Demonstrations:

Notes:

• Weather
• Planets in our Solar System
• Materials from the Earth
• Formation of the Earth
• Rock Classification
• Composition and types of Soil
• Generation of Wind, Rain and Storms

Other Websites:

Earth & Space: Some important information related to our planets in our Solar System are available on the link Space. What would life be like on other planets?

Sun: The Sun would be no good. The surface temperature is 6000 degrees Celsius; no computer equipment could exist on the surface; the surface is totally on fire with no ground to stand on; each day lasts for 25 days (so it would take 6 days after having breakfast for you to have lunch!) and the whole year ends in 88 days!

Mars: Mars is still too hot. It has a maximum temperature of 870 degrees celsius! On the sunny side of Mars, zinc metal can melt but can be far below freezing on the dark side of Mars. It has no atmosphere like the Earth to protect it from the elements and being so close to the Sun makes it impossible for life to live there. The surface of Mars looks very much like our moon and the lack of an atmosphere leaves it open for numerous meteorite collisions. The day lasts 59 days and you can kich a football 3 times higher than on Earth. You do have 15 moons though!

Venus: The Earth and Venus are very similar in size and density. It is surrounded by a thick layer of clouds made mainly of sulphuric acid. Very dangerous! It is extremely hot on the surface and creates a huge "greenhouse" effect. The surface is also full of active volcanoes and craters. The day lasts 2/3 of an Earth year!

Mars: This red planet has similar temperatures to the Earth. Polar ice caps exist on Mars and it is thought that the planet may have once had water and microscopic fossils. Mars also has 2 moons: Phobos and Deimos. Unfortunately, there is no air to breathe at the top temperature is -30 degrees Celsius and the year is twice as long as ours.

Jupiter: This gas giant is the largest of planets in our Solar System. It has huge clouds layers around it and has a Great Red Spot on it which scientists think is a vast cyclone storm that has lived for 400 years and is itself larger than the Earth! There are 16 moons and the day lasts only 10 hours. Gravity will hold you flat on the ground and you could not get back up. You would also have to wait 12 years to celebrate a Jupiter birthday.

Saturn: Saturn is the ringed planet. The rings are largely frozen water snowballs orbitting around the equator. The planet is largely gas and light enough to float in water! There are 18 moons and a surface temperature of -170 degrees Celsius. The day lasts for 11 hours and 30 Earth years must past before Saturn has completed one year.

Uranus: Uranus is invisible to the naked eye. It was first discovered in 1781 and it rotates in a strange way: it is laying down on its side! The atmosphere is made of methane and it has 15 moons. Gravity is about the same; the day is over in 16 hours but its surface temperature is about -210 deg celsius.

Neptune: Neptune was discovered in 1846 based on mathematical predictions that a planet should exist at this location. Wispy methane clouds form its atmosphere. It also has a Great Dark Spot which is a huge storm that has exists for a very long time. It has 8 moons and its day is over in 16 hours. The surface temperature is also about -220 deg celsius.

Pluto: This planet was discovered in 1930 and it explained why Neptune went out of orbit occasionally. It is almost 6,000,000,000 km from the Sun. It is the only planet yet to be visited by a satellite fitted with a camera. It's only moon is Charon.

Materials from the Earth: The formation of the Earth happened a long time ago. The most widely accepted model for the beginning of the Universe was the Big Bang Theory in which it suggests that the Earth began with a huge explosion. To date bits and pieces of this explosion are still being thrown outwards into space. Evidence of this can be found by astronomers observing stars and planets that are red and blue shifted (have a tinge of red or blue in them). This suggests they are travelling away from us at incredible speeds. They all appear to be moving outwards from a central point out in space which scientists have identified as the centre of the Universe. To date, no other theory comes close to explaining the Universe like this does. The resulting formation of Earth as a piece of debrise from this huge explosion can then be explained.

It is found that the same side of the Moon faces the Earth and always has. This seems to suggest that the Earth and Moon were once one combined piece of space junk from the Big Bang. As the Earth evolved and its surface cooled and formed an atmosphere the inner molten core became burried underneath a hard outer shell called the Earth's crust ...

The crust containing mountains, seas and the rock we dig up is called the lithosphere. Covered by a thin layer of soil and sand is the crust forming a solid shell made mainly from solid rock - ranging from 33km to 11km thick. It is as thick as a postage stamp on a basketball. The crust of the Earth varies between 20 degrees to 500 degrees celcius. The mantle underneath is 280km thick with temperatures close to 3000 degrees celcius. The rock is mainly molten and is the source of volcanic activity and earthquakes.

The next layer within the earth is the outer core which is 2300km thick with continually moving iron and nickel. These metals create the magnetic field of the Earth and help protect us from dangerous cosmic rays. The temperature gets up to 6000 degrees celcius. The inner core is 1400km thick getting to temperatures of 7000 degrees celcius. Under the extreme pressure most of the metal in this core are solid.

Formation of the Earth

The Universe is thought to have begun 20,000 million years ago with the Big Bang theory describing a huge explosion involving all the matter and energy in the Universe. This matter formed the galaxies, stars, gas and dust which is still expanding away from the original explosion. Around 250 million years later, immense condensations of gas (hydrogen and helium) formed, collapsed and in doing so heated up until interior temperatures of more than 1 million degrees celcius caused nuclear reactions to begin. Hydrogen is converted into helium with the release of energy as heat and light. A star was born. For the nexxt 15,000 million years, our Sun and the planets did not exist.

The Solar System formed about 4,600 million years ago from a cloud of gas and dust, in the spiral arm of the galaxy. The Universe at that time had much the same appearance as it does now, except that the galaxies were a little closer together. The Earth formed from the accumulation of debree in space with the friction of the collision melting the whole of the Earth. This caused the heavier elements iron and nickel to sink to the centre and the light elements floated to the surface.

Rock Classification & Formation: The are different rock formations in the Earth's crust. Rocks formed from particles of sediment are called sedimentary rock. Most sedimentary rock foms from weathered rock which has been exposed due to erosion. Grains of sediment are cemented together to form a solid rock. The process is as follows ...

Sediment is laid down by ice, wind or water in horizontal layers called beds.
Within each bed, the sedimenr grains are squashed together so that they are in close contact.
Water seeps in between the grains, bringing with it many dissolved chemicals.
When the water evaporates, these chemicals are left behind as crystals around the edges of the grains. These crystals cement the grains of sediment together to form rock.

Sandstone is formed from grains of soil that have been cemented together over a period of time. Mudstone and shale are formed by finer grains of sediment deposited by calm water in the form of mud. Siltstone has grains slightly larger than those of mudstone. Conglomerate contains grains of different sizes which have been cemented together. Limestone is a sedimentary rock that has formed from deposites of the remains of sea organisms, such as shellfish and coral. The hard parts of these dead animals contain calcium carbonate. These deposits are cemented together over time.

Coal is formed from the remains of dead plants which are buried by other sediment. In dense forests, layers of dead trees and other plants build up on the forest floor. If these layers are covered with water before rotting is completed, they can become covered with other sediment. The weight of this sediment compacts the partially decaying plant material. Over millions of years the compacting increases the temperature and squeezes out water forming coal.

Some sedimentary rock forms when water evaporates from a substance leaving a layer of compressed rock behind. Rock salt for example forms from residue of salt that remains after evaporation of water from lakes or dried up sea beds.

Sedimentary rock are often visible in layers in the sides of cliffs. Layers of sedimentary rock push up and are exposed by erosion and other forces. Sandstone and limestone are often used for buildings and are useful for carving. Lime can be used for cement, plaster and for treatment in the garden. Coal can be used for fuel when burnt in powering steam turbines in electric power stations.

Igneous rock are those formed from molten rock. Molten rock is magma which upon reaching the Earth's surface is lava. Igneous rock like granite form slowly below the Earth's surface - slow cooling magma produces large crystals which can be easily seen and felt. Other forms like basalt form above the surface when lava cools quickly from a volcano erupting. Deep below the Earth's surface the temperatures are very high. The process of change to rock formation due to high temperatures is called metamorphism forming metamorphic rocks.

The change depends on the type of original rock, the amount of heat and pressure on the rock, and the rate of change taking place. Metamorphic rock can be identified by bands or flat leaf-like layers. These bands are evident in the samples of gneiss. Some common examples of the formation of metamorphic rocks:

Shale (sedimentary)	--> under pressure -->	Slate
Granite (igneous)	--> under pressure -->	Gneiss
Sandstone (sedimentary)	--> mainly heat -->	Quartzite
Limestone (sedimentary)	--> mainly heat -->	Marble

Types of Rock

Igneous	Sedimentary	Metamorphic
granite	conglomerate	slate
pegmatite	breccia	schist
adamellite	sandstone	gneiss
porphyry	tillite	quartzite
aplite	shale	marble
rhyolite	mudstone	amphibolite
rhyodacite	chert	hornfels
pumice	diatomite	phyllite
tuff	limestone
obsidian	dolomite
syenite	coal
diorite	siltstone
gabbro	flint
dolerite	greywacke
trachyte	jasper
andesite
basalt
serpentinite
ignimbrite
kimberlite
granoldiorite

Rock Identification Chart

Igneous Rock Identification [65% of rock]

Sedimentary Rock Identification [7% of rock]

Metamorphic Rock Identification [28% of rock]

Where would you find these rocks?

Igneous	Sedimentary	Metamorphic
basalt - Phillip Island, Berwick, Pakenham	shale - Wellington Rd; Stud Rd cutting	slate - Chewton
scoria - Mt Leura (Camperdown), Mt Eccles	mudstone - Studley Park	schist - Belgrave South
rhyolite - Rocklands Reservoir (Grampians)	siltstone - Kinglake	gneiss - Bindi, Ensay
granite - Arthurs Seat, Strathbogie, Cape Woolamai (Phillip Island)	sandstone - Black Rock, Flowerdale, Mansfield, Grampians	marble - Monumental Mason
granodiorite - Mt Martha, Lysterfield, Harcourt	gypsum - Mildura	hornfels - Lysterfield (Wellington Rd & Summit Rd)
tuff - Mt Leura (Camperdown), Tower Hill (Warrnambool)	limestone - Lilydale, Buchan
	brown coal - Latrobe valley
	black coal - Wanthaggi

Identifying Minerals and Metals

Mineral	Metal	Physical Characteristic
Hematite	Iron	earthy, dull red powder and streaky
Galena	Lead	Metallic, shiny, silvery cubes
Sphalerite	Zinc	Metallic, shiny silver/grey crystals
Cassiterite	Tin	Shiny, black grainy crystals
Chalcophyrite	Copper	Metallic, shiny light yellow
Pyrite	Iron	Metallic, silvery/gold crystals often in cubes
Azurite	Copper	Shiny, dull blue crystals
Malachite	Copper	Shiny, dull green crystals
Bauxite	Aluminium	Earthy, dull, orange pink to light brown spheres
Gold	Gold	Soft golf flakey crystals.

Minerals and Non-Metals

Mineral	Physical Characteristic
Quartz	White to coloured glassy crystals
Calcite	Clear to white crystals, fizzes with hydrochloric acid
Gypsum	White to pink crystals of various shapes
Muscovite	Shiny silver or clear sheets
Biotite	Shiny black sheets
Feldspar	Pink or white crystals

Uses of Minerals

Mineral	Uses in Health, Energy, Communication & Shelter
bauxite	antacids precision surgical equipment containers power lines housing components silver paint
cobalt	animal feed pigments super conductors magnetic alloys
copper	supplements desalination plants wire plumbing roofing
gold	surgical procedures electronics signwriting lettering photography store of wealth heat reflector
zinc	dietary supplements sunscreens sheet metal pipes wire galvanising plumbing
Chromium	stainless and heat resistant steel glass bricks paint ink
lead	radiation for shielding sound proofing glass paint electrical uses TV glass ceramics