Unit 1 _ Earth Science Assesssment Learning objectives .pdf

​ ​ ​ An observation is something you notice using any of the five senses. ​ An inference is something you figure out based on observations and information you already know. ​ Geologists use observations of fossils to make inferences about organisms that lived long ago. ​ Making...

​ ​ ​ An observation is something you notice using any of the five senses. ​ An inference is something you figure out based on observations and information you already know. ​ Geologists use observations of fossils to make inferences about organisms that lived long ago. ​ Making inferences when reading can help you understand informational text. ​ Scientists use a variety of methods, tools, and techniques when they conduct investigations. ​ Science findings are limited to what can be answered with evidence. ​ A fossil forms when an organism dies and is covered with sediment that turns into rock. ​ Sedimentary rock forms from sediment. ​ Sedimentary rock forms when sediment builds up in water and is covered with more sediment. ​ Geologists analyze and interpret maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. ​ Geologists use their observations of rocks to make inferences about how they could have formed. ​ A sedimentary rock layer forms when sediment sinks and builds up in water, compacts under more sediment, and cements over time.  ​ Over time, a rock layer becomes thicker as sediment continues to build up. ​ Models show some parts of the real world well, and others less well. ​ As scientists learn more and investigate more, they answer some questions and generate even more questions. ​ Geologists use observations of and ideas about rocks and fossils to make inferences about past environments. ​ Inferences can be made based on what you observe combined with scientific ideas. ​ Science theories are based on a body of evidence and many tests. ​ Geologists can use differences between rocks to figure out what environment they formed in. ​ Geologists use reference books for many purposes, including to help them identify types of rock. ​ Different sediments build up in different environments. Therefore, different kinds of sedimentary rock form in different environments ​ Different sedimentary rock layers in a place mean that the environment in that place has changed. ​ Any place may appear to be stable day by day, but over a long period of time it can change. ​ Newer rock layers form on top of layers that have already formed. ​ New rock layers form on top of existing rock layers. Therefore, the environments that lower layers formed in came earlier. ​ Geologists observe the order of rock layers to infer the order of past environments. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​