The two entries below, Mohs Hardness Scale and Scotts Bluff Scratch Test Worksheet, are found at the Park Ranger: Geologist Table.
Mohs Hardness Chart
Park Ranger: Geologist Table - Mohs Hardness Chart is used to help determine what type of rock a person has. The geologist at the table explains how to use the chart to complete the Scratch Test worksheet.
The heading at the top of the chart reads Mohs Hardness Scale. This chart includes three columns. The heading of the left column reads “Mineral Name” and lists different minerals. They are arranged by hardness, decreasing from the top to bottom. The middle column reads “Scale Number” and assigns each mineral a scale number starting with 10 at the top and decreasing to 1 at the bottom. The right column reads “Common Objects” and lists common objects and assigns each of them a hardness number. There is also a small illustration of each common object. The first mineral listed is diamond. It is assigned a scale number of 10, meaning it is the hardest of the minerals listed. The next mineral down is corundum. There is a small photo of it, a small round, orange colored mass that looks like a rock. It is assigned a scale number of 9. The next mineral down on the chart is topaz. It is assigned a scale number of 8. In the right column there is an illustration of a masonry drill bit along with text that reads “Masonry Drill Bit (8.5)”. The next mineral listed is quartz. There is a small photo of a white quartz crystal to the left of the text. It is assigned a scale number of 7. The next mineral down on the chart is orthoclase. It is assigned a scale number of 6. In the right column is an illustration of a steel nail and text that reads “steel nail (6.5)”. The next mineral listed on the chart is apatite. It is assigned a scale number of 5. In the right column is an illustration of a multi-tool knife and text that reads “knife/glass plate (5.5)”. The next mineral listed is fluorite. There is a small photo of it, a blue colored crystal. It is assigned a scale number of 4. The next mineral listed down the chart is calcite. It is assigned a scale number of 3. In the right column is an illustration of an American penny coin. Next to the illustration is text that reads “copper penny (3.5)”. The next mineral listed is gypsum. It is assigned a scale number of 2. In the right column is an illustration of a human fingertip. Next to the illustration is text that reads “fingernail (2.5). The last mineral listed is talc. It is assigned a scale number of 1. There is a small photo of talc, a white, chalky looking mass.
Scotts Bluff Scratch Test Worksheet
Park Ranger: Geologist - Scotts Bluff Scratch Test worksheet can be completed orally or on your electronic device. Use the Mohs Hardness Scale to help you complete this task.
Transcript of Scotts Bluff Scratch Test Worksheet The heading at the top of the worksheet reads Scotts Bluff Scratch Test. Below the heading is a chart for participants to fill out. There are five columns on the chart. The headings of each column, left to right are: Mineral/rock, Can you scratch with your fingernail? Can you scratch with a penny? Can you scratch with a steel nail? The heading of the far right column reads Does it scratch the glass plate? In the left column, the row below the heading reads Tan-colored. The next row down in the left column reads #7. The next row down in the left column reads gray-colored. The last row in the left column reads #3. The fields in the rest of the chart have been left blank for participants to fill in. Below the chart are two questions with blank lines to the right of the questions for participants to fill in their answers. Question 1 reads: Which rock or mineral do you think was the hardest? Question 2 reads: Which rock or mineral do you think was the softest?
Park Ranger: Resource Technician
The four entries below, Categorizing Activity, Identification Activity, Plant Names, and Plant Descriptions, are found at the Park Ranger: Resource Technician table.
Plant #1 of 9:
Plant #1 Picture Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #1. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Two images: Left: A medium-size tree grows on a steep slope covered with dry grasses with small spaces of sandy soil visible between them. Needle-shaped leaves mostly grow in bunches toward the ends of thin branches. Thicker branches begin about one third of the way up the tree above the trunk, which is covered with exposed bark. About one fifth of the needles are brown and dead, while the rest are dark green and healthy. Right: A bunch of green needles cluster toward the end of the tree’s thin stem. The cinnamon-brown branches under the needles become light gray exposed bark further from the ends. Immediately under the tree, the ground is covered with snow, but a grassy landscape is visible in the background. Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #1 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa): 1. Ponderosa pines are one of the more commonly seen tree species at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Also known as Western Yellow Pine, ponderosas can grow up to 130 feet tall. As you look at the pinderosa pines on the summit of Scotts Bluff, it's obvious that the ones growing on the bluff do not get that tall. 2. They adapt to arid areas by developing a taproot that can extend up to 6 feet deep into wetter soils and lateral roots that extend up to 150 feet. A large ponderosa can soak up 400 gallons of water per day! 3.Ponderosa pine's adaptations to fire include thick bark; a high, open crown; self-and fire-pruned branches; large, scale protected buds; high foliar moisture content; deep roots; and rapid root growth of seedlings. 4. Large trees size and age can vary greatly depending where they grow, anywhere from 200 to 500 years. For the first 150 or so years, young ponderosas have nearly black bark.
Plant #2 of 9:
Plant #2 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #2. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Two images: Right: Herbaceous branches rise vertically toward the distant blue sky. A dozen upper branches pop out from the bottom of the page. Numerous pinkish-purple blossoms cluster toward each branch tip with their spindly fibrous petals mostly skyward but some spreading like tousled hair. Dark green needle-like leaves about an inch long rise diagonally upward from beneath the blossoms. Down the branch, blossoms decrease while leaves increase in density. Taller grass blades and scattered herbs grow in the background.
Left image: One flowering branch end from the previous image. A brightly speckled moth, wings with small dark and light brown patches against a cream-colored background perches downward on the branch. Its proboscis and antennae mostly hidden from view amongst the petals.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #2 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Dotted gayfeather (Liatris punctata): 1. Dotted gayfeather blooms in late summer and is one of the more common wildflowers you will see blooming in the monument. It is drought-tolerant because of its deep root, sometimes reaching 15 feet deep. It does, however, become less abundant in times of drought. It is also fire-tolerant, able to resprout from its rhizome and disperse its wind-carried seeds to soil cleared of litter by fire. 2. The Lakota pulverized the roots of gayfeather and ate them to improve appetite. For heart pains they powdered the entire plant and made a tea. 3. Its leaves are consumed by deer and rodents will eat the flower buds, seedlings, new leaves and roots. Its flowers attract a variety of native bees and butterflies.
Plant #3 of 9:
Plant #3 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #3. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Two images: Right: From diagonal vantage above a low shrub, long spindly branches reach skyward from its center while several on the periphery spread horizontally before the ends curve skyward as well. The branches have the whitish-gray puffy appearance of small cotton balls ranked along their full length. The shrub lies among a dense background coverage of dried grasses and scattered thin, tall green herbs. Left: A smaller, full shrub grows in a tannish bare expanse of crumbled pebbles, a portion of a dark low shrub fades into the background along the upper edge of the image. Larger cotton ball- like leaves along each branch have dark, obscured foliage vaguely visible among the cotton.
Plant #3 - Prairie/ Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata) 1. As an evergreen, this species is an important winter forage for grazing domestic and wild animals. 2. Depending on the state, it can be anywhere from 300 to 9,000 feet in elevation and can live up to 130 years old. (that's a hardy plant!) 3. Native to the entire western half of the United States and more! (a lot of Canada) 4. Powdered root of winterfat was used by several native American tribes to treat skin conditions such as poison ivy, burns, sores, and boils.
Plant #4 of 9:
Plant #4: Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #4. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Two images: Right: A plant grows amongst a lush green field of thick grass with a tall, whitish-gray undulating and steep set of cliff walls, some shining in the sun while others lie in shadows. The long, stiff dark green leaves, resembling very wide blades of grass, rise from a central point up to one or two feet tall. One flowering stalk rises unseen from the central point and surpasses the leaves in height. Its flowers resemble slightly broken or bent eggshells, mostly white but slightly blended with green. Dead, light gray leaves lie on the ground, still attached at their bases to the central point and their ends forming a rough circle around the plant.
Left: Two plants described above grow next to each other with one slightly behind the other. Each plant has a couple flowering stalks. On each plant, one stalk bears drying flowers toward the bottom and light green capsule-like fruits on the top; the other stalk extends outward dried and dead with only short stems. Grasses and steep cliff walls fill the background scenery.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious, Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #4 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Soapweed Yucca (Yucca glauca): 1. Roots or leaves of the plant were peeled and ground to produce a sudsy pulp. The pulp was mixed with water and used for soap or shampoo. Legend says that washing your hair with yucca shampoo makes the hair strands stronger and may even prevent baldness. (Remember, native plants can not be collected in the park.) 2. Soapweed yucca is one of about 40 to 50 yucca species (Joshua tree is one!) 3. By lightly crushing the leaves you can separate the fibers and braid it into cordage/rope. 4. But be careful! Yucca can be very sharp and pokey.
Plant #5 of 9:
Plant #5 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #5. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Three images: Top left: Multiple spreading oval-shaped flat pads bristle with long, sharp whitish-gray needles. About a dozen pads are surrounded by dried grasses and patches of bare ground. On the top fringe of some pads, a line of short, narrow, dark purple succulent leaves slowly develop. A large flower with bright yellow petals opens at the top of the cactus, the filamentous floral parts face the sky.
Bottom left: This cactus is similar to the plant described above, but it grows next to a clump of tall green grass on one side and bare ground on the other. Two bright yellow flowers, visible from the side, rise from a pad. Several other pads support developing flowers, not yet open.
Right: One smaller, similar cactus dominates the view with only a few pads visible. Two football-shaped reddish-purple fruits rise side by side from one pad. They lack needles, but their small bases are like dots still visible on the skin. The background contains mostly dried grass, but short gray hairy foliage lies visible nearby.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #5 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia): 1. Prickly pear fruit (also called figs or tunas) are covered with needle-like spines. Native American removed these spines by rubbing the fruit in the sand. Today, spines are commonly removed by scrubbing each fruit with a vegetable brush under running water. 2. Prickly pear fruit emerge from cactus nopales (leaves/pads) in the hottest, driest months of the year. They are small and oval in shape, with the largest fruits reaching 5 inches in length. Color ranges from yellowish-green to a deep-red or purple. Most fruits ripen to a deep-red color in late summer. These reddish fruits are generally regarded as the best for eating. 3. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. Jelly or candy made from the cooked fruit is still sold in stores today. 4. But please remember, do not touch! Trust me, you'll regret it.
Plant #6 of 9:
Plant #6 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #6. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Two images: Right: A clumpy low-growing tree stands in the foreground of a mostly bare expanse with soil orange-brown. Little other vegetation occurs here except a distant treeline with scarce detail visible. The clumpy tree covers its hidden trunk and branches with light green foliage. The tiny leaves blend together in a haze of unkempt green.
Left: One individual branch from the above described tree shows the tiny scale-like leaves overlapping and completely covering the skinny branch tips. Down the branches, the smooth brownish-gray bark lies exposed. Present throughout the branch, small round gray balls numerously appear along the branches and leaves.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious, Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #6 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) 1. Rocky Mountain juniper is one of the more common tree species at Scotts Bluff National Monument. It is a small evergreen tree that grows about a foot a year and to heights of around 35 feet tall and can be found in the monument growing on dry, rocky ridges like the summit of Scotts Bluff. Can live up to 250 to 300 years. 2. Rocky Mountain juniper bears bluish-colored, fleshy "berries" that are actually cones, 1/4 inch in diameter, ripening the second season. 3. Many native tribes (like the Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and Sioux) made a tea from juniper leaves and berries. The tea was used as a cure for colds, coughs, fevers, and pneumonia. 4. The berries were also used to season meat.
Plant #7 of 9:
Plant #7 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #7. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Three images: Right: The top half of a palm tree shows against a mostly clear blue sky, only one cloud behind the tree. The dark green grass-like leaf sections, lying side by side, extend from a yellowish central leaf stem up the majority of its length. All the palm leaves arise from the very top of the trunk, the leaf bases covered by a dark brown fibrous mass. The thin gray trunk disappears at the bottom of the image. The very top of another palm tree’s leaves show along the image’s bottom edge.
Top left : Several dozen very tall but skinny palm trees tower above us. No other vegetation appears.
Bottom left: One palm tree towers above us. The palm leaves extend out of the view and shine in a golden light. Most prominently, ten large yellow fruits, the size of oblong bowling balls or large footballs, hang from the base of the palm leaves.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious, Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #7 - Prairie/ Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Coconut Palm: 1. Despite being a tropical tree, the fruit and seed of this plant is eaten and is familiar around the world. These fruits provided ancient people traveling throughout the Pacific Ocean with a food and water source as well as boat building materials (such as the outrigger canoe). 2. Their free-floating fruits are adapted for long-distance dispersal through salt water oceans between islands. They are a regular feature of tropical coastlines around the world. 3. Given their popularity as food and utility for other purposes, this tree is grown in many places as an agricultural crop. Large concentrations of these tree can be seen on plantations where they can be harvested at a large-scale. 4. The tree crown contains about 30 to 40 palm leaves on average with each living about three years. A typical adult tree produces 12 to 16 new leaves per year
Plant #8 of 9:
Plant #8 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #8. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Three images: Top left: Two palm trees grow on the edge of a sizeable body of water, sprouting from the same general spot. Each individual palm leaf connects to the top of the trunk by a very long, stiff green stem. Individual parts of the palm leaf resemble thick grass blades and rise from the bottom of a slightly back curved stem tip, partly fused down below to roughly form a palm shape with fingers. Several dying fruiting stalks remain and emerge from the palm leaf crown. Spindly thin stems grow together in a mass like a light brown fog from a distance. The tree trunks are completely covered down to the ground by the dead light-gray woody leaf bases. Behind and to the left of the trees, a lush green expanse of grasses stretch to the horizon with a few similar palm trees visible in the distance.
Bottom left: A palm tree crown dominates our view from the ground. On this tree, woody leaf bases only extend down a couple feet from the top before the shaved trunk is barely visible at the bottom of the image. A billowy white cloud spreads across the lower left corner, and the blue sky extends throughout the rest of the scene behind the tree crown.
Right: Three palm trees tower over us with a fourth tree’s leaf barely visible along the top right corner. On the tree in the center, the woody leaf bases along the whole length of the trunk except the very top, exposes the rough light brown bark. The fading evening light of the day casts the underside of the trees in muted shadow with the clear pale sky spreading overhead.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious, Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #8 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Cabbage Palm: 1. The terminal bud, occurring at the base of the individual palm leaves, produces new leaves as the old one drop off with age. This bud can be eaten by humans and gives the plant its name. However, harvesting the "heart of palm" region for food means that new leaves cannot be created and the tree cannot survive long. 2. This tree produces clusters of small one-seeded black berries that are consumed and later deposited by a wide variety of animal species. While the foliage of young individuals is relatively tolerant of salt spray when establishing, they cannot survive salt exposure to their roots. Thus, animal transport helps to carry them over salt water bodies to sites with suitable soils. 3. When adult trees are transplanted, it can take at least 8 months for the thin fibrous roots to regrow and allow water absorption to continue. Therefore, only larger trees with sufficient water storage during that time will survive transplanting.
Plant #9 of 9:
Plant #9 - Plant Description
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - This file is the alt text for the picture of Plant #9. Activity - can you identify this plant? (11 choices given at the end.)
Two images: Left: A massive cactus towers over us, reaching heights well over that of any person. This light green cactus possesses narrow ridges an inch or two high that run bottom to crest with grayish-black sharp needles atop each ridge in unbroken lines. The central column of the cactus sprouts five large arms arching toward the sky at their tops; the arms and central column measure the thickness of large tree trunks. Several wisps of clouds float on the edges of the image with an otherwise unbroken blue sky above.
Right: This cactus bears a strong resemblance to the one on the left except it sprouts three stubbier arms about midway up the central column. One arm and the central column of this cactus holds many unopened flower buds at its top, colored green without needles and shaped like upside down tear drops. Several very skinny tree branches with no leaves poke into the bottom left-hand corner of the image, and a cloudless blue sky fills the background.
Now, can you identify this plant? Choices are: Rocky Mountain Juniper, Saguaro Cactus, Cabbage Palm, Coconut Palm, Leafus Plantstemious, Yellow Seavine, Ponderosa Pine, Prickly Pear Cactus, Winterfat, Soapweed Yucca, or Dotted Gayfeather.
Plant #9 - Prairie/Non-Prairie
Park Ranger: Resource Technician - Plant name is given (answer to first activity). Then, facts are given about this plant. Activity - can you determine if this is a prairie or non-prairie plant?
Saguaro cactus: 1. This cactus' habitat is so harsh in terms of high heat and low humidity, most seedlings that reach adulthood spend their first vulnerable years growing under a nurse plant. Nurse plants are usually different species, often shrubs or trees, that shelter the young cacti from environmental extremes. Once reaching maturity, the cacti are very tough and resilient and can survive out in the open. 2. The cactus starts out its life as a single column rising toward the sky. When it is 50 to 70 years old, it typically starts to grow its side arms roughly mid-height on the central stem. 3. While this cactus lacks annual growth rings like many trees have and so cannot be aged directly, scientists estimate that most individuals can live for 150 to 200 years. 4. This cactus can swell with water following rainy conditions. Compared with its size during droughts, it may enlarge by as much as a quarter beyond its original size. 5. Despite having very sharp thorns, many species of animals pollinate the flowers to produce fertilized seeds for future generations.
Park Ranger: Interpreter
The entries below are found at the Park Ranger: Interpreter table.
Scaled Drawing: Paleocaster
Park Ranger: Interpreter table - This is the alt text of 1 of 3 images on this table.
Small, beaver-like, 4-legged rodent measures about 11 inches long and 3 inches tall. Drawing displays fur on the face and tail; its muscles on the neck and stomach; and its bones for the spine and back legs. The animal has long whiskers on a short snout; small, oval eyes; 4 long, sharp claws on each foot; and a cylindrical, bushy tail.
Image: Daemonelix
Park Ranger: Interpreter table - This is the alt text of 1 of 3 photos on this table.
Black & White photo: A man leans on a shovel in front of a cut, dirt hillside a little taller than him. A tightly spiraled corkscrew of dried dirt winds vertically down the entire hillside and ends in a straight, horizontal tube.
Image: Daemonelix & Paleocaster
Park Ranger: Interpreter table - This is the alt text for 1 of 3 images on this table.
Color drawing - 3 small, beaver-like, 4-legged rodents sit on their hind legs on a dirt surface. In front of one of them, and below this surface, a tightly spiraled corkscrew of dried dirt winds vertically down 8 coils and ends in a straight, horizontal tube to the right.
