WHAT IS THE EARTH MADE OF?

CAN DESCRIBE DIFFERENT WAYS *

ELEMENTS:

Mostly: oxygen O, Silicon Si, Iron Fe, Magnesium Mg, Aluminum Al, Calcium Ca, Sodium Na, Potassium K

MINERALS:

CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS WITH DIFFERENT ATOMIC STRUCTURES

SAME CHEMICAL COMPOSITION CAN EXIST IN DIFFERENT STRUCTURES OR “PHASES” DEPENDING ON TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE

ROCKS:

ASSEMBLAGES OF MINERALS

DIFFERENT ROCKS RESULT FROM DIFFERENT TECTONIC SETTINGS (volcanoes, etc) AND THUS REFLECT HOW EARTH EVOLVES

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* Humans can be viewed as elements (mostly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen); molecules (DNA, protein, etc); or organs (skin, bones, etc.) At organ level these aren’t much different from many other species (bears, etc) – at molecular level they aren’t even much different from worms, etc…