Chapter 2# Introduction to Earth and the Seasons

galactic, rotation, and revolution

•Earth has three basic movements: _____________ movement, _____________, and ___________ •

* 7 , *8

•Isotopes of Carbon: C-12 C-13 C-14 Protons 6 6 6 Electrons 6 6 6 Neutrons 6 * ___ * ___

singularity

•It is thought to have begun from an infinitely small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense something we call a "___________________".

chronometer

•It was not until the _____________ was

radioactive decay

•It wasn't until scientists understood ____________ ___________ that a method was developed to date rock reliably.

land

•Maps - Usually show ______ features

time by natural motions

•People first defined _______ by _______________ of the Sun, Earth, and Moon.

365.25

•Revolution = 1 Year = __________ days or the period for the Earth to go around the Sun.

constant known rate ( half-life)

•Since radioactive decay occurs at a ____________ _____ (__________), the ratio of the remaining amount of unstable isotope compared to the already decayed material present can be used to calculate the age of the material in question.

time

•Since the lines of longitude rotate with the spinning of the Earth, one needs to know the position of the sun or stars with the exact _______ of day to determine one's position.

light year

Distances are so great in space, we use the distance light travels in one year. This is called a "______________" and is equal to 6 trillion miles.

conditions

Earth is the only planet, within our solar system that has the appropriate _____________ to have allowed life to evolve to such an advanced level.

radiant energy

Earth's size, distance from the sun, atmosphere, revolution and rotation all affect the amount of __________ __________ Earth receives.

Kuiper Belt

Finally, at the outer edge of the solar system is a zone of icy debris, known as the ____________

closest star, 4.3, 75,000

Just for perspective, the _____________ to Earth, other than the our sun is ___ light-years away, and the closest galaxy is _______ light-years away. Andromeda Galaxy from Earth looks like a fuzzy thin cloud

186,000 miles

Light travels at _________ miles per sec. (298,000 km/sec) & in one second could travel 7x around the Earth.

Forward , Fall

"Spring __________ ", " _____ Back":

billions

A Galaxy is like an enormous island in the universe and the universe contains ________ of other galaxies.

solar system

A _______________ is all of the heavenly bodies associated with a particular star due to the star's dominant mass and gravitation attraction

A) Cylindrical

A) Equatorial ___________ Projection

24 hours, summer, winter

All points above this line will experience _________ of sunlight during the northern __________ solstice (June 22nd) and 24 hours of darkness during the __________ solstice (December 22nd).

Prime Meridian

An arbitrary starting point was chosen as 0º or the "______________".

hundred billion

And our sun is only one of a _______________ stars that compose the Galaxy

B) Conic

B) Simple Polar ________ Projection

13.7 billion , Big Bang

But ______________ years ago there was the "____________" when the Universe did not explode but began to expand or inflate.

C) Planar

C) Polar Tangent ________ Projection

180th

Imaginary line along the __________meridian except for political & other alterations.

equinoxes

In between these times neither pole is tilted towards the sun ("_____________").

huge rotating disk

It formed a ______________________ with the sun at the center and as it cooled the beginning of a series of planets around it.

counter-clockwise

Looking from outer space above the solar system, the planets all appear to move _______________________ around the sun

not

Many assume that the seasons are caused by the changing distance between the Earth and the sun as the Earth moves around the sun but this is ______ the case.

Milky Way

Milky Way Our Galaxy is the _______________

Greenwich Mean Time

Often called ___________ ____________ (GMT), Universal, or Zulu Time.

International Date Line

Opposite from the Prime Meridian is the_____________________________.

solar system. 4.6 billion

Our _____________ probably derives from the collapse of a single rotating interstellar cloud of gas and dust some _____________ years ago.

24

Rotation = 1 day = ____ hours

oblate spheroid

So Earth is not a perfect sphere but actually known as an "___________________".

original

The Earth is a tectonically active planet and no __________ rocks remain on the planet's surface

expanding

The Universe is ____________ and continues to expand to this day,Some believe that it will continue to expand indefinitely.

Arctic Circle

The ______________ - Is an imaginary line drawn around the Earth 23.5º from the North Pole or 66.5º north of the equator.

fossils

The appearance and disappearance of _______ were used to set boundaries in time before radiometric dating allowed more accurate and precise dating techniques

terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars)

The four planets closest to the sun ______________________ are called the _________________.

eight major planets

The major heavenly bodies in our solar system consist of ________________________ with their 61 satellites, numerous asteroids, comets, and meteors.

23.5 , parallelism

The seasons are caused by the _______º tilt of the Earth's axis and the _______________ the axis maintains as Earth orbits the sun.

opposite

The solstices & equinoxes are exactly _________ in the so. hemisphere.

half life

The time it takes for half of an isotope to convert to its more stable form is known as its ___________

Pluto

There we find _________ and a number of other dwarf planets, including "UB 313" ("Xena"), and Pluto's moon, "Charon".

elliptical

They all follow an _________, almost circular orbit.

metals and rocky

They are relatively small and rich in ________________ materials

atomic number

This changes its _______________, or number of protons to 7 which is characteristic of nitrogen

15 = 1 hour

Time & Rotation: _____ degrees longitude = __________

Eras

When it comes to the Geologic Time Scale, you should know the basic "______" and what their predominant life form was at that time.

time and longitude

and _____________ could be determined.

December 22

Winter Solstice - First day of Winter - _______________ (north) or June 22nd (south) - When the relative pole is tilted furthest from the sun providing the shortest day of the year.

billions

Yet, the Universe is made up of _________of masses or groups of stars called

Cenozoic

________ = Recent Life - "Age of Mammals"

elliptical

____________ orbit at an average distance from the sun of 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 km).

Parallelism , axis , pointed

_____________ - As Earth revolves around the sun its ______ always remains ___________ to the same point in the sky.

Inclination , 23.5

_____________ - Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of _______º from the perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic

Paleozoic, Ancient

______________ = "_______ Life" (1st invertebrates, fish, land plants, amphibians, and reptiles - Age of Fish)

Revolution

_______________ - While Earth rotates on its axis, it also revolves around the sun in a slightly

Bathymetric Charts

___________________ show contours of equal depth along the sea bottom.

Topographic Maps

____________________ show lines connecting points of similar elevation as contours

Radiometric Dating

____________________ uses radioactive isotopes of certain elements such as carbon, argon, and uranium that decay at an exact & uniform rate

John Harrison

developed by ________________ in the 18th century that time

caused by the tilt of the axis and the parallelism

two things that cause a season...

balls of gas and liquid

• While they have solid cores, they are more like huge ____________ and ______ with no solid surface on which to walk.

Plane of the Ecliptic

• __________________________ - Earth moves in a constant plane in orbit around the sun.

Longitude or Meridians

•"Lines of ______________" or "_____________" run north and south through the poles and are all "Great Circles".

latitude or parallels

•"Lines of ______________" or "___________" describe the angular distance from the center of the Earth north or south of the equator.

March 21

•( Spring) Vernal Equinox - On __________________in the no. hemisphere, 1st day of spring, and midway between winter and summer.

September 23

•(Fall) Autumnal Equinox - On ___________________ (no. hemisphere), it is the 1st day of Autumn, and midway between summer and winter.

elements

•All _________ are defined by their number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

true direction

•Although distortion is great at high latitudes and the poles cannot be shown, a straight line as drawn on the map is a _____________ or constant compass heading.

distorted

•Any flat map or chart always shows a ____________ image.

Prime Meridian, Greenwich

•By International agreement in 1884, the "_________________" was established to run north and south through the Royal Observatory in ________________,England.

neutron is split into a proton

•Carbon 14, decays spontaneously by giving off beta particles, or electrons when a __________ is split into a _____________ and an electron.

unstable and radioactive. 5730 years.

•Carbon-12 and -13 are stable, but Carbon-14 is _____________ and _______________ which means that it decays spontaneously with a half life of __________________.

sea or sky

•Charts - Usually show ______ and/or _______ features.

3 dimensional (3-D)

•Charts and maps show the Earth's________________________ surface on a flat 2-D surface.

east or west

•Each line is an angular measure of _____________ position.

Polaris , angle

•Early navigators knew that _________, the north star, did not move much in the sky and by measuring the ______ of Polaris above the horizon provides a good estimate of latitude.

Earth, 4.6 billion

•Some of these meteorites are thought to date from the beginning of the solar system. •The accepted age of the _________ is the same as the solar system = __________ years old.

solstices

•Sometimes one pole is tilted toward the sun, and at other times, the other pole is tilted toward the sun ("_______________").

June 22

•Summer Solstice - First day of Summer - ____________(in the north) or December 22nd (in the south) - Relative pole is tilted closest to the sun providing the longest day of the year.

0 longitude Line

•The Prime Meridian is the __________________ line and arbitrarily divides the Earth into Western and Eastern Hemispheres.

Solstice

•The _________ - Is when one of the poles is tilted closest to the sun.

Equinox

•The ______________ - Equal day and equal night (12 hours each) all over Earth as Earth's axis points neither towards or away from the sun.

how much and where

•The life-producing conditions found on Earth are the direct result of ___________________ _________ the sun's energy comes to Earth.

cold gas giants that are (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune)

•The next four planets _________________ are much larger and composed of lighter ices, liquids, and gases. • These planets are the ______________.

4.2

•The oldest rocks found on Earth are: - 3.8 - _____ billion years old - • Meteorites = 4.6 billion years old

Mercator

•The traditional and familiar world map is the _________ Projection, an adjusted form of the cylindrical projection.•This type of map is often used for navigation.

rotate

•They all ____________ or spin on their axes. With the exception of Venus, Mars, and Uranus, they all rotate in the same direction.

geologic time

•To refer to events in the history and formation of the Earth, scientists use "________________".

Tropcis 0f ... solstices.... directly overheard, ...... at nounon, south

•__________ of Cancer and Capricorn - At the time of the solstices, the sun's rays are ___________ __________ at noon at all points exactly _____ north or south of the equator.

Precambrian

•___________ = "Earliest Life" (bacteria and algae) and formation of the Earth

Mesozoic, Reptiles

•____________ = Middle Life - "Age of _________"

Isotopes, neutrons

•______________ of the same element have the same number of protons and electrons but a different number of _____________.

360º ÷ 24 hours

•________________ = 15º /hr

Physiographic Maps

•_________________________ - Use color, shading, and perspective drawings to give a more realistic visualization of the area being shown.