Are they rocks?

Ms J has asked us to think out of the box and post them.On my way home,I was thinking jow to do that when I noticed two things which looked like rocks.Are they rocks?I took photos of it with my i phone from different perspectives so you can get a clearer view of it.

Please tell me whether these are rocks.:)Esther

Earth

Layers of the Earth
The Earth is made up of three layers, the crust, mantle and core.



The crust is the solid outermost layer. It is separated into pieces called plates. Rocks are solid materials that are made up of minerals and they are on the Earth's crust. The crust floats on the Earth's mantle. The mantle is liquid and is more than 200 degrees celcuis. And right in the center of the Earth, there is the core, which is solid. The core is 5150-6370 kilometers below the Earth's surface and mainly consists of iron, nickel and some lighter elements. The core's temperature is about 5000-6000 degrees celcuis.

Credits:www.google.com and http://mediatheek.thinkquest.nl/~ll125/en/core.htm

Rocks

Igneous rocks

Think about it, do you know how Igneous rocks form? They are formed when the magma inside a volcano cools down and hardens quickly outside the Earth. There are two type of Igneous rocks that we know of, and they are the...

                                                                                  

Granite

Granite are coarse-grained(big visible grains)

Basalt

Basalt are fine-grained (very small grains)

Sedimentary rocks

Sendimentary rocks are formed when rocks break down into smaller pieces through weathering and erosion such as wind, rain, flowing river water. Small pieces of sediments (rocks+sand+clay+silt) get carried by wind and water into rivers. The sediments are then deposited and pile up in layers ,with the weight of more layers piling up, the sediments cement together and harden. And that is how Sedimentary rocks are formed!



Shale

Shale have distinctive layers and are fine-grained.

Conglomerate

Conglomerate have distinctive layers and are coarse-grained.

Limestone

Limestones are made up of hardened remains of animals and plants.

Metamorphic rocks

Metamorphic rocks are formed when Igneous and Sedimentary rocks comes into contact with intense heat and pressure. When plates move, one plate can slide underneath another plate, Metamorphism occurs; metamorphic rocks are then form inside the Earth. All Metamorphic rocks(Gneiss,Slate, Marble) have bands, foliated texture(minerals aligned in parallel layers) and are fine-grained.
Credits: http://www.google.com/

Open a new summary chapter about atlas's right now....

    

Important points about the atlas:



What is an atlas?
An Atlas is a book of maps.

Why do we need a atlas?
To find a location.

What does the atlas contain?
It contains major physical features and human features.

The 7 continents:
Asia,Europe,Africa,South America,North America,Australia and Antarctica.

Scales

/       /

Large scales      Small scales

Land  scale from large to small        

Region

7 Continents

Countries

Cities

Towns

Community/Village

Individual 

                                  Oceans

The 5 oceans are the Pacific,Arctic,Indian,Atlantic and Southern ocean.

Pacific ocean-located between America and Asia

Arctic ocean-located above Europe

Atlantic ocean-located between South America and Africa

Indian ocean-located below Asia

Southern ocean-located above Antarctica

                                                                                                                                                                    

What is a :

Country?

-The territory of a nation or state

City?

-A large settlement

Capital?

-A chief major city

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Questions

1.Why are the oceans named as what they are?(e.g. why is the pacific ocean called the pacific ocean etc.)

2.Why is Europe and Africa not part of Asia even though thy seemed to be connected on the map?

Here is a song on how to remember the 5 oceans and the 7 continents

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All pictures taken from http://www.google.com/
Video taken from http://www.youtube.com/



Longitudes and Latitude

Longitudes
Longitudes are imaginary vertical lines that run in a north-south direction from the North Pole to the South Pole. It is also the angular distance from a point's meridian from the Greenwich Meridian, also known as the Prime Meridian. It is usually expressed in degrees and minutes. Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians. The Greenwich Meridian is the zero degree longitude.

The measurement of longitude is important to both cartography and to provide safe ocean navigation. Mariners and explorers for most of history struggled to determine precise longitude. Longitude is given as an angular ranging from zero degrees at the Prime Meridian to  +180° eastward and −180° westward. The Greek letter λ( lambda), is used to denote the location of a place on Earth east or west of the Greenwich Meridian.

Longitude at a point may be determined by calculating the time difference between that and its location and Coordinated Universal Time( UTC). Since there are 24 hours in a day and three hundred and sixty degrees in a circle, the sun moves across the sky at a rate of fifteen degrees per hour.

Latitude
Latitudes are imaginary horizontal lines that run in an east-west direction round the Earth. The latitude is an angle and is usually measured in degrees. The Equator, the longest line of latitude which divides the Earth into two equal halves, has a latitude of zero degrees. The North Pole have a degree of ninety degree north and the South Pole have a degree of ninety degree south. The Tropic of Cancer have a degree of twenty three point five degree north while the Tropic of Capricorn have a degree of twenty three point five degree south. The Arctic Circle have a degree of sixty six point five north and the Antarctic Circle have a degree of sixty six point five south.

A region's latitude has a great effect on its climate and weather. Latitude more loosely determines prevailing winds, and other physical characteristics of geographic locations. Auroral activity is common at high geomagnetic latitudes.  
Click here to watch a video on latitude and longitude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swKBi6hHHMA