Strike It Rich

Download & Print – SIR – Grade 1 Standards

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding that earth materials are essential for organism’s survival.

Core Ideas:

• • E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 1.E1U1.5 – Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties of Earth materials and investigate how humans use natural resources in everyday life.

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding of the effects of forces and waves, and how they can impact or be impacted by objects near and far away.

Core Ideas:

• • P1: All matter in the Universe is made of very small particles.
• • P2: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
• • P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.

Standards:

• 1.P2U1.1 – Plan and carry out investigations demonstrating the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light and predict how objects with similar properties will affect the beam of light.
• 1.P2U1.3 – Plan and carry out investigations which demonstrate how equal forces can balance objects and how unequal forces can push, pull, or twist objects, making them change their speed, direction, or shape

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 1.SP1.2 – Understand how events of the past affect students’ lives and communities.
• 1.SP3.1 – Generate questions about issues in your community past and present.
• 1.G1.1 – Use, explore and construct maps, graphs and other geographical representations to support content focus.
• 1.G2.1 – Compare how human activities affect culture and the environment now and in the past.

Download & Print – SIR – Grade 2 Standards

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding of the distribution and role of water and wind in weather, shaping the land, and where organisms live. Wind and water can also change environments, and students learn humans and other organisms can change environments too.

Core Ideas:

• • E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 2.E1U1.4 – Observe and investigate how wind and water change the shape of the land resulting in a variety of landforms.
• 2.E1U1.5 – Develop and use models to represent that water can exist in different states and is found in oceans, glaciers, lakes, rivers, ponds and the atmosphere.
• 2.E1U3.7 – Construct an argument from evidence regarding positive and negative changes in water and land systems that impact humans and the environment.

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding of observable properties of matter and how changes in energy (heating or cooling) can affect matter or materials.

Core Ideas:

• • P1: All matter in the Universe is made of very small particles.
• • P2: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
• • P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.

Standards:

• 2.P1U1.1 – Plan and carry out an investigation to determine that matter has mass, takes up space, and is recognized by its observable properties; use the collected evidence to develop and support an explanation.
• 2.P1U1.2 – Plan and carry out investigations to gather evidence to support an explanation on how heating or cooling can cause a phase change in matter.
• 2.P4U1.3 – Obtain, evaluate and communicate information about ways heat energy can cause change in objects or materials.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 2.SP1.2 – Understand how events of the past affect students’ lives and communities.
• 2.G1.2 – Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify and explain cultural and environmental characteristics of places in the world.
• 2.G2.1 – Explain how weather, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people’s lives in a place or region being studied.
• 2.G2.2 – Describe how human activities affect the communities and the environment of places or regions.
• 2.G2.3 – Describe the positive and negative effects of using natural resources.

Download & Print – SIR – Grade 3 Standards

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding of how the Sun provides light and energy for the Earth systems.

Core Ideas:

• •E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 3.E1U1.4 – Construct an explanation describing how the Sun is the primary source of energy impacting Earth systems.

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding of the sources, properties and characteristics of energy along with the relationship between energy transfer and the human body.

Core Ideas:

• •P1: All matter in the Universe is made of very small particles.
• •P2: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
• •P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.

Standards:

• 3.P2U1.1 – Ask questions and investigate the relationship between light, objects, and the human eye.

Download & Print – SIR – Grade 4 Standards

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding of the different Earth systems and how they interact with each other. They understand how geological systems change and shape the Earth and the evidence that is used to understand these changes.

Core Ideas:

• • E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 4.E1U1.6 – Plan and carryout an investigation to explore and explain the interactions between Earth’s major systems and the impact on Earth’s surface materials and processes.
• 4.E1U1.7 – Develop and/or revise a model using various rock types, fossil location, and landforms to show evidence that Earth’s surface has changed over time.
• 4.E1U3.9 – Construct and support an evidence-based argument about the availability of water and its impact on life.

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding of how Earth’s resources can be transformed into different forms of energy. Students develop a better understanding of electricity and magnetism.

Core Ideas:

• • P1: All matter in the Universe is made of very small particles.
• • P2: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
• • P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.
• • P4: The total amount of energy in a closed system is always the same but can be transferred from one energy store to another during an event.

Standards:

• 4.P4U1.1 – Develop and use a model to demonstrate how a system transfers energy from one object to another even when the objects are not touching.
• 4.P2U1.3 – Develop and use a model to demonstrate magnetic force.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 4.SP4.1 – Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.

Download & Print – SIR – Grade 5 Standards

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding that changes can occur to matter/objects on Earth or in space, but both energy and matter follow the pattern of being conserved during those changes.

Core Ideas:

• • P1: All matter in the Universe is made of very small particles.
• • P2: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
• • P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.
• • P4: The total amount of energy in a closed system is always the same but can be transferred from one energy store to another during an event.

Standards:

• • 5.P1U1.1 – Analyze and interpret data to explain that matter of any type can be subdivided into particles too small to see and, in a closed system, if properties change or chemical reactions occur, the amount of matter stays the same.
  • 5.P2U1.3 – Construct an explanation using evidence to demonstrate that objects can affect other objects even when they are not touching.

• • 5.P4U1.6 – Analyze and interpret data to determine how and where energy is transferred when objects move.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 5.SP4.2 – Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
• 5.G2.1 – Describe how natural and human-caused changes to habitats or climate can impact our world.

Strike It Rich (SIR) teaches students about geology, specifically the geology of Sabino Canyon and the Catalina Mountains. It spices the science with some fun, as students have a chance to pan for garnets in Sabino Creek.

We ask the students to observe what they see around them – the rocks, canyon, mountains, water. We orient them by giving names they might recognize to these features: Catalina Mountains, Sabino Canyon, Sabino Creek.

SIR introduces students to the study of geology and the structure of the Earth – the crust, mantle, and core.

We review the building up of the Catalina Mountains and how they are worn down by weathering and erosion. We use the hillside cliffs and boulders, cobbles, gravel, and sand in the stream channel to illustrate these principles.

We focus on the role of water (rain and snow) and how it cuts canyons, creates floods, moves sediments, and forms aquifers where groundwater is stored. We ask students to consider how they can affect the balance between replenishment and withdrawal in the aquifers that supply Tucson’s water.

SIR introduces students to rocks and minerals, noting that minerals are the’building blocks’ of rocks and that rocks are a combination of minerals.

We review the types of rocks:

• Igneous rock: Called ‘fire rock’ because it forms from molten (melted) rock that rises within the earth’s crust. If the rock cools slowly underground, it forms granite. If it spews out onto the surface it is called lava.
• Sedimentary rock: For thousands, even millions of years, weathered pieces from earth’s surface wash downstream and settle to the bottom in rivers, lakes, and oceans, layer after layer. The weight of the layers pressing down turns the bottom ones into rock.
• Metamorphic rock: These rocks are formed when sedimentary or igneous rocks are “morphed” into a different type of rock. The original rock is subjected to pressure and heat, causing changes in the minerals and therefore in the rock itself.
• Gneiss: The type of metamorphic rock that makes up the front range of the Catalina Mountains as seen from Tucson – called Catalina Gneiss.

We then introduce the five minerals in Catalina Gneiss:

• Feldspar: white to pink; opaque; reflects light in planes like a mirror
• Quartz: white to gray; translucent; glistens (not expressed as perfect crystals in Catalina Gneiss); hard
• Mica: metallic; transparent; flat sheets in tiny ‘books’ that break into shiny flakes
• Garnet: dark red; gem-like; hard; second heaviest mineral in Catalina Gneiss
• Magnetite: black; metallic but dull; magnetic; heaviest mineral in Catalina Gneiss

We ask the students to compare individual samples of pure minerals to Catalina Gneiss and understand that this is like comparing the ingredients in the cake (minerals) with the whole cake (rocks).

SIR introduces the technique of panning and why it works to separate minerals (the specific gravity or ‘heft’ of each mineral makes each behave differently in the stream and in the pan).

SIR teaching materials include a model of the Earth and of Basin and Range mountains, a map “Sabino to the Sea”, rock and mineral photo cards and physical hand samples, tools for examining specimens, authentic gold pans.

Geology: The study of the Earth, past and present. Geologists study the rocks that make up Earth’s crust and the physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect the Earth’s surface and interior.
Structure of Earth: The interior structure of the Earth is layered in spherical shells, like an onion. These layers are defined by their chemical composition and their response to pressure and temperature. The distance from the surface to the center of Earth is almost 4,000 miles.

• Crust:The rigid, outer layer of the ‘onion’ which, along with a rigid layer of the upper mantle, make up the lithosphere. The lithosphere is broken up into huge, thick plates that drift atop the soft, plastic-like underlying mantle.
• Mantle: The region between the crust and core of Earth. It accounts for about 85% of the weight and mass of the Earth. The upper part consists of very hard, rigid rock (part of the lithosphere). Next comes superheated solid rock that is very weak. Below that, for the next several hundred miles, the mantle is made up of very solid and sturdy rock materials.
• Core: The innermost part of the earth composed mostly of the metals iron and nickel. The outer core is made up of superheated liquid molten lava. The inner core at the center of Earth is believed to be a solid ball.

Building Mountains: The Santa Catalina Mountains were formed over time by several processes.

• Intrusion: Magma (molten rock) pushes up into the Earth’s crust and cools slowly to form granite. It does not reach the surface, but lifts up rocks that are above, making a dome shape at the surface.
• Volcanism: Magma (molten rock) pushes up through the Earth’s crust, reaching the surface and forming lava. The magma may flow onto the surface or explode onto the surface, forming volcanoes.
• Metamorphism: The process by which existing rocks are changed in composition, texture, or structure by extreme heat and pressure.
• Basin & Range Faulting: Basin and Range faulting occurred as the Earth’s crust was stretched and pulled in opposite directions by forces within the mantle. Movement along breaks in the crustal rocks (faults) caused some blocks of land to subside (the lowland where Tucson is located), while other blocks maintained their position (The Santa Catalinas and other mountains you see from Tucson).

Destroying Mountains:Mountains, including the Santa Catalina Mountains, are worn down over time by two primary processes.

• Weathering: Weathering takes place as rocks are broken down into smaller and smaller pieces. It can happen in different ways, including: water freezing in cracks and pushing rocks apart (water takes 10% more space when frozen); chemical reactions loosening bonds holding rocks and minerals together; and plant roots extending into crevices, wedging rocks apart.
• Erosion:Erosion takes place when weathered rock pieces are moved from one location to another. Flowing water is a primary force of erosion, but wind can also carry small rock particles.

Canyon: A canyon is a deep gorge between hill slopes or cliffs. It is carved from the landscape primarily by the erosive force of running water.
Aquifer: An aquifer is a geological formation that contains water and allows the water to move through the formation. Aquifers can supply water for wells, springs, and rivers.
Sediment: Sediment is made from particles of rock, broken down by weathering. The particles are transported by erosion (water, wind, gravity). Examples are: boulders, gravel, sand. The sediments that have been deposited over time in the Tucson Basin form the aquifer that supplies much of our drinking water.
Rocks: A rock is a solid combination of one or more minerals. Rocks create the landscapes on the surface of the Earth, like mountains and canyons.
Types of rock:

• Igneous rock: Called ‘fire rock’ because it forms from molten (melted) rock that rises within the earth’s crust. If the rock cools slowly underground, it forms granite. If it spews out onto the surface it is called lava.
• Sedimentary rock: For thousands, even millions of years, weathered pieces from earth’s surface wash downstream and settle to the bottom in rivers, lakes, and oceans, layer after layer. The weight of the layers pressing down turns the bottom ones into rock.
• Metamorphic rock: These rocks are formed when sedimentary or igneous rocks are “morphed” or changed. The original rock is subjected to pressure and heat, causing changes in the minerals and therefore in the rock itself.
• Gneiss: A type of metamorphic rock that makes up the part of the Catalina Mountains you can see from Tucson. That rock is called Catalina Gneiss.

Minerals:
The ‘building blocks’ that make up rocks. Minerals are composed of the same substances (a combination of chemicals) throughout.
Five Minerals in Catalina Gneiss

• Feldspar: white to pink; opaque; reflects light in planes like a mirror
• Quartz: white to gray; translucent; glistens (not expressed as perfect crystals in Catalina Gneiss); hard
• Mica: metallic; transparent; flat sheets in tiny ‘books’ that break into shiny flakes
• Garnet: dark red; gem-like; hard; second heaviest mineral in Catalina Gneiss
• Magnetite: black; metallic but dull; magnetic; heaviest mineral in Catalina Gneiss

• SIR Geology Questions
• SIR Geology Quiz – 20 Questions
• SIR Word Search Puzzle
• SIR Crossword Puzzle

Growing Salt Crystals

(to show how minerals grow)
Table salt or sodium chloride crystals are great crystals to try if you’ve never grown crystals before because it’s easy to find salt and water (the ingredients), the crystals are non-toxic, and no special equipment is required. Let’s get started!
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: a few hours to several days, depending on your method

Salt Crystal Materials

• table salt – sodium chloride
• water
• clean clear container
• piece of cardboard (optional)
• string and pencil or butter knife (optional)

Grow Salt Crystals

• Stir salt into boiling hot water until no more salt will dissolve (crystals start to appear at the bottom of the container). Be sure the water is as close to boiling as possible. Hot tap water is not sufficient for making the solution.
• If you want crystals quickly, you can soak a piece of cardboard in this supersaturated salt solution. Once it is soggy, place it on a plate or pan and set it in a warm and sunny location to dry out. Numerous small salt crystals will form.
• If you are trying to form a larger, perfect cubic crystal, you will want to make a seed crystal (a small crystal introduced into a liquid to act as a nucleus for crystallization).
• To grow a big crystal from a seed crystal, carefully pour the supersaturated salt solution into a clean container (so no undissolved salt gets in), allow the solution to cool, then hang the seed crystal in the solution from a pencil or knife placed across the top of the container. You could cover the container with a coffee filter if you like.
• Set the container in a location where it can remain undisturbed. You are more likely to get a perfect crystal instead of a mass of crystals if you allow the crystal to grow slowly (cooler temperature, shaded location) in a place free of vibrations.

Tips for Success

1. Experiment with different types of table salt . Try iodized salt, uniodized salt, sea salt, or even salt substitutes. Try using different types of water, such as tap water compared with distilled water. See if there is any difference in the appearance of the crystals.
2. If you are trying for the ‘perfect crystal‘ use uniodized salt and distilled water. Impurities in either the salt or water can aid dislocation, where new
   crystals don’t stack perfectly on top of previous crystals.
3. The solubility of table salt (or any kind of salt) increases greatly with temperature. You’ll get the quickest results if you start with a saturated saline solution, which means you want to dissolve salt in the hottest water available. One trick to increase the amount of salt you can dissolve is to microwave the salt solution. Stir in more salt until it stops dissolving and starts to accumulate at the bottom of the container. Use the clear liquid to grow your crystals. You can filter out the solids using a coffee filter or paper towel.

Anne Marie Helminstine, PhD, chemistry expert

Modeling an Active Explosive Volcano

Grades 3-6, estimated time 30 minutes

Anticipated Learning Outcomes

• Students will explain how the build-up of gas from dissolving alka seltzer tablet causes the lid of a medicine vial to blow off.
• Students will explain that build-up of gas pressure causes eruption of explosive volcanoes, and that the pressure comes from heating of dissolved gases in the magma.
• Students will discuss the similarities and differences between the model and actual volcano.
• Students will verbalize excitement of learning about volcanoes.

Introduction

This activity is an active simulation of an explosive volcanic eruption. The “volcano” (use non-childproof prescription medicine vials) erupts (the lid blows off) when gas pressure generated by dissolving an alka seltzer tablet is sufficiently high. It is realistic in that the timing of the eruption is difficult to predict precisely and in that the eruption occurs when the pressure of the gas exceeds the confining pressure of the lid. The experiment can be modified to show that an eruption will not occur if there is not enough gas pressure generated (small piece of alka seltzer) or if gas is allowed to escape gradually through holes punched in lid of medicine vial. Caution: allow students a clear view of the volcano but make sure that they stand a bit away to avoid anyone being hit by the volcano’s exploding top.

Background

Not all volcanoes erupt explosively and unpredictably. The eruptive style (quiet streams of lava versus violent blasts of gases, ash, and debris) and eruption frequency and predictability are related to the viscosity (resistance to flow) and amount of dissolved gas in the magma (molten lava prior to eruption). hot, runny magmas with little dissolved gas tend to flow smoothly out of vents and produce a volcano that is broad and not steep, such as the Hawaiian volcanoes. On the other hand, slightly cooler magma with a higher dissolved gas content is much more viscous. Instead of running out smoothly, the magma may ooze out like toothpaste, clogging the vent. These volcanoes are steeper and have the typical “volcano shape” of famous volcanoes such as Mt. Fuji in Japan. Under this type of volcano, gases dissolved in magma can separate as the pressure decreases when the magma rises closer to the Earth’s surface. If the gases separate rapidly and cannot escape immediately, they can build up pressure greater than that of the overlying rock. When this happens, they break the rock suddenly as a violent explosion occurs sending a plume of gas and ash upwards to heights as great as 20 miles. Commonly there is little if any lava extruded. The ejecta may consist primarily of ash, pumice (instantaneously cooled magma containing abundant trapped air), and debris blown off the volcano by the eruption. The force of the eruption can blast material tens of miles from the volcano, causing extensive loss of life and damage.

It may take thousands of years for sufficient pressure to build to cause an eruption, and it is difficult to predict when a volcano that has long been dormant will become active. If the pressure were released gradually it would not build up to the point where it could cause an explosive eruption. Because they erupt infrequently, unpredictably, and violently, and because they occur in populated areas (e.g. Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Pacific northwest of the United States, Central and South America), these explosive volcanoes pose the greatest danger to humans.

Materials

• Non-childproof prescription medicine vial
• Water
• Graduated cylinders (small)
• Alka seltzer (regular strength) tablets, cut into halves and quarters
• Lots of paper towels for clean up

Procedures

1. Put about 20 ml (about 1/8 cup) of water into vial.
2. Add a quarter of an alka seltzer tablet and quickly put on cap.
3. Observe what happens for about 2 minutes.
4. Repeat using a half of an alka seltzer tablet (Watch out!).
5. Repeat using half of a tablet and lid with perforations that allow gas to escape.

Results and Discussion

1. What happens? The lid on vial containing a quarter tablet will balloon upwards as the pressure increases, then deflate as it decreases, or it may possibly pop off gently. The lid on the vial containing a half of a tablet will bulge and then blow off violently, rising several feet in the air or travelling laterally 5 or 6 feet. The perforated lids will not blow off.
2. Why? There is not enough gas generated by one quarter of a tablet of alka seltzer to build sufficient pressure to blow the lid off. However, the gas generated by a half of an alka seltzer tablet is plenty to blow the lid part way across the room, as long as the lid is put on quickly and firmly so that no gas escapes. Students can use the ballooning of the lid prior to its blowing off to predict when the lid will blow off. This is analogous to volcanologists predicting when an eruption will occur based on the measurable bulging of a volcano. If the gas is allowed to escape gradually through holes in the lid, the gas pressure from the dissolving alka seltzer will not build up to the point where it exceeds the confining pressure of the lid, and the lid will not blow off.

Additional Activities

Repeat each experiment several times. Using a second hand on a clock, time how long it takes the lid to blow off with the half tablet. Measure the distance that the lid goes. Data from several groups can be pooled, tabulated, and histograms made.

Older students could research the eruptive history of a particular volcano, the effects it has had on humankind, and its potential for future destruction. Some famous volcanoes: Kilauea and Mauna Loa (both “nonviolent” volcanoes on the island of Hawaii), Mt. Vesuvius, Mt. Pinatubo (erupted 1991), Mt. Rainier, Mt. Lassen, Mt. St. Helens, Tambora, Krakatoa, El Chichon, Nevado del Ruiz (erupted 1985 causing 23,000 deaths in Columbia).
Locate these volcanoes on a world map (geography) and have students discover
some dramatic story or event for their assigned volcano.

Molly F. Miller and Thomas C. Moyer
Geology Department, Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN 37235