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Grade 7 Earth’s Crust Unit Name: ___________________________

OUTCOME EC7.1 Plate Tectonics Watch the Qwiki video as many times as needed and answer the following questions:

a. The lithosphere is broken up into ____________________ plates and there are ______ or

______ major plates and many minor plates.

b. Name three events that occur along plate boundaries: __________________ ,

___________________ , or _______________________ .

Divergent Plates Watch the Qwiki video as many times as needed and answer the following questions:

a. Divergent boundaries exists between two ________________ plates that are moving

______________ from each other producing ______________ and _____________ valleys

on continents.

b. Divergent boundaries form _____________________ islands when the oceanic plates move

apart producing gamps which _________________ ______________ fill.

Convergent Plates Watch the Qwiki video as many times as needed and answer the following questions:

a. Convergent boundary is also known as a _________________________ plate boundary where

two tectonic plates move ______________________ one another and __________________.

b. The collision is the result of _____________________, _________________, and plate

_________________ melting in the mantle. Earthquakes and volcanoes are common near

convergent boundaries.

c. When two plates move towards one another, the plates form either a ___________________

zone or a ___________________________ collision.

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Theory of Pangaea Scroll way down, a long way down until you come to a video called “Pangaea’s Moving Farther Apart Again”. Watch the video carefully. Remember Pangaea was from the beginning of time when on Earth, the land existed as one large land mass, or super-continent.

Identify 3 things you learned from the video:

Explore anything else on this site that you are interested in.

Evidence of Pangaea Watch the video carefully and identify one piece of evidence that Pangaea existed:

Earth’s Layers I and Earth’s Layer II Review the layers of the earth by looking at both the activity and the powerpoint. Take jot notes using the two-column note format below listing two important facts for each heading. FACT 1 FACT 2

Crust

Lithosphere

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Asthenosphere

Mantle

Outer Core

Inner Core

Local - Earthquakes - World Click on the word ‘Earthquakes’ first. Examine the map. Are you surprised by the number of earthquakes in Canada? Based on the information you have learned so far, can you hypothesize a reason for the increased number of earthquakes along the Canadian coastal regions?

Now, click on ‘Local’. Did you know Saskatchewan had an earthquake in February 2012? List the following information:

Jot Notes

Time of Event

Location

Size of Earthquake

Possible Cause

Last, click on ‘World’. This map tracks earthquakes around the world by the minute. Identify the largest earthquake in the last 10 hours. List the location and magnitude.

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Volcanoes Scroll down to the ‘Photo Gallery’ and select ‘Volcanoes’. Examine the photos and choose the one you are most interested in.

Tsunamis Watch the video carefully. Why is Japan hit by tsunamis so often? Explain why tsunamis cause so much damage. Remember you can watch the video as much as you need.

Prediction of Events Choose a country that you are interested in. Identify the top 10 natural disasters.

Name of Country: ______________________________________________

Disaster Quiz Take the quiz and see how you do. Focus on forces within all the disasters. List your score: __________

OUTCOME EC7.2 Rocks vs. Minerals Watch powerpoint. THINK about the KEY learnings and fill in the blanks.

a. Minerals are made of ___________________________________.

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b. Rocks are made of _____________________________________.

c. Rocks are formed in three environments: ____________________ , ____________________ ,

and __________________________ .

Types of Rocks Examine the picture of the rock cycle. Draw it below. Make sure you use labels.

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Rock Classification Fill in the chart.

Type of Rock How It Is Formed Where It is Formed Other Facts & Examples

Sedimentary

Igneous

Metamorphic

Physical Characteristics of Minerals Fill in the chart.

Characteristics Descriptors:

Colour

Luster

Specific Gravity

Crystal Form

Cleavage

Fracture

Tenacity

Hardness

Transparency

Special Properties

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Saskatchewan’s Primary Resources Examine the map carefully and answer the following questions:

a. What resource do you see around Balgonie? _______________________________________

b. What resource do you see the most of for our province? ______________________________

c. Which resource do you see as the most harmful to the environment? ___________________

___________________ Why? ____________________________________________________

Mineral Resource Extraction We are going to examine one mineral extraction as an example of issues facing any form of mining. Coal mining is one form of extraction that has happened in Saskatchewan since the early 1900’s. One of the most common mining techniques is ‘open pit’ mining.

There are 6 phases. Fill in the chart showing the mining sequence:

Six Phases Description

Soil Salvage

Overburden Removal

Coal Loading

Waste Pile Contouring

Soil Replacement

Re-vegetation

Can you think of any environmental problems that can happen from this form of extraction? Use any information on the site as evidence to support your thinking.

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Canadian Contributions (takes time to load) Do you like to snowmobile??? List the top 8 contributions Canada makes towards snowmobile production from page 1 of the brochure. Include the product made from the contribution.

Contribution Product Contribution Product

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

On page 2 of the brochure, identify two ways snowmobiles can be recycled.

Economic & Environmental Extraction Issues Examine Cameco’s environmental Scorecard. Look carefully at the language used under the heading ‘Where are we going?’ Terms such as ‘significantly reduce’ can imply a much larger meaning and may misdirect those reading the reports. What do you see as issues under any of the headings listed on this site? What are you most concerned about?

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OUTCOME EC7.3 Elements in the Crust Examine the ‘periodic table of elements’ and note the common elements found in the Earth’s crust [in white]. List the 8 most common elements:

Element Short Form Percent Element Short Form Percent

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Rock Classification Read and examine the diagram for the ‘Rock Cycle’. Identify the four forces that constantly act on rock to produce changes. Give an example for each force.

Force Example of the Force

1.

2.

3.

4.

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Weathering vs. Erosion View the powerpoint. Your purpose is to identify the difference between weathering and erosion. Use 2-column notes for recording evidence to support your rationale for the difference between the two.

Evidence

Weathering

Erosion

Your statement identifying the difference between weathering and erosion:

Types of Soils in Saskatchewan Examine the map of Saskatchewan carefully. Using the map legend, identify the six types of soil found in our province. Predict what plants, trees and / or crops would grow best in each soil type.

Soil Type What would grow best? Predict.

1.

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2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

What type of soil type is around Balgonie? _________________________________________________

Soil Characteristics There are many ways to look at and test soil; some are simple and some are complex. List the 9 different soil tests.

1. ________________________ 2. _________________________ 3. _______________________

4. ________________________ 5. _________________________ 6. _______________________

7. ________________________ 8. _________________________ 9. _______________________

Out of the nine soil tests, scientists consider 3 factors more important. What are they?

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Land Use Practices Read the ‘FACT SHEET’ carefully. There are two sections that identify ‘best management practices’ with recommendations. One section is on commercial fertilizers and the second section is on soil erosion. For each section, what management practice do you see as the most important and why? Support with your opinion with evidence.

Management practice Why do you see it as important?

Commercial Fertilizer

Soil Erosion

Crop Management

Read the ‘FACT SHEET’ carefully, especially the section on ‘best management practices’. List the best practices with a short description in the chart below.

Best Practice Short Description

1.

2.

3.

4.

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5.

6.

This fact sheet used a text feature to highlight key and important information. It is the grey text box. It lists 3 basic principles that best management practices always work towards. List the 3 principles below and your thoughts about whether the principle is important guideline to work towards.

Principle Why it is an important guideline? Your thoughts . . .

1.

2.

3.

* * * * *

Finally, design a ‘test’ question that could be used on a unit test to assess learning from this science unit.

s

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Investigate a Saskatchewan environmental issue and present it using Glogster. You will have the one page poster format to convince the people and government of Saskatchewan of an alternative that will cause less harm to our environment.

Use the following sites to help you choose an issue you feel passionate about:

1. http://econet.ca/issues/

2. http://www.environmentalsociety.ca/main/issues/habitat/ecosystem-protection/

3. http://www.saskmining.ca/uploads/general_files/24/sma_factsheets_2010.pdf