Earth Science
Internet Scavenger Hunt
A CHALLENGE TO ALL EARTH SCIENCE STUDENTS!
* based upon "The Internet Hunt" by Rick Gates , former Dir. of Library Automation, UCSB,CA and later by Susanne Schissel of the La Jolla Country Day School.
The purpose of this Internet Scavenger Hunt is twofold. I would like to introduce you to some of the topics we will be studying in Earth Science this year and I would also like you to have some practice navigating around on that gigantic collection of information "affectionately" known as the Web.
There is a tremendous amount of information available on World Wide Web sites. There are some fabulous sites (great for research papers and projects), some not-so-great sites (but sometimes interesting to see), and some sites that are neither great nor interesting. The best way to improve your understanding of the Internet, whether you are a beginner or an expert, is to roll up your sleeves, turn on your computer, and explore!
I will guide you on your tour of the Web by asking you and your lab partners to answer ten Earth Science related questions. The answers are all to be found on Web sites that can be accessed through the browser "Explorer." You may browse the Web using Explorer on or you may link directly to some of the sites provided by clicking on their URLs.
Here we go...
- A number will appear in parentheses before each question. This number represents my estimate of how difficult the question will be to answer. The scale is from 1 (easy) to 5 (tough).
- Answer as many questions as you can. Whichever team answers all the questions first will be declared the "winner." In the event that no team answers all questions correctly, the team with the highest point total shall be declared "winner." * This first scavenger hunt is a required assignment for all students! The "prize" for being the winner in this first round is the thrill of victory and adulation of tens of thousands Ferri Middle School eighth graders!
- Along with a written response to each Earth Science question, please also list the URL (web address) that was the source of your final answer. Following the questions is a list of the URLs for the web sites containing helpful information. Click on them to go directly or go into EXPLORER and conduct your own web search.
- Good luck and have fun!
1. (4) Meteorology: 
It’s
Hurricane season for the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic. How many
hurricanes does NOAA forecast for
this year? What is the name of the first official hurricane
of the 2001 Atlantic Hurricane season?
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Answer:
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2. 
(2) Earthquakes:
The Earth is shakin’ everyday. Where can I find the most recent earthquakes
around the world? Name the location of
the most recent earthquake.
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Answer:
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3. (5) Oceanography: What’s up Dude? Where could a totally stoked surfer have found the biggest waves to ride in January 1995? What was the height of these waves? How does the TOPEX/Poseidon help to identify the world’s wave heights?
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4. (2) Material Science: What is the melting point of aluminum?
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5. (5) 
Physical Science: How does a lava lamp
work? Give an “eighth grade” explanation of the process. (Watch the above
animation for help.)
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6. (5) Atmospheric Science: What is the relationship between altitude and air pressure? (In other words, what happens to the air pressure as altitude changes?) What are the temperature (C) and pressure (K-Pa) readings of an airplane flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters?
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7. (1) Earth’s History/Geology: How old is the Earth? What is the age of the oldest rock formations on Earth? Where are these located?
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8. (2)Volcanology: Mount St. Helen’s Erupted on May 18, 1980. Play the video clip then list at least 3 kinds of destruction the eruption caused to the surrounding area.
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9. (5) Geology/Mineralogy: What is the chemical make up of all diamonds? You are on your own for this one. Do a search using your favorite search engine. I like Google, but the choice is yours.
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10. (3) Plate Tectonics: Does the Earth have Acne or is there another explanation for the eruptions occurring at the Breathing Earth web site? Check it out and let us know why the earth is full of little “bumps.” Please be specific and explain what it is you are viewing when you watch the Earth “breath.”
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Click on any of the URLs ("Uniform Resource Locaters" - in other words, the addresses of the web sites!) listed below to go directly to sites that will help you answer the Scavenger Hunt Questions. Read the information carefully. In some cases, the answers will be directly on the web site. In other cases, you may need to search a little through some of the links! Good luck!
- Hurricane Watch http://hurricanes.noaa.gov/
2. Earthquake Information http://www.extremescience.com/real_science_data.htm
3. Oceanography: Waves http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/rice/rice_3.html
4. Periodic Table of Elements http://www-c8.lanl.gov/infosys/html/periodic/periodic-main.html
5. Lava Lamp http://www.howstuffworks.com/question36.htm
6. Atmospheric Sciences http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/atmosi.html
7. Earth’s History http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-age-of-earth.html#howold
8 . Mount St. Helen’s http://www.solarviews.com/cap/volc/ashflow2.htm
9. Free search. Use Google if you like.
10. Breathing Earth http://japan.park.org/Japan/Theme/sware/be/