Weathering, Erosion, Deposition, Sedimentary Rock, Fossil Fuels & Fossils Review
Changes to land (W-E-D):
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The student is expected to recognize how landforms such as deltas, canyons, and sand dunes
are the result of changes to Earth's surface by wind, water, and ice
Vocabulary: Landform, Delta, Canyon, Sand Dune, Weathering, Volcano, Earthquake,
Deposition, Erosion
Key Concepts:
Key Concept 1: Wind, water, and ice can change Earth’s surface.
Key Concept 2: Sand dunes form when wind-blown sand builds up. Deltas form when water-born
sediments are deposited at the mouths of rivers.
Key Concept 3: Canyons form when moving water cuts through the Earth’s surface.
Key Concept 4: Due to erosion, glaciers can cut lakes, ponds, and U-shaped valleys out of rock. As
glaciers move across the land, they scrape and carve rock and collect rocks, soil, and plants. As they
melt, glaciers leave moraines piled at mountain bases and glacier edges.
Q&A:
Q: Which causes more changes, wind or water?
A: Water causes more change because it has more mass than air, so it has more force.
Q: How can wind affect sand?
A: Wind moves sand by carrying it. Smaller, lighter particles are carried farther. When the wind
diminishes or when it is blocked by irregularities in the surface of the ground, piles form.
Sedimentary Rock &Formation of Fossil Fuels:
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The student is expected to explore the processes that led to the formation of sedimentary rocks
and fossil fuels.
Vocabulary: Oil, Natural Gas, Pressure, Sedimentary Rock, Fossil Fuel, Organic Matter
Key Concepts:
Key Concept 1: Sedimentary rock is formed over millions of years from the deposition of sediment in
layers. Sediment layers on top apply pressure to those on bottom, compacting them into sedimentary
rocks.
Key Concept 2: Fossil fuels are formed over millions of years from the deposition of organic materials in
layers. Organic matter in bottom layers begins to decay from the pressure and heat generated from the
layers above them.
Key Concept 3: Sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels are formed when materials are compressed and
heated deep under the Earth’s surface.
Q&A:
Q: When ocean organisms die, what happens to them?
A: When organisms die, they sink to the ocean floor and get buried. The organisms that produce oil are
microscopic plants and animals that die and get buried
Q: When swamp plants die, what happens to them
A: When swamp plants die they get buried under swamp water. These layers get buried under more
layers until the heat and pressure squeezed the water out and turned the plant matter into peat. It takes
millions of more years before this peat forms coal.
Q: Where do living things in the ocean get energy?
A: As in terrestrial environments, plants get energy from the sun. Animals get energy from the ocean
plants that got energy from the sun or from other animals.
Q: How do sediments that are buried get heated?
A: The weight of more sediment on top of them creates pressure that generates heat. It is not because
these sediments are closer to the core, which is much, much deeper than any oil deposits.
Q: Where do we expect to find coal?
A: We expect to find coal inside sedimentary rock, perhaps deep underground, in regions that were once
oceans millions of years ago.
Q: Where do the organic materials form that turn eventually into oil and natural gas?
A: The tiny marine organisms form as deposits at the bottom of the ocean and also in estuary systems.
These eventually turn into oil and natural gas.
Q: How long does it take the layers to deposit and cement together?
A: It takes millions of years, along with heat and pressure, to transform organic matter into fossil fuels.
Q: What are the main ingredients for the creation of fossil fuels?
A: Heat, pressure, millions of years, and organic material.
Q: What is one way to determine if a rock is sedimentary?
A: It would have been deposited in layers under water, which can be visible when looking at a cross
section of the rock. Example: Grand Canyon.
What happened Before (Fossils):
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The student is expected to identify fossils as evidence of past living organisms and the nature of
the environments at the time using models.
Vocabulary: Fossil, Model, Sediment, Decay, Imprint, Weathering, Evidence
Key Concept:
Key Concept 1: Fossils are traces or preserved parts of organisms that lived in the past.
Key Concept 2: Fossils can be used to interpret past events and environments.
Key Concept 3: Models can be used to represent the passage of time and past organisms and
environments.
Q&A:
Q: Which parts of the organisms are most likely to be fossilized?
A: Fossils most easily form from hard structures, such as bones, teeth, shells, bark, and veins in leaves.
Softer tissues usually decay before they can become fossils.
Q: What can fossils tell us about the past?
A: Fossils can show us the types of organisms that existed at the time, the habitats the organisms
inhabited (such as with rock type), or even the activities of the organisms (such as with footprints,
fossilized scat, or fossilized teeth).
Q: How can we tell the age of different fossils?
A: The relative age of fossils can be determined with the layer in which it is found. Older layers are on
the bottom of the formation, while younger layers deposited more recently are above older layers.