Cycle 1

Prior to this cycle, students have explored how Earth’s surface processes and interior processes drive the cycling of matter, and affect the formation of unique rock and mineral materials on Earth. Additionally students investigated how these geoscience processes distribute minerals on unevenly on Earth.

In this cycle, students will communicate scientific information, using a presentation, that answers the driving question for the module: How can we as citizens use our understanding of Earth processes and resource distribution to make informed decisions about how we consume Earth materials? To begin with students will consider where materials in products originate from, and where they go when we are finished using them. They will revisit their identity maps, and determine a product that is central to their identity. Students will obtain scientific information from multiple resources to determine the minerals necessary to develop their chosen product, as well as the locations on Earth where reserves for each mineral are most abundant. They will develop map models of the locations and use their model to explain the relationship between past and current geoscience processes, and the distribution of minerals on Earth. Choosing one mineral to focus on, students develop a model to explain the energy source and geoscience processes that cause the formation of the mineral. They will analyze and interpret data to identify minerals within their product which are at risk of depletion, based on current consumption rates, consider how the loss of this material would affect their identity, and explain what actions can be changed in order to sustain the minerals use in their product in the future.

This cycle synthesizes the big ideas from concepts 1-4 of the module. Students use their understanding of how matter cycles and energy flows through geoscience processes to draw a relationship between Earth systems and a product essential to their identity. Students explain that minerals are created through geoscience processes on the Earth such as weathering, erosion, deposition and sedimentation, melting, crystallization, and deformation. These geoscience processes cycle matter, and create unique mineral resources over long timescales. Therefore, at current consumption rates, some of Earth’s minerals could be depleted and will no longer be available for use. Recycling products that contain recyclable materials and becoming conscious of our decisions to purchase new products when they are not needed is important to sustain the future of the minerals on Earth. Understanding the life cycle of products helps us to make better decisions about our use and misuse of products on Earth.