Science Methods II - Week 11

 

 

1.           What did you do in lab today?

a.     In lab today we discussed a lot about erosion and weathering. I learned about how we can tell different types of weathering apart from each other, and I learned also learned about how rock cuts work. I expanded my knowledge upon how rocks create new layers as they age, and learned about how magma intrusions and faults change the landscape of the Earth. At the beginning of lab, we spent a long time looking at different types of sand under a microscope. I had no idea where the different types of sand were from, but with  my group I was able to match the sand to what type of weathering it underwent thanks to guidelines from my TA. We then spent time talking about layers of Earth and matching them up to their ages. I learned how fault lines create valleys and shift the layers down, I think that this can contribute to how our layers of rock move, and that we really don’t know what the oldest layer of rock is because it has been erased by faults. That is just my hypothesis, though. The final big thing that I learned, was that intrusions, whether they be active or igneous rocks already cooled, happen only to layers that are already finished, and do not float outwards and then cool, waiting for rock to fall around them.

           

2.           What was the big question?

a.     Our big question was how will we evaluate our impact on the Earth when humanity eventually comes to an end?

     

   

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

a.     In lecture today we began by talking about what we had learned previously this week. We reviewed erosion and rock types. Then we moved to our big activity. We read through a book about Archimedes and discussed how water displacement works. We then ran through an activity where we figured out whether a crown was made of real gold or not. We measured its weight, before realizing we needed to measure the amount of water it displaced to see if they were the same. I learned that a geode has a specific gravity of 2.7 if it is solid rock, I learned that specific gravity is the density of a substance compared to the density of a standard, i.e. water. I did not know what specific gravity was before this.

           

4.       Read the online textbook, chapter 21

                  From the textbook I learned that climate is measured in 30 year intervals and refers to the weather activity expected for an area. I learned that climate change refers to the change in climate as opposed to what should be expected. I also learned the factors that affect climate, those being Latitude, Ocean currents, Wind and air masses, elevation, and Relief/topography. I knew about latitude and elevation, but I learned how ocean currents and air masses carry warm and cool air around the planet from place to place. I also learned how air can rise over a mountain, expand and cool, and rain on that side of the mountain while not remaining dry on the other side. I learned how water controls heat by keeping the air warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. I learned more about how climate change leads to both more droughts and flooding. I also learned how higher temperatures can lead to livestock getting sick and more unpredictable weather patterns, which built on what I already knew about habitat change throughout the world.

 

4.           I am still curious about what specific gravity is and how we find it, as well as how we found it out in the first place. I am also curious about what more advanced scientific ways do we have to calculate density?