Earth Science Unit

Earth’s InteriorPlate Tectonics

Rocks and Minerals

Starter Activities: Choose one!!Listing Layers

- Make a list of objects that have layers. Create a T chart with the Earth’s Layers on one side and your chosen object on the other. Compare the two.

What Forms a Crust?- List things that form crusts. Examples: Glue, gravy, pudding, etc. Do a quick-write about what causes these things to form a crust.

Layers of the Earth to ScaleInner core = 1300 km = 13.0 cm Outer core = 2250 km = 22.5 cm Mantle = 2900 km = 29.0 cm Crust = 300 km = 3.0 cm Mt. Everest = 5 km = .5 mm Mariana Trench = 15 km = 1.5

mm Space shuttle = 300 km = 3 cm

Earth’s Interiorwith vocabulary

Crust: The thin solid outermost layer of Earth; is continental (landmasses) or oceanic (ocean bottoms) crusts

Lithosphere: The cool, rigid, outermost layer of Earth includes the crust; pieces of this layer are called lithospheric plates

Asthenosphere: The solid layer with plasticity in the upper mantle that is located just below the lithosphere; lithospheric plates “float” and move on this layer

Mantle: layer of Earth between the crust and the core; it is not a liquid, but more like a hot, plastic material (think GAK)

Convection currents: Transfer of thermal energy in which warmer fluid ( plastic like) rises and cooler fluid (plastic like) sinks

Outer Core: The outer shell of Earth’s core; surrounds the inner core and is made of liquid nickel and iron

Inner Core: The sphere of solid nickel and iron at the center of Earth; surrounded by the liquid outer core

Bill Nye Earth’s Crust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MucQmSIKElU&f

eature=relatedPeople running on Oobleck video – represents

what plasticity may look like and how the Asthenosphere and Mantle are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHlAcASsf6U

Mr. Lee Layers of the Earth Rap Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiHRI_Z2Kgs

Videos and SimulationsFor Earth Layers

PLATE TECTONICS!

Tectonic Plates: Huge pieces of lithosphere that slowly move on the asthenosphere. It consists of the crust and the rigid, uppermost part of the mantle

Subduction: Occurs when one plate is denser than another and is forced below as the two plates converge at their boundary

Volcanic Eruptions: Major geological events that occur when a dense plate subducts below a less dense plate as they converge

Earthquakes: Major geological events that occur when plates shift suddenly and release stored energy; a frequent occurrence at transform boundaries

Mountain Building: Major geological event that occurs when continental plates of equal density converge

Ocean Basins: Movement of plates create dense oceanic crust that sinks lower in the asthenosphere, resulting in depressions on Earth’s surface that fill with water

Videos and SimulationsFor Plate Tectonics

Earth 100 Million years from now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4xVD4&f

eature=related 2 minutes

The Early Earth and Plate Tectonics Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA 4 minutes

editedPlate Tectonics: Divergent/ Convergent

boundaries, seafloor spreading, volcanoes https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE&feature=related

Plate BoundariesConvergent plate boundary: formed where two sections of Earth’s crust are colliding

Divergent plate boundary: forms were lithospheric plates are moving away from each other

Transform plate boundary: boundary between two lithospheric plates where the plates are sliding past each other

Mid-ocean ridge: undersea mountain range that forms where two parts of Earth’s crust are pushing apart (divergent plate boundary)

Uplift: Pushing up of Earth’s crust by forces within Earth, such as the action of two lithospheric plates moving toward each other

Bill Nye videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MucQmSI

KElU 24 minutes

Students need to write 5 interesting things they find in the video in their journal. Must be in complete sentences.

Land Beneath the Earth worksheet for the remainder of the time. Students should be working quietly, and raise their hand if they need help.

Earthquakes!!How earthquakes work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zNyVPsj8zc&feature=fvwrel 2 ½ minutes

Seattle Quake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0WuSCaTYI0&feature=relmfu 2 ½ minutes

Volcanoes!!Erupting volcano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DceHEBGVfj4

2 minutesMt St. Helens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2dreOI8gI&feature=endscreen&NR=1 7 ½ minutes

Volcano forming in the ocean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsKTzBZNjtE&feature=endscreen&NR=1 1 ½ minutes

Tsunamis2011 Japan Tsunami – Japan tsunami

ravaging the city of Kesennuma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQfdl7y-blE 6 minutes

How a tsunami is made – 1 minutehttps://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMbC7CN10kM&feature=related

Rock Cycle

Rock cycle – a cycle of processes undergone by rocks in and on the earth’s crust

Rock Cycle Animation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/environment_earth_universe/rock_cycle/activity.shtml

RocksIgneous Rock: Rock formed when heated magma

or lava cools and hardens

Sedimentary Rock: Rock formed when sediments deposited in layers, compact, and cement together under pressure over long periods of time

Metamorphic Rock: Rock deep within Earth’s crust that has been exposed to extreme heat and pressure causing changes to its appearance, structure, and composition

Types of Rocks Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE3jR_RhxO4&fe

ature=relmfuMr. Lee’s Rock Cycle Rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkGVE6wNAzo&feature=relmfu

Rock Cycle Song (Life is a Highway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53lMdHzvGCQ&f

eature=related

Videos and SimulationsFor Rocks and Minerals

Mineral IdentificationWays that help identify a mineral:Luster – how shiny or dull a mineral

appearsStreak – what is left behind when a

mineral is scratched across a streak plate

Hardness – Mohs hardness scale, how hard a mineral actually is

Color – the color of the mineralMagnetism – is the mineral magnetic

or notTaste – does the mineral have a

specific, identifying taste

Mohs Hardness Scale

How you can identify minerals by hardness

Rock Cyclehttp://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/

diagram.htmlRock Cycle Simulation activity