Solid Earth Grade Level Content Expectations

Solid Earth	E3.p1A	Explain the origin of Michigan landforms. Describe and identify surface features using maps and satellite images.
Solid Earth	E3.p1B	Explain how physical and chemical weathering leads to erosion and the formation of soils and sediments.
Solid Earth	E3.p1C	Describe how coastal features are formed by wave erosion and deposition.
Solid Earth	E3.p2A	Identify common rock-forming minerals (quartz, feldspar, biotite, calcite, hornblende).
Solid Earth	E3.p2B	Identify common igneous (granite, basalt, andesite, obsidian, pumice), metamorphic (schist, gneiss, marble, slate, quartzite), and sedimentary (sandstone, limestone, shale, conglomerate) rocks and describe the processes that change one kind of rock to another.
Solid Earth	E3.p3A	Describe geologic, paleontologic, and paleoclimatalogic evidence that indicates Africa and South America were once part of a single continent.
Solid Earth	E3.p3B	Describe the three types of plate boundaries (divergent, convergent, and transform) and geographic features associated with them (e.g., continental rifts and mid-ocean ridges, volcanic and island arcs, deep-sea trenches, transform faults).
Solid Earth	E3.p3C	Describe the three major types of volcanoes (shield volcano, stratovolcano, and cinder cones) and their relationship to the Ring of Fire.
Solid Earth	E3.1A	Discriminate between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and describe the processes that change one kind of rock into another.
Solid Earth	E3.1B	Explain the relationship between the rock cycle and plate tectonics theory in regard to the origins of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
Solid Earth	E3.1c	Explain how the size and shape of grains in a sedimentary rock indicate the environment of formation (including climate) and deposition.
Solid Earth	E3.1d	Explain how the crystal sizes of igneous rocks indicate the rate of cooling and whether the rock is extrusive or intrusive.
Solid Earth	E3.1e	Explain how the texture (foliated, nonfoliated) of metamorphic rock can indicate whether it has experienced regional or contact metamorphism.
Solid Earth	E3.2A	Describe the interior of the Earth (in terms of crust, mantle, and inner and outer cores) and where the magnetic field of the Earth is generated.
Solid Earth	E3.2B	Explain how scientists infer that the Earth has interior layers with discernable properties using patterns of primary (P) and secondary (S) seismic wave arrivals.
Solid Earth	E3.2C	Describe the differences between oceanic and continental crust (including density, age, composition).
Solid Earth	E3.2d	Explain the uncertainties associated with models of the interior of the Earth and how these models are validated.
Solid Earth	E3.3A	Explain how plate tectonics accounts for the features and processes (sea floor spreading, mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, earthquakes and volcanoes, mountain ranges) that occur on or near the Earth’s surface.
Solid Earth	E3.3B	Explain why tectonic plates move using the concept of heat flowing through mantle convection, coupled with the cooling and sinking of aging ocean plates that result from their increased density.
Solid Earth	E3.3C	Describe the motion history of geologic features (e.g., plates, Hawaii) using equations relating rate, time, and distance.
Solid Earth	E3.3d	Distinguish plate boundaries by the pattern of depth and magnitude of earthquakes.
Solid Earth	E3.r3e	Predict the temperature distribution in the lithosphere as a function of distance from the mid-ocean ridge and how it relates to ocean depth. (recommended)
Solid Earth	E3.r3f	Describe how the direction and rate of movement for the North American plate has affected the local climate over the last 600 million years. (recommended)
Solid Earth	E3.4A	Use the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes to locate and determine the types of plate boundaries.
Solid Earth	E3.4B	Describe how the sizes of earthquakes and volcanoes are measured or characterized.
Solid Earth	E3.4C	Describe the effects of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on humans.
Solid Earth	E3.4d	Explain how the chemical composition of magmas relates to plate tectonics and affects the geometry, structure, and explosivity of volcanoes.
Solid Earth	E3.4e	Explain how volcanoes change the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and other Earth systems.
Solid Earth	E3.4f	Explain why fences are offset after an earthquake, using the elastic rebound theory.