Earth/Environmental Science
Unit: Introduction to Earth Science
Big Ideas:
How does matter move through the systems of Earth?
How is energy stored and transferred through the systems of Earth?
How does density affect the systems of Earth?
Learning Targets:
o I can understand and explain laboratory safety rules.
o I can identify the branches of Earth Science.
o I can understand experimental design.
o I can define and demonstrate how to determine density.
Essential Vocabulary:
 Earth Science
 Environmental Science
 Geology
 Meteorology
 Oceanography
 Astronomy
 Hydrosphere
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Lithosphere
Biosphere
Observation
Hypothesis
Theory
Law
Experiment
Assignments
Assignment Name
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Data
Conclusion
Variable
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Control Variable
Grade/ Comments
Notebook Check Grade
Writing Prompts:
1. Which branch(es) of Earth science is/are most relevant to human life? What sorts of discoveries might
be made in this branch that could help sustain human life in the future?
2. Why is it important to study each branch of Earth science? What might be the repercussions of studying
only a couple of branches?
3. Do the branches of Earth science overlap? Is it important for the branches to be independent of each
other?
4. An important step of the scientific method is to do background research. During this step, what should
you research before you begin the experiment?
5. Philosopher Robert Pirsig said that the scientific method is good for testing the truth of what you think
you know, but it can't tell you where you ought to go. What do you think Pirsig was trying to say? What
can you do after testing a hypothesis? What happens if your hypothesis is wrong?
Independent Practice:
1. A scientific idea that is well tested and widely accepted by the scientific community is called a scientific
_____.
2. _____ is the amount of space on object takes up.
3. Which branch of Earth Science is the study of weather and climate?
4. List the Scientific Method in correct order?
5. Describe ways that humans have affected the Earth.
6. Earth’s four major spheres are the ____.
7. What are the main areas of Earth Science?
8. What are the three main parts of the geosphere?
9. A preliminary untested explanation that tries to explain how or why things happen in the manner
observed is a scientific _____.
10. Which of Earth’s spheres includes the oceans, groundwater, lakes, and glaciers?
11. What is the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather and climate?
12. Explain the process of finding the volume of a block?
13. Explain the process of finding the volume of a rock?
14. Explain the process of finding the volume of a liquid?
15. Which measurement type you would make that finds the distance between L.A. and New York?
16. The ______variable is the factor you change.
17. The system of knowledge and methods used to find that knowledge is known as ______.
18. Earth can be divided into four major spheres: the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the ________, and the
biosphere
19. _____ is how much matter is in an object.
20. The _____ variable is the one that changes because you changed something.