Social Studies Chapter 3
Mr. Rowe & Ms. Hallock
Geology
• The study of the Earth to learn its
history
– earthquakes, floods, volcanoes
– rocks and minerals
– climate or weather of the Earth
• Geologists are people who study rocks
and minerals to learn about the Earth
Fossils
• There are molds of animal bones and
plants sometimes buried in rock
• These are called fossils
• They can give us clues to things that lived
long ago – like DINOSAURS!
ROCKS
• There are some HUGE
rocks in New Jersey
– Like White Rock (by the
lake)
– And Glen Rock
• These rocks weren’t
always here – they
MOVED! But HOW??
– Glaciers (big HUGE
chunks of ice) moved
them VERY SLOWLY
by pushing the rocks
when the glaciers
started to melt
VOLCANOES
• A VERY long time ago, there was a
volcano in New Jersey where the town of
Boonton is (not too far from Jefferson!)
• It erupted (exploded) and when it did, it
made the Watchung Mountains
• New Jersey does not have many
volcanoes – only about 100
EVER happened here
The Delaware Water Gap
• The river separates New Jersey from
Pennsylvania
• Great park area – can go hiking or
canoeing on the water
How did the Delaware Water Gap
get here?
• Sand and pebbles in the
Delaware River
scratched through the
mountains and rocks to
form a valley – Took
thousands of years!
• It went deeper and
deeper until we got the
Delaware Water Gap
• You can see all the
different layers of rocks
and tell what a LONG,
LONG time it took to
make the water gap
Did you know?
• New Jersey used to be almost completely
under the ocean! (MILLIONS of years
ago!)
• We know this because geologists found
fossils of fish, shells, and other ocean
animals on the land!
Fossils in New Jersey
• Many fossils were found in New Jersey
– Fossils of dinosaur bones like
• HADROSAURUS
• LAELOPS
• MASTADON
Dinosaurs
• The word dinosaur means “terrible lizard”
• There used to be many dinosaurs in NJ
before it was NJ!
• They could be very small (1 foot tall) or
VERY TALL (30 feet tall!)
• Some people found dinosaur fossils and
bones in their yards accidentally when
they were digging or farming!
HADROSAURUS
• The first dinosaur fossil ever found was found in
New Jersey in a town called HADDONFIELD
about 150 years ago
• They named the dinosaur HADROSAURUS – it
was 28 feet tall!
• It is now New Jersey’s state dinosaur
• Hadrosaurus was not a fierce dinosaur
• He ate only shrubs and leaves – no meat! That’s
called a HERBIVORE!
• Now its skeleton is in a museum
Laelops
•
•
•
•
•
A fierce dinosaur
Liked to fight
Ate meat – CARNIVORE
Long, curved claws and sharp teeth
Hopped like a kangaroo!
MATILDA THE MASTODON
• Bones were found in Vernon (not too far
from Jefferson!) in 1954
• Looks like a woolly mammoth or elephant
• HUGE and HAIRY
• Now its skeleton is in a museum
New Jersey’s Lakes
• New Jersey has many large lakes. But how did they get
here?
– A LONG time ago, during the Ice Age (yes, like the
movie!), there were Glaciers or large mountains of
ice.
– When the glaciers started to melt, they formed the
lakes like Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake.
What are the Jersey Meadows?
• Lake Hackensack started to dry up, and
left a swampy or marshland area.
• It is in the northern part of the state.
Lake Passaic
• Lake Passaic also dried up and left 3
important things
– Paterson Falls
(largest water fall in the country!)
– Passaic River
– Great Swamp
Why is South Jersey flat?
• When it used to be covered up by the
ocean, the water leveled it, or made it flat.
The Jersey Shore – How has it
changed?
• Did you know…
– The coastline (the land that touches the
Atlantic ocean) has MOVED??
• It’s moved NORTH
– Some beaches are very narrow.
– And some are wider than they used to be.
Jersey Shore Creatures
• One creature that was lived at the same time as
the dinosaurs was a Horseshoe Crab.
• We can STILL find them on Jersey Shore
beaches today!
• They are about 2 feet long!