Rocks and Minerals:
The Changing Earth
By Melissa Dunagan
Lee Elementary/4th Grade
The water is creating
erosion. The water is
breaking up the soil and
carrying it away. How is
erosion like weathering?
How is it different?
Water erosion has taken this soil away and created
trenches. What effect will this have on the
farmer’s next crop?
Arches National Park was created when softer rocks
weathered due to wind and rain and tough rocks on top where
left behind forming huge arches and pillars. The sediment or
rock bits were carried away leaving the empty space.
Over great time, weathering from wind caused these
formations. Where did the sediment go?
Arches National Park
Can you see the rock layers? Can you
make an hypothesis about which type
of rock formed these layers?
This is broken up rock in a riverbed. Is this weathering or
erosion? What is the source of change for the rocks?
This is Lichen growing on a
bolder. What type of
organism is lichen? Is there
still weathering going on
here? Is the boulder slowly
being broken into bits?
This tree is growing
out of this rock. Is
there weathering?
How? Predict what
will happen in several
years.
Grand Canyon: Rock layers formed and then were worn
away with water.
Weathering from wind and rain made Bryce Canyon.
Deeply pitted surface of limestone in a desert environment.
Rainfall erodes the limestone into pits and channels by
dissolving it. How is this like a cave formation? How is it
different?
Weathering cause by tides and waves on the coast
line. How do the physical properties of the rocks
tell a story about their past?
Weathering from waves
and tides made this
arch.
Can you make a
hypothesis about what
this coastline looked
like millions of years
ago? Can you predict
what this coastline will
look like in the future?
Why?
Blue Glacier with Mount Olympus in the back. See the tourists
in the front left? Why are most glaciers found on mountains? Why are
glaciers often surrounded by gently rolling hills? What is happening to
the glacier even though we can’t necessarily see it? Are there any
predictions you can make about this glacier in the future using what you
know about air pollution?
This glacier is
carving out a U
shaped valley
between these
mountains. As the
ice melts, what is
being created? If
the glacier leaves
behind “piles” of
soil or rocks, what
is this called?
Which of the 3 types of
rock can be melted to
form magma or lava?
How are magma and lava
alike? How are they the
same?
It looks like this hiker is standing on
a mountain, but it’s really a dormant
volcano. What rock is this?
What kind of rock is this? What was
it before? How did it form?
Can you guess
how this black
beach on
Santorini in
Greece formed?
I’ll give you a
clue…look at the
color of the
sediment? Can
you guess what is
located right next
door to this
island?
What is this melted rock called below the ground? Above the ground?
See the different rock layers that were left
behind? Why is there a swirl pattern in the
rocks? What scientific law does this picture
illustrate?
Bryce Canyon. Was this canyon created by
constructive or destructive forces?
Shifting rock layers formed this hill.
Rock layers colliding push upward and make mountains that
slowly grow each year! Is this a constructive or destructive force?