Transcript ROCKS ROCK!

ROCKS
ROCK!
Sandra Bright
Course #75T01
[email protected]
Rocks. They’re everywhere! On the ground, in the ground…
Different sizes, different shapes, different colors, different textures…
What exactly is a rock, and why do rocks vary so much?
To understand why rocks vary so much, we need to know
more about how they are created, and what can happen to
them after they are created. To do that, we’ll travel to some
of our national parks and other places.
We might as well get the most exciting – and the most
dangerous – stop of our trip over first. Before we go, we’ll learn
about how igneous rocks, one of three types of rock, is created.
The word “igneous” means fiery (which means “consisting of
fire” or “burning strongly and brightly”). Can you guess where
our first stop will be, and why it will be dangerous?
Click the rock to find out if your guess was correct.
If we could go deep in the Earth, we would find
magma, rock that is so hot that it has melted
and become liquid. Of course, we wouldn’t be
able to survive in such high temperatures, so
that won’t be part of our field trip!
When magma cools, it becomes igneous rock. Igneous
rock is formed when magma is forced out of the earth
(for example, oozing or exploding out a volcano) and
then cools. It can also form if the magma cools deep in
the ground.
These are both igneous rocks, but they look very
different. To learn more about igneous rocks, visit Rock
Hounds:
http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/create/igneous.htm
You might also want to watch this video for another explanation
of igneous rock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&v=FnoHDRPJjkw&NR=1
Now, on with our field trip. Got your hard hats and running
shoes on? National Geographic is ready to take us to some of
the world’s volcanoes. Click the link to get transported now.
For more about volcanoes :
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/po
mpeii/interactive/interactive.html
Before our next stop, we’ll look at what happens to alreadyformed rocks during a process called “weathering.”
Wind, rain,
glaciers, and other
factors wear rock
away. Small pieces
of rock are carried
down streams and
rivers into lakes
and oceans.
Click the picture or word
link to see an animation of
this process.
weathering
Trees and plants can also break
rock apart. The roots of this tree
started out very small and thin,
growing through tiny cracks in the
rock. As the roots grow, they force
their way through solid rock.
Water, too, can
break rock apart.
When water
freezes, it
expands. Just as
it broke this
pipe, it can crack
rocks.
The result of this weathering can be smooth or
crumbly rock.
Before we find out what happens to all
of those small, weathered pieces of
rock, let’s take a trip to some of our
national parks to see some more
spectacular results of weathering. Once
at this website, click on the “Secrets of
Red Rock” video link:
http://www.nps.gov/arch/photosmultimedia/secretsofredrock.htm
Rock at the surface of Earth is exposed to the process of
weathering. Weathering turns rock into sediment.
Sediment:
matter that
settles to the
bottom of a
liquid
Sedimentary Rock
The sediment caused by weathering settles. As more and
more sediment collects, the layers on the bottom are
exposed to increasingly greater weight. Over a long
period of time, the sediment becomes hard rock.
To learn more about sedimentary rock, and to see some spectacular
examples, let’s go to the Badlands National Park.
But first, can you guess why they’re called the Badlands?
The Lakota people called this area “Mako sica”, meaning “lands bad”.
French-Canadia fur trappers called it “les mauvais terres pour
traverse,” which translates as “bad lands to travel through”. It is a
place of extreme temperatures, little water, and rugged terrain.
The Badlands are
located in
southwestern
South Dakota.
Click on the link below . Once at the website, click “Standard”
to visit the Badlands.
http://www.nps.gov/badl/photosmultimedi
a/badlands-in-brief-geology2.htm
Side Trip:
http://www.nps
.gov/badl/photo
smultimedia/ba
dlands-inbrief.htm
Last stop:
Metamorphic Rock
Some rocks become buried deep in
the Earth, where they are exposed to
lots of pressure (the weight of all the
matter on top of them) and high
temperatures. If that temperature
isn’t hot enough to melt them into
magma, the pressure and
temperature change (“morph”) them
into new forms: metamorphic rock.
Let’s visit a site that can show us just how that works:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/change.html
Be sure to click the “Start” button when you get there!
Now let’s visit a few places that have metamorphic rock
formations:
The Colorado River (above)
has eroded some of the schist
(a type of metamorphic rock)
into these strange-looking
shapes (at left).
Marble Cathedral in Chile
Click to see more pictures of these breathtaking caves:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2021090/The-marble-cathedral-Chile-Naturalwonder-worlds-beautiful-cave-network.html
The Shawangunk Ridge
New York State
Quartz Conglomerate Cliffs
Have you noticed a relationship between the kinds of rock?
Think about how each kind is formed as you fill in the blanks to
show what you’ve learned.
Any kind of rock can be melted to become magma. If the magma
cools, it becomes _________________ rock.
a. igneous
b. sedimentary
c. metamorphic
Any kind of rock can be weathered. If it gets deposited and is
exposed to a lot of pressure over a long period of time, it
becomes _________________ rock.
a. igneous
b. sedimentary
c. metamorphic
Any kind of rock can end up underground. If it is exposed to a lot
of pressure and heat, it becomes _________________ rock.
a. igneous
b. sedimentary
c. metamorphic
We’ll be traveling to a volcano!
Resources
Franklin Institute (January 29, 1999). Rock Hounds. Retrieved from
http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/create/igneous.htm
Make Me Genius (April 14, 2012). Igneous Rocks. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&v=FnoHDRPJjkw&NR=1
Discovery: Future of Energy
U.S. Geological Survey, Riggs, N. (2004). Volcano Explorer. Retrieved from
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/pompeii/interactive/interactive.html
University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences (n.d.). Weathering & Climate. Retrieved
from http://ees.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/elearning/module07swf.swf
National Park Service, Anderson, J. (2004). Secrets of Red Rock: Arches & Canyonlands.
Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/arch/photosmultimedia/secretsofredrock.htm
(continued on next slide)
National Park Service, Johndreau, J. (March 30, 2011). Badlands in Brief - Geology. Retrieved
from http://www.nps.gov/badl/photosmultimedia/badlands-in-brief-geology2.htm
National Park Service (July 4, 2012). Badlands in Brief. Retrieved from
http://www.nps.gov/badl/photosmultimedia/badlands-in-brief.htm
Annenberg Learner (2012). Interactives: Rock Cycle. Retrieved
http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/change.html
Associated Newspapers Ltd: Mail Online (August 1, 2011) The Marble Cathedral of Chile: Are
these the World’s Most Beautiful Caves? Retrieved
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2021090/The-marble-cathedral-Chile-Naturalwonder-worlds-beautiful-cave-network.html