Week 10: Rock Formations

What did you do in the lab?

In our lab section, we discussed how we assess our students and what it actually means to give a student an A. We also discussed how the curve would be determined for our recent exam. We discussed grade inflation and how grades have been increasing since the 1960s. We went over all of the answers to our exam as well. We later talked about how the Earth has multiple layers and how tectonic plates move. For our main activity, we melted and melded starbursts together to see the different rock formations that were created on our Earth. The three different types of rocks that we covered in our class were igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. 

The big question in the lab?

- Rock Formations 

What did you talk about in the discussion?

- In our lecture, we went into further detail about rock formations. We talked about the cycle of rock formations and how all rocks start from magma, and when magma is cooled, it forms igneous rocks, and from igneous rocks, it is transformed in many ways to end up with sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Lastly, we talked about how plate tectonics moved and how it has affected Earth throughout time and created islands in our oceans. 

What did you learn in the press book reading?

In the textbook reading, I learned about convergent and divergent plates. Convergent plates are when the plates are being pushed into each other. When two continental plates converge, the land is pushed into one another and upward, forming a mountain. When a continental plate converges with an oceanic plate, the denser oceanic plate is subducted under the continental plate. A divergent plate is when the plates are moving away from each other. The space that is being filled between the two plates is a mid-ocean ridge. Divergent plates have older ends and younger centers. 

What are you confused about when reading the press book?

I am still wondering and confused about how there are so many volcanos because of divergent plates around the world, but we don't see all of them. 

Questions?

-How did scientists find out about the different layers of the Earth? How was that proven?