Geology (part 2)
11/24/13
Materials:
-plaster of paris
-shells or small plastic figurines
-paper cups
-bowl
-water
-clay
-pie tins
-Styrofoam pieces
Opening Discussion:
-review the rock cycle, types of rocks and stratification of the earth
-what are fossils? How are they made?
- introduce concept of plate tectonics
-how do earthquakes occur? How are mountains and volcano’s formed?
Activity #1: Making fossils
(pre-experiment: mix the plaster of paris with directed amount of water to make
plaster mix)
1) give each student a paper cup and ball of clay and instruct them to flatten the
clay out to fit the bottom of the paper cup
2) give each student a small shell and instruct them to situate it in the clay
3) place the clay with the shell at the bottom of the paper cup
4) pour an inch of plaster into the cup so that the entire clay and shell is covered
5) let it sit for 20-30 minutes
6) plaster should be dry after 20-30 minutes, now tear the cup off and remove the
clay for your fossil!
Activity #2: Plate tectonics demonstration
1) fill a pie tin with water and float two thing squares of Styrofoam on top
2) the floating foam pieces represent the plates and the water represents the
magma, together they make up the lithosphere
3) demonstrate the three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, divergent
and transform
Discussion questions:
-what happens on the earth’s surface as a result of each of the three types of faults?
(ie earthquakes, volcanoes, continental shelf)
-show pictures and give examples