Earth Science and Scientific Terminology Quiz

Earth Science

• Earth science studies Earth and planets surrounding it
• Key branches include geology, meteorology, astronomy, and oceanography
• Geology focuses on Earth's structure, composition, and history
• Meteorology studies weather, climate, and the upper atmosphere
• Oceanography examines oceans, tides, waves, and their impact on climate
• Astronomy explores the universe beyond Earth

Scientific Terminology

• Greek and Latin are fundamental in scientific vocabulary
• Word parts (prefixes, root words, suffixes) are essential for understanding scientific terms.
• Root words are the core of a term, prefixes precede the root, and suffixes follow it
• Learning styles include auditory (hearing), visual (seeing), hands-on (experiencing), or a combination of these.
• Holistic learning integrates prior knowledge to understand new concepts
• Analytic learning breaks down information into smaller parts.

The Scientific Method

• A systematic process used by scientists to investigate phenomena
• Steps include defining a question, conducting research, forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.
• Experiments should be replicable to ensure accuracy and reliability
• A well-supported hypothesis can evolve into a scientific theory.
• Biases can invalidate experiments if they influence the scientific process.

Experimental Design

• Involves defining variables, formulating hypotheses, creating an experimental process, assigning subjects, and measuring the dependent variable.
• Important to research and understand the subject thoroughly before conducting experiments.
• Careful and complete execution of the five steps is crucial for a successful experiment.

The International System of Units (SI)

• The standard system of measurement, based on a decimal system (factor of 10).
• Prefixes are used to indicate large or small magnitudes.
• Key units include: meter (length), kilogram (mass), cubic meter (volume), kilogram per cubic meter (density), and Kelvin (temperature).
• Conversion factors facilitate conversions between units
• Units to be removed should be placed in the denominator, while desired units go in the numerator.

Scientific Experiments and Data Display

• Scientific experiments typically involve six steps: observation, hypothesis formation, experiment design and execution, data collection and evaluation, hypothesis acceptance or rejection, and potential refinement of the hypothesis.
• Data can be presented in various ways for analysis and trend identification:
  • Line graphs: comparing small changes over time, numerical data
  • Bar charts: comparing larger changes or differences between groups, numerical and categorical data
  • Pie charts: comparing percentages, numerical and categorical data
  • Flow charts: illustrating relationships between concepts or process steps, non-numerical data
• Line graphs depict relationships between dependent and independent variables.
• The x-axis (horizontal) represents the independent variable (cause), while the y-axis (vertical) represents the dependent variable (effect).

Geologic Time Scale

• A timeline depicting Earth's history, spanning 4.6 billion years
• Divided into eons, eras, periods, and epochs, each representing distinct events and organisms
• Eons are the largest units, covering hundreds to thousands of millions of years.
• Eras span tens to hundreds of millions of years.
• Scientists study rock layers (strata) to understand past environments.
• Relative age dating uses fossils and rock layer positions to determine age.
• Radiometric dating provides absolute age calculations.

Catastrophism vs. Uniformitarianism

• Catastrophism: Earth's features formed through sudden, violent, global events, including mass extinctions.
• Georges Cuvier, a proponent of catastrophism, estimated Earth's age to be several million years based on the fossil record.
• Uniformitarianism: Earth's features were shaped gradually over time by processes observed today (weathering, erosion, volcanism, plate tectonics).
• James Hutton, known as the "Father of Modern Geology," is associated with uniformitarianism.
• Modern geology acknowledges both catastrophic events and the influence of gradual processes in shaping Earth's history.

Relative and Numerical Dating

• Relative Dating: Comparing the ages of rock layers or fossils based on their positions or relationships.
• Principles of relative dating:
  • Uniformitarianism: Past processes are similar to present ones
  • Original Horizontality: Rock layers are initially deposited horizontally
  • Lateral Continuity: Continuous layers can be separated, but remain part of the same unit
  • Superposition: Older layers are below younger layers
  • Cross-cutting Relationships: Features cutting across layers are younger
  • Inclusions: Inclusions are older than the surrounding rock
  • Baked Contacts: Heated rocks are older than the igneous rock that heated them
• Numerical (Radiometric) Dating: Using the decay of radioactive isotopes within rocks to calculate their age.
• Used for precise age determination, often applied to specific samples.

Fossil Preservation

• Factors influencing fossil preservation:
  • Rapid burial: Quick burial protects remains from decay and erosion
  • Hard parts: Bones, shells, and teeth are more likely to fossilize
  • Environmental conditions: Cold and dry environments are more favorable.
• Large, bony organisms with rapid burial in aquatic environments have the highest fossilization potential.
• Small, soft-bodied organisms that died in exposed areas with warm and moist conditions are less likely to fossilize.

Index Fossils

• Fossils of organisms that lived for short geological time periods and are found in wide geographic areas.
• Used to correlate rock layers and determine their relative ages.
• Examples include ammonites, trilobites, and graptolites.
• The principle of fossil succession states that specific fossil assemblages are only found within limited geological time frames.

The Periodic Table

• An organizational model for all known elements.
• Arranged based on the number of protons in each element's atom.
• Johann Dobereiner created the Law of Triads, grouping similar elements in threes.
• John Newlands proposed the Law of Octaves, noting similarities in every eighth element.
• Dmitri Mendeleev is recognized as the "Father of the Periodic Table" for his contributions to the modern version.
• Henry Moseley refined the periodic table by arranging it according to the number of protons (atomic number).

The Periodic Table

• The periodic table is organized into rows called periods and columns called groups.
• Elements are classified as metals, nonmetals, or metalloids.
• Trends in the periodic table help predict element properties like valence electrons, atomic radius, ionization energy, electronegativity, electron affinity, oxidizing nature, and metallic character.

Elements and Atoms

• All matter is composed of elements, which are pure substances that cannot be broken down further.
• Elements are made up of atoms, each with a unique number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
• Each element has a unique atomic number, equal to its number of protons, which also determines its number of electrons.
• The atomic number influences an element's properties and how it interacts with other elements.

Molecules and Compounds

• Molecules are formed when atoms bond chemically.
• Molecules can be composed of one type of atom (e.g., H2) or multiple types of atoms (e.g., CH3Cl).
• Chemical bonds can be ionic or covalent, leading to the classification of compounds as ionic or covalent.
• Pure substances contain only one type of compound, while mixtures contain two or more compounds or elements that don't form bonds.

Matter and Its Properties

• Matter is anything with mass and volume.
• Matter has physical and chemical properties.
• Physical properties don't change a substance's composition, while chemical properties involve changes in composition.
• Matter can be divided into pure substances (elements and compounds) and mixtures.
• Examples of physical properties include color, mass, and density.
• Chemical properties include pH and reactivity.

Chemical Bonds

• Ionic bonds occur between metals and nonmetals when a metal atom donates an electron to a nonmetal.
• The resulting ionic compound has a neutral charge due to the formation of positive and negative ions.
• The number of electrons in the outer shell determines ionic bond formation.
• Covalent bonds occur between nonmetals when atoms share electrons.
• Covalent bonds are generally stronger than ionic bonds.

Types of Covalent Bonds

• Non-polar covalent bonds: Occur between atoms with similar electronegativity, where electrons are shared equally.
• Polar covalent bonds: Occur between atoms with different electronegativity, where electrons are shared unevenly.

Other Bond Types

• Metallic bonds: Occur between metal atoms, involving a "sea" of electrons.
• Hydrogen bonds: Form between hydrogen atoms and other atoms with a dipole.