are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
We observed samples of granite and basalt. We watched Minute Earth "Why is All Sand the Same"http://youtu.be/pxmHHoTPSKI
Most rocks are made up of particles of minerals or other rocks, which geologists call grains. Grains give the rock its texture. Texture is the look and feel of a rock’s surface. To describe the texture of a rock, geologists use terms that are based on size, shape, and pattern of the grains.
In describing a rock’s texture, geologists rely primarily on how the rock’s surface looks rather than how it feels. What are some adjectives used to describe size, shape, and pattern of grains? (course and fine-grained, grain shape = granular, rounded, jagged. Grain pattern = layered, swirl, or random—banded vs. non-banded rocks)
Geologists have classified rocks in to three major groups: igneous rock, sedimentary rock, and metamorphic rock. Difference is? Each of these groups of rocks forms in a different way.
Igneous rock forms from the cooling of magma or lava. The magma hardens underground to form rock, the lava erupts, cools, and hardens to form rock on Earth’s surface.
Most sedimentary rock forms when small particles of rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together. Sedimentary rock forms in layers that are buried beneath the surface.
Metamorphic rock forms when a rock is changed by heat or pressure, or by chemical reactions. Most metamorphic rock forms deep underground.
Homework: Classifying Rocks Worksheet, Return signed Minerals Quiz
10/20/14
Session 24
To study a rock sample, geologists observe the rock’s mineral composition, color and texture. Rocks are made of mixtures of minerals and other materials. So, the terms "rock" and "mineral" do not mean the same thing. Text p. 44 & 45.
Homework: No Vocabulary Quiz on Friday
Instructions: Students will create a comic strip story of their adventures as they journeyed through the Rock Cycle. They should use their textbook, the Rock Cycle App on their iPad, and the BBC link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/science/environment_earth_universe/rock_cycle/revision/1/
Their are 12 boxes in the cartoon. The first box should indicate how the rock began and the last box should show how the rock ended up. There needs to be at least 3 specific rocks named representing the three types of rocks (for example: "granite" as an igneous rock) Students will turn in their adventure log and cartoon together.
Adventure Log and Cartoon: _ (click on underline)
11/14/14
Notes: When great heat and pressure are applied to rock, the rock can change both its shape and its composition without melting it. Any rock that forms from another rock as a result of changes in heat or pressure (or both heat and pressure) is a metamorphic rock.
Pockets of magma can rise through the crust. The high temps of these pockets can change rock into metamorphic rock. Collisions between Earth’s plates can also push rock down toward the heat of the mantle. Plate collisions cause great pressure to be applied to rock while mountains are being formed. The pressure can deform, or change the physical shape of, the rock. Under very high temperature or pressure or both, the minerals in a rock can be changed into other minerals. The appearance, texture, and crystal structure of the minerals in the rock change.
Geologists classify metamorphic rocks according to the arrangement of the grains making up the rocks. Metamorphic rocks that have their grains arranged in either parallel layers or bands are said to be foliated.
Foliated is from Latin word “folium” meaning leaf. Foliated describes the thin, flat layering found in most metamorphic rocks. Crystals in granite can be flattened to create the foliated texture of gneiss. Heat and pressure change the sedimentary rock shale into slate. As shale changes into slate, the mineral composition of shale can change.
Some metamorphic rocks are nonfoliated. The mineral grains in these rocks are arranged randomly. Marble and quartzite are metamorphic rocks that have a nonfoliated texture. Quartzite forms out of quartz sandstone. Marble usually forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The metamorphic rocks marble and slate are important materials for building and sculpture.
Homework: Metamorphic Rocks worksheet
11/12/14
Notes:
Geologists classify sedimentary rocks according to the type of sediments that make up the rock. The three major groups of sedimentary rocks are clastic, organic and chemical rocks. Difference is how they are formed and the materials that make them up—this took millions of years.
Clastic is sedimentary rock formed when rock fragments are squeezed together. Some common clastic rocks are shale, sandstone, conglomerate, and breccia.
Organic rock forms where the remains of plants and animals are deposited in layers. Organic rocks include coal and limestone.
Chemical rock forms when minerals dissolved in water solution crystallize. Chemical rocks include limestone and rock salt.
People have used sedimentary rocks throughout history for many different purposes, including tools and building materials. Chert and flint were used to make spearheads and arrowheads. Sandstone and limestone were used as building materials. Limestone is used to make cement and steel.
Homework: Sedimentary Rock Worksheet, Vocab Quiz
11/10/14
Vocabulary: sediment, organic rock, weathering, erosion, chemical rock, deposition, foliated, compaction, cementation, clastic rock.
We watched Mythbusters vs. Deadliest Catch and determined the scientific method in our favorite myth from the episode.
Episode: http://youtu.be/ohEvD_2dcfw
Worksheet: /uploads/3/7/8/1/37810111/mythbusters_generic_worksheet.doc
Homework: Worksheet Due Wednesday
Vocab Quiz Friday
11/7/14
We checked our Igneous Rock Worksheet and took a vocabulary quiz.
Notes:
Sediment is small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or living things. Sedimentary rocks form when sediment is deposited by water and wind. Most sedimentary rocks are formed through a sequence of processes: weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction, and cementation. Rock on Earth’s surface is constantly broken up by weathering—the effects of freezing and thawing, plant roots, acid, and other forces on rock. After the rock is broken up, the fragments are carried away as a result of erosion—the process by which running water, wind, or ice carry away bits of broken up rock. Deposition is the process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it. The process that presses sediment together is compaction. Cementation is the process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together.
11/6/14
Lab: We went through the Rock Cycle using crayons for rocks. Lab (click on link): _
11/5/14
Session 28
Extrusive rock is igneous rock formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface. Basalt is the most common extrusive rock. Igneous rock that formed when magma hardened beneath the surface of Earth is called intrusive rock. The most abundant type of intrusive rock in the continental crust is granite. The texture of igneous rock depends on the size and shape of its mineral crystals. Rapidly cooling lava forms fine-grained igneous rocks with small crystals or no crystals at all. Slowly cooling magma forms course-grained rocks, such as granite, with large crystals. Intrusive rocks have larger grains than extrusive rocks. Extrusive rocks have a fine-grained or glassy texture.
Lava that is low in silica usually forms dark-colored rocks such as basalt. Magma that is high in silica usually forms light-colored rocks such as granite.
Read p. 50 & Fill out Apply It, Relate Cause and Effect and Assess Your Understanding
People throughout history have used igneous rock for tools and building materials. Granite has been used to build statues, fortresses, bridges and public buildings. Today, thin polished sheets of granite are used in curbstones, kitchen counter tops and floors.
Basalt is used for cobblestones and as a material in landscaping and roads. Pumice is a good abrasive for cleaning and polishing.
Obsidian was used for making sharp tools for cutting and scraping. Perlite is mixed with soil and used for starting vegetable seeds (absorbs water). These are types of natural glass, having a shiny texture like human-made glass.
Homework: Igneous Rocks Worksheet, Vocab Quiz
11/3/14
Session 27
Notes:
Even though all igneous rocks form from magma or lava, igneous rocks can look vastly different from each other. Igneous rocks are classified by their origin, texture, and mineral composition.
Ignis mearns “fire” in Latin. The prefix ex means “out of” and the prefix in means “in”, root is trudere, which means “to thrust.” Extrusive Rock forms outside of the Earth, intrusive rock forms inside the Earth. Classification systems use criteria to group objects. Igneous rock may form on or beneath Earth’s surface. Extrusive rock is igneous rock formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface. Basalt is the most common extrusive rock.
Vocabulary: extrusive rock, intrusive rock, pumice, obsidian, perlite
Homework: Correct Test and have it signed, Vocabulary Quiz Friday
10/29/14
Session 26
We reviewed Pearson online 2.2 in anticipation of the upcoming test.
10/30/14
Lab 8
We had a Halloween-themed STEAM lab this week, experiencing convection currents with Flying Ghosts, delving into density with Disgusting Density, dissolving Worms using different solutions, investigating chemical reactions and density with Squirming Worms and kicked it up a notch with Vomiting Pumpkins. All experiments can be found on this link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/morganshanahan/spooky-stem-projects-for-kiddos-this-halloween
Study Guide for 10/31 Test:
The material that you studied for the Minerals Quiz:
How to identify minerals using the: Moh's Hardness Scale (scratch test), luster, magnetism as a special property, color, streak, density, cleavage, and fracture, and crystalline structure.
The 5 properties that make a mineral (solid, formed from inorganic process, naturally occurring, crystal structure, definite chemical composition,) the 3 ways that minerals form (organic processes, solution, magma and lava cooling) and how heating and cooling affect grain size and texture.
Plus:
How do geologists decide what origin a rock has? (they observe the rock's mineral composition, color and texture.) Granite vs. Basalt. How scientists describe texture using grains (banded vs. nonbanded, fine vs. course.) The three major groups of rocks (metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary,) how they form and where you are most likely to find them.
10/27/14
Session 27
Warm Up: Can minerals be pure elements? (yes) Which elements are minerals? (Mercury, Gold, Silver, Copper)
We reviewed 2.1 for our upcoming test on Pearson online.
We watched the Discovery Video How are granite countertops made? http://youtu.be/INWXbNpqvOo
Homework: Watch video and write a timeline of granite from the quarry to your kitchen.
10/24/14
Session 26
We reviewed and graded our Classifying Rocks worksheet.
Test on 2.1 and 2.2 Minerals and Classifying Rocks 10/31.
10/23/14
Lab 7
We finished our Crystal Hands lab comparing Borax crystals formed from a solution and Salt crystals formed from solution. We categorized rocks as metamorphic, igneous, or sedimentary. We examined slow-cooling crystal growth vs fast cooling crystal growth using a candle wax, hot water and cold water.
10/22/14
Session 25
About 20 minerals make up most of the rocks of the Earth’s crust. These minerals are known as rock-forming minerals.
A rock’s color provides clues to the rock’s mineral composition.
Granite is generally a light-colored rock that has high silica content. That is, it is rich in the elements silicon and oxygen (SiO2) Basalt is a dark-colored rock that has a lower silica content than granite has. But unlike granite, basalt has mineral crystals that are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
We observed samples of granite and basalt. We watched Minute Earth "Why is All Sand the Same"http://youtu.be/pxmHHoTPSKI
Most rocks are made up of particles of minerals or other rocks, which geologists call grains. Grains give the rock its texture. Texture is the look and feel of a rock’s surface. To describe the texture of a rock, geologists use terms that are based on size, shape, and pattern of the grains.
In describing a rock’s texture, geologists rely primarily on how the rock’s surface looks rather than how it feels. What are some adjectives used to describe size, shape, and pattern of grains? (course and fine-grained, grain shape = granular, rounded, jagged. Grain pattern = layered, swirl, or random—banded vs. non-banded rocks)
Geologists have classified rocks in to three major groups: igneous rock, sedimentary rock, and metamorphic rock. Difference is? Each of these groups of rocks forms in a different way.
Igneous rock forms from the cooling of magma or lava. The magma hardens underground to form rock, the lava erupts, cools, and hardens to form rock on Earth’s surface.
Most sedimentary rock forms when small particles of rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together. Sedimentary rock forms in layers that are buried beneath the surface.
Metamorphic rock forms when a rock is changed by heat or pressure, or by chemical reactions. Most metamorphic rock forms deep underground.
Homework: Classifying Rocks Worksheet, Return signed Minerals Quiz
10/20/14
Session 24
To study a rock sample, geologists observe the rock’s mineral composition, color and texture. Rocks are made of mixtures of minerals and other materials. So, the terms "rock" and "mineral" do not mean the same thing. Text p. 44 & 45.
Homework: No Vocabulary Quiz on Friday
10/17/14
Session 23
A vein is a narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rock.
Crystals that form quickly tend to be small. Crystals that form slowly tend to be larger.
We observed Granite and Rhyolite. Granite and rhyolite form from the same type of molten material and have the same minerals; however, granite is course grained and rhyolite is fine-grained. Granite formed from magma that cooled slowly; rhyolite formed from lava that cooled quickly. Granite formed beneath Earth’s surface and rhyolite formed on the surface.
Minerals Quiz Study Guide
How to identify minerals using the: Moh's Hardness Scale (scratch test), luster, magnetism as a special property, color, streak, density, cleavage, and fracture.
The 5 properties that make a mineral, the 3 ways that minerals form and how heating and cooling affect grain size and texture.
10/16/14
Lab 7
We reviewed our 3D cube shapes and identified minerals with those shapes. We made "Crystal Hands" with Borax and Salt water solutions showing how minerals can form from solutions. We did a density worksheet and broke open a geode.
10/15/14
Session 22
A geode is rounded, hollow rock that is often lined with mineral crystals. Crystallization is the process by which atoms are arranged to form a material that has a crystal structure. In general, minerals can form in three ways. Some minerals form from organic processes. Other minerals can crystallize from materials that are dissolved in solutions. Finally, many minerals crystallize as magma and lava cools. All minerals can form by inorganic processes. However, some minerals can also form by organic processes.
A solution is a mixture in which one substance is dissolved into another. When elements and compounds that are dissolved in water leave a solution, crystallization occurs.
Minerals form as hot magma cools inside the crust, or as lava hardens on the surface. When these liquids cool to a solid state, they form crystals.
10/13/14
Session 21
We reviewed our Density Worksheet in detail.
Vocabulary: rock-forming mineral, granite, basalt, grain, texture, igneous rock, sedimentary rock, metamorphic rock.
Homework: Vocab Quiz Friday
Minerals Quiz Monday
10/9/14
Session 20
We put together a mineral collage of minerals used in the home from the website PBS Learning Media Minerals in the Environment, and labeled the minerals used. We had an opportunity to make 3D crystal structures of minerals and identified which minerals have that structure.
Homework: Finish mineral collage if not done in class.
10/8/14
Session 19
Read pp. 40-43 in text and answer all questions in text. Do worksheet Properties of Minerals. Finish for homework, if needed.
10/06/14
Session 18
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s atoms forms a mineral’s crystal structure.
Compare a sample with well shaped crystals (like quartz) and a mineral in which crystals are not clearly visible (borax). Explain that even though you cannot see the crystal facets, crystals might be visible under a microscope. It is the arrangement of atoms in a mineral that determines its crystal structure. Crystal faces are only an external manifestation of this structure. Is a mineral sample that does not have smooth faces still made up of crystals? (yes, same atomic structure) How do you know this mineral sample has crystals? (all minerals have crystals).
A mineral that splits easily along flat surfaces has the property called cleavage.
If you saw smooth, flat surfaces on the sample of a mineral, what could you conclude? (mineral has cleavage)
Fracture describes how a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way.
We did a density worksheet in class, finish this for homework & answer the following question: What is special about minerals lonsdaleite and wurtzite?
Density worksheet click here: _
10/04/14
Session 17
Each mineral has a characteristic density. The formula for determining density in minerals is mass/volume with mass in grams and volume in cubic centimeters. A cubic centimeter is the volume of of a cube that measures 1 cm along each edge. We spent the rest of the time working on density equations.
10/2/14
Lab 6
We talked about minerals found in the classroom. We identified 9 minerals based on their color, streak, luster, hardness, and special properties.
10/01/14
Session 16
How Are Minerals Identified?
Like other substances on Earth, minerals can be sorted and identified by their physical properties. Look at photos on text p. 35. What is a property?(characteristic of something) What are some examples of physical properties? (color, length, mass, volume, temperature, state) What do you think is a physical property of minerals that is quickest and easiest to observe? (color) do you think you could accurately identify minerals using that property alone? Why or why not? (many minerals have the same color)
Each mineral has characteristic properties that can be used to identify it. They include color, streak, luster, hardness, density, crystal structure, cleavage, fracture, and special properties. The streak of a mineral is the color of its powder.
Luster is the term used to describe how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface.
The Mohs hardness scale is used to rank the hardness of minerals.
Look at Figure 6 p. 36. These are a list of 10 mineral names and their hardness ranking number. The higher the ranking number ion the Mohs hardness scale, the harder the mineral is. The scale is not linear, or absolute. The increase in hardness from one mineral to the next mineral on the scale varies. For example, the difference in hardness between diamond and corundum is much greater than the difference between gypsum and talc. What is the softest mineral on the scale?(talc) Which of the other minerals on the scale can talc scratch? (none) Which mineral on the scale is the hardest? (Diamond) Which of the other minerals on the scale can diamond scratch?(all) Why might diamonds be valuable as tools?
9/29/14
Session 15: Minerals
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid called a crystal. All minerals must be able to form by inorganic processes, meaning from materials that were not a part of living things.
An element is a pure substance that cannot be broken down into other substances by chemical or physical means.
Compound=pure substance made of two or more elements chemically combined. Most minerals are compounds, but some are elements. What are some examples of elements that are also minerals?(copper, silver, gold)
Definite chemical composition: for a specific mineral, certain elements are always present in definite proportions; however, other elements, or impurities can also be present. For example quartz comes in many varieties and colors. (we looked at various samples of quartz) Despite containing impurities, all quarts varieties contain silicon and oxygen in a constant ratio of 1 to 2 (we used the example that water has the definite chemical composition of 2H to 1O).
9/26/14
Session 14: Minerals
What is a Mineral?
A mineral is a 1.naturally occurring 2. solid that 3. can form by inorganic processes and that 4. has a crystal structure and a 5. definite chemical composition.
For a substance to be a mineral, it must have all five of these characteristics.
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid called a crystal. All minerals must be able to form by inorganic processes, meaning from materials that were not a part of living things.
Session 23
A vein is a narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rock.
Crystals that form quickly tend to be small. Crystals that form slowly tend to be larger.
We observed Granite and Rhyolite. Granite and rhyolite form from the same type of molten material and have the same minerals; however, granite is course grained and rhyolite is fine-grained. Granite formed from magma that cooled slowly; rhyolite formed from lava that cooled quickly. Granite formed beneath Earth’s surface and rhyolite formed on the surface.
Minerals Quiz Study Guide
How to identify minerals using the: Moh's Hardness Scale (scratch test), luster, magnetism as a special property, color, streak, density, cleavage, and fracture.
The 5 properties that make a mineral, the 3 ways that minerals form and how heating and cooling affect grain size and texture.
10/16/14
Lab 7
We reviewed our 3D cube shapes and identified minerals with those shapes. We made "Crystal Hands" with Borax and Salt water solutions showing how minerals can form from solutions. We did a density worksheet and broke open a geode.
10/15/14
Session 22
A geode is rounded, hollow rock that is often lined with mineral crystals. Crystallization is the process by which atoms are arranged to form a material that has a crystal structure. In general, minerals can form in three ways. Some minerals form from organic processes. Other minerals can crystallize from materials that are dissolved in solutions. Finally, many minerals crystallize as magma and lava cools. All minerals can form by inorganic processes. However, some minerals can also form by organic processes.
A solution is a mixture in which one substance is dissolved into another. When elements and compounds that are dissolved in water leave a solution, crystallization occurs.
Minerals form as hot magma cools inside the crust, or as lava hardens on the surface. When these liquids cool to a solid state, they form crystals.
10/13/14
Session 21
We reviewed our Density Worksheet in detail.
Vocabulary: rock-forming mineral, granite, basalt, grain, texture, igneous rock, sedimentary rock, metamorphic rock.
Homework: Vocab Quiz Friday
Minerals Quiz Monday
10/9/14
Session 20
We put together a mineral collage of minerals used in the home from the website PBS Learning Media Minerals in the Environment, and labeled the minerals used. We had an opportunity to make 3D crystal structures of minerals and identified which minerals have that structure.
Homework: Finish mineral collage if not done in class.
10/8/14
Session 19
Read pp. 40-43 in text and answer all questions in text. Do worksheet Properties of Minerals. Finish for homework, if needed.
10/06/14
Session 18
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s atoms forms a mineral’s crystal structure.
Compare a sample with well shaped crystals (like quartz) and a mineral in which crystals are not clearly visible (borax). Explain that even though you cannot see the crystal facets, crystals might be visible under a microscope. It is the arrangement of atoms in a mineral that determines its crystal structure. Crystal faces are only an external manifestation of this structure. Is a mineral sample that does not have smooth faces still made up of crystals? (yes, same atomic structure) How do you know this mineral sample has crystals? (all minerals have crystals).
A mineral that splits easily along flat surfaces has the property called cleavage.
If you saw smooth, flat surfaces on the sample of a mineral, what could you conclude? (mineral has cleavage)
Fracture describes how a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way.
We did a density worksheet in class, finish this for homework & answer the following question: What is special about minerals lonsdaleite and wurtzite?
Density worksheet click here: _
10/04/14
Session 17
Each mineral has a characteristic density. The formula for determining density in minerals is mass/volume with mass in grams and volume in cubic centimeters. A cubic centimeter is the volume of of a cube that measures 1 cm along each edge. We spent the rest of the time working on density equations.
10/2/14
Lab 6
We talked about minerals found in the classroom. We identified 9 minerals based on their color, streak, luster, hardness, and special properties.
10/01/14
Session 16
How Are Minerals Identified?
Like other substances on Earth, minerals can be sorted and identified by their physical properties. Look at photos on text p. 35. What is a property?(characteristic of something) What are some examples of physical properties? (color, length, mass, volume, temperature, state) What do you think is a physical property of minerals that is quickest and easiest to observe? (color) do you think you could accurately identify minerals using that property alone? Why or why not? (many minerals have the same color)
Each mineral has characteristic properties that can be used to identify it. They include color, streak, luster, hardness, density, crystal structure, cleavage, fracture, and special properties. The streak of a mineral is the color of its powder.
Luster is the term used to describe how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface.
The Mohs hardness scale is used to rank the hardness of minerals.
Look at Figure 6 p. 36. These are a list of 10 mineral names and their hardness ranking number. The higher the ranking number ion the Mohs hardness scale, the harder the mineral is. The scale is not linear, or absolute. The increase in hardness from one mineral to the next mineral on the scale varies. For example, the difference in hardness between diamond and corundum is much greater than the difference between gypsum and talc. What is the softest mineral on the scale?(talc) Which of the other minerals on the scale can talc scratch? (none) Which mineral on the scale is the hardest? (Diamond) Which of the other minerals on the scale can diamond scratch?(all) Why might diamonds be valuable as tools?
9/29/14
Session 15: Minerals
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid called a crystal. All minerals must be able to form by inorganic processes, meaning from materials that were not a part of living things.
An element is a pure substance that cannot be broken down into other substances by chemical or physical means.
Compound=pure substance made of two or more elements chemically combined. Most minerals are compounds, but some are elements. What are some examples of elements that are also minerals?(copper, silver, gold)
Definite chemical composition: for a specific mineral, certain elements are always present in definite proportions; however, other elements, or impurities can also be present. For example quartz comes in many varieties and colors. (we looked at various samples of quartz) Despite containing impurities, all quarts varieties contain silicon and oxygen in a constant ratio of 1 to 2 (we used the example that water has the definite chemical composition of 2H to 1O).
9/26/14
Session 14: Minerals
What is a Mineral?
A mineral is a 1.naturally occurring 2. solid that 3. can form by inorganic processes and that 4. has a crystal structure and a 5. definite chemical composition.
For a substance to be a mineral, it must have all five of these characteristics.
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid called a crystal. All minerals must be able to form by inorganic processes, meaning from materials that were not a part of living things.
9/24/14
Lab 5
We watched the Eyewitness video Rocks and Minerals and completed a Cloze Note on the video.
http://youtu.be/VXvWeuVzIZ8
9/19/14
Session 13
TEST WEDNESDAY 9/24: Study Guide:
Know the Layers of the Earth: inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust and their descriptions.
Know the 4 systems that the Earth can be broken down into: geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.
Seismic waves and what scientists use them to determine regarding the inside of the Earth.
Rock samples and what scientists used them to determine.
Heat transfer methods: conduction, convection, and radiation. Convection currents in the mantle. Be able to describe the lithosphere and asthenosphere. Plate tectonics. Oceanic and continental crusts, pressure and temperature and how they are related as you go down to the center of the Earth.
Notes: Density is a measure of how much mass there is in a given volume of a substance. When an object heats up, its molecules move faster and spread out more. This decreases the density. Less dense objects “float”, more dense objects sink.
The flow that transfers heat within a fluid is called a convection current.
Heating and cooling of a fluid, changes in the fluid’s density, and the force of gravity combine to set convection currents in motion.
Inside Earth, large amounts of heat are transferred by convection currents within the core and mantle. Heat from the core and the mantle itself causes convection currents in the mantle. Over millions of years, the great heat and pressure in the mantle have caused solid mantle rock to warm and flow very slowly. Many geologists think that plumes of mantle rock rise slowly from the bottom of the mantle toward the top. The hot rock eventually cools and sinks back through the mantle. Over and over, the cycle of rising and sinking takes place. Convection currents like these have been moving inside Earth for more than four billion years.
Movement of plates is due to this convection current in the asthenosphere: plate tectonics.
Lab 5
We watched the Eyewitness video Rocks and Minerals and completed a Cloze Note on the video.
http://youtu.be/VXvWeuVzIZ8
9/19/14
Session 13
TEST WEDNESDAY 9/24: Study Guide:
Know the Layers of the Earth: inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust and their descriptions.
Know the 4 systems that the Earth can be broken down into: geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.
Seismic waves and what scientists use them to determine regarding the inside of the Earth.
Rock samples and what scientists used them to determine.
Heat transfer methods: conduction, convection, and radiation. Convection currents in the mantle. Be able to describe the lithosphere and asthenosphere. Plate tectonics. Oceanic and continental crusts, pressure and temperature and how they are related as you go down to the center of the Earth.
Notes: Density is a measure of how much mass there is in a given volume of a substance. When an object heats up, its molecules move faster and spread out more. This decreases the density. Less dense objects “float”, more dense objects sink.
The flow that transfers heat within a fluid is called a convection current.
Heating and cooling of a fluid, changes in the fluid’s density, and the force of gravity combine to set convection currents in motion.
Inside Earth, large amounts of heat are transferred by convection currents within the core and mantle. Heat from the core and the mantle itself causes convection currents in the mantle. Over millions of years, the great heat and pressure in the mantle have caused solid mantle rock to warm and flow very slowly. Many geologists think that plumes of mantle rock rise slowly from the bottom of the mantle toward the top. The hot rock eventually cools and sinks back through the mantle. Over and over, the cycle of rising and sinking takes place. Convection currents like these have been moving inside Earth for more than four billion years.
Movement of plates is due to this convection current in the asthenosphere: plate tectonics.
9/17/14
Lab 4: Heat Transfer
We modeled convection currents in the mantle.
Heat is constantly being transferred inside Earth and all around Earth’s surface. The movement of energy from a warmer object to a cooler object is called heat transfer. There are three types of heart transfer: radiation, convection, and conduction. The transfer of energy that is carried in rays like light is called radiation.
Heat transfer by the movement of a fluid is called convection. Heat transfer between materials that are touching is called conduction.
9/16/14
Session 12
Classwork: 17D & E
We modeled the Earth's Magnetic Field using a bar magnet and iron filings.
TEST Wednesday 9/24/14 on Chapter 1
9/15/14
Session 11: The Core
The core is made mostly of the metals iron and nickel. It consists of two parts—a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. The outer core is a layer of molten metal surrounding the inner core. The inner core is a dense ball of solid metal. Scientists think that movements in the liquid outer core create Earth’s magnetic field.
We completed pages 13-16 in our textbook.
9/12/14
Session 10:
Heat is the total amount of kinetic energy of an object. This is different from temperature, which is the average amount of kinetic energy of an object. Because of this, an ice sculpture has more heat than a cup of coffee. Earth's crust is the layer of rock that forms Earth's outer skin. The crust is a layer of solid rock that includes both dry land and the ocean floor. There are two different types of crust: the continental crust which makes up the land, and the oceanic crust which makes up the ocean floor. The overall composition of oceanic crust is much like basalt, an igneous, dark rock that has fine grains. The composition of the continental crust is like granite, a rock that is a light color and has course grains. We passed around samples of basalt and granite.
The solid material of the mantle is a layer of hot rock. Earth's mantle is made of rock that is very hot, but solid. Scientists divide the mantle into layers based on the physical characteristics of those layers. Overall, the mantle is nearly 3,000Km thick vs. 5-80Km for the core. Geologists often group the crust and uppermost mantle into a single layer called the lithosphere. The lithosphere is brittle, hard and rigid. The soft layer just beneath the lithosphere is called the asthenosphere. This layer is hotter and less rigid than the lithosphere. This layer allows for the movement of the plates that compose the Earth's crust. This theory is known as tectonic plates.
9/11/14
Lab 3: Modeling Convection Currents
We did an introductory lab observing how heat affects water (with food coloring). We watched a video on convection currents in the mantle.
http://youtu.be/ryrXAGY1dmE
9/10/14
Session 9: How do we know what is inside the Earth?
Weathering: breakdown of rocks, soil and minerals through contact with Earth's atmosphere. No movement involved like erosion. Geologists have used two main types of evidence to learn about Earth's interior: direct evidence from rock samples and volcanoes, indirect evidence from seismic waves. The three main layers of the Earth are the crust, mantle, and the core. These layers vary greatly in size, composition, temperature and pressure. Pressure results from a force pressing on an area. the deeper down inside the Earth, the greater the pressure. The temperature inside Earth also increases as depth increases. Temperature is the measure of the average energy of motion of the particles of a substance.
Classwork 9D & 9E
9/8/14
Session 8: Layers of the Earth
Vocabulary: seismic wave, pressure, crust, basalt, granite, mantle, lithosphere, asthenosphere, outer core, inner core
We watched Bill Nye Layers of the Earth and filled out a worksheet on it: http://youtu.be/1B4nRGFHzXs
Worksheet: /uploads/3/7/8/1/37810111/6th_grade_bill_nye_layers_of_the_earth_worksheet.doc
Homework: Vocab Quiz Friday
9/5/14
Session 7: Feedback, Constructive and Destructive Forces
The sun provides energy, mostly in the form of heat and light, for many Earth processes.
Feedback: a system returns or feeds back to itself data about a change in the system (ex: A/C unit, body sweating). Feedback demonstrates how changes in one part of the Earth system might affect the other part ex:Hurricanes.
Lands are constantly being created and destroyed by competing forces (water, ice, wind, gravity). Constructive forces are forces that construct or build up. Constructive forces shape the land's surface by building up mountains and other landmasses. Ex: Himalayas. We watched a YouTube video of the Formation of the Himalayas in HD.
Because forces such as ice, rain, wind and changing temperatures wear down, or destroy, landmasses they are called destructive forces. Destructive forces destroy and wear away landmasses through processes like erosion and weathering. Erosion is the wearing down and carrying away of land by natural forces such as water, ice, or wind.
Homework: Vocab test Monday
9/4/14
Lab Day 2
We viewed a tarantula in its terrarium and discussed what parts of that system represented the Earth's system, how it was the same and how it was different. We modeled two of the major forces that wear down the Earth's landscape: wind and water. We built a model of the Earth's interior to represent the crust, mantle, inner core and outer core.
9/3/14
Session 6: The Earth as a System Chapter 1.1
A system is a group of parts that work together as a whole. Earth's system has a constant flow of matter through different parts (examples: Rock Cycle, Water Cycle). This constant flow is driven by energy. Energy is the ability to do work. 2 Sources of Energy: 1. The Sun 2. The Earth's Core. Sphere is a round, geometric circle that resembles a ball.
The Earth System has 4 main spheres:
1. Atmosphere: thin layer of gases that form Earth's outermost layer
2. Hydrosphere: Contains all of the Earth's water
3. Geosphere: 4 layers: inner core, outer core, mantle and crust
4. Biosphere: part that contains living organisms
Vocabulary: system, sphere, energy, atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, constructive force, destructive force
Homework: Diagram and Label the Rock Cycle in your Science Notebook
Vocabulary Quiz is Monday, September 8
8/29/14
Session 5: Earth's Structure
We brainstormed what would happen if you could travel all the way to the center of the Earth. We watched the 2 minute Scrat: Continental Drift short to see how Pixar envisioned the center of the Earth. We are beginning to learn about the Earth as a system.
Homework: No Homework
8/28
Lab Session 1: Lab Safety.
We analysed what SpongeBob and his friends did wrong in their Science Lab, signed a Lab Safety Contract, worked on problem solving in the STEAM Lab by doing a "Save Fred" experiment, and used our senses and powers of deduction to figure out what was in some Mystery Bags.
8/27/14
Session 4: Experiments
We finished the Old Wives' Tales Experiments and checked our peer's work on whether or not the hypothesis was testable, the experiment tested what the hypothesis stated, the controlled, independent, and dependent variables were identified, and problems that could have interfered with the experiment were stated.
8/25/14
Session 3: Experiments
We watched a BrainPop video on the Scientific Method, devised experiments to test Old Wives' Tales, and listened to They Might Be Giants' Put It To The Test Song.
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Friday:
Vocab Terms: Scientific Method, Purpose, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Analysis, Conclusion, Variable, Independent Variable, Dependent Variable.
8/22/14
Session 2: Scientific Variables
We defined independent, dependent, and controlled variables. We hypothesized what would happen if we stuck a pencil through a Ziploc baggy filled with water and did some Bikini Bottom explorations regarding variables.
Homework: None
8/21/14
Session 1: Scientific Method: A Review
We compared the Scientific Method to Urban Legends and Myths.
We watched a Mythbusters "Are Elephants Afraid of Mice?" and analysed the Scientific Method used. http://youtu.be/7oA77tVNKtc
Homework: Scientific Method Flow Chart--Due Friday
Lab 4: Heat Transfer
We modeled convection currents in the mantle.
Heat is constantly being transferred inside Earth and all around Earth’s surface. The movement of energy from a warmer object to a cooler object is called heat transfer. There are three types of heart transfer: radiation, convection, and conduction. The transfer of energy that is carried in rays like light is called radiation.
Heat transfer by the movement of a fluid is called convection. Heat transfer between materials that are touching is called conduction.
9/16/14
Session 12
Classwork: 17D & E
We modeled the Earth's Magnetic Field using a bar magnet and iron filings.
TEST Wednesday 9/24/14 on Chapter 1
9/15/14
Session 11: The Core
The core is made mostly of the metals iron and nickel. It consists of two parts—a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. The outer core is a layer of molten metal surrounding the inner core. The inner core is a dense ball of solid metal. Scientists think that movements in the liquid outer core create Earth’s magnetic field.
We completed pages 13-16 in our textbook.
9/12/14
Session 10:
Heat is the total amount of kinetic energy of an object. This is different from temperature, which is the average amount of kinetic energy of an object. Because of this, an ice sculpture has more heat than a cup of coffee. Earth's crust is the layer of rock that forms Earth's outer skin. The crust is a layer of solid rock that includes both dry land and the ocean floor. There are two different types of crust: the continental crust which makes up the land, and the oceanic crust which makes up the ocean floor. The overall composition of oceanic crust is much like basalt, an igneous, dark rock that has fine grains. The composition of the continental crust is like granite, a rock that is a light color and has course grains. We passed around samples of basalt and granite.
The solid material of the mantle is a layer of hot rock. Earth's mantle is made of rock that is very hot, but solid. Scientists divide the mantle into layers based on the physical characteristics of those layers. Overall, the mantle is nearly 3,000Km thick vs. 5-80Km for the core. Geologists often group the crust and uppermost mantle into a single layer called the lithosphere. The lithosphere is brittle, hard and rigid. The soft layer just beneath the lithosphere is called the asthenosphere. This layer is hotter and less rigid than the lithosphere. This layer allows for the movement of the plates that compose the Earth's crust. This theory is known as tectonic plates.
9/11/14
Lab 3: Modeling Convection Currents
We did an introductory lab observing how heat affects water (with food coloring). We watched a video on convection currents in the mantle.
http://youtu.be/ryrXAGY1dmE
9/10/14
Session 9: How do we know what is inside the Earth?
Weathering: breakdown of rocks, soil and minerals through contact with Earth's atmosphere. No movement involved like erosion. Geologists have used two main types of evidence to learn about Earth's interior: direct evidence from rock samples and volcanoes, indirect evidence from seismic waves. The three main layers of the Earth are the crust, mantle, and the core. These layers vary greatly in size, composition, temperature and pressure. Pressure results from a force pressing on an area. the deeper down inside the Earth, the greater the pressure. The temperature inside Earth also increases as depth increases. Temperature is the measure of the average energy of motion of the particles of a substance.
Classwork 9D & 9E
9/8/14
Session 8: Layers of the Earth
Vocabulary: seismic wave, pressure, crust, basalt, granite, mantle, lithosphere, asthenosphere, outer core, inner core
We watched Bill Nye Layers of the Earth and filled out a worksheet on it: http://youtu.be/1B4nRGFHzXs
Worksheet: /uploads/3/7/8/1/37810111/6th_grade_bill_nye_layers_of_the_earth_worksheet.doc
Homework: Vocab Quiz Friday
9/5/14
Session 7: Feedback, Constructive and Destructive Forces
The sun provides energy, mostly in the form of heat and light, for many Earth processes.
Feedback: a system returns or feeds back to itself data about a change in the system (ex: A/C unit, body sweating). Feedback demonstrates how changes in one part of the Earth system might affect the other part ex:Hurricanes.
Lands are constantly being created and destroyed by competing forces (water, ice, wind, gravity). Constructive forces are forces that construct or build up. Constructive forces shape the land's surface by building up mountains and other landmasses. Ex: Himalayas. We watched a YouTube video of the Formation of the Himalayas in HD.
Because forces such as ice, rain, wind and changing temperatures wear down, or destroy, landmasses they are called destructive forces. Destructive forces destroy and wear away landmasses through processes like erosion and weathering. Erosion is the wearing down and carrying away of land by natural forces such as water, ice, or wind.
Homework: Vocab test Monday
9/4/14
Lab Day 2
We viewed a tarantula in its terrarium and discussed what parts of that system represented the Earth's system, how it was the same and how it was different. We modeled two of the major forces that wear down the Earth's landscape: wind and water. We built a model of the Earth's interior to represent the crust, mantle, inner core and outer core.
9/3/14
Session 6: The Earth as a System Chapter 1.1
A system is a group of parts that work together as a whole. Earth's system has a constant flow of matter through different parts (examples: Rock Cycle, Water Cycle). This constant flow is driven by energy. Energy is the ability to do work. 2 Sources of Energy: 1. The Sun 2. The Earth's Core. Sphere is a round, geometric circle that resembles a ball.
The Earth System has 4 main spheres:
1. Atmosphere: thin layer of gases that form Earth's outermost layer
2. Hydrosphere: Contains all of the Earth's water
3. Geosphere: 4 layers: inner core, outer core, mantle and crust
4. Biosphere: part that contains living organisms
Vocabulary: system, sphere, energy, atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, constructive force, destructive force
Homework: Diagram and Label the Rock Cycle in your Science Notebook
Vocabulary Quiz is Monday, September 8
8/29/14
Session 5: Earth's Structure
We brainstormed what would happen if you could travel all the way to the center of the Earth. We watched the 2 minute Scrat: Continental Drift short to see how Pixar envisioned the center of the Earth. We are beginning to learn about the Earth as a system.
Homework: No Homework
8/28
Lab Session 1: Lab Safety.
We analysed what SpongeBob and his friends did wrong in their Science Lab, signed a Lab Safety Contract, worked on problem solving in the STEAM Lab by doing a "Save Fred" experiment, and used our senses and powers of deduction to figure out what was in some Mystery Bags.
8/27/14
Session 4: Experiments
We finished the Old Wives' Tales Experiments and checked our peer's work on whether or not the hypothesis was testable, the experiment tested what the hypothesis stated, the controlled, independent, and dependent variables were identified, and problems that could have interfered with the experiment were stated.
8/25/14
Session 3: Experiments
We watched a BrainPop video on the Scientific Method, devised experiments to test Old Wives' Tales, and listened to They Might Be Giants' Put It To The Test Song.
Homework: Vocabulary Quiz Friday:
Vocab Terms: Scientific Method, Purpose, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Analysis, Conclusion, Variable, Independent Variable, Dependent Variable.
8/22/14
Session 2: Scientific Variables
We defined independent, dependent, and controlled variables. We hypothesized what would happen if we stuck a pencil through a Ziploc baggy filled with water and did some Bikini Bottom explorations regarding variables.
Homework: None
8/21/14
Session 1: Scientific Method: A Review
We compared the Scientific Method to Urban Legends and Myths.
We watched a Mythbusters "Are Elephants Afraid of Mice?" and analysed the Scientific Method used. http://youtu.be/7oA77tVNKtc
Homework: Scientific Method Flow Chart--Due Friday