Week 11

     In lab this week, we began by discussing pedagogy and the article "Teaching for Conceptual Change: Confronting Children's Experience. We talked about the different aspects of student exploration such as when we should allow it, how long we should allow it, and the barriers preconceptions have for learning. We then moved on to looking at different forms of sand through microscopes to see more closely their characteristics. Here is what my lab group found: 

Original Sample: rough to touch, multicolored, mixture of smooth and rigid rocks

Sample 1: rough to touch, rigid edges, mostly earthly colors with some clear

Sample 2: soft to touch, smooth edges, mostly shiny and clear

Sample 3: beady to touch, rough pointy edges, shiny black, look cracked/speckled

Sample 4: smells like ocean, smooth to touch, contains shell particles, fine grained besides shell particles, crystal-like

White Lid Sample: extremely fine grained, white/yellow, soft to touch, small particles, crystal-like

Cape Nome/Red Sand: colorful but mainly red, rough edges, most shiny

Abu Dhabi: solid white, egg-like, small pebbles, round/oval, rough to touch, soft edges

    After observing the characteristics of the different sand mixtures, we discussed how the size of the sand particles in samples differ based on the energy present. When there are only large particles left behind, there is more energy present because erosion causes energy and takes smaller particles with the wind or water. We moved on do talk about Archimedes Law of water displacement and geodes. At the end, we explored the idea of buoyancy and water displacement. We discovered that if something is buoyant, it floats and is less dense. Part of what affects buoyancy in soda, we discovered, is the amount of sugar in the soda. 

    In Thursday's lecture, we discussed all types of erosion: wind, water, and glacier. We took this information to discuss how sand has different characteristics and what these characteristics are depending on how they were eroded. I learned in the Earth Science Gen Ed that water erosion creates a V-shaped valley and glacier erosion creates a U-shaped valley, which was reiterated in lecture. We reviewed the difference between intrusive igneous rocks (cooled slowly inside the earth's crust) and extrusive igneous rocks (cooled quickly on earth's surface). We ended with discussing how fossils can only be found in sedimentary rocks due to how they are created. 

    This week's textbook reading began by reviewing the different types of rocks and how they can form and transform into different types, like we discussed last week in lecture. It then went into more detail on geodes and how they are formed like we discussed in lab this week as well as what types can be found in the environment near us. Archimedes' principle was explained in detail, supplementing what we learned in lab and talking about why he was testing water displacement and how it led to measuring density. It ended with explaining the different types of weathering, erosion, and deposition that we discussed in last week's lecture leading into the idea of how sand is formed.