Ontario Curriculum Grade 11

Internal and Surficial Earth Processes

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:
* identify the processes at work within the Earth (e.g., plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism) and on its surface (e.g., running water, weathering and erosion, mass wasting, glaciation), and describe the role of both types of processes in shaping the Earth’s surface;
* investigate, through the use of models and analysis of information gathered from various sources, the nature of internal and surficial Earth processes, and the ways in which these processes can be measured;
* demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationships between internal and surficial Earth processes (e.g., earthquake activity, volcanic eruptions, floods, erosion) and the ways in which they affect human activity.

Specific Expectations

Understanding Basic Concepts

By the end of this course, students will:
* demonstrate an understanding of the kinds of evidence that Earth scientists use to document lithospheric plate motion (e.g., the corresponding shapes of the coastlines of Africa and South America; fossil evidence);
* distinguish between faults and joints;
* describe the characteristics of the three main types of seismic waves, P-, S-, and L-waves, and explain the different modes of travel, travel times, and types of motion associated with each;
* distinguish between erosion and weathering, and describe the processes and effects of physical, chemical, and biological weathering;
* demonstrate an understanding of the importance of different erosional processes, and describe the types and causes of mass wasting (e.g., landslides) and its critical role in changing the Canadian landscape;
* identify types of sediment transport (e.g., wind, water, glacial), and compare the particle size and shape, degree of sorting, and sedimentary structures resulting from each;
* identify the types of stream load (i.e., solution, suspension, and bedload) and describe how each moves in a stream;
* demonstrate an understanding of the importance of aquifers and of their fragility in terms of contamination and depletion.

Developing Skills of Inquiry and Communication

By the end of this course, students will:
* describe, on the basis of information gathered from print and electronic sources, the various types of possible margins between lithospheric plates (e.g., convergent, divergent, transform, and intraplate activity) and the types of internal Earth processes occurring at each;
* produce diagrams of the following structures, and identify examples of them in maps and photographs: normal, reverse, thrust, and strike-slip (transform) faults; domes and basins; anticlines and synclines;
* investigate and produce a model of each type of seismic wave, using springs and ropes, and describe for each the nature of its propagation and the resulting movement within the rocks through which it is travelling;
* compare qualitative and quantitative methods (e.g., the Mercalli Scale and the Richter Scale) used to measure earthquake intensity and magnitude;
* produce a diagram or model, to scale, of the interior of the Earth in order to differentiate among the layers of the Earth and their characteristics (e.g., use cross-sections to provide the dimensions of crust, mantle, and inner and outer core, and travel-time curves for various seismic waves to provide data on the characteristics of the individual layers);
* design and construct a working model of a seismograph, and explain its use in recording earthquake activity;
* locate the epicentre of an earthquake, given the appropriate seismographic data (e.g., the travel-time curves to three recording stations for a single event);
* design and test methods to control mass wasting;
* relate the characteristics of sediment (e.g., grain size, shape, composition) to the velocity and direction of currents in a beach or stream environment (e.g., examine where sediment is being eroded and deposited in a local beach or river/stream environment);
* investigate and explain the interrelationship among geological maps, cross-sections, and block diagrams, and the ways in which they represent the subsurface structure and/or the geological history of an area.

Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment

By the end of this course, students will:
* describe methods of monitoring and predicting earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions;
* describe and explain how the development of the seismograph has contributed to a better understanding of the internal structure of the Earth;
* identify and describe engineering and technological innovations and adaptations resulting from human activity in areas of permafrost (e.g., pipeline construction, oil and natural gas exploration, residential construction and urbanization);
* identify and describe engineering and technological innovations and adaptations (e.g., in building design, highway construction, emergency services) resulting from the impact of earthquake activity on human populations;
* describe the underlying assumptions and the limitations of predictions of earthquake activity, and assess the implications of such predictions for populations in Canada and around the world;
* identify major areas of tectonic activity in the world (e.g., Japan – convergent margin; Iceland – divergent margin; California – transform fault), drawing on information about the relationship between earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate boundaries (e.g., plot on a world map, for a given time period, the locations of recorded earthquakes and active volcanoes);
* demonstrate an understanding of how erosion and deposition by streams are affected by load, gradient, channel shape, sediment composition, and human activities.