Earth Science

WritingAssignment: Convergent Plate Boundaries and Human Society

Humansocieties are closelytied to natural events. Think, forexample, oftheeffectsofearthquakes and volcanoes on society. In thisassignment, select ONE oftheoptionsbelow and compile a report on howyourselectionisrelated to plate tectonicactionat a convergent plate boundary.

• The “YearWithout a Summer” of 1816
• TheRussianFamineof 1601-1603
• Thefertilesoilsof Auckland, New Zealand and the prosperity oftheMaoripeople

To compileyour report, include a descriptionoftheoptionyouselected, howitisrelated to plate tectonics (including a descriptionofthetectonicsetting and the type of plate boundary), and howitaffectedhuman society. Youcansubmityour report as a writtenpaperor a podcast.

Assignment: Plate Tectonics in theMovies

Youhavenowlearnedaboutthethreemaintypesoftectonic plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and transform. Youhavealsolearnedaboutearthquakes and volcanoesateach type.

Nowthatyou are a plate tectonic expert, imagineyouhavebeenhired as a scientificconsultant to a movieproductioncompany. Themoviecompanyisgettingready to film several big movies and someofthemwillincludescenesofearthquakes and volcanoes. They need to findplaces on Earth to film theirmoviesthatwillbeauthentic—thatis, theyneedlocationswherelargeearthquakes and volcanoesreally do take place.

Specifically, theywant to findtwoseparatelocations: onewhereshallow, large magnitude earthquakes are frequentlyfound, and onewherelargesteepvolcanoesthathaveexplosiveeruptions are found. Yourjobis to identifylocations on Earththatwillmeet these twoneeds. Youwillfindone place fortheearthquakes and one place forthevolcanoes.

1. Access a plate tectonics map
2. Usingwhatyouhavelearnedabout plate tectonics, seismicity, and volcanism, identifytwositesthatyouthinkwillwork. Youmaywant to comparethe plate tectonics map to a regularworld mapso youcannamethecountriesyouchoose. Rememberthatyouneedonesitethat has large magnitude, shallow-focusearthquakes and onesitethat has steepvolcanoeswithexplosiveeruptions.
3. Afteryouhave made yourselection, record a message to your boss on yourfindings. There are several “right” answers, so besure to explainwhyyouchoseeachsite.

Explainthetectonicsettingofeachone and howthetectonicsettingwill make thesitesuitable. Yourjobis to convinceyour boss thatthesitesyouchosewillbeperfectformakingthemovieauthentic.

ResearchAssignment: The Long-Term Effectsof Air Pollution

Howcleanisthe air in your area? The air quality index is a measureof air pollution in a local area. It tellsyouhowpollutedyour air is and howyourhealthmightbeaffected by it. Youcanusuallyfindyourlocal air quality index measurewithyourdailyweather report.

Findoutaboutthe air quality in your area. Youmayfindthelocal air quality index in thenewspaperwiththeweatherforecastor on yourlocal TV news. At this online weathersite youmightbeable to enter your zip codeatthe top ofthepage and see air quality data foryour area, but notethatthey do not display air quality data forevery zip code in America. Ifyou do not seeitforyour zip code, trytyping in thenameof a major city close to youor a major U.S. city thatyouwouldlike to visit. Enter in a zip code (36542)or city name, click GO, and thenscrolldown to seean Air QualityForecast.

Afterfindingthe air qualityforecastforyour city ofinterest, takenoteofthe major pollutantsfound in the air in that city. Then, do someresearch on thehealtheffectsofthosepollutants. Afteryouhavecompletedyourresearch, write a 60-second TV commercialthattellspeople in your area whattheir air qualityislike, howtheirhealthmaybeaffected by the air quality, and whatconsumerscan do to improve air quality in your area.

Assignment: ExploratoryActivity on BirdBeaks

Thisisanexploratoryactivitythatwillhelpyouvisualizehowanorganism’straitscanaffectitssurvival, and howsometraitscouldbecomeselectedovertime. Forthisactivityyouwillneed:

Set up sixstations to representdifferenttypesof food thatbirdsmighteat, as follows:

• Sunflowerseedsscattered on a table
• Coloredwater in a long, narrowvase (representsflowernectar)
• Rice grain tuckedinsidethepieceofStyrofoam (representssmallinsects in tree bark)
• Marshmallowsscattered on the table (representsmeatfromsmallanimals)
• Icecubes in water (representfish in a lake)
• Theherbsplaced in thebowlofwater (representssmallplants and animalsfloating in a lake)

Thepliers, thetweezers, thespoon, and thedrinkingstraw are going to representdifferenttypesofbirdbeaks. Thesixstationsyouhave set up willrepresentdifferenttypesof food thatdifferentbirdseat. Usingyourbeaktools, decidewhichtoolisbestsuitedforeach type of food. Referback to yourwhiteboardactivityfromthewarm-up ofthissection. Whichbirdbeaksfromthewarm-up lookliketoolsyouhaveused in thisactivity? Describehowthe development of a specialbeakshapecouldaffect a bird species’ survival. Howmightbeakshapeschangeovertimeiftheusual food source changed? Forexample, ifsmallinsectsbeganhidingdeeperwithin a treeorifsunflowerseedsdevelopedhardershells? Describehow natural selection and evolution are demonstrated by thisactivity.