Name: sophie kellerman Date: 11/11/24

Student Exploration: Weathering

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: abrasion, chemical weathering, clay formation, climate, dissolving, frost wedging, granite,
limestone, mechanical weathering, rusting, sandstone, shale, weathering
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
Compare the two pictures at right. Both pictures show the same kind of
rock, granite.

1. Which rock do you think has been exposed on Earth’s

surface longer?

2. Why do you think so?

it is smoother, indicating that there has been more erosion

and weathering , and there are more cracks in the rock.

Gizmo Warm-up
When rocks are exposed on Earth’s surface, they are gradually broken
down into soil by the actions of rain, ice, wind, and living organisms. This
process is called weathering. In the Weathering Gizmo, you will explore
how weathering takes place.

To begin, select the SIMULATION tab. Notice the selected Rock type is
Granite, a hard, dense rock.

1. Click Play ( ). Wait for about 5,000 simulated years, and click Pause ( ). What do you notice?

there are 43 cubed meters of weathered rock

2. Click Fastplay ( ). Wait for about 50,000 simulated years. What do you notice?

The rock has a different shape and there are 405 cubed meters of weathered rock.

3. Based on your observations, is weathering a fast or slow process?

very very slow

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
● Select the ANIMATION tab. Check that Frost
Types of weathering
wedging is selected.

Introduction: Mechanical weathering occurs when rocks are physically broken or worn down. Chemical
weathering occurs when the minerals in the rock are changed by chemical reactions.
Question: What are the most common ways in which weathering occurs?
1. Observe: Read the text about frost wedging, then click Play.
A. In the process of frost wedging, how does ice cause cracks in rocks to become larger?

it seeps into the cracks and expands making cracks in the ice.

B. Is frost wedging more important in a warm or a cold climate?

cold because the warm climate doesn't get cold enough to have this occur.

2. Observe: Read about and look at the animations for the other major types of weathering: Abrasion,
Pressure release, Dissolving, Clay formation, and Rusting.
A. What are three different ways that rocks can be worn down by abrasion?

rivers carrying sediment, dragging rocks along a mountain, and wind carrying sand.

B. How can a large block of granite form layers like an onion?

the rock can crack

C. What type of rock is affected by dissolving, and what features result?

limestone, underground rivers, caves, sinkholes, etc.

D. How does clay formation affect a rock?

it can cause the rock to crumble as it turns into brittle clay.

E. Which part of a rock will undergo rusting?

the surface.

3. Fill in: Scientists use the terms “oxidation,” “carbonation,” “hydrolysis,” and “exfoliation” for different types of
weathering. Fill in each blank with the appropriate term.

Pressure release: exfoliation Dissolution carbonation

Clay formation: hydrolysis Rusting: oxidation

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4. Observe: Select Other. Read the descriptions of each type of weathering, then match each to its
description below:

A. Weathering from chemicals produced by colonies of algae

b Salt weathering and fungi.

d Heat expansion B. Weathering that occurs when crystals grow.

c Root weathering C. Weathering caused by the growth of trees.

a Lichen growth D. Weathering common in desert climates.

5. Categorize: List all of the types of mechanical weathering you have learned about in the left column of the
table, and all of the types of chemical weathering you have read about in the right column.

Mechanical weathering Chemical weathering

salt weathering lichen growth
heat expansion dissolving
root wedging clay formation
frost wedging rusting
abrasion
pressure release

6. Interpret: Based on the descriptions and images, guess which type of weathering is shown by each of the
images below. Explain each answer.

“Honeycomb” rocks in Spain Stalactites in South Dakota Split rock in Scotland

dissolving because you can see in frost wedging because the

salt weathering because the the demonstration that there are description says it can cause rocks
description says that this form of stalactites in the caves that it to split in two.
erosion can form a honeycomb forms.
pattern.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
● On the Simulation tab, click Reset ( ).
Weathering of
different rocks ● Set the Average temperature to 25 °C and
Precipitation to 250 cm/yr.

Introduction: The Weathering Gizmo lets you explore weathering of four common rocks. Granite is a very
hard rock formed from the crystallization of magma deep underground. Sandstone forms when sand grains
become cemented together. Limestone is formed from ancient corals, shells and skeletons. Shale is formed
from compacted mud.

Question: How does weathering affect different rock types?

1. Observe: Below Rock type, select Granite. Click Fastplay and run a simulation of about 100,000 years.
Click the Tools palette and select Screen shot (📷). Right-click the image, click Copy, and then Paste the
image below. Label this image “Granite.”

📷GRANITE

Look at Weathered rock above the outcrop. How

Describe what you see:
much rock was weathered?

there are trees on the block of granite 2,227 meters cubed

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2. Observe: Click Reset ( ). Repeat the same procedure for Sandstone, Limestone, and Shale. After
50,000 years, take an image of each, and describe your observations below. List the amount of weathered
rock for each type of rock.

📷SANDSTONE

Look at Weathered rock above the outcrop. How

Describe what you see:
much rock was weathered?

a chunk of sandstone with two trees on top 2449 cubic meters

📷LIMESTONE

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 Look at Weathered rock above the outcrop. How
Describe what you see:
much rock was weathered?

5265 cubic meters

five trees and a kite shaped hole in the rock

📷SHALE

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 Look at Weathered rock above the outcrop. How
Describe what you see:
much rock was weathered?

colorful rock with four trees on top 4720 cubic meters

3. Compare: Compare the results of weathering of different landscapes:

A. Which rock types tend to weather into rounded shapes? sandstone and granite

B. Which rock weathers into caves and lumpy hills? limestone

C. Which rock weathers most quickly? limestone

Most slowly? granite

4. Observe: Click Reset. Select Granite and click Fastplay. Run the simulation until you can see large cracks
forming in the rock. (This may take a while, be patient!) Take a snapshot of the resulting outcrop and add it
to your document. Label this image “Granite cracks.”

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 What type of weathering forms these cracks? frost wedging

(Hint: You may need to review the different types of weathering on the ANIMATION tab.)

5. Infer: Some types of weathering only affect certain kinds of rocks. The Types of weathering that apply to
each kind of rock are listed above the outcrop. If a type of weathering does not affect the selected rock, it is
faded.

Select each rock and list the types of weathering that affect it.

Granite: frost wedging, clay formation, other

Sandstone: frost wedging, clay formation, other

Limestone: frost wedging, dissolving, other

Shale: frost wedging, clay formation, other

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*Note: Sandstones are only affected by clay formation when they contain minerals other than quartz.
Sandstones that are pure quartz do not form any clay.

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6. Challenge: Based on the weathering patterns, guess the rock type shown in each photo.

limestone granite

sandstone shale

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity C: ● On the Simulation tab, select Sandstone.
Weathering rates ● Check that Frost wedging, Clay formation, and
Other are all selected.

Introduction: The most important things that determines how quickly a particular rock type weathers is the
climate, or typical weather conditions. Rocks in cool and dry climates weather much differently than rocks in
hot and rainy climates.

Question: How does the climate and rock type affect how quickly a rock weathers?

1. Predict: In each “Climate type” box, Highlight the condition you think will lead to the fastest weathering
for the given weathering type.
Weathering type Climate type
Frost wedging Hot Cold Wet Dry
Clay formation Hot Cold Wet Dry
Dissolving Hot Cold Wet Dry

2. Experiment: Click Return to original settings. Using the Gizmo, test the effect of precipitation on the rate
of weathering by measuring the amount of weathered sandstone in 20,000 years with low and high
precipitation. Be sure to keep all the other variables the same. Describe your results below.

Weathered rock (low precip.) 554 Weathered rock (high precip.) 1060

How does the amount of precipitation affect the amount of weathering?

higher precipitation makes more weathered rock

3. Experiment: Click Reset and Return to original settings. Now test the effect of temperature on
weathering rates. Describe your results below.

Weathered rock (low temp.) 846 Weathered rock (high temp.) 1203

How does the temperature affect the amount of weathering?

higher temp. = more weathered rock

4. Explain: Why do you think the rate of weathering tends to increase at hotter temperatures and higher
amounts of rainfall?

there is more material to wear away the rock

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5. Experiment: Click Return to original settings and select Limestone. Turn off Frost wedging and Other
so that only Dissolving is selected. Using the Gizmo, test the effect of precipitation and temperature on the
rate of dissolving.

Dissolved rock (low precip.) 1141 Dissolved rock (high precip.) 2163

Dissolved rock (low temp.) 1872 Dissolved rock (high temp.) 1585

Summarize your findings:

lower temp and higher precipitation make more dissolved rock

Dissolving occurs more quickly at low temperatures because cold water can dissolve more carbon dioxide
than warm water. The greater the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide, the more acidic the water is and the
faster the rate of dissolving.

6. Experiment: Click Return to original settings and select Shale. Test the effects of temperature on frost
wedging and clay formation. Summarize your findings below. (Hint: Be sure to test just one type of
weathering at a time.)

Effect of temperature on frost wedging: lower temp, more weathered rock

Effect of temperature on clay formation: higher temp, more weathered rock

7. Summarize: ✏️Click on the chart below to summarizes different combinations of temperature and
precipitation.

Based on what you have

learned in this lesson,
DRAG the name of each
weathering type listed Clay
below into the box on the
chart where it would

Frost Dissolv

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