Rock Cycle

Remember, Rocks tell stories!

All things being interconnected, you and the rocks around you may have be closer connected than you think. The silicon in your computer was locked up in rocks somewhere at some point. The rocks you walk on are only there because Africa, the U.S, and a few volcanic islands collided and metamorphisized the rocks around NYC a few hundred million years ago.

I have included a rock cycle picture for you to study, observe, copy, whatever! The whole point of the rock cycle is to show that any rock can become any other one. Heat from within the earth, new layers of rocks forming above, and plate movements can all change rocks below the surface. Volcanoes, weathering, and erosion can all change rocks on the surface. Nature is composed of cycles, swings in the balance, fast and slow changes that are always occurring. Enjoy the show, you are part of it!

Smith

Minerals, Where are you?

Hey Mineral Lovers,

Here is the link to the website where you can see some more examples of just where minerals are.

http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_int_mineralenv/

One Interesting thing about minerals is that they are a non-renewable resource. Non-renewable means once we dig it up and use it, thats all there is. So without recycling and other efforts towards conservation, eventually we will run out of gold for jewelry, diamonds for rings, calcium carbonate for chalk, Silica for glass, quartz for watches, coal for energy, copper for pipes, iron for building, graphite for pencil "lead," petroleum (oil) for plastics and gas, silicon for computer chips and cell phones, and the list goes on..... you are connected to the earth and its resources, be thankful!!!!! Where did the minerals on earth come from? We think that just like the rest of the solar system, these special materials are leftovers from a Supernova. Remember- we are all just stardust!

Earthquake

Well,

There is plenty of crumpled spaghetti on the Ground, and graph paper is becoming scarce. That means it must be time for the Great Spaghetti Tower Challenge. Several groups in 801 have gotten off to a great start building, and everyone should have a structure created by tomorrow. Even though spaghetti and marshmallows might not seem very strong, it can easily be compared to real buildings.

In an earthquake, seismic waves travel through the ground, causing it to shift and twist (p and s waves!). Rigid brick structures and old buildings are no match for a strong earthquake. In Japan, homes are built light and flexible, so if they fall, they can easily be rebuilt and not as many people will be injured. In San Francisco, there is a huge movement to redesign and strengthen historic buildings with flexible steel and strong foundations. Each day, thousands of earthquakes happen, most are too small to feel, but they are there. The picture on the right is from a 9.2 earthquake that happened in Alaska in the 1960's.

Behold the Power of Plate Tectonics!!!!! Hot inside produces convection, convection moves the mantle, the mantle drags and pushes the plates as it shifts, this movement produces quakes and volcanoes. Wonderful! Our world is changing every day...

Picture for Homework

I am talking about the Air mass surrounding the "H" on the upper left of the screen. What kind of air mass is that and what kind of weather will it bring to us? Describe in a paragraph.

Weather Extravaganza

Well well well,

Wouldn't you know it? Today the high pressure air mass is on the way out and the low pressure is in. Check your barometer, kids, because today its all about the occluded front pushing past us, bringing rain and storms. A front is just the boundary between two air masses. When we have low pressure, air is rising slowly, bringing moisture and heat high up into the sky, where it cools down and condenses, making clouds and rain. Tomorrow we will have a new air mass over us, and with it it will bring different weather. Fantastic! This weekend you can witness everything we have discussed... the water cycle, low and high pressure, air masses, and more!

Keep watching out that window! Good luck to everyone taking the specialized high school test today, I wish you the best!

Review Stuff

Hey Gang,

Test Friday. I put a review sheet on the links column on the right. Check it out, it is dense but short. If you have any questions feel free to email me at sci8.ms337@gmail.com . I am posting some pictures that might help you with a few topics. Click on one to see it bigger.
General size comparison of Sun, earth, and Moon













Sun in Center, Earth is grey, moon is black. Earth Revolves around the Sun and rotates on its axis. The moon revolves around the Earth.







SOLAR ECLIPSE On left, Lunar Eclipse Below. Do not worry about drawing the Shadow lines and shapes, just know what is blocking what.



Moon Phase Diagram




Reason for the seasons: Earths TILT!!!! 23.5 degrees to be exact.



Rotation bringing day and night

Universal Scale

Hey there scientists,

Just wanted to remind of of the scale of the universe. Wherever you are, right now, hold out your arm and stretch out your pointer finger. Look at how much space your fingernail takes up. The picture on your right was taken by the hubble telescope. It is a picture of what looks like to us to be a black patch of nothing in the night sky. The telescope looked into the deepest reaches of the known universe, and it came up with this picture. In that little patch of black nothingness in the sky we found THOUSANDS of galaxies. Remember, a galaxy is a collection of Billions, sometimes Trillions of stars. Each and EVERY smudge, spot, speck, and dot of light in this picture is an ENTIRE GALAXY. And that is in an empty patch of sky. We are one planet around one star in one small part of one medium-sized galaxy. Imagine the whole universe! The odds of us being the only living things? I'll let you infer about that one.

This picture is of objects 79 billion light years away. A light year is a distance- about 9 trillion meters- that light travels in a year. Light takes 8 minutes just to reach us from the sun. The size of universe is really unfathomable.

Water On Mars!

The Mars Pheonix Lander is a small robitic rover about the size of a card table. It has been cruising around Mars near the North pole for over 5 months now. It was only supposed to last for 3, but hey, if it works, right?! Well, just in the past few weeks, Scientists have analyzed data from soil samples. There is definitely water on Mars! Since water is SO important to life on Earth, we think this makes it much more likely that Mars had (or has) life on it. Some people think that the origins of life on Earth might have come from Mars via a meteor. Who knows! In Fact, many are now suggesting that Mars once looked like Earth. Valleys and craters show evidence of water erosion and we now have found minerals that are only found in watery areas. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Universe is an Amazing Place! Keep Looking. Mars will be in the southwestern sky around and after sunset for the next few weeks, so look for a teeny reddish dot, your ancestors might have come from there!

Measure Me This

Ever wonder how big the Earth is?
People have been asking that question for as long as humans have been around. The cool thing is that we figured it out before we ever knew of light bulbs or computers. We figured it out before we had been to the north pole. Americans didn't even know Hawaii existed and we knew how much mass was in the Earth. So how did they do it?... Hmmmmm. Gravity is an interesting thing.

Measurement is so important to us. Imagine not knowing what time it was or how much money you had or never getting a pair of shoes that fit. Please always be sure to measure accurately.

Standing on Shaky Ground

Not too many people know it, but there are thousands of earthquakes everyday. Just today California experienced a 5.4 quake (The largest recorded by humans was a 9.3). New York has many small earthquakes each year, they are just too small for us to pay any attention. Our city actually stands on an ancient (very ancient) fault zone, so lets hope it doesn't become active again, or we could have some serious problems...

Smith

Global Climate Change

Well,

Here I am, no air conditioning, sweating it out in the Bronx. It was 92 today, not as bad as that day in may that hit 98 (102-B was not a happy room that day), but it was still warm. In the spirit of the season, I looked up a graph on CO2 emissions. Carbon Dioxide is the most abundant greenhouse gas warming the Earth, but not the most powerful. This graph is fairly accurate in showing the change in CO2 levels since around 1750. What do you predict for our future?

Smith

The World is Amazing

Found this video of a discovery channel video. I think it really sums up my viewpoint well.
Smith

First Ever

Hey there everyone, Hope summer is going good, I look forward to seeing you in the fall. Enjoy your time and get ready for some Mad Science come September!

Smith