A review of seven modules of basic earth science

1. Modules one through seven are covered here.
Earth and Environmental Science Review
by Kella Randolph M.Ed.

2. Module One: Scientific Method:
What is the purpose of the
“control group” in an experiment?
• It is part of an experiment is used in comparison to the experimental group.
• wheatdoctor.cimmyt.org/index.php?option=com_content&t....
• Photo credit: Gene Hettel/CIMMYT. 764 June 30, 2006

3. Which of the following is
NOT one of the four
main branches of Earth
Science?
• spaceplace.nasa.gov - 300 × 302 - Search by image
• The original 13 constellations in the zodiac.
Geology, Oceanography, Hydrology,
Astronomy, Astrology
Astronomy is the scientific study of
everything in outer space. Astronomers and
other scientists know that stars many light
years away have no effect on the ordinary
activities of humans on Earth.
No one has shown that astrology can be
used to predict the future or describe what
people are like based only on their birth
date. Still, like reading fantasy stories, many
people enjoy reading their "astrological
forecast" or "horoscope" in the newspaper
every day.

4. Would quantitative or qualitative
be a good measurement that can
be recorded in a table or chart?
• Quantitative: because it is measurable.
• 1: of, relating to, or expressible in terms
of quantity
• 2: of, relating to, or involving the
measurement of quantity or amount
• Ex: We can measure exactly how high this
model rocket will fly. (you use tools and
formulas)
• Qualitative: of or relating to how good
something is : of or relating to the quality of
something
• Ex: Model rockets are fun to play with.
• (you express an opinion)
• www.grc.nasa.gov - 618 × 466 - Search by
image Computer drawing of the equation
and measurements needed to determine
the altitude of a model rocket

5. Give a definition of all
the following terms:
• Independent variable: The single condition that is
manipulated or controlled by the scientist
• Dependent variable: The condition that changes or
responds to the independent variable
• Control: The group in a given experiment in which the
independent variable is not changed
• Constant: All conditions within an experiment that are
not changed
• Data: The information that is recorded, organized, and
analyzed as a result of a scientific investigation
• Conclusion: A statement that is made following the
investigation that supports or contradicts the
hypothesis
• Publish: The process of making you investigation
available to other scientist to review
• Replicate: The process by which other scientists
attempt to reproduce your results to validate or
undermine your findings
Observations: A problem or question that
you notice or wonder about
Research: Look up necessary background
information before experimenting
Hypothesis: An educated and testable
statement that tries to explain the
observation
Materials: The items and conditions that will
be required to conduct the experiment
Experimental Procedure: The process that
will allow for the hypothesis to be
scientifically tested

6. Module Two: Human Impact on the Lithosphere
Humans impact the lithosphere In these ways.
www.blm.gov - 400 × 300 - Search by image
Ecosystems are impacted when plants uptake the polluted water, potentially exposing feeding
animals to toxins. In arid and desert areas, wind can create blowing contaminated dust.
www.blm.gov - 430 × 319 - Search by image
Illegal dumping of materials on BLM public land poses significant social, environmental, and
economic impacts statewide
• Use of Fossil Fuels leads to:
• Air Pollution (Smog)
• Increase in greenhouse gases such as
Carbon Dioxide
• Increase in the heating of the earth’s
surface due to more greenhouse gases being
emitted
• Soil Pollution
• Mining

7. Impacts of using fossil
fuels include:
• Air pollution
• Increase in greenhouse gases such as Carbon
Dioxide
• Increase in the heating of the Earth's
surface due to more greenhouse gases being
emitted

8. Alternatives to fossil
fuels:
Solar
Wind
Geothermal
Biomass
Water
Uranium
Hydrogen
Renewable Energy Research at ESRL
www.esrl.noaa.gov250 × 204Search by image
Examples of Support NOAA Could Provide to Advance Wind Energy. Wind turbines.
American Fuel Facts »alternative fuel
www.americanfuelfacts.com625 × 446Search byimage
Autogas for America released a new Alternative Fuel Fact Brief on November 25

9. Decomposition of wastes ultimately releases greenhouse gases such as methane, which
increases Earth's temperature causing global warming to occur. How can this be avoided?
www.oceanconservancy.org - 900 × 525 - Search by image
Note: Recycling systems vary by location. This guide is based on the research and best practices
compiled by conservation biologist and ocean trash specialist Nicholas Mallos
• Reduce our wastes
production on the Earth's
Lithosphere

10. Humans can reduce their impacts
on the Earth's Lithosphere by:
• Practice good energy conservation techniques
• Reduce fossil fuel usage
• Utilize more forms of alternative energy sources
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• www.esa.org - 390 × 480 - Search by image
• EPA leaders talk water pollution at PBS documentary

11. Module Three: Processes and Forces of
the Lithosphere
Examples of physical weathering.
• Frost action
• temperature
• organic activity
• 3dparks.wr.usgs.gov - 800 × 633 - Search by imageThe geologic story of the formation of the natural
bridges is linked to the physical weathering properties of the rocks, stream drainage pattern changes, etc.

12. A delta is:
• Large amounts of sediments are deposited at the mouth of a river.
• deltas.usgs.gov - 826 × 662 - Search by image
• Satellite Image of the Mekong and Mississippi River Deltas The U.S. Geological
Survey is bringing its broad scientific understanding of the Mississippi

13. 3 methods of
controlling erosion.
• Terracing
• Plant and Soil Sciences eLibraryplantandsoil.unl.edu - 800 × 571 -
Search by imageHillside contour strawberry farming in Monterey County,
CA.
• Strip cropping or contour farming
• www.epa.gov - 285 × 203 - Search by imageContour Farming. Source:
USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Drainage ditches
• www.esa.org - 600 × 450 - Search by imageDitches at sites with heavy
recreational fishing pressure.

14. Chemical weathering
• Carbonation
• Geology of National Parks3dparks.wr.usgs.gov - 800 × 596 - Search by
imageIn the past, wind-blown dust and soil probably filled the alcove to higher
levels and chemical weathering associated with shallow groundwater
• plant acids
• The Geologic Story of the Ocoee Riverpubs.usgs.gov - 378 × 233 - Search
by imagePhotograph of folded rock layers near Maddens Branch Folded rock
layers near Maddens Branch. [Photograph by David Usher, U.S. Geological
Survey]
• and oxidation
• Mars & Iron Mountain | USGS California Water Science
Centerca.water.usgs.gov - 625 × 468 - Search by imageGossan is a rock
consisting mostly of iron oxides formed by weathering of rock originally
greater than 50% iron sulfide (usually pyrite).

15. Causes of soil
mismanagement
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Dust_Bowl_in_Texas_County%2C_Oklahoma.jpg
Clearing vegetation, overuse of fertilizers,
pollution
This photo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Env_contamin
ation1.if.gif

16. The top layer of the soil
horizon
• Organic
• Earthquake Glossary - soil profileearthquake.usgs.gov -
261 × 372 - Search by imageSoil profile in hills of Manisa
Province, Turkey, showing a distinct horizon of
accumulated red-purple metallic (manganese and/or
iron?) oxides

17. Parent Rock
Determines what type of soil will be
produced by weathering
pubs.usgs.gov - 390 × 362 - Search by imageHA 730-N Hawaii Volcanic-
rock aquifers, Ground-Water Occurrence and Movemen
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/
45/Horizons.gif/80px-Horizons.gif

18. Module Four: Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes
• Matching coastlines, fossil evidence, and rock formations are all evidence for the theory
of Continental Drift
• Which was first presented by Alfred Wegener
• NASA:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fscience1.nasa.gov%2Fmedia%2Fmed
ialibrary%2F2002%2F01%2F25%2F28jan_extinction_resources%2Fpangea_strip.jpg&imgrefurl
=http%3A%2F%2Fscience1.nasa.gov%2Fscience-news%2Fscience-at-
nasa%2F2002%2F28jan_extinction%2F&h=180&w=475&tbnid=FfGsh6Kq8jfo6M%3A&zoom=1
&docid=i4GY8XswmaDw4M&ei=CqM5U4O0KKL50gH-
xYDIDw&tbm=isch&ved=0CGEQhBwwBA&iact=rc&dur=4286&page=1&start=0&ndsp=6
• www.rpdp.net - 284 × 218 - Search by imageFigure 12. Distribution of several plant and
animal fossils found in the continents that formed
• Interactive Earth game: click below.
• http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/Pangaea_game.html

19. The Appalachian Mountains are very
old, and have stopped growing.
• Older mountains tend to have more rounded tops due to
erosion over a long time.
• Below: Geology of National Parks3dparks.wr.usgs.gov -
432 × 613 - Search by imageMap of the Appalachian Mountains
region showing the extent of the sedimentary and crystalline rock
belts.
• Right: energy.usgs.gov - 940 × 180 - Search by image Welcome
to the Energy Resources Program Website "Appalachian Coal"
Area.

20. NASA - Why Isn't the Earth Perfect?www.nasa.gov -
330 × 204 - Search by imageThe plates float on top of the
hot layer of the Earth's mantle. Credit: NASA
Tectonic plate boundaries are:
• Divergent
• Convergent
• Transform

21. The layers of the earth from
the center to the outside are
• Inner Core
• Outer Core
• Mantle
• Crust
• Introduction to Physical Geology
Syllabuswww.geol.umd.edu - 647 × 648 - Search by
imageCore: From 2880 km. to the center. Metallic - primarily
of nickel and iron. (There is an outer liquid core and a solid
inner core - same composition, different physical state.)

22. Mt. St. Helens is a Stratovolcano.
• Strato volcanoes are explosive and blow the rock covering off in a cloud of
small fragments called ash.
• Strato volcanoes are also called composite volcanoes, because they build
up layers of ash and lava.
• Often before an eruption from a strato- volcano, earthquakes will occur.
• Earthquakes often give warnings. Small earthquakes that precede (happen
before) large earthquakes are called foreshocks.
• vulcan.wr.usgs.gov - 600 × 406 - Search by image Image, click to enlarge:
MSH82_st_helens_plume_from_harrys_ridge_05-19-82.jpg. Plumes of
steam, gas, and ash often occurred at Mount St. Helens.

23. Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark - Mount St. Helens -
Summaryvulcan.wr.usgs.gov - 640 × 481 - Search by image
Mountains grow from
• Folding
• Fault Blocking, and
• Volcanoes

24. Earth’s Mantle
An elastic layer of molten rock that has the
force to move the tectonic plates
USGS Geology in the
Parksgeomaps.wr.usgs.gov
This Photo by https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeologyearle/wp-content/uploads/sites/145/2016/06/volcanic-tectonics.png

25. The Lithosphere
Made of the Crust and Upper Mantle
The crust is where the action is. The entire
rock cycle takes place in the crust, from
magma pools deep below, to mountain
peaks, high above the surface.
Earthquakes, are often preceded by warning
trembling, called foreshocks.
https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeologyearle/wp-content/uploads/sites/145/2016/06/volcanic-
tectonics.png
Image right: www.eoearth.org - 750 × 463 -
Search by imageFigure 3: Three types of plate
convergance resulting in subduction. (Image
Source. US Gelogical Survey.)

26. Module Five: Non-Renewable Energy
Fossil Fuels
• Coal, oil, natural gas, kerogen from shale oil, and peat were all formed
from the bodies of ancient plants and animals that have been buried in
sedimentary rock, under heat and pressure for millions of years.
• Made mostly of methane, natural gas burns cleaner than any other fossil
fuel.
• Although these are limited, non-renewable, and produce pollution, we still
burn them, because we already have the infrastructure (ways and means) to
get and use fossil fuels, they are relatively cheap, and changing over to newer
alternatives is expensive.
• USGS Fact Sheet 26-03: Geologic Sequestration of Carbon
Dioxidepubs.usgs.gov - 500 × 236 - Search by imageRed lines indicate CO 2
being pumped into the reservoirs for sequestration, green lines indicate
enhanced recovery of fossil fuels caused by CO 2

27. Peat is the first stage of
coal.
• The Carbon Cycle
• All living things are made of carbon. Carbon is also a part of the ocean, air, and even rocks. Because the Earth
is a dynamic place, carbon does not stay still. It is on the move!
• In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to some oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide.
• Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to make their own food and grow. The carbon becomes part of the
plant. Plants that die and are buried may turn into fossil fuels made of carbon like coal and oil over millions of years.
When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
• Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and traps heat in the atmosphere. Without it and other greenhouse gases,
Earth would be a frozen world. But humans have burned so much fuel that there is about 30% more carbon dioxide
in the air today than there was about 150 years ago, and Earth is becoming a warmer place. In fact, ice cores show
us that there is now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there has been in the last 420,000 years.
• https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm
• Carbon Cycle Diagram from the DOE with numbers | Spark
• spark.ucar.edu900 × 700Search by image
• Credit: Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

28. Damage to the
environment
• Getting coal involves old-fashioned subsurface mining,
using tunnels. This is very dangerous due to collapse of
tunnels, methane gas build up and acid mine drainage,
emissions of more greenhouse gases than the country of
Denmark, and more habitat destruction than mountain
top removal are hazards of subsurface mining.
• Mountain top removal and strip mining are modern
ways of digging out the seams of coal.
• Fly ash, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are two
pollutants that come from burning coal.
• Mercury Contamination from Historical Gold Mining in
Californiapubs.usgs.gov - 504 × 645 - Search by
imagePhotograph showing Monitors (water cannons)

29. Nuclear energy
Nuclear power plants create electricity by
using uranium for nuclear fission. While it
does not pollute the air, other hazards exist.
Nuclear waste has an extremely long half-life
and remains deadly for centuries, so storing
it is a problem. Meltdowns of reactors, fires
and explosions have spread deadly nuclear
fallout worldwide.
Although uranium is not a fossil fuel, it is in
limited supply, and someday, there will be no
more to fuel these power plants.
Right: HowStuffWorks "Inside a Nuclear
Power Plant"science.howstuffworks.com -
360 × 340 - Search by imagePage by Robert
Lamb - In order to turn nuclear fission into
electrical energy, ...
fission1.gifwww.kids.esdb.bg

30. Module Six: Renewable Energy
Renewable energy
• Biomass: fuel made from fermentation of plants
• Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells for cars, with only
water as a waste product.
• Hydroelectric dams: using water falling by gravity
,turns turbines, which creates electricity.
• Wind turbines: expensive to set up, but produce
tremendous amounts of electricity when the wind is
blowing.
• U.S. Geological Survey: Ecosystemswww.usgs.gov -
232 × 300 - Search by imageImage of Product: Wind
Energy and Wildlife Research at the Forest and
Rangeland Ecosystem Science

31. Solar power
Passive solar energy is simply allowing the
sunlight to enter and provide light and heat to a
place.
Active solar energy is made by using solar
panels to convert the sun’s energy into electrical
energy.
The Southwestern states in the US use more
solar panels, because they receive more sunny
days than the eastern states.
Although it is not yet popular everywhere,
because it is expensive to start up, the use of
solar panels for energy is growing.
Right: NASA Invites Media to Showcase of Solutions Finalists Announcement
...www.nasa.gov - 4256 × 2832 - Search by imageElectrical power required for the building
is more than offset by on-site photovoltaic solar panels and solid oxide fuel cell
technology from aBloom Energy .

32. Conservation of
energy
Allows us to phase in renewable energy, slows global
warming, lowers environmental damage, decreases our
dependency on oil. This can give us a little more time to
phase in the renewable, non-polluting energy sources.
Right: USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5195: U.S.
Geological Survey
pubs.usgs.gov - 250 × 323 - Search by image
Southwest Wyoming's wildlife and habitat resources are
increasingly affected by energy and urban/exurban
development, climate change, and other key drivers.

33. Module Seven:
Geologic Time and North Carolina
Geologic History
• According to fossil records, life first emerged from shallow
seas.
• Dinosaurs disappeared from Earth 65 million years ago.
• The largest time span on the geological time scale is the
EON.
• Right: Geologic Maps - Geologic Map of North Carolina,
2000x1340geology.about.com - 2000 × 1340 - Search by
image North Carolina geologic map page

34. Text from the NCVPS lesson modules
• Wordle art from Bing
Online Images