Lesson 14 of 84 · Earth Systems
Simulation⭐ 30 XP🌋 Rock RealmMinerals and Their Properties
Earth Systems.
🎯 Your mission
Run the sim. Spot the pattern.
⚡ The twist
Today's mountain was yesterday's ocean floor.
Mind = Blown
🌋 There are 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth right now.
Make a hypothesis first
Guess: where will the water go first?
What You'll Learn
Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a crystalline structure and definite chemical composition. Minerals are identified by hardness, luster, color, streak, and cleavage.
Key Words
- igneous
- metamorphic
- sedimentary
Steps
Review the background information on Earth Systems before starting.
Model plate tectonics using graham crackers on frosting. Push them together, pull them apart, and slide them past each other to show convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What makes soil fertile?
Where you see this in real life
This is shaping the ground you walk on, slowly, every single day.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Find a rock outside and try to guess how old it is.
For the dinner table
“What's the slowest change you can think of?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
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