Name: _________________ Hour: _______

Time Travel Surfing

Explore the Tapestry Map website (http://tapestry.usgs.gov) as you answer the questions below to get to know the topography and geology of your country, state, and backyard!

Words in italics below, tell you where to go in the web site for each section. However, you can also get the answers by surfing through the site yourself!

Part 1: Getting to Know the Tapestry Map

This map is a combination of two maps: a topographic map that shows the shape of the Earth's surface and a geologic map that shows the age of rocks exposed at the Earth’s surface.

Start at: http://tapestry.usgs.gov
Click on "The Two Maps"
Then click on the "Topographic Map"

This type of map is called a shaded relief map. It looks somewhat like someone took a photograph of the country from space but the map was actually made using computers. It shows the shape of the land surface.

1. There are

__ Mountains
__ Hills
__ Flat plains
__ Coastlines
In my part of the country. (Check the boxes of those things that occur where you live.)

2. Generally, my part of the country is

__ More mountainous
__ More flat
Than most other parts of the country. (Check the box or boxes that makes the statement true.)

Click on "Back to The Two Maps"
Then click on the "Geologic Map"

This type of map shows the age of rocks exposed at or near the surface of the land in different colors. Rocks of different ages are listed in different colors.

4. What colors are the older rocks? _________________________

5. What colors are the younger rocks? _________________________

Use this map to answer the following questions. An appropriate answer might be something like Southeast, or Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, etc.

5. The part of the country that has the oldest rocks is: _____________

6. The part of the country that has the youngest rocks is: ____________

Part 2: My State

Start at: http://tapestry.usgs.gov/Default.html
Click on "Boundaries"
Then click on "State Boundaries"

Use this map to answer the following questions.

7. The state with the oldest rocks is: ______________

8. The state with the youngest rocks is: _____________

Choose your state! Click on it to see more detail and then answer the following questions:

9. The rocks in my state come from several different time periods including:

 

 

 

10. There are no rocks exposed at the surface in my state from the following time periods:

 

 

 

11. The rocks under my house are probably from the time period called: ____________

(It is colored _____________ on the map.)

12. The rocks under my house are between ____________ and ___________ years old (approximately). (Click on the color in the key and read about when those rocks formed.)

13. Rocks of the same age as those that are found under my house are found in other parts of the country too. They are found in these parts of the country too (Check boxes that match!):

__ Southeast
__ Southwest
__ Northwest
__ Northeast
__ North central
__ South central

14. When they formed long ago, the world was a bit different. This is what was going on:

 

 

 

15. I can estimate where the capital city of my state would be located in the tapestry map and the rocks under my state’s capital city are probably from a time period called: ___________

16. That time period is

__ Younger than
__ Older than
__ The same age as
the time when the rocks under my house were formed. (Check the box that makes the statement true.)

Part 3: Where I'd like to live someday...

17. Someday I might like to live in ______________ (choose a state)

The rocks there are

__ Younger than
__ Older than
__ The same age as
the rocks under my current house. (Check the box that makes the statement true.)

18. The rocks in that state come from several different time periods including:

 

 

 

19. There are no rocks exposed at the surface of that state from the following time periods:

 

 

 

20. Generally, that part of the country is

__ More mountainous
__ More flat
than where I live now. (Check the box that makes the statement true.)

Click on "Tapestry Main Page" in the upper left
Then click on "Description of Features"

21. There are some interesting features in this part of the country. One of these features is called: ______________________

22. This is why it is there:

 

 

 


Finished all the questions? Try the puzzle of regions at http://tapestry.usgs.gov/puzzle/default.html


The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://windows2universe.org/ from the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA). The Website was developed in part with the support of UCAR and NCAR, where it resided from 2000 - 2010. © 2010 National Earth Science Teachers Association. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of NESTA. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer.