STR Micro-Lesson: To See a World
(click here to see the full image, and other
image of sand)
Question
Look closely enough at this object, and you could better understand a million years of earth's history; closer still, and you could learn something about the history of the universe. What is it?
Answer
This grain of sand (from a beach in Ystad, Sweden) reflects in its micro-crystalline composition and shape something of the geologic history of its region, on a time scale of millions of years. But its atoms were born in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and according to current theory its sub-atomic particles were created in the first few moments of the Big Bang, nearly 14 billion years ago.
Of course it's not likely that William Blake, author of "To see a world in a grain of sand", was thinking in those terms when he wrote that line in Auguries of Innocence roughly two centuries ago. Still, the idea that what you see when you look at something depends on how you look at it is shared by great authors and great scientists, and is an important lesson for students who aspire to be either--or both.
Micro-Lesson* Plan
Topic: Erosion and Deposition
Download the image above and show it to your class (using a projector or a color printout). Ask the question just below the image. You may wish to give hints.
Once you have elicited or presented the answer, display the larger set of images of sand from different locations (accessible by clicking where indicated just below the image above). Ask students to spend a few minutes comparing them, and making notes about how they seem to be similar or different from each other.
Share out some of the answers, and focus the discussion on the idea that the characteristics of any particular kind of sand reflect where it comes from, but in all cases the sand on a beach is the product of the processes of erosion and deposition. From there you can move on into the topic of weathering, watersheds, geology, sediment transport processes, or other related earth science concepts.
These links may be helpful:
California Coastal Sediment Master Plan
Glossary of Terms (from UNESCO)
More…
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Comments?
Let us know what you think of this lesson idea, or if you have suggestions for more STR Micro-lessons.
*STR Micro-Lessons™ are designed as "plug-ins" to support and augment standards-based science teaching and learning. For complete lessons using the Scope on a Rope handheld digital microscope, see the STR Teacher Resources page.
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