Science Methods II - Week 10

 

 

1.       What did you do in lab today?

            In lab today we began by taking a formative assessment asking “what is a rock?” I took the assessment with my assumptions being that rock had to be made by nature and could not be metal. After the assessment I learned that a rock could be a metal ore, and could also be something that was carved from rock or stone. We then discussed activity mania and our homework from last week. We talked about how we need to make our science instruction rich in learning while also being hands on, not just science-adjacent activities. We then talked about how convection currents work and tectonic plates move. We also talked about the evidence we see in our daily lives, like volcanoes and earthquakes. The final piece of our lab was learning how different rocks are formed with an activity. I learned how sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks are formed by compacting starbursts and melting them with a blowtorch. I learned that rocks can move independently between the stages depending on what happens to them, previously I thought they could only move in one direction.

2.        What was the big question?

      Our big question was: How does the surface of the Earth change and transform through time and weathering?

   

3.       What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion?

            In lecture we learned a lot about tectonic plates and their movements. I learned about the difference between convergent and divergent plates and their effects. I learned how we knew plates have shifted because of where we find fossils. Fossil records show how two landmasses were once together. I learned about different patters of plate movement and how they correlate to activities like earthquakes and tsunamis.

4.       Read the online textbook, chapter 17

      From the textbook, I learned about how geodes are formed. I learned that they are formed from cavities created by either water and carbon dioxide forming a bubble in flowing lava, or when lava solidifies under water. I also learned that geodes can form in sedimentary rocks through erosion where the center is carved out by an object with more density, like a shell. Afterwards water  fills the hole with minerals, or minerals fill in through the pores in the rock, creating crystalline structures. I also learned that geodes with less density have more crystals inside, and I learned about using Archimedes’ principle to compare density. The textbook also taught me about the types of weathering that affect rocks, mechanical, and chemical. I learned that mechanical weathering happens when wind, water, or other conditions break down rocks into smaller fragments. Chemical weathering happens when chemical reactions change the structure of rocks on a molecular level. I learned that after the weathering erosion moves the rock fragments into a new location and deposition adds the fragments to a new spot when they are dropped off. A big thing I learned at the end of the textbook reading was how sand is made. I learned that sand is bigger than silt, but smaller than gravel, and occurs when rocks are continually weathered and broken down. Sand is found often on coasts because the water has had that time to continually weather those rocks by washing over them. I am still wondering why geodes are more commonly found in specific places. Where are they more commonly found, and why? Are they closer to fault lines or tectonic plate movements because of the lava movement? Also, are rocks more likely to be moved to specific locations? Is that because of wind and water patterns? I would like to learn more about that.

I still am curious about how rocks move from weathering. Are there patterns we can see to find where rocks will travel from erosion? Also are rocks and geodes found in specific places because of specific reasons? I can kind of put it together from what I have learned about their formation, but I am still not totally sure.