1/29 Earth Science Class and homework due 2/5

Hi folks,

Today we built on last week's lesson about the layers of the Earth and learned about plate tectonics and earthquakes.  

For homework this week please read pages 272- 291

Do questions 1 - 20 on pages 294 and 295.

1/28 Earth Science Recording - Tectonic Plates

https://youtu.be/cVfMDqMG0Ko

1/22 Earth Science update and homework due 1/29

Hi folks,

Today we've begun our next block with is the living Earth.  Over the next few weeks we will see that the entire Earth is a gigantic, moving, changing body of rock, liquid and gas.

To begin our block we got to know the layers of the Earth.  Next week we will see how these layers effect the surface of the Earth and give us mountains, valleys, earthquakes, volcanos and more!

For homework this week, please read the following website and answer the questions in the email.  Be sure to study the answers when you're done.  These make perfect quiz questions.  :)  By the way, this site only lists four layers.  It doesn't mention the upper mantle.

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/earths-layers-lesson-1

1.  Why is the crust filled with lighter materials while the core is filled with heavier materials?

2. What layer do we live on?

3.  Which layer is the hottest?

4.  If you found yourself in the core of the Earth, what would happen to you?

5.  Which layer is the thinnest?

6.  What are the two different kinds of Earth's crust?

7.  At what temperature do rocks begin to melt?  

8.  What are the broken parts of the Earth's crust called?

9.  What two basic rock types make up the crust?

10.  What is the Lithosphere (Litho, by the way, means stone)?

11.What is the Asthenosphere (Astheno means weak)?

12.  Which layer is the largest of the Earth's layers?

13.  Why does the mantle move?

14.  What makes the plates of the Earth move?

15.  What is the temperature range of the mantle?

16.  What are convection currents?

17.  Which of the layers of Earth is a true liquid?

18.  What is the temperature range of the outer core?

19.  How far beneath the crust is the outer core?

20.  What elements make up the outer and inner core?

21.  What is the temperature of the inner core?

22.  What is the pressure in the inner core?

1/22 Earth Science Recording - Layers of the Earth

https://youtu.be/qNpGXAaAQUc

1/15 Earth Science update and homework due 1/22

Hi folks,

First off there's a lunar eclipse happening this Sunday!  We took some time to talk about it today so that folks can have a bit of background about this really neat event.  Here's a website that gives times and some other information about the eclipse.  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/durham

In class this week, we got a chance to work with an identification key to identify different rock samples.  It was sort of like doing a choose your own adventure story and was quite a bit of fun.

For homework this week please take a look at this website.  https://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/

Read each page and do all the activities.  This is really going to test what you've been learning the past few weeks. The last page is a quiz.  Take the quiz and then print it out.  (There's an option to print the page when you are done.)  Hand that in the next class.

Best,

Jim Mueller

(919) 907-3217

1/8 Earth Science update and homework 1/15

Hi folks,

Today we did a really fun lab that made all the terms and definitions we learned last week a lot more understandable.  Using crayons, we did a simulation of the rock cycle where we were able to simulate all the different major rock types as well as all the processes.  

Homework this week is to do the enclosed .pdf.