Readings and Articles
For this section, please:
- Read Chapter 3 along with the Module. I will walk you through the readings in the textbook.
- You may skip section 3.9 (pp 102-106) for this Module.
- View this animation of the Rock Cycle. We will get to this in the Module as well. (Be certain not to just click “Continue” but to click on the flashing images for information on how each rock type forms.)
Additional resources you may check out:
(These are optional resources, not required content for exams, quizzes, homework.)
- Check out this Virtual Rock Kit. You can click on the rocks to see example of common rocks and minerals that make them.
- View the online Dynamic Earth gallery of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
In case you are bored this weekend:
- Visit Shades State Park near Waveland, IN, which is less than 1.5 hours to the west-northwest of Indianapolis. Here you can discover the rocks hidden beneath the ground in central Indiana. The park includes topography (hills)—something hard to find in central Indiana. The hills are made out of the sedimentary rocks sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Several trails within the park descend through canyons and gullies carved into the rock down to Sugar Creek (where you can rent canoes).
- Visit the Smithsonian Museum of National History in Washington, D.C. The museum contains a new expanded exhibit on minerals, rocks, the rock cycle, and the formation of the Earth. Their collection includes the Hope Diamond, the oldest rock on earth (at over 4 billion years old), and fabulous examples of unique rocks and minerals found on Earth.
The Hope Diamond, the largest diamond ever cut, is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution).