EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
NAME__________________
STUDENT ID__________________
DATE__________________
GRADE: _____/_____=_____%
Laboratory exploration of PLANET EARTH: Introduction to
the Earth System
Introduction
This course is about you grappling with questions about planet Earth. You’ll have the opportunity
to explore a diverse range of topics, from earthquakes and volcanoes, to waves and estuaries, to
dinosaurs, fossils, and others. The activities in this course are designed to help you achieve the
following course-level learning goals:
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
● Make interpretations and draw conclusions based on observations and evidence in an earth
system science context
● Apply qualitative and quantitative approaches to earth system data and samples
● Appreciate that earth systems science is exciting and relevant to society and our lives
● Recognize the interconnectedness of earth systems science
In this introductory lab, you’ll get a chance to ask and explore some questions about our planet.
What is Earth made of? How old is it? How do different kinds of rocks and minerals form? What
happened to a rock between the time it formed and when you picked it up?
What to expect:
Each week we’ll spend the 3-hour lab exploring a new aspect of Planet Earth. We give you all the
necessary information each week to bring you up to speed, regardless of your academic
background. Sometimes however, we won’t give you all the necessary information in order to
immediately understand something because we want you to stop and think about it – what would
you expect? What do you observe? What scenarios could make sense? This may be frustrating at
first, but it is a crucial step in learning that we often don’t take time to do in lecture-based courses.
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
Learning Goals: By the end of this lab you will be able to:
● Identify and describe characteristics of rocks and minerals
● Formulate questions based on observed characteristics of rocks and minerals
● Infer how rocks formed based on observed characteristics
● Describe the processes by which any rock can be transformed into a new rock
● Appreciate the length of geological time
● Describe how the Earth evolved over time
Math review for this lab:
You’ll be working with very old ages in this lab and will need to be comfortable working with
different orders of magnitude and be able to convert values using different conversion factors.
Conversion Factors:
. 1 Ga = 1 billion years = 109 years
. 1 Ma = 1 million years = 106 years
. 1 ka = 1 thousand years = 103 years
Make sure you convert your date to years, for example:
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40 𝑀𝑎 ×
10 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
1 𝑀𝑎
= 40 000 000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
*Alternative Rain Activity* Make sure you convert your date to years, and then convert from
years to metres. For example:
6
40 𝑀𝑎 ×
40 000 000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 ×
10 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
1 𝑀𝑎
= 40 000 000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
1𝑚
(
9
)
1 000 000 000 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑟 10 × 10 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
= 0. 04 𝑚
*Hint: always make sure your units cancel out (one on top, one on bottom) if you’re unsure which
way to set up the equation.
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
Activity 1: The most important question?
Divide into groups of 3 or 4. Then,
1. Introduce yourselves within your groups. Include (at least) name, major, lecture course
related to EOSC 111, why you’re taking this course, and what you want to gain from your
experience.
2. After you’ve all introduced yourself, think about and answer the following question
individually: What do you think is the most important question (or problem) today that
comes under the umbrella of “earth systems science’? Write down your individual answer
here:
3. Among your group, share what you’ve written above. Come to a group agreement
(consensus) regarding this question. Write down the group consensus:
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
Activity 2: Physical Representation of the Geological Time Scale
In this activity you will explore when significant events in the Earth’s history occurred, and how
they all fit relative to each other on the geological time scale. Your TA will assign you a card with an
event to physically represent on the geological time scale.
1. Which event do you have?
a. My event: __________________________
2. If you had to guess, when do you think this event happened?
a. Your guess for event’s age (years before present):____________________________
b. Place an “X” on the timeline when you would guess your event took place.
c. Why did you guess this age and place on the timeline?
3. Now your TA will give you the actual age of the event.
***Check with TA which section to completeif it is raining complete the a/b section in the box on the next page instead***
You will need to convert the date of your event (as years before present, given as Ga, Ma, or ka) to
not include any year abbreviations (i.e. include all the zeros). Refer to the “Helpful skills for this
lab” on page 2 if you’re stuck.
a. Actual age of event (years before present): ___________________
b. Unabbreviated years: ______________________________ (show your work below)
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
*Activity if it is raining*
You are going to physically represent when this event happened by placing it on a “timeline” of 4.5
m. You will need to convert the date of your event (as years before present) to a distance on the
4.5 m line of tape. Refer to the “Helpful skills for this lab” on page 2 if you’re stuck.
a. Age of event (years before present): ___________________
b. Scaled distance (m): _________________ (show your work below)
Now, place your event on the “Walk Through Time” installation outside the EOS and ESB Buildings
then meet at the beginning of the exhibit (when Earth was formed).
(*Or listen to instructions from your TA if it is raining*)
4. Which event surprised you the most? Why?
Activity 3: Plate tectonics – formation of modern continents
The lithosphere is broken up into various oceanic and thicker, continental plates. These plates have
been continuously reworked over Earth history, contributing to very different arrangements of
continents.
For this activity, go into the vault within the Museum, where you’ll find the Omniglobe. Your TA will
play the paleogeographic reconstruction: “Earth 600 Million Years Ago”.
1. How much continental crust do you think still exists today from 600 Ma (give a rough %)? What
about 4000 Ma?
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
2. We use rocks to learn about the past - how might this affect what we can learn about certain
times in Earth history?
3. The last two activities have focused on Earth history - is it important to understand how the
Earth evolved to its current state? Why or why not?
Activity 4: Making observations and asking questions
Various geological materials are displayed in the Museum on the main floor of this building. Go
around the museum and check out at least three of the samples. For each, describe the sample as
though you were talking to a friend on the phone about it (your friend can’t see the sample itself,
so you need to describe it thoroughly). Mention at least 3 things about each sample and ensure
they are in complete sentences. Then, write down at least one question you have about the
sample. You are welcome to talk about the samples with other students.
Description, Sample 1:
Question(s), Sample 1:
Description, Sample 2:
Question(s), Sample 2:
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
Description, Sample 3:
Question(s), Sample 3:
Back in your groups in the lab room, share your observations and make two lists:
LIST 1: What common types of descriptors did you use? For example, colour is a descriptor.
LIST 2: What common types of questions did you write down?
Activity 5: Is it a mineral?
Each group has a collection of objects. In your groups, decide which objects are minerals and which
are not. Write down the characteristics of each object that you think determine whether or not it’s
a mineral. Make sure the “why” is in complete sentences.
Mineral?
Object
Yes
No
Why?
#1
#2
#3
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
#4
#5
#6
#7
Next, are any of these objects rocks? If so, why would you categorize them as rocks?
Activity 6: What are these rocks?
Each group has a collection of 7 rocks. For this activity, just look at rock samples #1-4.
There are so many different individual rocks on Earth that it’s useful for us to group them into
“types”. We group rocks into “types” primarily based on the processes that formed them,
processes which result in characteristics we can observe, similar to how we categorize other
familiar things. For example, if we were to group foods into “types”, we might define “dairy” –
made from milk products, “fruits” – from the flowering parts of plants, or “grains” – seeds of
certain grasses. Within each category, there might be very different-looking foods (e.g. banana and
blueberry).
There are three primary rock types on Earth: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Cooling
magma, either above or below the ground, forms igneous rocks. Metamorphic rocks are formed
when existing rocks are subjected to high temperatures and/or pressures, which alter the original
rock. Sedimentary rocks are formed when rocks at Earth’s surface are weathered down to produce
sediments; these sediments collect and eventually lithify (turn into rock) under pressure.
1. Think back to Activity 2 – which rock type do you think would be most likely to survive for
billions of years and help reconstruct Earth history? Why?
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
2. Rock samples #1-4 cover all three of the types of rocks. From these samples, attempt to
describe the general characteristics of the three different rock types, based on the processes
that form them. Try to use your own observations to describe the general characteristics. What
characteristics are shared by two of these rocks such that you would categorize them in the
same “type”? Be sure to link your description to the characteristics of THESE rocks.
Igneous (rock sample(s)
):
Characteristics:
Metamorphic (rock sample(s)
):
Characteristics:
Sedimentary (rock sample(s)
):
Characteristics:
Activity 7: The rock cycle
How do rocks form? What rocks are forming today? How does one rock turn into another? How
could the rock samples you have transform from one type to another type?
With the questions above in mind, draw your own “rock cycle” using the rocks and the space
below. What’s a rock cycle? A diagram that shows the different rock TYPES joined together by
different PROCESSES by which one rock type could get transformed into another rock type.
Typically the types are represented by boxes or circles and the processes that link them together
are represented by arrows.
Add rocks #5-7 to your rock cycle. Which categories should these be in?
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
Wrap-up: Earth systems science is not only rocks!
In this course, you will get to explore a wide variety of lab topics spanning the breadth of the Earth,
Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences department. Even though you may not encounter all of these topics
in your lecture course, they’re all related!
EARTHQUAKES!
MINERALS & DIAMOND EXPLORATION!
VOLCANOES AND IGNEOUS ROCKS!
SEDIMENTS & SEDIMENTARY ROCKS!
MARINE PLANKTON AND FOOD WEBS!
GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
FOSSILS & LIFE ON EARTH!
WAVES
ESTUARIES
DINOSAURS!
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EOSC 111 – Laboratory Exploration of Planet Earth
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