Earth History 1-2

Some students are testing rock samples they collected.

If you wanted to test these rocks for calcite, what would you put in the bottle and what would you expect to happen if calcite is there?

• Put water in the bottle; if there is calcite, the rock will dissolve.

• Put salt water in the bottle; if there is calcite, the rock will turn a darker color.

• Put acid in the bottle; if there is calcite, the rock will fizz.

• Put liquid soap in the bottle; if there is calcite, the liquid will form a dome on the rock.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

Which size sediments would you most likely find at each location, X, Y, and Z? Explain why.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

A mining company is sending a team to Paradise Canyon to drill down below Kimi Sandstone.

What kind of rock do you think they will find directly under the Kimi Sandstone?

• Sunshine Shale

• New York Limestone

• Purple Sandstone

• American Shale

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Surprise Canyon is located between these two canyons, 20 kilometers away from Vacation

Canyon and 15 kilometers away from Paradise Canyon.

What kind of rock do you think

you might find at the top of Surprise Canyon?

• Sunshine Shale

• New York Limestone

• Purple Sandstone

• American Shale

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Which explanation best describes how a boulder can turn into silt as it moves down a river?

• Water washes over the boulder until it is silt-sized.

• The boulder hits other rocks or objects and breaks apart.

• The boulder moves down the river until it lands in a basin and becomes silt.

• A chemical reaction turns the boulder into silt.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

You find some soil that is mostly made of clay and silt, but no sand. How might this soil have formed?

• Slow-moving water carried the sand downstream and left behind the silt and clay.

• Wind blew all the sand away, leaving behind the silt and clay particles.

• Silt, clay, and organic material settled out of slow-moving water.

• A fast-moving stream washed away all the sand.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

You dig up two soil samples and forget to record where they came from. If you return to the soil samples a week later, what are the characteristics of the soils you would use to match them to the locations where they were collected?

​ ​ ​ (a)   ​ (b)   ​ ​ (c)  

• Kinds of Sediments
• Color of Sample
• Amount of Organic Material
• Amount of moisture
• Volume of Sample

The Colorado River started eroding the Grand Canyon 6 million years ago.

Of the layers shown at location X, which two layers did the Colorado River erode away first?

• Kaibab Formation and Toroweap Formation

• Redwall Limestone and Supai Group

• Bright Angel Shale and Tapeats Sandstone

• All layers are eroded at the same time by the Colorado River.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

If you could return to the Grand Canyon in 1 million years, you might be able to see the Mauv Limestone or the Bright Angel Shale at water level.

What variables would determine how much the river has eroded in that million years?

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2