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Topic Earth’s crust Materials For each pair of students: one slice of white bread one slice of whole wheat bread one slice of dark rye bread two tablespoons of jam or jelly two tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter mixed with raisins two paper plates jumbo craft stick or plastic knife plastic cafeteria gloves, optional Key Question How do natural forces shape the rock layers of the Earth’s crust? Learning Goals The students will: 1. make a model of rock layers in the Earth’s crust, and 2. use the model to learn how natural forces shape the rock layers. Background Information The surface of the Earth is undergoing change at all times. Weathering defines the disintegration and decomposition of the solid portions of the surface of the Earth. Erosion is the process of the movement of the Earth’s materials that have been weathered. Erosion can be divided into two components, transport and deposition. Transport is the movement of the weathered materials. The movement of these eroded materials is most often through water. Materials are often moved from one place and deposited in another location. The scientific term for this portion of the erosion process is deposition. This activity models the processes of weathering, erosion, and deposition. Models are an important part of the study of Earth science. They allow us to learn about processes that are too slow or too large to observe. Guiding Documents Project 2061 Benchmark • Seeing how a model works after changes are made to it may suggest how the real thing would work if the same were done to it. NRC Standards • The surface of the earth changes. Some changes are due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. • Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment, while destructive forces include weathering and erosion. • Lithospheric plates on the scales of continents and oceans constantly move at rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle. Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from these plate motions. Management 1. Make sure that the sandwiches remain right side up while the students are making them (white bread on the bottom). 2. Have students work in pairs and share a sandwich. 3. It saves time to have the ingredients measured out onto paper plates before beginning this activity. A pair of students will share one paper plate of ingredients. 4. If students wear gloves, the sandwiches can be eaten afterward. Science Earth science geology Integrated Processes Observing Comparing and contrasting Applying Core Curriculum/Oklahoma Procedure 1. Distribute a paper plate with the described ingredients. 2. Tell the students you will show them how to make and manipulate a sandwich in the same way that natural forces shape layers of rock. 63 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation 3. Use the accompanying narrative and pictures to provide a guide for building the sandwich. 4. As the students build their sandwiches, keep track of their progress by drawing a diagram on the chalkboard or referring to pictures on the activity sheet. 5. When all the sandwiches are finished, start a question and answer period. (See Discussion.) 3. Tell the students that they are going to observe a lateral fault. Show them how to slide the two parts of the sandwich past each other on the same level. Optional Investigations 1. When geologists study layers of rock, they rarely find them flat and horizontal. Often they will see layers that are bent or broken. To illustrate these structures, have the students gently bend their sandwich to form a hill (always keeping the oldest layer on the bottom). This is called an anticline. Have the students bend the sandwich to form a trough. They now have a syncline. Mountains and valleys are formed in this way. Connecting Learning 1. It took about ten minutes for all pairs to build their sandwich. What is the oldest part? [bottom layer] Why do you say that? [It was put on first; everything else went on top of it.] 2. What is the youngest layer of the sandwich? [the top layer] Why do you say that? [It was the last thing put on.] 3. What is the age of the shale or wheat bread? [Somewhere between the oldest and youngest.] 4. Why can’t we say that it is half as old as the oldest layer and twice as old as the top layer? [We don’t know how long it took for each layer to be added.] 5. What is the best way to determine the age of the limestone layer? …the conglomerate layer? In any sandwich that is right side up (or a layer not overturned), how can we best describe the age of any particular layer? [Any one layer is younger than what is under it and older than what is on top of it. 6. What are you wondering now? 2. Sometimes the crust of the Earth moves up or down. In part, this movement causes earthquakes. Tell students to cut their sandwiches in half and move one half up or down. Tell them to hold up the two halves. Which side moved up or down? Either the left side moved up and the right side moved down or the other way around. Ask the students how they can tell from the model that the Earth moved. [The layers don’t line up anymore.] Inform the students that this is a vertical fault. Have them draw this on their papers. Core Curriculum/Oklahoma 64 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation Key Question How do natural forces shape the rock layers of the Earth’s crust? Learning Goals 1. make a model of rock layers in the Earth’s crust, and 2. use the model to learn how natural forces shape the rock layers. Core Curriculum/Oklahoma 65 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation 51 Sandwich Layers Corresponding Layers of Rock Use this space to describe the processes of weathering, transport, and deposition as illustrated in this activity. Core Curriculum/Oklahoma 66 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation Core Curriculum/Oklahoma 67 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation Core Curriculum/Oklahoma 68 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation Connecting Learning 1. It took about ten minutes for all pairs to build their sandwich. What is the oldest part? Why do you say that? 2. What is the youngest layer of the sandwich? Why do you say that? 3. What is the age of the shale or wheat bread? 4. Why can’t we say that it is half as old as the oldest layer and twice as old as the top layer? 5. What is the best way to determine the age of the limestone layer? …the conglomerate layer? In any sandwich that is right side up (or a layer not overturned), how can we best describe the age of any particular layer? 6. What are you wondering now? Core Curriculum/Oklahoma 69 © 2006 AIMS Education Foundation