Where do rocks come from?  All of the metal objects that you can see around you originally came from minerals that formed millions, even billions of years ago in the Earth’s crust.  Many are found deep in the Earth and are mixed with others.  How do we get them out and purify them for our use?

Powerful water Moving water is powerful and can carry large amounts of soil and stones with it How does moving water affect farmland? Where does soil come from?

Volcanoes For billions of years, the Earth’s crust has changed continuously. Volcanic eruptions spew molten lava, which cools and presents new rock Why do volcanoes exist in some places and not in others? What causes earthquakes?

The Great Rock Investigation Find two to three small rocks, interesting looking rocks. Each should have some factors that make it different from others 1.What color(s) are they? 2.A) What do they feel like?B) Are they round/sharp? How did they get their shape? 3.Do they look the same throughout, or do they have others mixed in? 4.Do they feel heavy or lights in comparison to their size? 5.Do they have unusual features? (color, shape, markings) 6.Do any of the rocks have pieces that sparkle or reflect light? 7.Do the rocks look like most other local rocks? If not tell me why they are different, and how did they get to where you found them.

According to the most recent astronomers’ model, Earth formed from the collision of large and small rocks. This happened over 4.5 billion years ago The rocks were in orbit around the newly forming sun

As the rocks collided, they joined together and formed even larger rocks called planets (like Earth) Because they were colliding at such high speeds, each of these collision between rocks produced heat

This causes the rock to become so hot that it melted Heavy materials, like liquid iron, sank to the core of the growing Earth

Once the rocks near the Earth were gone, Earth was left about the size it is now. It was also very hot.

The Hot Earth Billions of years later, the Earth is still hot Only the thin crust on the outside has cooled enough to harden into solid rock Depending on where it is measured, the crust is between 6-64 km thick, which is not much compared to the 6400 km to the core.

The Crust The crust is a thin layer of solid rock The material that makes up the crust tends to be lighter than the materials below The crust “floats” on the inner layers

The Mantle Just below the crust is a hot, partly molten layer called the mantle Made up of thick, heavy material. When it cools, it forms rock. The mantle moves sluggishly, like thick syrup.

The Outer Core Toward the center of the Earth is the core The outer core is a molten mass of mostly iron with some nickel in the mix Like the mantle, the material within the outer core flows

The Inner Core At the very center of the Earth is the inner core It is a large ball of iron and nickel Despite the heat (close to the surface of the sun), the inner core is solid, crushed under the weight of the outer core and mantle

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Questions (197) # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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