Earth Science
California Standard
1f, 1g, 1i, 1l, 1j, 1k, 1n,
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Four major areas of Specializations
· Astronomy - Study of objects beyond earth’s atmosphere :
universe,
earth, other planets, and bodies in the universe
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Big Bang Theory : The formation of galaxies, stars, etc.
 · Meteorology - Study of the air that surrounds our planet.
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Meteorologist - person that studies the forces and processes
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that causes the atmosphere to change to produce weather. They
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predict the weather.
 · Geology - Study of the materials that make up earth and the processes that
form and change the weather.
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Geologist - person who interprets earth’s 4.6 billion year history
 · Oceanography - Study of earth’s oceans. Oceans cover 3/4 of the earth.
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Oceanographers - person who studies creatures that inhabits salty water,
measure different physical and chemical properties of the oceans, human
effects.
Earth Science – Blend of Sciences
Climatology - Study of weather patterns over a
long period of time
Paleontology - Study of remains of organisms
that once lived on earth and ancient
environments
Hydrology - Study of water flow on and below
the earth’s system and solution to water pollution
Ecology - Study of habitats
Geochemistry - Study of earth’s composition
and process that change it
Tectonics - Study of the effects of internal
processes on earth’s
Surface (earthquakes and mountain building)
Subspecialties of Earth Science
Four Main Earth’s Systems
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Lithosphere - The rigid outer shell of the planet that in the
crust,
 the solid and the uppermost part of the mantle.
2 kinds of crust:
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Continental Crust - made of granite
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Oceanic Crust - made of basalt. Basalt is denser
than granite
Also contains a partially molten rock layer asthenosphere -it flows like soft plastic
Lithosphere – Rock layer
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Core - under the mantle
2 parts:
1) Outer liquid part
2) Inner part - solid
Core made up of iron and nickel
Water in the earth’s oceans, seas, lakes,
rivers, glaciers and atmosphere
 97% - salt water
 3% Freshwater contained in glaciers,
lakes and rivers, ground water
 3/4 of all fresh water in glaciers/icebergs
and ground water.
Hydrosphere
Blanket of gases that surrounds our planet. It is
Needed for respiration, protection from UV radiation (Ozone layer),
Regulate temperature.
Composition of atmosphere:
78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen
1% (H2O vapor, argon, CO2, other
trace gases)
Atmosphere
Includes all organisms on earth and the
environments in which they live. 7
kilometers above and below the earth’s
surface.
Biosphere
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1.2 Methods of Scientists
The Nature of Scientific Investigations
A Scientific Method - planned, organized approach to solving a problem.
1) Problems defined and research completed
2) Hypothesis - suggested explanation for an observation. Stated
in the form of a question.
3) Experimentation - organized procedure that involves
measurements and observations. Test only one variable or
changeable factor at a time.
· Independent variable - factor manipulated
· Dependent variable - factor that can change if the independent variable is changed
· Control - standard condition used for comparison
4) Analysis and Conclusion - data placed in organized tables:
graphs, tables, and
charts used to format and display data.
Conclusion drawn. If conclusion is contrary to hypothesis,
retesting is needed.
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System International d’ Unites or SI Standard system of units.
Modern version of the metric system. Based
on a decimal system,
Uses the number 10 as the base unit.
1) Length - Base unit — meter. Meter
divided into 100 equal parts called a
centimeter.
1 cm = 100th of a meter
1 millimeter = 1000ths of a meter
1 meter = 100 cm or .01 m = 1 cm
Measurement
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10 mm = 1 centimeter
Long distance = kilometer (km)
1000 m in 1 km
1000ml = 1 liter
I mole is a quantity of a substance. That
quantity varies with the substance.
Example:
1 mole of Carbon= 12 g of Carbon
1 mole of Oxygen = 16 g of Oxygen
100 cg = 1 g or 1 cg = .01 g
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36 inches = 1 yd
12 inches = 1ft
1000mg =1 g
1 mole of any gas = 22.4 liters of that
gas.
I mole of any substance = 6.022 X 10 23
particles
(molecules, ions, atoms, etc.)
More Conversions
2) Weight and Mass - Weight - gravitation
force on an object
Varies with location. Measured in Newton
(N).
Mass - SI unit kilogram (kg). Amount of
matter in an object depends on the number
and kinds of atoms that make up the
object.
Mass does not change with object position.
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Require combination of SI Units
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Area - Amount of surface included with in a set of
boundaries.
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Expresses in square units of length. Ex. Square Meters
(m²)
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Length x Width
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Volume - Amount of space occupied by an object.
V = l x w x h
Si unit - cubic meter = m³
Fluid volume - made in milliliters (ml) or liters (l)
Cubic centimeters (cm³) 1cm³ = 1ml
Area and Volume
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measure of the amount of matter that
occupies a given space.
Density = mass = d = m
Volume
v
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Units = g/cm³ or g/ml or kg/m³
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Density
1) A block of aluminum occupies a volume of 15.0 mL
and weighs 40.5 g. What is its density?
 2) Mercury metal is poured into a graduated cylinder
that holds exactly 22.5 mL. The mercury used to fill
the cylinder weighs 306.0 g. From this information,
calculate the density of mercury.
 3) What is the weight of the ethyl alcohol that exactly
fills a 200.0 mL container? The density of ethyl
alcohol is 0.789 g/mL.
 4) A rectangular block of copper metal weighs 1896
g. The dimensions of the block are 8.4 cm by 5.5 cm
by 4.6 cm. From this data, what is the density of
copper?
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Density Problems
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intervals between 2 events
Atomic clock - most precise measure of
time. SI unit - seconds
60 sec = 1 min
24hrs= 1 day
60 min =1hr
Time
Measures the average vibration of particles that
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make up materials. Measure in degrees with
thermometer.
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Science - Celsius (C) scale
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Room temperature 25° C
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Normal body temperature 37° C
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SI Unit - Kelvin Scale (K) (used to measure very
high temp,
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there are
negative temp values)
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Coldest temperature - absolute zero or O K or –
273°C
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Temperature
Expresses numbers or a multiple and a
power of 10. Ex. 1000 = 1.0 x 10³
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.001 =
1 x 10‾³
Scientific Notation
Lab Reports - Documenting your data, analyzing of data and
general conclusion
Graphs - line graphs
Models - scientific model - is an idea, a system or a mathematical
Expression that is similar to the idea being explained. Models can
change with more data.
Theories and Laws - Theory explanation based on many
Observations during repeated experiments. Law - Basic principle
that describes the behavior of a natural phenomenon.
Communicating in Science