Ring of Fire Activity Source: National Park Service. Adapted with permission. A plate boundary is a line on a map that defines the edge of a tectonic plate, usually indicating where one plate meets another. Plate boundaries are further divided by the direction that they are moving relative to one another. When plates are moving towards one another, the point of contact is called a convergent plate boundary. When plates are moving away from each other, it is called a divergent plate boundary. [Read More]

Rock Abrasion Activity Source: Association of American State Geologists. Adapted with permission. Rocks break down into smaller pieces through weathering. Rocks and sediment grinding against each other wear away surfaces. This type of weathering is called abrasion, and it happens as wind and water rush over rocks. The rocks become smoother as rough and jagged edges break off. In this activity, you will model how abrasion works. Materials For each person: [Read More]

Rock Around the World Activity Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Arizona State University, 2006. Adapted with permission. Background Scientists need your help. Those studying Mars are asking students from around the world to help them understand “the red planet.” Send in a rock collected by you or your classroom from your region of the world, and NASA scientists will use a special tool like the one on the Mars Rover to tell you what it’s made of. [Read More]

Rock Art in the National Parks Activity Source: Views of the National Parks, National Park Service. Adapted with permission. Human beings have been linked to earth materials since prehistoric times. They used caves for shelter, shaped rocks into stone implements, and later refined metals to make tools. Beyond practical purposes, Earth materials also were used to make pigments for paint. Rock walls became canvases where ancient artists expressed themselves. In this exercise, we will explore the link between Earth materials and art. [Read More]

Rock Pop Activity Source: Geological Society of America. Adapted with permission. How can a cave form from solid rock? Most caves are found in limestone, a rock made of materials of calcium carbonate. This rock is unusual because the solid minerals it is made of easily dissolve in weak acids. The most common weak acid in the environment is actually water! This acid forms when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the rain water to form carbonic acid. [Read More]

Safe as a Mine Activity Source: Minerals Education Coalition. Adapted with permission. Safety is always the top priority in modern mining. It is important to every person working in the industry — most importantly to ensure everyone’s health, but also to prevent lost productivity and costly equipment damage. Safety in the mining industry is crucial to our society since minerals obtained from mining are required for everything we use such as buildings and roads, computers, and phones, and everything we do, from farming to medicine to green energy generation. [Read More]

Sea and Ice Salinity Activity Source: NASA Aquarius Mission and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2007. Activity adapted with permission from UCLA Marine Science Center’s OceanGLOBE. Background What is sea ice? It is simply frozen ocean water. Why is sea ice important? While it occurs mainly in polar regions, sea ice influences our global climate. Changing amounts of sea ice can affect ocean circulations, weather patterns, and temperatures around the world. [Read More]

Sea Level and the Terrapin Activity Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Adapted with permission. The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only North American turtle fully adapted to life in brackish water (mix of saltwater and freshwater). Its home is in coastal salt marshes of estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Although they can live 40 years or more, most turtles do not make it to their first birthday, because they are prey for foxes, otters, raccoons, skunks, and birds. [Read More]

Seeding Growth Activity Source: Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Adapted with permission. Much of the food that people eat is produced as crops grown from seeds. What does it take for a seed to grow? How does a seed start to grow? What changes occur as it grows? Understanding the growth of seeds can help us understand food production, which is basic to understanding the issue of hunger in the world. [Read More]

Seismic Mapping Activity Source: The Society of Petroleum Engineers. Adapted with permission. Scientists use seismic technology to map patterns of rock formations below the surface of the Earth. Different types of rocks affect sound waves. Geologists use these sound waves to locate rocks that may contain oil and/or natural gas. You can explore this principle with a tuning fork and various rocks. Gently strike a fork against the rocks. Note variations in sounds produced by different rocks. [Read More]