Digging Into Earth's Layers
Explain how scientists use seismic waves to determine the composition of Earth's interior.
What is by analyzing how P-waves and S-waves travel through different materials?
Differentiate between oceanic and continental crust in terms of density and composition.
What is oceanic crust is denser and made of basalt, while continental crust is less dense and made of granite?
Explain how freezing and thawing contribute to physical weathering.
What is water enters cracks, freezes, expands, and breaks rocks apart?
Explain how index fossils help determine the relative age of rock layers.
What is index fossils lived for a short period and are found in many locations, making them useful for dating?
Construct an explanation for why some earthquakes cause more damage than others.
What is based on depth, magnitude, building structures, and population density?
Compare and contrast the lithosphere and asthenosphere in terms of composition and behavior.
What is the lithosphere is rigid and brittle, while the asthenosphere is plastic-like and flows?
Describe what happens at a convergent boundary between an oceanic and continental plate.
What is subduction, where the denser oceanic plate sinks beneath the continental plate, forming trenches and volcanoes?
Compare the effects of wind and water erosion on landforms.
What is wind creates features like dunes, while water forms valleys, canyons, and deltas?
Compare relative dating and absolute dating techniques.
What is relative dating compares rock layers, while absolute dating uses radioactive isotopes to determine exact ages?
Argue whether humans should intervene to prevent beach erosion or let natural processes continue.
What is balancing ecosystem health, economic impacts, and engineering solutions?
Use evidence from seismic waves to justify the claim that Earth’s outer core is liquid.
What is because S-waves do not travel through the outer core, but P-waves do?
Use fossil evidence to support the theory of continental drift.
What is similar fossils found on continents that are now separated, suggesting they were once connected?
Justify why river erosion occurs more quickly on the outer banks of a meander.
What is water moves faster on the outer curve, carrying more sediment and eroding the bank?
Infer why sedimentary rocks are the only type that contain fossils.
What is because they form at lower temperatures and pressures, preserving remains?
Compare the short-term and long-term effects of volcanic eruptions on the environment.
What is short-term ash clouds and cooling, long-term new land formation and nutrient-rich soil?
Predict what would happen to convection currents in the mantle if Earth’s core completely cooled.
What is convection would stop, and plate movement would slow or stop?
Infer what would happen to Earth’s surface if seafloor spreading stopped.
What is the ocean floor would stop growing, reducing tectonic activity and changing ocean circulation?
Hypothesize how human activities, like deforestation, affect erosion and deposition.
What is removing trees increases soil erosion, leading to more sediment in rivers and increased deposition downstream?
Defend why the Law of Superposition may not always apply in areas of tectonic activity.
What is folding, faulting, or intrusion can disturb the original rock layers?
Justify how a single rock can be part of the rock cycle and change into multiple rock types over time.
What is sedimentary rock can be buried and heated into metamorphic, then melted into igneous?
Develop an argument for how thermal energy transfer in the mantle affects Earth’s surface.
What is convection currents in the mantle cause plate movement, leading to earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation?
Evaluate the impact of plate tectonics on long-term climate changes.
What is shifting continents can change ocean currents, affect atmospheric circulation, and impact global temperatures?
Design an experiment to test the impact of acid rain on different rock types.
What is exposing limestone, granite, and sandstone to acidic water and measuring mass loss over time?
Predict what scientists might learn about Earth’s past climates by studying ice cores.
What is trapped gases and particles reveal temperature, atmospheric composition, and volcanic activity?
Propose a solution to reduce the effects of human activity on Earth’s natural processes.
What is sustainable agriculture, reforestation, reducing fossil fuel use, and improving construction practices?