FCAT EARTH SCIENCEScience Review

West Broward High School

EARTH SCIENCESC.D.1.4.1 The student knows how climatic patterns on Earth result

from an interplay of many factors (Earth’s topography, its rotation on its axis, solar radiation, the

transfer of heat energy where the atmosphere interfaces with lands and oceans, and wind and ocean currents). AA

Types of LandformsEarth’s topography

- Exploring Earth’s Surface

• There are three main types of landforms: plains, mountains, and plateaus.

Types of LandformsEarth’s topography

- Exploring Earth’s Surface

• A large area of land where the topography is made up of mainly one type of landform is called a landform region.

Mapping Earth’s Topography• Mapmakers use contour lines to represent

elevation, relief, and slope on topographic maps.

- Topographic Maps

Background InformationSPACE & TIME

• Climate is largely a result of Earth’s location with respect from the sun.

• Earth is 93,000,000 mi from the sun.• Seasonal climate changes occur b/c Earth’s

axis (23.5o) of rotation is tilted with respect to the ecliptic path around the sun.

• Northern & Southern Hemispheres each spend 6 months facing the sun directly.

SolsticeEarth’s Orbit

rotation on its axis is the point at which the sun reaches its greatest distance north or

south of the equator. Occurs only two days out of the year.

• Summer SOLSTICE– June 21/22 NH– More hours of day light– SH daylight is shorter.

• Winter SOLSTICE– December 21/22 NH– NH is tilted away from sun.– NH less sunlight– SH daytime is longer.

Angle of the Sun’s RaysEarth’s Orbit

rotation on its axis

• Energy from the sun strikes Earth most directly near the equator. Near the poles, the same amount of energy is spread out over a larger area.

Energy in the Atmospheresolar radiation

• Some sunlight is absorbed or reflected by the atmosphere. The rest passes through to the surface.

Weather Factors- Energy in Earth’s Atmosphere

• When Earth’s surface is heated, it radiates most of the energy back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation. Much of this energy is held by the atmosphere, warming it.

Weather Factors- Global Wind Beltsthe transfer of heat energy where the atmosphere interfaces with lands and

oceans, and wind and ocean currents

• A series of wind belts circles Earth. Between the wind belts are calm areas where air is rising or falling.

Weather patterns result from complex global patterns of wind & pressure.

Westerlies winds that blow from the west in the middle latitudes.

Trade Winds which blow from the east, in the tropics.

Wind are caused by differences in air pressure.

Jet Streamsthe transfer of heat energy where the atmosphere interfaces with lands and oceans,

and wind and ocean currents

• The jet streams are high-speed bands of winds occurring at the top of the troposphere.

Jet Streams control many weather processes, such as storm development.

Coriolis Effectthe transfer of heat energy where the atmosphere interfaces with lands

and oceans, and wind and ocean currents

• As Earth rotates, the Coriolis effect turns winds in the Northern Hemisphere toward the right.

• Explains how the rotation of the Earth propelled the earth's wind to move horizontally, in a wave-like manner from West to East (Except the the Tropical Jet Stream during July and August). The tilt of the earth towards the Sun and water are also very important components of this natural phenomenon.

Weather

Background Information

• Earth’s atmosphere has allowed for the evolution of life on land by burning meteoroids, by having ozone to absorb much of the ultraviolet radiation, & availability of gases like O2 & CO2.

- Layers of the AtmosphereLayers of the Atmosphere

• The atmosphere is divided into four main layers: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the thermosphere.

• The thermosphere is further divided into the ionosphere and the exosphere.

Thunderstorm Formation• A thunderstorm forms when warm, humid air rises rapidly within a

cumulonimbus cloud.

Tornado Formation

• Tornadoes can form when warm, humid air rises rapidly in thick cumulonimbus clouds—the same type of clouds that bring thunderstorms.

Structure of a Hurricane• In a hurricane, air moves rapidly around a low-pressure area called

the eye.

PART IIReview “The Geology of Earth” packet.Highlight vocabulary wordsColor code the different layers of the earth.Describe in detail what the lithosphere

SC.D.1.4.2 The student knows that the solid crust of Earth consists of slow-moving, separate plates that float on a denser, molten layer of Earth and that these plates interact with each other, changing the Earth’s surface in many ways (e.g., forming mountain ranges and rift valleys, causing earthquake and volcanic activity, and forming undersea mountains that can become ocean islands). AA

Earth ~200 million years ago

The Continental Drift Hypothesis

Proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1915.

Supercontinent Pangaea started to break up about 200 million years ago.

Continents "drifted" to their present positions.

Continents "plowed" through the ocean crust.

Continental Drift: EvidenceHow do we know?

Geographic fit of South America and Africa

Fossils match across oceans

Rock types and structures match across oceans

Ancient glacial features

Why do the plates move?

Two related ideas are widely accepted:

Slab pull: Denser, colder plate sinks at subduction zone, pulls rest of plate behind it.

Mantle convection: Hotter mantle material rises beneath divergent boundaries, cooler material sinks at subduction zones.

EARTH SCIENCESC.D.1.4.1 The student knows how climatic patterns on Earth result from an interplay of many factors Recognizes the processes in the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

• Earth's outer shell made up of ~15 major rigid plates ~ 100 km thick

• Plates move relative to each other at speeds of a few cm/ yr • (about the speed at which fingernails grow)

• Plates are rigid in the sense that little (ideally no) deformation occurs within them,

• Most (ideally all) deformation occurs at their boundaries, giving rise to earthquakes, mountain building, volcanism, and other spectacular phenomena.

BASIC CONCEPTS:

THERMAL EVOLUTION OF

OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE

Warm mantle material upwells at spreading centers and then cools

Because rock strength decreases with temperature, cooling material forms strong plates of lithosphere

Cooling oceanic lithosphere moves away from the ridges, eventually reaches subduction zones and descends in downgoing slabs back into the mantle, reheating as it goes

Lithosphere is cold outer boundary layer of thermal convection system involving mantle and core that removes heat from Earth's interior, controlling its evolution

Stein & Wysession 2003

The Theory of Plate TectonicsEarth’s outer shell is broken into thin, curved plates that move laterally atop a weaker underlying layer.

Most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen at plate boundaries.Three types of relative motions between

plates:

“

divergent convergent transform

Tectonic Plates on Modern Earth

What are Earthquakes?• The shaking or trembling caused by the sudden

release of energy• Usually associated with faulting or breaking of rocks• Continuing adjustment of position results in

aftershocks

The Focus and Epicenter of an Earthquake

• The point within Earth where faulting begins is the focus, or hypocenter

• The point directly above the focus on the surface is the epicenter

Where Do Earthquakes Occur and How Often?~80% of all earthquakes occur in the circum-Pacific belt

– most of these result from convergent margin activity– ~15% occur in the Mediterranean-Asiatic belt– remaining 5% occur in the interiors of plates and on

spreading ridge centers– more than 150,000 quakes strong enough to be felt are

recorded each year

Body Waves: P and S waves• Body waves

– P or primary waves• fastest waves• travel through solids,

liquids, or gases• compressional wave,

material movement is in the same direction as wave movement

– S or secondary waves• slower than P waves• travel through solids

only• shear waves - move

material perpendicular to wave movement

Surface Waves: R and L waves

• Surface Waves– Travel just below or along the ground’s surface– Slower than body waves; rolling and side-to-side

movement– Especially damaging to buildings

TSUNAMI - water wave generated by earthquake

NY Times

NOAA

IN DEEP OCEAN tsunami has long wavelength, travels fast, small amplitude - doesn’t affect ships

AS IT APPROACHES SHORE, it slows. Since energy is

conserved, amplitude builds up - very damaging

The Solar System

                                                                                                                  

                          

1.Planets travel counterclockwise on their orbits, as seen from above Earth’s north pole.

2. Astronomical units (AUs) are used to measure distances among the objects in the solar system; 1 AU is about 150 million km, the average distance from Earth to the Sun.

                                                                                                  

F. Comets, asteroids, and meteoroids are other objects orbiting in the solar system.1.A comet is an enormous mass of frozen ice and rock

with a nucleus, coma, and tail.2. Asteroids are rocky objects formed from similar material that formed the planets; the asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.3. Meteoroids come from debris left by colliding asteroids or dispersing comets.

TIDES•Caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun

•Neap tides high high tides

and low low tides

•Spring tides weak tides

ECLIPSES

Solar the moon is between the Earth &

the Sun, casting a shadow on the Earth

Lunar the Earth is between the Moon &

the Sun, casting a shadow on the moon

Earth’s Magnetic Field

Magnetosphere• The area surrounding Earth

that is influenced by this field is the magnetosphere.

• Protects us from harmful radiation from the sun.

• Scientists hypothesize that Earth’s rotation & movement of matter within its core sets up a strong magnetic field in & around earth.

The AURORA = In the Ionosphere (Northern Hemisphere) charged particles spiral long earth’s magnetic field toward earth’s magnetic pole. They collide with atoms in the atmosphere. These

collisions cause ATOMS to emit light.“AURORA BOREALIS”

The MOON

Newton concluded that two factors–gravity and inertia–combine to keep the moon in orbit around Earth.

The moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Phases of the Moon