Mr. Longoria's Earth Science

In cold climates, where average temperatures stay below freezing, water falls as snow. This snow can build up into thick layers. If the snow does not melt, increasing pressure causes the snow below to form layers of solid ice. If this continues year after year, a glacier may form. Glaciers are accumulations of ice large enough to survive the summer melt. A glacier is a thick mass of ice that may cover an area as small as a baseball field and as large as a continent. In this week's lesson, we will learn how glaciers form and erode the land. We will also describe features caused by glaciers. Homework # 4 : Due Tuesday, March 4, 2009 Textbook: read chapter 15.1, pages 318-321; do section review questions 1-5, page 320. Quiz on relationship of transported particle size to water velocity, Monday, March 2, 2009 Class work will include the completion of " What is a Glacier? ". This work will be counted as an open book quiz. It will be collected Thursday, March 5, 2009.

Broken fragments of weathered rock are called sediments . These sediments are often carried or transported from their place of origin to another location. Erosion is the transportation of sediments most often done by water, wind and glaciers. The force of gravity drives most forms of erosion. For example, a weathered rock on a cliff is pulled by gravity, causing it to fall to the bottom of the cliff. Continued erosion, aided by wind and water, moves the sediment downslope away from the cliff. This week we will focus on the agents of erosion and in particular, the characteristics of a stream or river that affect its ability to erode sediment. Homework # 3 : Due Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Textbook: read pages 280-284. Review book: read pages 85-88; do questions 24-37.