Atmosphere, Tour of CERI, and Exam Study Guide

Tour of CERI and Exam Study Guide

 

During the day, land gets heated by the Sun much quicker than does water. As the land becomes warmer, it heats the air in the atmosphere above it. This causes the air to expand, becoming less dense, and thus creating a low pressure.

---

---

Because water heats up much less quickly, air above the ocean also takes longer to increase in temperature. The result is that a higher pressure is maintained.

With a high pressure above the water and a lower pressure above the land, conditions are perfect for a small breeze to develop. Wind blows from the sea towards the land along the pressure gradient in an attempt to equalize pressure. This is known as a sea breeze.

In the night, land cools down much quicker than does the waters of the ocean. As the land becomes cooler, so does the air above it. This results in air becoming more dense, forming a high pressure, causing winds to blow outward towards the sea. This is known as a land breeze.

Thus, in the day we often see sea breezes, while in the evening we see land breezes in coastal regions.

 

 Tuesday, November 24th the 5th grade classes will walk to CERI to expand our knowledge of earthquakes.The continuing goal of CERI is to provide both scientific and non-scientific information about earthquakes and earthquake preparedness to people in the central and eastern U.S. who could someday be affected by a significant earthquake.

During the Iben Browning episode of 1990, CERI was the main regional source of earthquake information. Filling the information vacuum during the period of intense public concern had a permanent impact on public awareness and understanding of regional earthquake hazards.

 

GROUP 1 Stearnes  930-1030
GROUP 2 Shadow 1215-115
GROUP 3 Cordero 130-230

Friday, November 20th the students will be take home their 2nd quarter exam review sheets. They are due. Friday, December 4th. I will check their work and return them to all the students. The exam will be given December 6th and 7th.

Earthquakes and Green Team Information

 
Earthquakes

Earthquakes can happen along any type of plate boundary. They also occur along faults which are large cracks in the earth’s crust. Most faults are associated with large plate boundaries where violent earthquakes usually occur.

Causes of Earthquakes

• Earthquakes are caused when the tension is released from inside the crust.
• This happens because plates do not move smoothly - sometimes they get stuck.
• When this happens a great deal of pressure builds up.
• Eventually this pressure is released and an earthquake tends to occur.

An earthquake starts deep below the earth’s surface at the focus. 

The focus is the point inside the Earth's crust where the pressure is released.

The epicentre of an earthquake is the position on the earth’s surface directly above its focus.

The jerking movement caused by plates sticking then moving releases built-up pressure inside the Earth's crust, in the form of seismic waves. The waves spread out from the focus.

The strongest waves are found near the centre of the earthquake. This means that the most severe damage caused by an earthquake will happen close to the epicentre.

It is almost impossible to predict when they will occur. The effect of an earthquake depends on the depth of an earthquake as well as its magnitude.

Dear 4th and 5th Grade Families,

The Green Team is about to start up again for this school year. Our Green Team last year was responsible for completing the Sustainability Challenge in partnership with Clean Memphis last year! They started a recycling campaign and conducted energy audits. After the energy audits, students gave the teachers ideas on ways to conserve energy, and we were able to save money and energy with these efforts.

This year, we are aiming to go for gold with the Sustainability Challenge! This entails the Green Team students being active participants and advocates in making Campus School as eco-friendly as possible. Our focus this year will continue to be recycling and energy conservation. However, we are also going to focus on water and air quality. There is no cost to participate in Green Team.

Our club will meet on Mondays this year in Ms. Caldwell's room (Room #103) from 3:00-4:00 or 4:15. We will NOT meet every Monday. We will meet as events/projects are coming up. (Communication for meetings will be via email and always located on Ms. Caldwell's blog.) We realized other after school activities meet on Mondays; however, this was the only day that the teacher organizers could meet due to other school-related obligations.

Our first Green Team meeting will be Monday, November 30 in Ms. Caldwell's room. We will meet after school until 4:15. All pick up will be at half circle drive.

If your child is interested, please fill out all of the information on this Google Form by Tuesday, November 17:

http://goo.gl/forms/WmROoBOq1J

If your child is interested, but cannot attend this first meeting, please still sign up on the Google Form above to stay informed of future meetings.

If you have any questions, please email Ms. Caldwell. lprvette@memphis.edu

Thank you,

L. Caldwell, L. Faulkner, G. Hillhouse, J. Hughes, and L. Virden

Logan Caldwell

Supervising Teacher

Campus School

Geological Features-Volcano/Earthquakes

Geological Features-Volcano/Earthquakes

What is a volcano?
A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur. Gases and rock shoot up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments. Eruptions can cause lateral blasts, lava flows, hot ash flows, mudslides, avalanches, falling ash and floods. Volcano eruptions have been known to knock down entire forests. An erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows and rockfalls.


Click Here to learn more about volcanoes from USGS.

How are volcanoes formed?
Volcanoes are formed when magma from within the Earth's upper mantle works its way to the surface. At the surface, it erupts to form lava flows and ash deposits. Over time as the volcano continues to erupt, it will get bigger and bigger.

What are the different stages of volcanoes?
Scientists have categorized volcanoes into three main categories: active, dormant, and extinct. An active volcano is one which has recently erupted and there is a possibility that it may erupt soon. A dormant volcano is one which has not erupted in a long time but there is a possibility it can erupt in the future. An extinct volcano is one which has erupted thousands of years ago and there’s no possibility of eruption.

Why do volcanoes erupt?
The Earth's crust is made up of huge slabs called plates, which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. These plates sometimes move. The friction causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions near the edges of the plates. The theory that explains this process is called plate tectonics.


What are plate tectonics?
The theory of plate tectonics is a interesting story of continents drifting from place to place breaking apart, colliding, and grinding against each other. The plate tectonic theory is supported by a wide range of evidence that considers the earth's crust and upper mantle to be composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another. The plates are all moving in different directions and at different speeds. Sometimes the plates crash together, pull apart or sideswipe each other. When this happens, it commonly results in earthquakes.

Continental Drift: To see this animation again, just refresh this page! This animation shows you what our planet looked like millions of years ago and what it looks like now! (Graphic Credit: Geology Department at University of California, Berkeley)

Click Here to learn more about plate tectonics and the drifting of our continents.

How many volcanoes are there?
There are more than 1500 active volcanoes on the Earth. We currently know of 80 or more which are under the oceans. Active volcanoes in the U.S. are found mainly in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington.


What are the different types of volcanoes?
Volcanoes are grouped into four types: cinder cones, composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes and lava volcanoes.

Cinder Cones	Cinder cones are circular or oval cones made up of small fragments of lava from a single vent that have been blown into the air, cooled and fallen around the vent.
Composite Volcanoes	Composite volcanoes are steep-sided volcanoes composed of many layers of volcanic rocks, usually made from high-viscosity lava, ash and rock debris. Mt. Rainier and Mount St. Helens are examples of this type of volcano.
Shield Volcanoes	Shield volcanoes are volcanoes shaped like a bowl or shield in the middle with long gentle slopes made by basaltic lava flows. Basalt lava flows from these volcanoes are called flood basalts. The volcanoes that formed the basalt of the Columbia Plateau were shield volcanoes.
Lava Volcanoes	Lava domes are formed when erupting lava is too thick to flow and makes a steep-sided mound as the lava piles up near the volcanic vent. The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 was caused in part by a lava dome shifting to allow explosive gas and steam to escape from inside the mountain.

What is the difference between lava and magma?
Magma is liquid rock inside a volcano. Lava is liquid rock (magma) that flows out of a volcano. Fresh lava glows red hot to white hot as it flows.