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The Earth, Earth Materials, Forces that Change the Earth, Earth Materials' Uses, and Fossils Realtionships to Earth Materials Concepts

Initial perceptual naive misconceptions (any age)

Misconceptions (Explanations, Naive understanding, Misconceptions, or Perceptual responses)

  1. There is a layer of water under the soil.
  2. River valleys were created by earthquakes or movements of the earth.
  3. Mountains an valleys have always been on Earth.
  4. Water comes on shore as waves and evaporates.
  5. Streams flow because of the wind, fish, boats.
  6. Water moves because fish
  7. Water can move dirt and rocks if they are really small. Or a really old tree. It could make rocks slippery and easier to fall.
  8. River channels were there before the water and the water just follows them not creates them.
  9. Underground streams are like above ground only no fish.
  10. Earthquakes made cracks for rivers.
  11. Dinosaurs made holes for oceans, Paul Bunyan, really big snake, supernatural,
  12. Mountains by avalanches, tornado piled up dirt.
  13. Glaciers retreat. Turn and go in the opposite direction. Instead of melt.
  14. Rocks are stronger than the forces of nature (water, wind, ice).
  15. Rocks can only be changed by a blow of a hammer or other powerful object.
  16. Rock is a hard solid material.
  17. Rocks are uniform inside.
  18. Soil - dirt has always been here.
  19. Soil or dirt can be used up and never replaced.
  20. Soil is very deep - miles.
  21. Soil is made of plants and animals.
  22. Lava comes from the center of the Earth.
  23. Earthquakes are caused only by explosions from volcanoes.

Volcanoes

  1. It starts on fire and burns by people, sun, matches, lightening, hot core of the Earth, lava is a burning liquid…
  2. It is angry, mean, old,
  3. Core of the Earth is hot and flows to the surface, gets too full, decides to, gets too hot, boils over, explodes
  4. It get hot because of the plates of the Earth

Beginning (preschool - 7 years)

Concepts

The Earth

  1. The Earth is a solid sphere.

Earth Materials

  1. Earth materials include solid rocks and soils, water, minerals, and gases in the atmosphere.
  2. Rocks come in many sizes and shapes. Rocks change in size, shape, and other properties.
  3. Soils have properties of color, particle size, and texture.

Forces that Change the Earth

  1. Geological events (volcanoes, earthquakes, erosion) shape the earth.
  2. Animals and plants can change rocks and soil.

Earth Materials' Uses

  1. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.

Fossils Relationships to Earth Materials

  1. Fossils were created long ago. 

Intermediate (7 years - 11 years)

Concepts

The Earth

  1. The Earth is layered from the outside in with solid crustal plates (lithosphere), hot liquid rock (mantle), and dense metallic center (core).
  2. Peach as model for Earth ... Pit is the core Fruit is the mantel Skin is the crust Peach fuzz is the atmosphere.

Earth Materials

  1. Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and gases of the atmosphere.
  2. Rocks come in many sizes and shapes.
  3. Rocks change in size, shape, and other properties.
  4. Animals and plants can change rocks and soil.
  5. Soils have properties of color, particle size, and texture.
  6. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.
  7. Fossils were created long ago. 
  8. Soil consists of weathered rocks, water, and decomposed organic materials from dead plants, animals, and bacteria.
  9. Soils are often found in layers with each layer having different properties.
  10. Soils have properties of color, particle size, texture, capacity to retain water, and y.
  11. Wind, water, and ice shape the Earth.
  12. Erosion is the wearing away and moving of earth.
  13. Rock is made of different combinations of minerals.
  14. Soil is made from different forms of rock, plant and animal remains, and living organisms.

Earth Materials' Uses

  1. Earth materials supply nutrients, minerals, and store water to support the growth of many kinds of plants, in our food supply.
  2. Earth materials provide shelter, water, and nutrients for animals survival.

Fossils Relationships to Earth Materials

  1. Fossils were created from living organisms.

Forces that Change the Earth

  1. Lithospheric plates (tectonic plates) the size of continents and oceans constantly move at the rate of centimeters per year as a result of movements in the mantle.
  2. Tectonic plates are made of rocks such as those we see exposed that the surface.
  3. The interior of the Earth is hot Heat flow and movement material within the Earth cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that create mountains and ocean basins.
  4. Gases and dust from volcanoes can change the atmosphere.
  5. These forces can act fast and slow.
  6. The can also be constructive and destructive geological events create landforms.
  7. Constructive forces include crustal changes, mountain building, volcanic eruptions, and deposition of sediment.
  8. Destructive forces include weathering and erosion.

Forces that change the Earth continued...
Water erosion, meandering, rivers and streams

  1. The volume of water effects the size and shape of a stream.
  2. The slope of a stream effects the size and shape of the stream.
  3. The kind, size, and shape of earth material effects erosion.
  4. Water flow causes sand to be picked up.
  5. Water flow causes sand to be picked up and moved.
  6. Water flow causes sand to be dropped.
  7. Fine sand is moved more easily than coarse sand by streams.
  8. Deposits are formed as a result of the streams flow.
  9. Erosion and deposition occur in different places in a curving stream.
  10. Some streams flow straight and others make loops and curves.
  11. The movement of sand is affected by the angle of the channel, the number of channels, and the location of the channels.
  12. Different kinds of objects speed up or slow down the movement of sand.

Scoring guide for water erosion, rivers, and streams

Low level: Describes rain as related to streams and rivers and streams and rivers as concluding where seas and oceans begin.

Middle level: Describes rain and run-off as causing erosion and water from it as collecting in streams and rivers and emptying into seas and oceans.

Upper level: Describes rain and run-off as a powerful force proportional to the slope or volume of the flow. That water flow erodes the Earth in specific ways to create channels. And even thought large volumes of water or steep slopes can increase erosion long periods of time can erode the most erosion tolerant earth materials.

Top level: Describes rain and run-off is a powerful force that erodes the Earth and how different flows of water interact with the Earth to create stream beds. How different interactions depending on flow volume (related to precipitation and run-off), speed of the flow (related to the slope, run-off and shape of the channel), and earth materials (related to the flow of the water, mass, hardness, shape, and location of materials) create different channels and deposits.

Literate (11+)

Concepts

The Earth

  1. The Earth is layered from the outside in with solid crustal plates (lithosphere), hot liquid convecting rock (mantle), and dense metallic center (core).

Earth Materials

  1. Soil consists of weathered rocks, water, gases, and decomposed organic materials from dead plants, animals, and bacteria.
  2. Soils are often found in layers with each layer having different chemical compositions.
  3. Soils have properties of color, particle size, texture, capacity to retain water, and y.
  4. Wind, water, and ice shape the Earth.
  5. Erosion is the wearing away and moving of earth.
  6. Weathered rock is the basic component of soil, the amount of soil and its fertility and resistance to erosion are greatly influenced by plant roots and debris, bacteria, fungi, worms, insects, rodents, and other organisms.
  7. Rock is made of different combinations of minerals.
  8. Soil is made from different forms of rock, plant and animal remains, and living organisms.
  9. The rock cycle describes how solid earth changes when rocks at the earth's surface weather, form sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallize into new rock.
  10. Eventually, those new rocks may be brought to the surface by movements in the mantle and cycle continues.

Earth Materials' Uses

  1. Earth materials supply nutrients, minerals, and store water to support the growth of many kinds of plants, in our food supply. Earth materials provide shelter, water, and nutrients for animals survival.
  2. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food.
  3. Earth resources are nonrenewable.

Fossils Relationship to Earth Materials

  1. Fossils were created from living organisms.
  2. Fossils were created in amber, replacement by crystallization, and imprints. Fossils provide evidence about the plants and animals that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time.

Forces that Change the Earth

  1. The surface of the earth changes due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
  2. Thousands of layers of sedimentary rock confirm a long history of the changing surface of the Earth and the changing life forms whose remains can be found in successive layers.
  3. The youngest layers are not always found on top because of folding, breaking, and uplifting of layers.
  4. Human activity has changed the Earth (farming, reducing forests, release of chemicals, ) and decreased the capacity of the environment to support some forms of life.

Teacher suggestions & resources

Article and model for Earth: Science Earth's rugged lower mantle February 2019.

Dr. Robert Sweetland's notes
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