Today we finished notes for the Igneous section of this rock unit. We talked about rock's texture and what forms it. We talked about intrusive rocks and plutons. We also talked about the differences between felsic, intermediate, mafic, and ultramafic rocks. We also talked about extrusive structures like lava plateaus. After this we started a lab where we classify igneous rocks. Today we only classified two rocks, obsidian and pumice. We also filled out the definitions of rock characteristics. Tomorrow we will continue to classify them.
Tuesday or December 1, 2015 C.E.:
Today we finished classifying our rocks. We classified Granite, Vesicular Basalt, Scoria, Rhyolite, and Andesite. Rhyolite and Andesite were hard to classify because their color and texture was very similar to a wide variety of rocks. We learned about the minerals present in each type of rock and the silica found in them. After that we did some reflection questions. I wrote about the grain size and chemical compostions of extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks.
Wednesday or December 2, 2015 C.E.:
Today we took notes about Metamorphic rocks. We learned about the forces that cause metamorphic rocks. They are heat, pressure, and the addition and removal of fluids. They are caused by two different forces, contact metamorphism and regional metamorphism. Contact metamorphism is caused by magma nearby and regional is caused by heat and pressure from a tectonic plate boundary. We also talked about the classification of metamorphic rocks and the types of metamorphic rocks. After this I finished the Igneous Rock Classification lab and started the Metamorphic one.
Thursday or December 3, 2015 C.E.:
Today we took notes on Sedimentary rocks. Sediments are created though the weathering of rocks. These sediments are then fused together by minerals in a process called cementation. They are then compressed by sediments above them to form sedimentary rock in a process called compaction. The sedimentary rock types include sandstone, conglomerate, shale, coal, gypsum, and halite. They are classified by their origin. Clastic is a rock formed from pre-existing pieces of rocks, the most obvious being conglomerate. Organic is a rock composed of organic materials like coal. A Chemical Sedimentary rock is a rock formed from water as a precipitate. After this I continued to work on my Metamorphic Rock lab.
| Conglomerate |
Today I spent the pretty much the entire time finishing up the Metamorphic Rock Classification Lab. I classified a variety of rocks and answered many questions for this lab. The rocks I classified were Marble, Antracite Coal, Schist, Slate, Gneiss, and Quarzite. Now that I have finished this lab, I will do the last lab of the series. It is the Sedimentary Rock Lab. I am sure it will be as fun as the labs we have done already.
Summary: This week was great, I finished many things and was very productive. I also did not procrastinate! I can still improve on the quality of my lab work and I will continue to do so.
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