Happy Halloween! We have a lot of exciting things going on this week in science. To start, you will be making your own digital portfolio by creating a website with Google Sites. The creation of this will all be done in class and throughout the year you will have the chance to show off the work you've done. Later in the week, we'll begin applying what we learned about plate tectonics to our next unit on EARTHQUAKES! We will find out what you already know about earthquakes and will be checking out how Earth's crust can be stressed - and how this stress can move and crack gigantic sections of land. Stay curious and keep looking for answers!
¡Feliz Halloween! Tenemos un montón de cosas interesantes que hacer esta semana en la ciencia. Para empezar, se van a realizar su propia cartera digital mediante la creación de un sitio web con Google Sites. La creación de todo esto se hace en clase y durante todo el año tendrá la oportunidad de mostrar el trabajo que has hecho. Más adelante en la semana, se empezarán a aplicar lo que aprendimos sobre la tectónica de placas a la siguiente unidad sobre los terremotos! Vamos a averiguar lo que ya sabe sobre los terremotos y vamos a comprobar cómo se puede enfatizar la corteza terrestre - y cómo este estrés puede moverse y romper secciones gigantescas de la tierra. Manténgase curiosa y seguir buscando respuestas! The beginning of this week will be dedicated to finishing up your plate boundary project. You will have both Monday and Tuesday's classes to finish your drawing or animation and type up your explanation. Although these are the last in-class days, the project will not be turned in until Friday at the beginning of class. On Wednesday, we move on to reviewing for Thursday's Plate Tectonics Test (4 bars). Study guides are due Wednesday AND don't forget...the answer key for the study guide will be posted on the homepage of the website. If you correct it in a different color pen (than what you used) and hand it in on Thursday, you will get bonus points. Mr. Bowles is after school on Monday and Tuesday this week for extra help on the test. Stay curious and keep looking for answers!
This week we'll be wrapping up the first chapter of the book by checking out Sea-Floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics (finally!). Alfred Wegener's theory of Continental Drift was mostly ignored by scientists during his lifetime, but slowly evidence that supported his theory was uncovered. The first clue was found while naval ships mapped the ocean floor after World War I. Not only did they discover that the ocean floor was NOT flat, but they found that there was a mountain chain that extended thousands of miles through many of the world's oceans. Today scientists call this mountain range the Mid-Ocean Ridge. It's discovery led to our modern understanding of how the ocean floor grows in some places and shrinks in others. Without this discovery, we would not understand that our planet's crust is cut up into pieces or "plates".
Later in the week, we will be using computer simulations (by PhET-University of Colorado Boulder) to really understand how Earth's plates move. Progress report grades close on Wednesday, so any work that you owe needs to be finished up by Tuesday after school (CHECK YOUR POWERSCHOOL GRADE). Stay curious and keep looking for answers! This week we will be continuing with convection currents by performing our first lab on Monday using rheoscopic fluid - a fluid that allows you to easily see movement and will help us visualize "hot rock rising". Convection is not the only way that heat is transferred from one object to another, so we will also look at how radiation and conduction occur within Earth's layers.
After that we will check out a meteorologist named Alfred Wegener. Wegener was the scientist who came up with the theory of continental drift - meaning that all land on Earth moves across the surface over time. While he was alive, he was criticized for his theory by most of the scientific community. Now though, scientists use his ideas for the more modern theory - plate tectonics. So, Wegener wasn't completely correct, but without his persistence we might not have the better understanding that we have today. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! |
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March 2020
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