Volcanoes

It's already term 2 and we learnt about volcanoes. We(Esther and Jessica) were told to present about the factors and conditions affecting a volcano eruption.

 

What is a volcano?

A volcano is an opening in the Earth's crust which magma and gases can escape through it when pressure in the mantle forces magma to the surface.



What is magma?

Magma is also known as molten mantle.Molten mantle is caused when the temperature beneath the Earth's crust is so great that it causes parts of the mantle to melt.



Basic structure of the volcano

A volcano consists of a vent, crater, pipe and cone. The vent is an opening in the Earth's surface while the pipe is a channel which allows the magma to rise to the top of the volcano. The crater is a bowl-shaped opening on top of the volcano and the cone refers to the shape of the volcano.

Where can volcanoes be found?

Volcanoes can be found on the "Ring of Fire".

Active volcanoes:

A volcano which have erupted from time to time and is likely to do so again in the future.

Dormant volcanoes:

A volcano which is presently inactive but may erupt again.

Extinct volcanoes:

A volcano which scientists consider unlikely to erupt again.

Acknowledgements:

http://www.google.com/



Earthquake in Japan

An Eartquake recently erupted in Japan.It was said to be the eartquake with the 7th highest magnitude.

An article about it can be found at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami_n_834380.html

I have summarised the article and it says that a ferocious tsunami spawned by one the largest eartquakes ever recorded hit Japan's eastern coast last Friday.It killed hundreds of people.

The magnitude-8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (seven-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.NHK said more than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs. Some nuclear plants were also said to be affected.

This is a real-life example of how the physical environment affects the human environment in a bad way.The result of it is leaving the people in Japan homeless,injured and even dead.
Some nuclear plants were said to be affected and this could then lead to another resulting effect on the people in Japan.The people in Japan maybe might have to look for natural resources like maybe cutting more trees.This cycle will then continue.

This is the end of today's post.We should keep the people in Japan in our prayers and try to help them in whatever we can do.

The rock cycle

What is the rock cycle?
The rock cycle is the recycling of rocks and it shows how rocks are turned into different forms of rock.


Here is a diagram on how the rock cycle works:

Sediments come together to form sedimentary rocks.The sedimentary rock then becomes a metamorphic rock under pressure.The metamorphic rock then turns into a igneous rock when it melts and cools.

*Note: The rock cycle does not alsawys follow the same pattern.

To conclude we have added a video on the rock cycle to explain more about it.

Picture and video taken from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3yJArifULo

http://www.edu-design-principles.org/dp/img-uploads/virtualRockCycle_fe40.jpg

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/