Activity 1
Objective
To acquaint the student with the shape and structure of various geologic features.
Materials
white drawing paper
color pencils
Earth Science text
Procedure
Have the student assemble a booklet of geologic features that are hand-drawn and colored. The drawings should be identified and labeled neatly. Some suggestions for specific illustrations follow but may vary depending on the text used as a resource and the teacher’s level of emphasis on the subject. The drawings could be done gradually as the Unit develops, and the drawings should be done in sequence with the topics in the Unit and held for complete assembly into a book. Some of the students will have quite impressive collections that they can take great pride in. And the booklet serves as a great resource for review when test-time arrives.
Suggested illustrations:
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Vulcanism
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Erosional Forces
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shield cone volcano
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drainage basin
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cinder cone volcano
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young river valley (side view)
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composite cone volcano
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old river valley (side view)
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Hawaiian Islands chain
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river meanders
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hot springs
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ox-bow lake
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geysers
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alluvial fan
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subduction zone
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delta
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flood basalts
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cave formation
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columnar basalt columns
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stalactites
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extinct volcanic central neck
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stalagmites
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caldera
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columns
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sink holes
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The Mobile Crust;
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natural bridges
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convection currents in the
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glacial valley (side view)
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mantle
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cirques
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dome
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moraine
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batholith
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kettlehole lake
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laccolith
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hanging valley
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normal fault
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iceberg calving
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thrust fault
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balanced rock
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fault block mountains
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dune movement
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rift valleys
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arches (exfoliated)
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folded mountains
pinnacles, fins
arches
Activity 2
Objective
to familiarize the student with the diversity of the National Park System to familiarize the student with maps and map symbols
Materials
National Park System Map and Guide (one for each group)
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United States outline map (one for each student)
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United States road map (one for each group)—optional
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color pencils or markers drawing paper interpretive pamphlets from a wide variety of parks
Procedure
Have the students work in groups to overview the National Park System Map. They should be looking for parks they have heard of, parks in neighboring states, parks in places they would like to visit, etc.
List on the blackboard the parks they will be studying in this Unit and have the students locate each and mark the locations on their U.S. outline map. In addition they might also locate parks that they might like to visit in the future or perhaps that they have been to already. Different colors could be assigned to each category to make the map more interesting. Have each child in each group select a park interpretive pamphlet. Working with the pamphlet have the student do the following exercises;
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a. sketch the general outline of the park on drawing paper
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b. locate with a symbol important geologic features
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c. locate the visitor centers
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d. locate the campgrounds and/or park hotels
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e. using the U.S. road map, locate the park and indicate the roads that provide access to the park and the name and distance of the nearest small town and large city. Put this information on the student-drawn map.
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f. the student could further embellish their map with tiny illustrations of representative plants and animals of their park (this information is found on the park pamphlet)
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g. have the students show and explain their maps to each other.
National Parks list:
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Hawaii Volcanoes
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Great Basin
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Lassen Volcanic
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Lehman Caves
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Craters of the Moon
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Yosemite
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Yellowstone
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Lake Clark
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Devil’s Tower
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Death Valley
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Grand Canyon
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Mammoth Cave
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Zion
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Jewel Cave
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Bryce Canyon
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Wind Cave
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Arches
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Natural Bridges
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Mt. Rushmore
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Glacier
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Shenandoah
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Yosemite
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Great Smoky Mountains Cape Cod
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Grand Tetons
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Glacier Bay
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Indiana Dunes
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Great Sand Dunes
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Activity 3
Objective
to understand the role of heat expansion in volcanic eruption
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Materials
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crayons (peeled pieces, 1 in.)
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plaster of paris
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25 cm. string
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plastic spoon
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scissors
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water in beaker
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paper cup
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safety glasses*
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Procedure
Have the students work in groups following the directions:
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a. use the teacher-prepared* string to tie three one-inch pieces of crayon into a bundle
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b. mix the plaster of paris and the water in the paper cup. It should be a soft mix and fill the cup about 2/3 full.
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c. push the crayon bundle into the plaster so that it is centered and
not
touching the sides or bottom of the cup.
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d. tap the cup gently to remove bubbles and set it aside to completely harden overnight.
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e. when the cups of plaster have hardened tear off the paper, and cut off the string at the surface level
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f. boil water in a pan* and carefully place the plaster cups into the water with tongs. The tops of the plaster cups should be above the water level.
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g. observe the results (this will take some time, 20 min. or more)
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h. describe what you have observed
Questions
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1. What did you observe when the plaster was heated?
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2. Why did we put a string in the plaster?
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3. What would have happened if there was no string opening?
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4. Compare this activity to what might be happening inside of a volcano as it erupts.
*Teacher notes
Prepare the string by melting wax crayons in an aluminum pie plate over a heating tray. The pie plate can be saved and used from year to year or discarded. Take the precut lengths of string and roll them in the melted wax thoroughly. Remove them and let them cool on newspaper.
Use extreme caution when melting wax as
it is very flammable
!
Use an old pan to boil the water as the escaping wax is almost impossible to completely remove.
Safety note; The teacher should
boil the water and lower the cups into it
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Safety glasses for
every student who wishes to get close should be required
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Activity 4
Objective
to understand viscosity and its affect on volcanic eruption
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Materials
hot plate
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safety glasses
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cream of wheat cereal
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water
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500 ml beaker
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spoon
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Procedure
Plug in and turn on the heating tray. Put on your glasses. Bring 250 ml of water to a boil. Add 5 teaspoons of cream of wheat. Stir and lower the heat to medium-low. Observe carefully. Watch the top surface and the side view through the glass. Notice the size and speed of the rising bubbles. Touch the cereal with the spoon to get an idea of its viscosity as the mixture cooks. Look for “crater” formation. Record all the data on the chart below. Do not burn the cereal!
Data:
size of
bubbles
rate at
which they
rise
movement
of surface
other
observations
Important
When you are through scrape all the cereal into the plastic garbage bag and place the beaker into hot soapy dishwater immediately. Clean work area right away before the cereal has time to harden on surfaces.
Questions
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1. Define viscosity.
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2. How did viscosity affect the movement of the cereal?
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3. What kinds of lava can we compare the thin and thick cereal to?
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4. How do each of the types of lava act when they erupt?
Activity
5
Objective
To understand how temperature affects viscosity and rate of flow
Materials
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3 medicine cups with 5 ml of corn syrup; cold, room temp, and warm
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3 medicine cups with 5 ml of molasses; cold, room temp, and warm
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1 glass plate (plexiglass, or saran-wrap covered cardboard)
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grease pencil
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newspaper and two science books
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stopwatch or clock with second hand
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ruler
Procedure
Use the following directions for both the corn syrup and molasses:
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a. draw a line across the glass plate 10 cm from the end with the grease pencil.
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b. open the newspaper and place the two science books and the glass plate flat on it.
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c. pour the warm substance on the grease pencil mark all at once and quickly in order to have uniform results
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d. quickly raise the plate edge onto the two books to make a slope.
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e. immediately begin timing the number of seconds it takes for the substance to reach the bottom
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f. put your data in the appropriate box on the data chart below
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g. repeat steps c., d., e., and f. with the room temperature and the cold forms of both substances. Clean the plate between each run.
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Data
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warm
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room temp.
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cold
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liquid
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liquid
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liquid
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travel time corn syrup
in seconds
(your data) molasses
(class average) molasses
Graphing
On 1 cm. graph paper plot the class average data. Put temperature of the liquid on the vertical axis and travel time on the horizontal axis. Use two different colors to represent the two different liquids. Label everything.
Questions
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1. How does temperature affect the viscosity of corn syrup and molasses?
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2. How do corn syrup and molasses compare to basaltic and granitic lava?
Activity 6
Objective
To understand the relationship between surface gradient, volume of flow and the formation of river features.
Materials
Stream tray
buckets
blocks (to vary angle of gradient)
hoses of varying diameter
sand
food coloring for water
Procedure
Set up the stream table with several inches depth of sand. Elevate one end to represent the headwaters and introduce the flow of water at that end. Prepare necessary hoses and buckets for overflow and begin the stream by siphoning water from the supply bucket. Once the flow is established introduce the food coloring (this makes any flow patterns more visible) to the supply bucket. Measure the length of the stream table and its elevation to calculate its gradient angle. After making observations, increase the gradient and compare results.
Using the same set-up make observations concerning effect of flow volume. Vary the flow volume by using different size hoses. Observe and compare results.
Enter data and results in the chart provided below.
Data:
Variables Observations Name of stream feature represented
First grad-
ient angle
Second grad-
ient angle
Low volume
flow
High volume
flow
Questions
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1. Compare the size of the particles with the distance they were carried.
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2. What effect does changing the gradient have on rate of flow?
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3. What effect would the introduction of stones to the sand have?
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4. Put stones in the stream tray sand to test your prediction. What happened?
Activity 7
Objective
to understand the formation of stalactites and stalagmites
Materials
2 20 cm. pieces of yarn salt
Procedure
Fill the two beakers with water. Stir in salt. Continue adding salt until no more will dissolve. Place the beakers about 10 cm. apart on the tray.
Tie the two pieces of yarn together about 2 cm. from the ends. Put each end of one of the yarns into a beaker.
Let the knotted end droop down slightly between the beakers.
Put the tray with the beakers in a place it will not be disturbed. Clean up your work space.
Make your observations on a daily basis for the first week and then once a week thereafter for a month. Record your observations.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Second Week
Third Week
Fourth Week
Questions
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1. Did you observe stalactite formation? Explain.
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2. Did you observe stalagmite formation? Explain.
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3. How does the formation of stalactites in nature differ from your experiment?
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4. How is the formation of stalactites in nature similar to that in your experiment?
