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