Mrs. DuBose’s Class: AdVeNtUrEs iN ScIeNcE

Prepare to get dirty and have some fun learning about Weathering and Erosion. 

What Happens To A Mountain?

Question: What changes will happen to the mountain of soil over the course of a month

Hypothesis:  I think …

Procedure

1. Build a “mountain” of soil 50 cm (about 20 inches) high in an undisturbed location in your backyard yard.
2. Observe the mountain once a week for the next 1.5 month.  Measure its height and width and note any changes in its surface.

RECORDING DATA: This chart will be a log of your experiment. Make a chart that includes

1. the date and time,
2. the height & width,
3. observations (description),
4. daily drawings of your mountain. 

Analysis and Conclusions..After observing the mountain for an extended period of time, answer the following questions

1. What was the initial height of your mountain
2. What was the final height?
3. How much soil did your mountain loose (subtract #2-#1) ?
4. Prediction: How long do you think it would take for your pile to weather away
   • HINT: A. Divide the answer from question # 3 by the number of days you observed.  
   • B. Take the amount of final soil height ( question #2) and divide it by the number you got in step A )
5. What forces do you think might have caused changes in your mountain?
6. Why do you think your soil weathering away so quickly?
7. What naturally protects soil from erosion?
8. What could you do to your mountain to conserve soil or make it more erosion proof?

In class we went outside and observed the soil profile and had an DIRTY good time.  Your job is to be a SOIL SCIENTIST and investigate the layers of soil at your house. Your job is to create a soil profie (similar to the picture on the left) and label and name the soil horizons or layers.  You are to put the soil you collect into small sandwhich bags and attach them to a poster .  You get to be as creative and artistic as you want.

-Collect a baggie of each type of soil and staple to a sheet of THICK construction board and answer the following questions.  This will be added as 20 points EC on a TEST grade.   Click the more button to see the project details!

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Hi Super Scientist!

Your job is to go outside and be science investigators or in this instance GEOLOGIST. You are to go out and find examples of weathering, erosion, mass wasting taking place in our surroundings. You may also include examples of crustal change that have occurred. Take pictures of your findings and record the location and type of weathering, erosion, or mass wasting taking place.

DIRECTIONS

1. You will receive 2 point for each correctly identified, labeled photo up to 20 points total.
2. Neatness and effort are included as part of the point total; hence, sloppy or haphazard projects will not be considered for extra credit.
3. PHOTOS MUST BE YOUR OWN!! There are plenty of good examples in the Youngsville/Louisburg/Franklinton area.
4. There are 4 different ways you can display your findings
   1. POSTER: Mount the pictures onto a ridgid background (poster or science fair board) and full label each photo with a brief explanation of what is taking place at that particular location.
   2. POWERPOINT: Past your digital pictures in POWERPOINT and create a SLIDESHOW.
   3. SLIDE.COM: This is for my lovers of the cool gadgets on the Internet. You can upload your digital photos to www.slide.com (must create an account) and then create a cool slideshow that you can add music too, special effects, and borders and MORE!
   4. VIDEO:  If you always wanted to be a music producer, you can use your video camera to record your findings and then EDIT and CREATE a masterpiece that takes us along your VOYAGE.  You can use Window Movie Maker (to edit your video you created) or Windows PhotoStory (to narrate over your digital picture and add cool special effect)
5. To get FREE tutorials on SLIDE, WINDOW MOVIE MAKER, OR PHOTOSTORY..click on your choice

What to look for:

Evidence of weathering:

• plant growth
• ice wedging (freezing and and thawing)
• oxidation (rusting)
• carbonation (carbon dioxide..usually weathering of marble or limestone..Graveyards)
• Living Organism (lichens and moss)

Forms of erosion:

• Deposition of sediments (look for different sediments building up):
• Mass Wasting:  landslides, rock falls, slump, soil creep

We have erupted onto earth’s surface and have started our next unit: Rocks and Minerals. As we know lava erupts and hardens into rock.  Every rock has a story to tell. Rocks hold evidence that helps us figure out how mountains formed, where glaciers once flowed over the United States, or what kinds of plants and animals lived on the Earth. Rocks show us how the Earth has changed and how it’s still changing, even today! They give us important clues about the Earth’s history. You can find rocks almost anywhere. Here’s how you can start your own rock collection.  Click here to go to the website.

In order to earn your 15 points extra credit, you must use your rock collection to anwer the question in your ROCK CHART. You will need ADOBE to download the chart

LEAVE A COMMENT..Share your experience creating your own rock collection??

all images USGS)

A fault is a large crack in the Earth’s crust where one part of the crust has moved against another part. This movement means that faults prove the Earth is an active place. They are signs of powerful forces deep underground.. Where the fault plane is sloping, the lower side is the hanging wall and the upper side is the footwall. When the fault plane is vertical, there is no hanging wall or footwall.

It’s important to know a fault’s type: normal, reverse or strike-slip. The type reflects the kind of forces that are acting on the fault.

Normal faults form when the hanging wall drops down. The stress  that creates normal faults are pulling the sides apart, or extensional (TENSION).

Reverse faults form when the hanging wall moves up. The stress that creates reverse faults are compressional (COMPRESSION), pushing the sides together.

Strike-slip faults have walls that move sideways, not up or down. That is, the slip occurs along the strike, not up or down the dip. In these faults the fault plane is usually vertical, so there is no hanging wall or footwall. The stress creating these faults are SHEARING, carrying the sides past each other

For this project, you are to make a 3D model of the picture. Your project should be

• be MOVABLE…
• The preferred material are styrofoam or wood blocks
• In your model you should be able to move your model to create the 3 types of faults
• In your model you should include a painted/glued on crops/forest,  fence, road, river, and railroad track.
• Label and color the layers of different rock onto your model
• The  movement of the fault should show effects on the above objects

LEAVE A COMMENT..Students leave a comment and share your experience building your faults!

Seismometers are delicate scientific tools used to detect tremors from earthquakes. Seismometers are the forward sentinels in those locations there earthquakes and volcanoes are active. When a volcano comes to life, scientists will place many seismometers in remote areas all around the volcano in order to monitor its activity. An increase in tremors is one sign hat a volcano is closer to erupting. The readings from many seismometers become the first line of safety for the people living near a volcano. Because of the dangers involved, most seismometers are designed to transmit by radio or satellite their data to a central spot where scientists can interpret it. With enough data and the proper calculations, scientists can warn people in time of possible danger. This project will give you an idea of how a seismometer works. Don’t forget to share your results at Zoom kids, click here

This project is worth 20 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT TEST GRADE.

Your seismograph should be able to

• record vibrations continuously for 30 seconds
• produce a seismogram that can distinguish between gentle and strong earthquakes
• record seismic readings consistently from trial to trial

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Build Your Own Seismograph

This seismograph can be built will some simple materials. Dimensions are approximate — you might be able to vary them or even modify the design. This is a harder version for those of you who love to build and tinker with your hands.. This project is worth 25 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT TEST GRADE. (more…)

Background- An earthquake is the vibrations we feel when the earth’s crust suddenly moves. What causes these sudden, larger movements of the crust? The plates can stretch so far, but if they stretch farther than their elastic limit, they will break and release huge vibrations that can be felt large distances away.This project is worth 20 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT TEST GRADE. (more…)

Wow! You get to combine science and food in the same spot! You can choose from the 3 projects below.  Remember you must do  the included lab report with each project to get your 20 points extra credit. You should be applying your SCIENTIFIC thinking to your answers.  If you need to download the labs you will need ADOBE, click here to download

Labs You Can Eat: Rescue Near the Center of the Earth

Create three-dimensional, edible models of the interior structure of the Earth, including the inner core, the outer core, the mantle, and the crust.

Labs You Can Eat: Cracks in the Hard-Boiled Earth
Model some basic interactions of crustal plates using the relative movement of shell fragments on a hard-boiled egg

Labs You Can Eat: Dough Fault of Your Own
Demonstrate how the processes of folding and faulting shape rock formations and cause earthquakes.

The Earth might seem like one hard ball of rock, but it is made up of different layers. Here’s a look at the layers that make up our solid Earth.

This extra credit opportunity allows students to have the opportunity to recreate Earths layers using your creative juices.  Some of use are architects, some of us are artists, some of us are future movie makers.

Requirements

• To download the project guidelines, click here.
• In addition to creating a model, you must also fill out a research chart.  Please don’t forget to download.  You can either complete fill it in using Word or Powerpoint or print it out

Project Help

• Are you looking to cook your own Earth’s Layers?  Click here for a recipe
• Need help with research check out these websites
  • Earth’s Layers
  • Earth’s structure

• To learn more about Earth’s Layer with Animations
  • Savage Earth
  • Structure of the Earth
  • A Peek Inside Our Earth
  • Dynamic Eart