Minerals
1. Mineral: naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a definite chemical composition and
structure.
a. Naturally occurring- not man made
b. Inorganic- doesn’t have part of living or once living things
c. Solid- has definite shape and volume
d. Chemical composition- each mineral has their own special recipe that makes them
unique
e. Structure- each mineral has a crystal structure.
2 & 3. Hardness: Moh’s hardness scale- tests the hardness of each rock 1 being the softest
(talc) and 10 being the hardest (diamond)
Color: this is observed
Streak: the color of a mineral’s powder. Drag the mineral across a ceramic glass to
look at the mineral powder. Only will leave a streak color if it is soft enough.
Luster: how a mineral reflects light from its surface
Density: the mass in a given space (always stays the same no matter what the size)
Cleavage: how easily a mineral splits along a flat surface.
Fracture: how a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way.
Rocks
1. Rock: the material that forms Earth’s hard surface. They are made up of minerals.
2. Igneous Rocks form from the cooling of molten rock- either magma below the surface
or lava at the surface.
3. Intrusive- formed when magma hardened beneath Earth’s surface – coarse or large
grains.
Extrusive_ formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface- fine grained or glassy
4. Chemical- formed when a solution is evaporated
Clastic- formed from fragments of other rocks
Organic- formed from parts of once living animal (fossils, shells)
5. Foliated- banded minerals
Non-foliated- mineral are distributed throughout the rock.
6. Intrusive- formed when magma hardened beneath Earth’s surface – coarse or large
grains.
Extrusive_ formed from lava that erupted onto Earth’s surface- fine grained or glassy
7. Cementation- minerals get dissolved by water, they act as a glue to keep the rock
fragments together.
Compaction- the pressure from the layers upon pushing on the rock below
8. Foliated- banded minerals
Non-foliated- mineral are distributed throughout the rock.
9. The rock cycle is continuously changing from one type of rock to another.
Layers of the Earth/Continental Drift
1. Crust: the layer of rock that forms Earth’s outer skin
Mantle: layer of hot rock
Lithosphere: part of crust and mantle together form a rigid layer.
Asthenosphere: the soft layer of the mantle in which the lithosphere floats.
Outer core: layer of molten metal that surrounds the inner core.
Inner core: a dense ball of solid metal.
2. Continental Drift Theory – all the continents had once been joined together in a single
landmass and have since drifted apart. By Wegener
3. Pangaea- the supercontinent.
4. Convection currents in the mantle cause the plates to move. The heating and cooling of
the fluid, changes in the fluid’s density and the force of gravity combine to set convection
currents in motion.
5. Lithosphere: part of crust and mantle together form a rigid layer.
Asthenosphere: the soft layer of the mantle in which the lithosphere floats.
6. Subduction: when one plate sinks beneath another. It will be the plate that is denser
than the other.
7. Divergent boundary; occurs where plates move apart. Most divergent boundaries are
found in the ocean. As plates move apart, new crust is built, forming mid-ocean ridges and
rift valleys.
Convergent boundary: occurs where plates push together. Crust is destroyed where plates
subduct. It is folded where plates collide.
Continental-continental collision: where 2 plates carrying continental crust push
together. Both crust are the same density, neither plate can sink beneath the other. This
creates mountain ranges.
Oceanic-oceanic subduction- where one plate with oceanic crust sinks or subducts
under another plate with oceanic crust. The older plate is colder and denser than the
younger plate so therefore it will subduct. Deep ocean trenches and island arc will form
here.
Oceanic-Continental Subduction- where ocean crust sinks under continental crust.
The oceanic crust is colder and denser than continental crust. At these sites deep-ocean
trenches form as well as coastal mountains.
Transform boundary; occurs where the plates scrape past each other. Plates scrape
horizontally past each other. Crust is neither formed nor destroyed.
8. Sea floor Spreading: forms rift valleys. This is where the plates move apart. Rising
magma fills the cracks, and the rock cools. As more magma flows into the crack the rock
splits, is pushed aside and produces ridges on either side of the rift valley.
Earthquakes
1. Earthquake: the shaking and trembling that result from the movement of rock
beneath Earth’s surface.
2. Seismic waves carry the energy of the earthquake away from the focus, through
Earth’s interior and across the surface. There are 3 categories of seismic waves; pwaves, s-waves, and surface waves.
3. The 1st to arrive are the primary waves, or p-waves. P-waves are earthquake waves
that compress and expand the ground like an accordion. S-waves or secondary waves
are earthquake waves that vibrate from side to side as well as up and down. Surface
waves move more slowly than p-waves and s-waves, but they can produce severe
ground movements. Some surface waves make the ground roll like ocean waves.
4. Focus; the point beneath the Earth’s surface where rock that is under stress breaks,
triggering an earthquake
Epicenter: the point directly above the focus on the surface
Fault: is a break in the crust where slabs of crust slip past each other.
5. Hazards of earthquakes; shaking of the earth, power lines fall, gas line burst, fires,
and building falling.
6. To determine where an earthquake occurred you need to find the difference in the
arrival of p-waves and s-waves from 3 different stations. Use the chart to determine
the distance around the station center. Draw a circle around the station center. Where
the 3 circles meet is where the earthquake occurred.
Volcanoes
1. Shield Volcano; thin layers of lava pours out of a vent and hardens on top of a
previous layer. The lava flows gradually build a wide, gently sloping mountain.
Form from a hot spot. Quiet eruptions.
Cinder Cone: when cinders erupt explosively from a volcanic vent, they pile up
around the vent, forming a cone shaped hill.
Composite: lava flow alternates with layers of ash, cinders, and bombs, which has
both quiet and explosive eruptions. Tall cone shaped mountain.
2. Shield- quiet
Cinder cone-explosive
Composite- quiet and explosive
3. Most volcanoes occur along diverging plate boundaries, such as mid-ocean ridge
or in subduction zones around the edge of oceans. Some volcanoes can form at
hot spots.
4. High in silica: very thick, light colored, lower in temperature, cause explosive
eruption
Low in silica: thin, dark colored, hotter in temperature, cause quiet eruptions
5. Hot spring form when a body of water is heated up from magma. It makes it way
to the surface through a crack in the rock.
6. Hazards of volcanoes lava, pyroclastic flow, fire, gases
Weathering and Erosion
1. Mechanical/Physical weathering: the breakdown of rock into smaller pieces of the
same material without any change in its composition
Chemical weathering: the breakdown or decomposition of rock that takes place when
minerals change through chemical processes. The agents of chemical weathering are
water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and acid rain.
2. The most important factors that determine the rate at which weathering occurs are
the type of rock and climate.
a. Climate- wet climates allow weathering to occur faster. Chemical in hotter
temperatures and mechanical/physical in colder temperatures.
b. Rock type the softer the rock such as Sedimentary the easier the breakdown the
harder the rock such as metamorphic the hard it is to breakdown.
3. Release of pressure- as erosion removes material from the surface of a mass of rock;
pressure on the rock below is reduced. This release of pressure causes the outside of
the rock to crack and flake off like the layer of on onion.
Ice wedging- when water freezes in cracks of rock, it expands and makes the crack
bigger.
Plant growth- root of trees and other plants enter cracks in rocks. As the root grows
the force the crack apart.
Carbon dioxide- can mix with water and produce a weak acid which and destroy
rocks.
Water- will erode rock.
Abrasion- sand and other rock particles that carried by wind, water, or ice can wear
away exposed rock surfaces like sandpaper on wood.
Animal action- animals that burrow in the ground loosen and break apart rocks in the
soil.
4. Weathering: The process by which natural forces break down rocks.
Erosion: The process in which sediment is picked up and moved from one place to
another.
Deposition: the process in which transported sediment is laid down.
5. Soil is a mixture of four material; weathered rock particles, organic matter, water, and
air. Soil that forms in an area will depend on a number of factors which include: the
kind of rock, the area’s climate, or overall weather pattern over time, the landforms in
the area, such as mountains and valleys, the plant coverage, the animals and other
organisms in the area, and time.
6. All mass movement/mass wasting is due to gravity.
a. Slump- a mass of rock and soil that suddenly slips down a slope in one large
mass.
b. Creep- the very slow downhill movement of rock and soil. Can’t see happened,
it occurs over a period of time.
c. Rockslide/rock fall- individual blocks of rock drop suddenly and fall freely down
a cliff or steep mountain. Large mass of rock slides down the hill or mountain
as a unit.
d. Mudflow/mudslide- a mixture of rock, soil, and plant.
7. Moving water is the major agent of erosion that shaped Earth’s land surface. A river
creates valleys, waterfalls, floodplains, meanders, and oxbow lakes.
8. The 2 processes by which glaciers erode the land are plucking and abrasion. Plucking
picks up rocks by freezing to the bottom of the glacier.
Weather
1. Atmosphere- the layer of gases that surrounds the planet.
a. Oxygen=21%
b. Nitrogen =78%
c. Other gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, helium, methane=1%
Earth’s atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and
many other gases, as well as particles of liquids and solids
2. Air has pressure because it has mass. Dense, cool, air exerts more pressure than less
dense warm air. The result of weight of a column of air pushing down on an area.
More pressure at the bottom of a mountain than on the top.
3. A barometer is used to measure air pressure.
4. There is more air pressure near sea level because there is more air pushing down on
you. There isles air pressure on top of a mountain because you have less air pushing
down on you.
5. There are 4 main layers of the atmosphere that are classified according to changes in
temperature.
a. Troposphere- where weather occurs, layer that we live in.
b. Stratosphere- where you would find the ozone
c. Mesosphere- where meteoroids burn up
d. Thermosphere
6. The ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet radiation. 3 atoms of oxygen. It absorbs energy
from the sun; the energy is converted into heat, warming the air.
7. Heat is transferred by radiation conduction, and convection.
a. Radiation- direct transfer of heat by electromagnetic waves.
b. Conduction- direct transfer of heat from one substance to another substance
that it is touching.
c. Convection- transfer of heat by the movement of a fluid (gas or liquid)
8. Winds are caused by a difference in air pressure. The difference in air pressure is
caused by unequal heating of the atmosphere.
9. Cold air masses tend to be denser and will sink.
10.
Local winds are caused by unequal heating of Earth’s surface within a small
area.
a. Sea breezes- a wind that blows from a lake or ocean onto land. Daytime
b. Land breeze – the flow of air from land to a body of water. Nighttime
Global winds- Winds that blow steadily from a specific direction over long
distances. Created by unequal heating of Earth’s surface.
a. Trade winds
b. Prevailing westerlies
c. Polar Easterlies
11.
Coriolis Effect – the way the earth’s rotation makes the winds curve. Northern
hemisphere winds gradually turn toward the right. In the southern hemisphere winds
gradually curve left.
12.
Cumulus- looks like fluffy rounded piles of cotton. Mean heap or mass. Usually
indicate fair weather. They grow in height.
Stratus – forms in flat layers usually covers the entire sky. May produce drizzle, rain,
snow. Low level clouds.
Cirrus – Wispy, feathery clouds. Form at high level in the atmosphere. Mode mostly
of ice crystals.
13.
Maritime Tropical – warm, humid air masses form over oceans near the tropics.
In the summer it brings hot, humid weather. In winter, can bring heavy rain or snow.
Maritime Polar – cool, humid air masses form over the icy cold North Pacific and North
Atlantic oceans.
Continental Tropical – hot, dry air masses form only in summer over dry areas of the
southwest and Northern Mexico.
Continental Polar – large polar air masses form over central and northern Canada and
Alaska. They bring cool or cold air. The masses can form near the Arctic Circle and
can bring bitterly cold weather with very low humidity.
14.
Thunderstorms form within large cumulonimbus clouds. They form on hot
humid afternoons in spring and summer.
15.
The seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis as Earth travels around the
sun.
16.
Climate- refers to the average year after year conditions of temperature,
precipitation, winds and clouds in an area. 2 main factors of determining the climate
of a region is temperature and precipitation. Factors that affect temperature latitudelocations farther from the equator are cooler than climates of areas closer to the
equator. Altitude – as you increase in altitude you decrease in temperature.
Distance from a large body of water- winds from the water can decrease temp.
Ocean currents- currents on the east coast get warm currents: currents on the west
coast get cold currents.
Space
1. Earth’s rotation on its axis causes day and night. Its cycle is about 24 hours. One
complete revolution around the sun is called 1 year.
The moon revolves around earth which takes about 27.3 days. It also rotates on its
axis once every 27.3 days. A “day” and a “year” are the same length on the moon.
2. Earth rotating on its axis causes day and night. The cause of seasons is because of
the tilt of Earth’s axis.
3. Earth is tilted 23.5degrees. In the Northern hemisphere in June the tilt is toward the
sun and in December the tilt is away from the sun. 1/2 of the year neither hemisphere
is tilted toward the sun.
4. The moon is about ¼ the size of earth.
5. Tides occur mainly because of the differences in how much the moon pulls on the
different parts of Earth.
6. Solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and blocking the
sunlight from reaching Earth.
Lunar eclipse occurs at a full moon when earth is directly between the moon and the
sun.
7. Theory of the moon = about 4.5 billion years ago, an object as large as Mars collided
with Earth. Material from the object and Earth’s outer layer was thrown into orbit.
This material eventually combined to form the moon.
8. The sun’s energy comes from nuclear fusion- hydrogen atoms combine to form
helium.
9. There is enough hydrogen to fuel the sun for 10 billion years. The sun is now about 5
billion years old.
10.
The four inner planets are small and have rocky surfaces known as terrestrial
planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
The four outer planets are much larger than Earth and do not have solid surfaces.
They are known as gas planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
11.
Mercury- closest to the sun.
Venus – similar to size of earth. Rotates so slowly that day is longer than its year. It
atmosphere is denser than other planets
Earth- covered with ~71% water
Mars- red planet, has seasons, 2 small moons
Jupiter- most massive planet, giant red spot, 17 moons
Saturn- rings made of chunks of ice and rock
Uranus- looks blue because of methane in atmosphere; rotates on its side
Neptune- 30 times Earth’s distance from sun, atmosphere contains visible clouds,
great dark spot, and 8 moons
12.
The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter
13.
Meteoroids- chunk of rock pr dust in space they usually come from comets or
asteroids.
Meteor- streak of light in sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth’s
atmosphere.
Meteorite – a meteoroid that has hit Earth’s surface.
Comet – chunks of ice and dust whose orbits are usually very long, narrow ellipses.
14.
Light year- the distance that light travels in one year = 9.5 billion million
kilometers.
15.
The main characteristics used to classify stars are size, temperature, and
brightness.
16.
Blue-white- 15,000 digress Celsius
Blue – 10,000 degrees Celsius
White – 5, 500 degrees Celsius
Red – 3,200 degrees Celsius
17.
Hertz sprung-Russell- a graph relating the temperature and brightness of stars.
Most stars form the main sequences where surface temperature increases as
brightness increases. Supergiant and giants are cool but bright. White dwarfs are not
bright, but are hot.
18.
How long a star lives depends on how much mass it has. All stars begin their
lives as part of nebulas. A star is born when the contracting gas and dust become so
hot that nuclear fusion starts. When a star runs out of fuel it becomes a white dwarf,
neutron star, or a black hole.
19.
Supernova- the explosions of a dying giant or super giant star.
Black hole – the remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small
volume by the force of gravity.
White dwarf- the remaining hot core of a star after its outer layers have
expanded and drifted out into space.
Neutron star – a tiny star that remains after a supernova explosion.
20.
An “AU” astronomical unit is the distance between the Earth and the sun.
21.
The Milky Way galaxy is a spiral shaped galaxy.
Water and Oceans

percentage of fresh and salt water on earth
1. Salt water =97%
Freshwater =3%
Break up of freshwater
d. Ice=76%
e. Shallow groundwater=12%
f. Deep groundwater=11%
g. Rivers and lakes=0.34%
h. Water vapor =0.037%

Water are the parts of the water cycle
2. Evaporation – water molecules at the surface are liquid they absorb enough energy to
change to gas.
Condensation – water vapor cools and condenses into liquid water. Condensed water
droplets clump together around tiny dust particles in the air, forming clouds.
Precipitation- water that falls to Earth as rain, snow, hail, or sleet.

What causes surface waves
3. Surface currents, which affect water to a depth of several hundred meters, are driven
mainly by winds.

The different types of currents
4. Surface currents
a. On the east coast there are warm currents
b. On the west coast there are cold currents

How do currents affect climate
5. Surface currents, it warms or cools the air above it, influencing the climate of the land
near the coast.

El Niño
6. A disturbance of wind patterns and ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean that causes
temporary climate changes in many parts of the world.