The Earth and its place in the Universe.

A title which promises a lot! This book introduces basic geology, and the sections are:

• The view from the Earth.
• Exploring the Universe.
• Newton's laws.
• The Solar System.
• The Earth's surface.
• Earthquakes.
• Volcanic activity.
• How rocks are formed.
• The Earth's interior.
• Continental drift: a theory for the Earth?
• Sea-floor spreading.
• The theory of plate techtonics.
• Processes at plate boundaries.
• Why do plates move?
• Plate techtonics and Earth history.
• The rock cycle.
• The biosphere.

This block is timed to cover 4 weeks of the course, and there is plenty to do, much of it very interesting. The practical kit is required for some activities in the mid section of the Block, and there are a number of absorbing DVD activities to do.

I really enjoyed the work in this Block, as I am especially interested in how the Earth is formed and why volcanoes and earthquakes happen.

TMA

The TMA again consisted of four questions. Questions 1 and 2 were calculation-based, question 2 included drawing a graph (you must do this by hand, not on your computer, unless you have very good reasons). Question 3 was descriptive, as was question 4. Again, not too difficult if you have covered the Block properly and done all the DVD activities.

On to Block 4.