Reisers at the Grand Canyon May 18 - 21, 1998

We had just finished studying the earth's layers, and rocks, and were in the middle studying the earth's atmosphere and climates, when we went to the Grand Canyon. We took this field trip a long time ago, but didn't write any eCards. It was our first trip in our Learning Vehicle, so we were still figuring things out. Since it has been a long time, we decided to organize our report into four categories: Geology, Wildlife, Landscape, and Treks & Activities.

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Geology

	This is a neat picture, where you can see layers in the earth's crust, and almost see layers in the atmosphere, at the same time.
	The Earth is more than just the dirt we walk on. It goes from the inner core to the outer atmosphere. This chart shows layers of the Earth are, from top to bottom. The picture is of our "Terrestrial and Atmospheric Dartboard of Science," (Thanks Harrison, for the name!) It was fun to play darts with the Earth's Layers. Atmosphere Exosphere 700 km + Almost outerspace! Thermosphere 80-700 km It is called Thermosphere because it keeps the temperature of the Earth. Mesosphere 50-80 km This is a transitional layer, and is where much of the ionosphere is. This is where the "Auroras" occur, also called the "Northern Lights." Stratosphere 10-50 km Only a few clouds and the some winds up here. Not even airplanes can go this high. Troposphere 0-10 km We live here, in the Troposphere. This is where most of our weather occurs. Planet Crust 8-32 km thick We stand on the crust. Mantle 2900 km thick This is melted rock, or magma. Liquid Core 2250 km thick The liquid core is mostly iron, and is very hot. Solid Core 500 km thick The core is made of solid iron. It is very hot, but solid because of the pressure of the layers above it.
	These are the layers of the Grand Canyon. The oldest one is about 2 billion yrs. old! That is about 1/2 as old as the earth! It is called Vishnu Schist, and is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The youngest one, Kiabab Sandstone is only 250 million yrs. old. It is at the top.

Wildlife

Landscape

Treks & Activities