Week 9 Science Methods 2

  1. What did you do in the lab?   

2. What was the big question? 

3. What did you learn in Thursday's discussion? 

4. Read the online textbook, Chapter 5 

        1. What did you learn? 

        2. What was most helpful? 

        3. What do you need more information on? 

5. What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have?   

      In the lab this week, we talked about when certain events happened. We talked about humans appearing, dinosaurs ruling the earth, the first land plants, the first land animals, and when the moon was created. We placed these on a timeline as to when we thought they occurred. We then looked into the formative assessment results. We then worked in groups and looked into a certain billion years. We looked into different important events during that time. We wrote it on a sticky note and then placed it on the timeline to when it occurred. The big question that we answered was, "What are the significant events in the history of the earth.   

    We had a test on Thursday on what we have learned over the past nine weeks.  

    I learned about activitymania this week. It is a way to take a step from a textbook-centered and teacher-directed science classroom. During activitymania, students learn to forget the results that don't match the teacher's expectations and to question and analyze their data. What was helpful to me was the table image of the differences between activitymania and inquiry. I don't think I need any more information, and I don't have any questions or concerns.   

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tlY1fOS8ak   

1. Create a video, which can be YouTube, TikTok, etc…

2. The video must show how convection works by you creating a convection cell (research as a teacher would.  Pick what you want to try.  This mimics how the real world will work when you get a job and new things to teach).

3. You must explain what is happening in the video related to the convection cells

4. You need to tell us the science behind what is going on.

5. You need to include how this is related to plate tectonics and why plates move.

So, we filled a container with room temperature water, then one small container with cold water and blue food coloring, and one small container with hot water and red food coloring (Cold = blue and Warm = red). In the video, you can see when we put the cold water in the large container the blue color stays at the bottom, and then when we put the hot water in the large container the red color goes to the top. This relates to convection cells because the Earth's mantle is a semi-solid layer beneath the crust filled with convection cells. The heat from the Earth's core causes the mantle material to warm up, become less dense, and rise toward the surface (what happened to the red-colored water in the video). When it reaches the upper mantle and cools, it becomes denser and sinks (what happened to the blue-colored water in the video). This creates convection currents in the mantle. The Earth's lithosphere (the rigid outer layer) is divided into tectonic plates that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere (the upper part of the mantle). The convection currents in the mantle generate forces that move these plates. There are different ways that plates can move and one of those ways is divergent boundaries where convection cells rise and plates move apart. There are also convergent boundaries where colder, denser plates sink and plates push into each other. Lastly, there are transform boundaries where plates sideswipe each other. These different types of movement cause earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or the formation of mountain ranges. In summary, convection cells in the mantle are fundamental drivers of plate tectonics, providing the energy and movement necessary for the dynamic processes that shape our planet's surface.