ROCK ON, EARTH!
Inside Earth with Rocks and Minerals by Drew G.
How do plates move?
The plates move according to the Theory of Plate Tectonics, which states that pieces of earth's lithosphere are in slow, constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle. To show how fast these plates go, you should think of them only going a couple inches a year. Yeah, that slow. A scientist named Alfred Wegener had a hypothesis that there was once a supercontinent named Pangaea. Over time, Pangaea separated into what earth is today. These plates move from the movement of convection currents in the mantle is the major force that causes plate motion. The edges of Earth's plates meet at plate boundaries. The three boundaries that exist are the divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.
A Mountain
A mountain range forms when two continental plates collide
A Rift Valley
A Rift Valley forms when two pieces of continental crust pull apart because of movement in the currents.
A Sea
Sea-floor spreading occurs as oceanic plates move apart along the mid-ocean ridge as they diverge.
Erosion, the Thief of Rocks
Erosion
In Erosion, running water, wind, or ice loosen and carry away fragments of rock. The three main types of erosion are water, wind, and ice. Out of the three types of erosion, ice erosion is the most dangerous. Ice erosion is like a powerful eroding machine. The ice erosion is also like a sandpaper, the more it collects, the more force it contains. The ice erosion is so powerful it can carve valleys. The least dangerous erosion type is the water erosion. The water erosion carries weathering products down the stream. This type of erosion actually kind of helps by creating deltas, beaches, wetlands, etc.
My Spring Break
Over my spring break all i did was relax and hang out with my friends. I didn't travel anywhere special so I didn't have much to do. It may not sound fun but it wasn't that bad actually. In fact, I'd say I had a good spring break.
Fossils, they aren't just your parents
A Dinosaur Head Fossil
Fossils tell us about earth's history by giving us a better idea of what some living things were back in the ice ages. We would know how far back each fossil lived as well. I put a dinosaur head because we got proof of a dinosaur from fossils. Without fossils, many things in the past could not be found out about.
A Variety of different Fossils
I put a picture of a lot of different fossils because it says in the title, all fossils are not the same. If all fossils are the same, that means that a lot of things would be alike. I don't think the world would be as cool if all fossils were the same.
The Law of Superposition
The law of superposition is a basic science law that states the older fossils from long ago would be on the bottom of big rocks or big rock land-forms, and the younger or newer fossils would be on the top of big rocks or big rock land-forms.
Minerals and rocks, the Dynamic Duo
Igneous Rock
Igneous Rocks are formed when the melted rock, called magma, deep within the earth becomes trapped in small pockets. As these pockets of magma cool slowly underground the magma becomes Igneous Rocks.
Metamorphic Rock
Metamorphic Rocks are created by the physical or chemical alteration by heat and pressure by an existing igneous or sedimentary material into a denser form.
Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary Rocks are formed when sediment is deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity, or wind flows carrying the particles in suspension. This sediment is often formed when weathering and erosion break down a rock into loose material in a source area.
The Rock Cycle
Throughout the rock cycle, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks change continuously. This is how the Rock cycle works, when volcanic activity occurs, it turns to Igneous Rock. When an igneous rock erodes it turns to sediment. When it applies heat and pressure it turns to Metamorphic Rock. When sediment has deposition it turns to sedimentary rock. When a sedimentary rock melts it turns back to a volcano. When a sedimentary rock erodes it turns to sediment. When a sedimentary rock applies heat and pressure it turns to metamorphic rock. When a metamorphic rock melts, it turns back to a volcano. When a metamorphic rock erodes it turns to sediment as well. That's the whole rock cycle. Even though it may be confusing, it's a pretty cool cycle.
Minerals
Many minerals form from magma and lava. 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. The other way minerals form is the elements and compounds that form minerals can be dissolved in water to form solutions. When that happens, crystallization occurs. Minerals can form in this way underground and in the bodies of water on Earth's surface. Each mineral has characteristics that can be used to identify it. You can see some of the properties of a mineral just by looking at a sample. To observe other properties, however, you need to conduct tests on that sample.
What I enjoyed in this unit
What I enjoyed was all the hands-on projects we did that really showed what happens in real life today. I thought that was really cool and I also thought that all the amazing facts about Earth I learned about that I had no idea about. Inside Earth turned out to be really cool!