Name _________________________________
For this project you will be in groups of 4. Each group will consist of 4 different specialties.
There will be a geologist, who will be the expert on mountain building. There will be a volcanologist,
who will be the expert on volcanoes. There will be an expert on sedimentology, which is the study of
weathering (sediment is the name for broken down rock). And there will be an expert on stratigraphy,
which is the study of how erosion and deposition lays down material over time (“strati” means layered).
You will research to learn all that you can about your topic. The following week you will be expected
to be the leading expert on that topic as the class experiments, models, and investigates how Earth
changes over time.
Goal: To learn about how Earth’s surface changes over time.
Skill: Research to gather, analyze, and communicate evidence from text or other sources.
Product/Presentation: Required—Typed lab report. Optional—Model, poster, Power Point, or some
other way to communicate your learning to others.
 Step #1—Know the Problem
o Remember, as a class we are investigating how different constructive and destructive forces shape
Earth’s surface features over time.
o If you do not know something about the following words, you should not move on with this project.
 constructive
 destructive
 Earth’s Structure—surface features and layers of the Earth.
 Step #2—Narrow Your Focus
o In your science notebook, write down the following heading and your focus for your research:
 Research Question: (Pick one)
 How do volcanoes build, destroy, and change Earth’s surface features over time?
 How does mountain building build, destroy, and change Earth’s surface features over
time?
 How does weathering build, destroy, and change Earth’s surface features over time?
 How does erosion and deposition build, destroy, and change Earth’s surface features
over time?
 Step #3—Research Key Ideas
o Use the guide for what information you should find for your topic. Make sure you organize your notes
in some way to include as much information as you can find about the key ideas.
 Step #4—Synthesize Information
o Look back at your notes.
o Write a paragraph that answers the following questions:
 What topic (volcanoes, mountain building, weathering, erosion and deposition) did you focus on
for this project?
 Does this process build Earth’s surface over time? If so, how?
Name _________________________________
 Where does the material come from to build Earth’s surface?
 Do forces inside the Earth cause this, or is it forces on the surface of the Earth that
cause this?
 Does this process destroy Earth’s surface over time? If so, how?
 Where does the material go? It can’t disappear, where does it end up?
 Do forces inside the Earth cause this, or is it forces on the surface of the Earth that
cause this?
 Overall, how does this process change Earth’s surface over time?
 How is there a relationship on Earth between forces that build and forces that destroy?
 Talk to some people that studied topics other than yours:
o If your process is mostly a building of Earth’s surface, what breaks it down?
o If your process is mostly a destroying of Earth’s surface, what builds it up?
 Step #5—Product/Presentation
o Do an experiment!!!
 Get the instructions from your teacher.
o Type a lab report for your experiment to show that you are an expert on this topic.
o Your lab report should have the following sections:
 Question: What was your focus question?
 Research: Write a short report about your topic. This is all that information you learned about
during your research.
 Testable Question: What was the testable question for the experiment you did?
 Falsifiable Hypothesis: What was your hypothesis for the experiment?
 Test/Experiment: What were you testing in the experiment? What were you measuring in the
experiment? What did you do step-by-step? What were some variables or factors that may
have affected your experiment?
 Analyze the Results: What graphs or sketches or observations did you make about your
experiment? Was there anything significant or important that happened?
 Conclusion: Write a paragraph that includes—
 Purpose of the experiment and your hypothesis.
 Did the evidence support your hypothesis?
 What were the significant observations or results from the experiment?
 What are things you could have done differently or what is another experiment you
want to do now based on your results?
o Have a friend edit your lab report:
 Look for spelling or grammar mistakes.
 Look for things that are confusing—they should learn about your topic by reading your report
and know exactly what happened in your experiment.
 Look for organizational issues—is it easy to follow and visually appealing?
Name _________________________________
 Volcanoes
 Basic Structure
o What are the basic parts of a typical volcano?
 Formation
o What kind of plate boundaries do volcanoes usually form at?
o How do they form?
o What are some real world examples of volcanoes that have formed in
these ways?
 Types of Volcanoes
o What are some different types of volcanoes?
o How do they differ?
 Types of Lava
o What are some different types of lava?
o What makes each type different?
 Effects of Volcanic Eruptions
o What are some of the effects on humans or the environment?
o What features of Earth’s surface form due to volcanoes?
 Mountain Building
 Basic Structure
o What is a mountain?
 Mountain Formation
o How are mountains formed?
o What usually happens with the plates that make up Earth’s crust to
form a mountain?
 Types of Mountains
o What are some different types of mountains?
o How do they form in different ways?
 Examples
o What are some mountains or mountain ranges around the world?
o How did they form?
o How long does it take for different mountains to form?
 Effects of Mountain Building
o What effects does the mountain building process have?
o Are mountains still growing today? How fast are they growing?
o What features of Earth’s surface form due to mountain building
processes?
Name _________________________________
 Weathering
 Definition
o What is weathering?
 Types of Weathering
o Mechanical (Physical Weathering)
 What is mechanical weathering?
 What are all the ways rock can be weathered by mechanical
weathering? (At least 4-5)
 How do all of these cause weathering of rocks?
o Chemical Weathering
 What is chemical weathering?
 How can rocks be weathered by chemical weathering?
 Effects of Weathering
o What is sediment? What does it have to do with weathering?
o What is erosion?
o What features of Earth’s surface form from weathering and erosion?
 How do canyons form? How long does it take?
 How do valleys form? How long does it take?
 How do caverns form? How long does it take?
 How are coastlines formed?
 What does weathering do to mountains?
 Erosion and Deposition
 Definitions
o What is erosion?
o What is deposition?
 What is the root word? What does the root word mean?
o What is sediment? What does it have to do with erosion and
deposition?
 Types of Erosion and Deposition
o How does gravity cause erosion? Where do the sediments get
deposited?
o What is a glacier?
 How do glaciers cause erosion?
 Where do the sediments get deposited?
o How does wind cause erosion? Where do the sediments get
deposited?
o How does water cause erosion? Where do the sediments get
deposited?
 Effects of Erosion and Deposition
Name _________________________________
o What features of Earth’s surface form due to erosion and deposition?
 How do valleys form? How long does it take?
 How do sand dunes form?
 How are coastlines formed?
 What is a delta or fan?
sedimentologist
stratigraphist
volcanologist
geologist