Forces and Motions

In my science class we are stating a new unit on forces and motions. I already know a few things about them. They  are kinetic and potential energy.  Kinetic energy would be if you put a ball on a hill and it was rolling down because it has and is using energy. Potential energy is when a ball is at the top of a hill next to the slant so it has energy but it is not using it because it is not moving. I also know that gravity is what can make us float of stay down. In space there is low gravity so we float, on Earth we a quite a bit of gravity but not to much because then we would be scrunched down.  Another thing I learned was that heavy things fall down quicker than light things. I want to learn more about positive and negative energy, how when you spin a bucket of water nothing comes out. I want to learn these by doing some tests, for example, dropping multiple things with multiple weights off a even height.

Earths Inner Structure

 

Throughout the unit I just did I have learned a lot.as you can see. For example, I know know that now the value of rocks can differ all over the place, like geiods are  valuable because they have many minerals on the inside. The things that I learned to support my answer were, the value of most minerals, the amount of crystals in a geiod, their beauty, and that you sell minerals for a higher profit. Our Area of Interaction of the unit was called Environments because minerals do in fact effect the environment. That is because, when you mine it can damage the ground which is part of the environment and minerals are made by the environment not humans. Throughout this unit I think I did quite good. That is because,I understood almost all of the information, I listened, and I took part in all of the activities we did.  I learned a few new skills in this unit such as, how to find out a minerals streak, (Dragging it on a streak plate) mesuring hardness by scratching one mineral on another and the one that got a scratch is the softer one, and how to calculate density.  This unit had many interesting parts in it. The things I found most interesting was learning minerals characteristics, and making the mineral project in which we chose a mineral and made any type of presentation we wanted, and gave all of their characteristics and more. I think the part that was least interesting for me was the mining because , we only learned a bit of it and we really did not do much with it. Next year the things I would change would be; I would maybe do a project like making a miniature model of a  subsurface mine,  try testing how to measure hardness,  table discussions on mining, and Learning a bit more about mining and how it works.

Science disscusion

In my Science class we had a table discussion about ocean minerals. My thoughts while doing this had not been changed at all. That is because we all had the same or very similar answers. I think right once we started doing the discussions it was a bit rough but once we got into it a bit more.

Here is they summery  we wrote at the end of each question.
Why are these minerals so valuable?

We think that the reason minerals are valuable is because they have many uses, and they are hard to get
to and require a lot of money to get to, and we do not know who owns the minerals

Who should have the right to receive them or the profits?

We think that whoever gets them should have the power them, but should barging with other countries
that are poor and cannot afford t mine in the trade for the Oceans minerals. Also that the Ocean does
not belong to anyone, but for example maybe Cleveland want some minerals, and it is a landlocked state
so it gets permits from California to mine in the ocean that borders it. That country has money so they
do not have to make deals, but maybe Iran is poor and is landlocked so they can make a deal with a
country that borders an ocean and in return give them oil, because they are rich in oil.

What are the problems with mining in the Ocean?

Mining for minerals is deep and it costs a lot of money to get down there and if you get down there,
there may not be minerals and then you would have wasted a lot of money and time. It is also risky
because it can be life threatening. With its costs a country can lose a lot of money and then not be able
to gain it back, because there may not have been minerals down there and cannot sell them to gain
more money or even the money they spent on it. That can then put a country in an economical crisis if it
makes the same mistake a few times.

Who owns the Oceans minerals?

We think that no one owns them, and if they can go there they can mine there. Also have to have the
money for it and then the can split the funds. Also that no one owns them because there are no borders
on the oceans.

What are the rights?

We think that the rights are who goes there, mines there, if they have money, and then they can trade
with other countries so that it is available in other countries.

Quartz

      Quartz is one of the most mined mineral in America. To mine them you pull them out of a big hole. Sometimes you need dynamite in this equation. Quartz is surface mining. That means you mine at the surface or very close to it. You can say in one way that it is valuable because it has many uses, but there is so much of them so they are not rare. You use them for; radios, jewelery,  sandpaper, glass,  soap, and many, many more. They can be transparent or opaque.  You cannot say America only depends on quartz because there are many others that we need but they do play a big role in our life.  For all almost all minerals you you export them to get others. I think you should not export quartz the most but you should because quartz is very abundant.

Who Owns the Ocean's Minerals

There are some rich and poor countries as you know. Some can be next to minerals in the ocean but they cannot afford mining so other rich countries just take it all. It is a bit more cheap to mine at the continental shelf, but lower costs a lot more and needs more high tech equipment. I think that now that the minerals should be distributed fairly, not just one taking it all.

In 1994 the treaty that international sea's would stay but they made limits to how much a country could claim. One country could never have a whole entire ocean to itself.An International waterway is just another word for international waters. However the little bit of water in between two bits of land are still counted as international water, because they are so useful. E.E.Z. or exclusive economic zones are extending the right to get minerals offshore.They also made laws not to test nuclear weapons in international waters. In WWII people used the continental shelf as a thing to use as a land grab.

This is the Arctic

Now that there has been so much pollution so the world is heating up the Arctic is starting to melt. In some minds of the greedy that might be a good thing but in my mind I still think that it is horrible. That is because there, there is a 25% untapped oil and natural gas. However it is a underneath the ocean floor. While the Arctic melt the people who want them it is good because it is easier and cheaper. The consequence is that the shore lines  which will push the Arctic way from the resources. There are confluences for mining in water because if you are getting oil it could kill many animals if it spills.

In the Pacific ocean  they have a lot of one in particular. That mineral is salt. Mexico extracts the most salt. That now is very important, because we use it almost every day. We use it to, change the taste of food and to keep the meat fresh there are still more uses. We also extract Lead, Bromine, and Magnesium.

In the Atlantic ocean some of the minerals are calcium and limestone. They  also have chemical grade dolomite.Those are a lot of minerals. People from all different countries would be fighting for them because they all have multiple values in them. For example, you use calcium for chalk and some building.

You might ask, if there are minerals in the ocean who should get them. The way I think it should the happen is that the large countries should help the others then they should split the minerals. To others it is the coastal nations. The right of all minerals under the ocean floor always has to be changed.

In conclusion, all countries should help the others out and share the minerals. The oceans don't belong to anyone. There is only  a bit of water masses you can own for your country. This world is a complicated thing we want to learn more about.
 

Minerals

In my science class we needed to take notes on some questions. First question is, "What are the kinds of rocks" and my reply was Sedimentery, Igneous, and Metamorphic. Sedimentary rock is made when sediments harrdens together.Igneous rock is formed when a volcano erupts and some of the magma gets into something called a magma pool and then it cools, it can also happen outside of the volcano. Metamorphic rock is made when and igneous or sedimentary rock is under high pressure and great heat.  Here is a diagram of the rock cycle

 

A mineral must have all five of these traits, a solid, naturally made occurring, inorganic, fixed composition, and crystalline form. You might think a rock can't be a mineral but they can if they have all five of these traits. Iron is the most precuis mineral because it is vital for humans because we use it to build things like homes. Here are three minerals with a fact: iron which is used to build things, dimond forms at high pressure and heat, aluminum is a light meatal. Here are three rocks and a fact about them, granite which is used a lot in houses, scoria which has many holes, and halite which is made of cubes.

Here are the sites if you need them.