Still Learning About Rocks!!!!!

Chapter 2 Study Guide for Test on October 25th --- "Minerals and Rocks"

Study Guide – Chapter 2 Test—Minerals and Rocks

KNOW ALL OF YOUR VOCABULARY!!!  TAKE HOME YOUR VOCABULARY FOLDER!!!

THERE WILL BE A MATCHING OR SHORT ANSWER QUESTION FOR THESE WORDS!!!

Minerals—natural occurring solids that can form by inorganic (not living) processes and that have a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition!

For a substance to be a mineral, it must have all five of these characteristics:

1-naturally occurring

2-solid

3-crystal structure

4-forms by inorganic processes

5-definite chemical composition

QUARTZ is a mineral!

How are minerals identified?

Answer:  Each mineral has characteristic properties that can be used to identify it.  These properties are:

1-color

2-streak-the color of its powder

3-luster-how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface

Types of luster are:

-metallic

-silky

-waxy, greasy, earthy, or pearly

-glassy

4-hardness

THE HARDEST MINERAL IS A DIAMOND!

5-density—mass in a given space

6-crystal structure

8-cleavage and fracture

9-special properties—Examples:  Calcite bends light to produce double images!  Some minerals conduct electricity, glow when placed under ultraviolet light, or are magnetic.

How do minerals form?

1-organic materials

2-minerals from solutions

3-minerals from magma and lava

How do geologists classify rocks?

Answer:  To study a rock sample, geologists observe the rock’s mineral composition, color, and texture.

What are the three major groups of rocks?

1-igneous—forms from the cooling of magma or lava—Magma hardens underground to form rock.  The lava erupts, cools, and hardens to form rock on the Earth’s surface.

2-sedimentary--forms when small particles of rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together—Forms in layers that are buried below the surface.

3-metamorphic—forms when a rock is changed by heat or pressure, or by chemical reaction.  Most metamorphic rocks form deep underground!

How do geologists classify igneous rocks?

Answer:  Igneous rocks are classified by their:

1-origin—Igneous rocks may form on (extrusive igneous rock) or beneath (intrusive igneous rock) the Earth’s surface!

BASALT IS THE MOST COMMON EXTRUSIVE ROCK!

GRANITE IS THE MOST ABUNDANT TYPE OF INTRUSIVE ROCK IN CONTINENTAL CRUST!

2-texture—the texture depends on the size and shape of its mineral crystals (except the different types of volcanic glass—igneous rocks that lack a crystal structure).

3-mineral composition—The silica content of magma and lava can vary.  Lava that is low in silica usually forms dark-colored rocks such as basalt!  Magma that is high in silica usually forms light-colored rocks such as granite!

How are igneous rocks used?

Answer:  Igneous rocks are used as tools and building materials.

How do sedimentary rocks form?

Answer:  Most sedimentary rocks are formed through a sequence of processed:

1-weathering

2-erosion

3-deposition

4-compaction

5-cementation

What are the three major types of sedimentary rocks?

1-clastic rocks-formed when rock fragments are squeezed together

2-organic rocks-formed where the remains of plants and animals are deposited in layers

3-chemical rocks-formed when minerals dissolved in a water solution crystallize

How are sedimentary rocks used?

Answer:  Sedimentary rocks have been used throughout history for tools and building.

What are metamorphic rocks?

Answer:  Any rock that forms from another rock as a result of changes in heat or pressure (or both heat and pressure) is a metamorphic rock.

How are metamorphic rocks classified?

Answer:  Geologists classify metamorphic rocks according to the arrangement of the grains making up the rocks.

Foliated rocks—describes the thin, flat layering found in most metamorphic rocks.

Examples of foliated rocks:  gneiss and slate

Nonfoliated rocks—the mineral grains in these rocks are arranged randomly.

Examples of nonfoliated rocks:  marble and quartzite

How are metamorphic rocks used?

Answer:  The metamorphic rocks marble and slate are important materials for building and sculpture.

What is the rock cycle?

Answer:  The rock cycle is a series of processes that occur on Earth’s surface and in the crust and mantle that slowly change rocks from one kind to another.

Example:  Weathering can break down granite into sediment that later forms sandstone!

The Beauty of Crystals

Students to Learn about the 3 Types of Rocks!!!!

In the next week or two, the students in our class will be making edible rocks!!!!!  This fun activity concretely demonstrates the steps that are necessary for the three different types of rocks (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) to be formed.  PLUS, students get to eat their finished products! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg_jKJFbA2A

Geologist Devin Dennis will lead the way in the Geology Kitchen! 

Students Make Layers of the Earth With Modeling Clay

Our class learned about the depth of each of the layers of the Earth last week.  We made the layers with modeling clay.  Each layer was to depict the size it is compared to the sizes of the other layers.  Students placed the inner core in the center, then the outer core, mantle, and crust.  The crust showed the oceans/lakes/ponds/rivers that make up 3/4 of the surface of the Earth plus the seven continents that make up the other 1/4.

Chapter 1 Test Scheduled for Thursday, September 28----Study Guide Below

Study Guide

Earth Science

Chapter 1

Describe the inner core.

Answer:    The inner core occupies the center of the Earth.  It is iron and nickel and is also extremely hot.  However, pressure within the inner core is so great that it remains a solid.

Describe the outer core.

Answer:  The outer core is hot, molten iron and nickel under extreme pressure.  Convection currents cause movements in the liquid outer core.  Scientists hypothesize (assume or guess) that these movements cause Earth’s magnetic field.  The outer core surrounds the inner core, which occupies the center of the Earth.

Explain why a topographical map has a key.

Answer:  The key lists the symbols used on the map and their meanings.  Symbols are used to show features on Earth’s surface.  Without the key, a person does not know what the symbols on the map stand for.  An important part of the key on a topographic map is the statement of the map’s contour interval.  The contour interval enables the map user to determine elevation, relief, and slope based on the contour lines.

Compare and contrast maps and globes.

Answer:  Maps and globes both show the shape, size, and position of the features on Earth’s surface.  Both are drawn to scale and use symbols to represent topography and other features.  A globe is a sphere that represents Earth’s entire surface.  A map is a flat model of all or part of Earth’s surface as seen from above.  Maps distort the shape or size of features because they are projections of Earth’s curved surface onto a flat surface.

Explain how heat is transferred inside Earth through convection currents.

Answer:  Large amounts of heat are transferred to Earth’s mantle from Earth’s core and the mantle itself.  Heat and pressure inside the mantle cause solid mantle rock to warm and slowly rise toward the lithosphere.  When the rising rock cools, it becomes denser (packed tightly together) and sinks back through the mantle.

Which layer of the Earth is made up partly of crust and partly of mantle material?

Answer:  the lithosphere

Holes drilled several kilometers into Earth’s crust provide DIRECT EVIDENCE about the Earth’s interior in the form of rock samples.

Starting from the surface, what is the correct order of Earth’s layers?

Answer:  crust, mantle, outer core, inner core

What is the transfer of energy through empty space called (like the sun transferring light and heat through the air)?

Answer:  radiation

It would always be easy to walk up a slope represented by contour lines that are?

Answer:  far apart

What units do scientists use to locate positions on the Earth’s surface?

Answer:  degrees

The feature of a map that relates a distance on the map to a distance on Earth’s surface is called?

Answer:  scale

Using one or more of your senses to gather information, such as examining a rock to see what minerals it contains, is called what?

Answer:  observing

Which part of the Earth contains plates?

Answer:  lithosphere

What term describes the difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of an area?

Answer:  relief

Other than using rock samples through direct evidence, how do geologists learn about Earth’s interiors through INDIRECT EVIDENCE?

Answer:  seismic waves

What is the diverse way scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather called?

Answer:  scientific inquiry

What is the latitude of the North Pole?

Answer:  90 degrees north

What is a spherical model of Earth’s entire surface called?

Answer:  a globe

An area’s topography is determined by?

Answer:  the area’s elevation, relief, and landforms

Suggestions:

·       Study your definitions in your science folder. 

·       Review elevation, relief, and landforms.  Pages 22-23

·       Review latitude and longitude, and how the equator and Prime Meridian determine locations. Pages 34 and 35

·       Review contour lines, index contour, and contour intervals.  Page 37

·       Remember, too, that a depression on a map is marked with a closed loop with dashes inside.  This means there is a hollow in the ground (low ground area).  Page 39

Inquiry Skills and Scientific Method Test on Friday, September 1st----Study Guide Below!!!!!

Inquiry Skills Study Guide

(Observe, Infer, Predict, Scientific Method)

What is observing?

Observing is using one or more of your senses to gather information about the world. 

What are your 5 senses?

Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are your five senses.

What is information gathered from observations called?

data or evidence

What is the most basic skill in science?

Making and recording observations is the most basic skill in science.

What is an “accurate observation?”

An accurate observation is an exact report of what your senses tell you.

What is an “objective observation?”

An objective observation avoids opinions or bias based on specific points of view.

There are two forms of observations.  What are they?

qualitative and quantitative

What is a qualitative observation?

A qualitative observation is a description that does not use numbers.    If you report colors, smells, tastes, textures, or sounds, you are making qualitative observations.

What is a quantitative observation?

A quantitative observation is a description that includes numbers.   If you count objects or measure them with standard units (eg.:  feet, inches, Celcius, Fahrenheit, grams, pounds, etc.), you are making quantitative observations.

In science, observations are kept separate from inferences (attempted explanations of observations) because inferences MAY NOT be correct.

If you have no tool to measure with quantitatively, what do you do?

Try to estimate by referring to known standards such as:  The stick was as long as an unsharpened pencil.

What does “inferring” mean?

Inferring is explaining or interpreting an observation or statement. 

What are the two types of inferences?

reasonable (LOGICAL) inferences—a logical explanation that makes sense based on what a person knows about the topic

unreasonable inferences---concluding too much from the evidence

A LOGICAL INFERENCE MUST MAKE SENSE IN TERMS OF EVERYTHING ELSE YOU KNOW!!!!!

ALWAYS TRY TO MAKE MORE THAN ONE LOGICAL INFERENCE FROM THE SAME OBSERVATION!!!!!

IT IS OKAY TO MODIFY, REJECT, OR REVISE YOUR INFERENCES.

What is predicting?

Predicting is making an inference about a future event based on current evidence or past experiences.

A PREDICTION IS AN INFERENCE!  THEREFORE, IT MAY NOT TURN OUT TO BE TRUE.

How do you make a prediction in science?

Don’t just guess!!!!!!  Try to consider all the experiences and knowledge you have about the topic.  Examine any new information you can obtain.  Analyze data tables and graphs, if available.  THEN, make a reasonable prediction based on everything you have considered.

Never be discouraged if your prediction turns out to be false!  The purpose behind a prediction is to learn about the natural world.  An incorrect prediction may lead you to a new question and new predictions that will increase your knowledge. J

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Design an Experiment-making an organized plan to test a hypothesis

1.     Pose a Question

2.     Develop a Hypothesis

3.   Plan the Procedure

                    -Control Variables

         

4.      Interpret the Data

5.      Draw Conclusions

What makes a question scientific?

It can be answered by observations, or evidence.

How can we pose a question?

1-begin by listing several questions on a topic about the natural world,

2-try to eliminate questions that can’t be answered by gathering evidence,

3-break broad questions into questions that can be investigated one at a time,

4-word questions in a way that allows them to be answered by an investigation or experiment.

What is a hypothesis?

A hypothesis is a possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question.  IN SCIENCE, A HYPOTHESIS MUST BE TESTABLE!!!!!

How should a hypothesis be worded?

Try to word each of your hypotheses in the form of an If…then…statement.  Example:  If I give my plants fertilizer, then they will grow as big as my neighbor’s plants.  (testable and properly worded)

What is a manipulated variable?

The variable that you purposely change and test (Example: the temperature of the room) is a manipulated variable.

What does controlling variables mean?

An experimental plan is not complete unless the experimenter controls all other variables!!!!!  CONTROLLING VARIABLES MEANS KEEPING ALL CONDITIONS THE SAME EXCEPT FOR THE MANIPULATED VARIABLE.

Example:  Will houseplants grow faster if you make the room warmer? (posed question)

Controlled variables:

Use the same kind of plant.

Use identical containers.

Use the same type and amount of soil.

Use the same type and amount of fertilizer.

Use the same amount of water.

Use the same lighting.

Manipulated variable:  the temperature of the room is the only thing that will change in order to answer your question!

How do we identify a control group?

The groups being studied are called the experimental group and the control group.

The CONTROL GROUP is the group whose conditions are NOT being changed.

The EXPERIMENTAL GROUP is the group whose conditions are being changed.

What is data?

Making observations and taking measurements are called data.

How do you interpret data?

1.     Organize data into a table or arrange the data in a specific order (such as largest to smallest).

2.    Make a graph of the data.

3.    Look for trends or patterns in the data or graph.

4.    Make one or more inferences from the data, then compare the inferences with what you already know about the topic.

5.    If your inferences contradict what you know, review your work to see if you made any mistakes or if you need to examine the data again.

What does drawing a conclusion mean?

It means making a statement summing up what you have learned from an experiment.  Don’t forget---the conclusion of an experiment is usually related to the hypothesis!!!!!  Your conclusion should determine whether your experiment showed your hypothesis to be true or false.

What is a line graph?

A line graph is used to display data that show how one variable (the responding variable) changes in response to another variable (the manipulated variable).  LINE GRAPHS SHOW THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO VARIABLES!

How is a line graph labeled?

The horizontal axis (x-axis) and the vertical axis (y-axis) are placed on graph paper.  The horizontal axis should be labeled with the name of the manipulated variable.  The vertical axis should be labeled with the name of the responding variable.  ALWAYS INCLUDE UNITS OF MEASURE WITH YOUR LABELS!