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Earth Science: Evidence of Volcanic Past

In this Earth Science/Geology assignment, students will gain a better understanding of igneous rock formation and the evidence left behind when a volcano goes extinct. Students will label a diagram that contains: a batholith, a crater, dikes, a laccolith, a lava flow, sills, a stock, a vent, and a volcanic neck.

Students will reinforce the concept of intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks by placing representations of relative crystal sizes on the diagram.

 

Earth Science: Mapping Useful Ores Research Activity

In this assignment, students will open up a Google Doc, you can have it printed as well, and fill out a table of some very useful industrial ores. The ores that will be researched are diamonds, gold, rock salt, bauxite, iron, and titanium. Students will research which 3 countries in the world are the top producers of each ore. They will then find and write 2 or more industrial uses for each ore. As they are doing their research, students will also use a map and mark where these countries are. This is great to reinforce the geography standards.

Earth Science: Understanding Glaciers Lab

This is an interactive digital glacier lab that will help students understand what glaciers are, what some of the formations and deposits look like, and will have students explore how glaciers grow and shrink, and how scientists go about discovering glacial movement speeds over time as well as finding out how scientists come up with the numbers of how long glaciers will last at current rates. Students will actually be the scientists discovering the rate of speed as they build their own interactive glacier using PhET. You will need computers that can run Java.

Earth Science: What's in that Mineral? Activity

This Google search activity allows students to go to the internet to search for specific minerals and then to use the Periodic Table to discover what elements the mineral is made out of. This activity usually takes a full 50 minutes for the students to find all of the answers. Students will investigate 12 different minerals and which elements that make up each mineral. They will look at a periodic table and decide whether the elements are metals or nonmetals. Students will also search the internet and find out some industrial uses for each mineral.

Earth Science: Why do Rivers have Deltas Video

This is an excellent video, by MinuteEarth, to show your Earth Science students how deltas from due to river deposition.  It discusses how the river at its mouth will either create a delta or erode more of the land.  The science video will talk about how during ice ages, ocean levels drop and rivers then cut deeper into the land.  During part of the video, there is a quick discussion about how civilizations formed around the fertile land of deltas.

Earthquake Liquefaction

In this video, students will witness the destructive power of an earthquake and learn about a fascinating phenomenon called liquefaction. This video was captured during the 2011 earthquake in Japan and shows how the earth shifts and grinds the dirt, squeezing the water out and causing the ground to become like quicksand. By watching this video, students will gain a better understanding of the impact earthquakes can have on the environment and how they can cause changes in the ground structure.

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