Week 11: Rocks and the Rock Cycle

 

What did you do in lab today? 

In lab today we talked about the law of superposition and how it relates to the layers of rock because that is what we were investigating. We looked at different examples of layers in the earth and determined which layer is oldest and which is youngest from the law of superposition. We also looked at more challenging examples that had dykes and faults in the layers and had to determine the oldest to youngest layer. We got to look at the characteristics of sands that had to do with water, glaciers, and wind. Each one has different characteristics. We looked at multiple different kinds of sands under a microscope and determined which type we thought it was based on the looks of each sand. It was pretty cool. 

What was the big question? 

The big question we are investigating is the types of rocks, the rock cycle, and types of erosion and weathering.

What did you learn in Thursday's discussion? 

In Thursday's discussion, I learned about buoyancy and water displacement with an experiment that we watched. We watched different kinds of pops in a water tank and whether or not they floated or sunk. This had to do with the sugar content in each different kind of drink or if it had fake sugar in it. We also learned about the Archimedes Principle from the book and related the sinking and floating to different things in the book like real versus fake gold, and if it has silver content in it. We learned about Geodes too. 

Pressbook:

- What did you learn?

I learned that igneous rocks are formed when magma cools, sedimentary rocks are formed when many particles called sediments are put together overtime, and metamorphic rocks are formed when other rocks undergo heat and pressure. I learned that in the rock cycle, there are key components such as heat and pressure, and weathering and erosion. Each kind of rock can go under these changes and it affects how the rock forms and the kind of rock that it is. I learned that igneous rocks and sedimentary rocks can go under heat and pressure to form into a metamorphic rock. And that metamorphic rocks can form into more metamorphic rocks. Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks can all melt and become magma. 

- What was most helpful? 

I think that the rock cycle picture diagram was the most helpful to me. It gave me a good visual representation of how the rock cycle works and how every component works together. Each kind of rock has an arrow of weathering and erosion and of either heat and pressure or cooling and melting. 

- What do you need more information on? 

I would like more information on Archimedes' Principle. I liked the video in this but more resources about this idea would be beneficial for me I think. 

- What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have? 

I do not have any questions or concerns, but I would like more examples on weathering and erosion specifically of the two types of weathering, mechanical and chemical.