EARTH SCIENCE

▪Bigbang theory
–The universe is expanding, and originated in infinitely tiny, infinitely dense point called
singularity. And there was violent explosion which caused the inflation and expansion of
the universe.
▪Oscillating Universe
–the universe is expanding for a time and then to its contradiction due to gravity in a
perpetual cycle of big bang and big crunch.
–Sir Albert Einstein.
▪Inflationary Universe
–this theory was based on the big bang in order to solve its uncertainties and
unresolved problems such as horizon and flatness problem.
–Allan Guth.
▪Encounter Hypothesis
–according to this theory, a rogue star passed close to the sun and stripped materials
from both the sun and the rogue star.
▪Nebular Hypothesis
–this theory states that the entire solar system starts as a large cloud of gas contracted
due to self-gravity but could not account why 99 percent of the solar system's mass is in
the sun, but 99 percent of its angular momentum is in the planets.
▪Atomic Universe
–the universe is composed of tiny, indivisible, and indestructible particles.
–Leucippus & Democritus.
▪Steady State
–the universe expanded but do not changed in density
▪Multiverse
–the universe is just one of many bubbles that grew as a part many universes.
–Andrei Linde.
▪Biblical
– God created the universe in the span of six days.
▪Protoplanet hypothesis
– it is the present working model for the formation of the solar system that built on the
main concepts of nebular hypothesis.

I.ORIGIN AND STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

1. Universe and Solar System 2. Earth and Earth Systems
II. EARTH MATERIALS AND PROCESSES
1. Minerals and Rocks 2. Mineral Resources 3. Energy Resources 4.
Water Resources
5. Soil Resources 6. Human Activity and the Environment
III.EARTH PROCESSES
1. Exogenic Processes 2. Endogenic Processes 3. Deformation of the
Crust
4. Plate Tectonics
IV. HISTORY OF THE EARTH 1. Major Events in Earth’s Past
Astronomy
What knowledge will students learn as part of this unit?
1. Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion.
• These motions explain such phenomena as the day, the year, seasons, phases
of the moon, eclipses, and tides.
• Gravity influences the motions of celestial objects. The force of gravity
between two objects in the universe depends on their masses and the distance
between them.
2. Nine planets move around the Sun in nearly circular orbits.
• The orbit of each planet is an ellipse with the Sun located at one of the foci.
• Earth is orbited by one moon and many artificial satellites.
3. Earth’s coordinate system of latitude and longitude, with the equator and
prime meridian as reference lines, is based upon Earth’s rotation and our
observation of the Sun and stars.
4. Earth rotates on an imaginary axis at a rate of 15 degrees per hour. To people
on Earth, this turning of the planet makes it seem as though the Sun, the moon,
and the stars are moving around Earth once a day.
5. Rotation provides a basis for our system of local time; meridians of longitude
are the basis for time zones.
6. The Foucault pendulum and the Coriolis effect provide evidence of Earth’s
rotation.
7. Earth’s changing position with regard to the Sun and the moon has noticeable
effects.
• Earth revolves around the Sun with its rotational axis tilted at 23.5 degrees to
a line perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, with the North Pole aligned with
Polaris.
• During Earth’s one-year period of revolution, the tilt of its axis results in
changes in the angle of incidence of the Sun’s rays at a given latitude; these
changes cause variation in the heating of the surface. This produces seasonal
variation in weather.
8. Seasonal changes in the apparent positions of constellations provide evidence
of Earth’s revolution.
9. The Sun’s apparent path through the sky varies with latitude and season.
10. Approximately 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by a relatively thin
layer of water, which responds to the gravitational attraction of the moon and
the Sun with a daily cycle of high and low tides.
11. The universe is vast and estimated to be over ten billion years old.
12. The current theory is that the universe was created from an explosion called
the Big Bang. Evidence for this theory includes:
• cosmic background radiation • a red-shift (the Doppler effect) in the light
from very distant galaxies.
13. Stars form when gravity causes clouds of molecules to contract until nuclear
fusion of light elements into heavier ones occurs. Fusion releases great amounts
of energy over millions of years.
• The stars differ from each other in size, temperature, and age.
• Our Sun is a medium-sized star within a spiral galaxy of stars known as the
Milky Way. Our galaxy contains billions of stars, and the universe contains billions
of such galaxies.
14. Our solar system formed about five billion years ago from a giant cloud of
gas and debris. Gravity caused Earth and the other planets to become layered
according to density differences in their materials.
• The characteristics of the planets of the solar system are affected by each
planet’s location in relationship to the Sun.
• The terrestrial planets are small, rocky, and dense. The Jovian planets are
large, gaseous, and of low density.
15. Asteroids, comets, and meteors are components of our solar system.
• Impact events have been correlated with mass extinction and global climatic
change.
• Impact craters can be identified in Earth’s crust.
16. Earth’s early atmosphere formed as a result of the outgassing of water
vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and lesser amounts of other gases from its
interior.
17. Earth’s oceans formed as a result of precipitation over millions of years. The
presence of an early ocean is indicated by sedimentary rocks of marine origin,
dating back about four billion years
Formation of Solar System
The Sun and the planets formed together, 4.6 billion years ago, from a cloud of
gas and dust called the solar nebula. A shock wave from a nearby supernova
explosion probably initiated the collapse of the solar nebula. The Sun formed in
the center, and the planets formed in a thin disk orbiting around it. In a similar
manner, moons formed orbiting the gas giant planets. Comets condensed in the
outer solar system, and many of them were thrown out to great distances by
close gravitational encounters with the giant planets. After the Sun ignited, a
strong solar wind cleared the system of gas and dust. The asteroids represent
the rocky debris that remained.
Size and Time Scales of the Solar System
The Earth revolves around the Sun at a distance of 150 million kilometers (93
million miles).
The orbits of the planets are nearly circular, and measure from one-third to 30
times the size of Earth's orbit.
Mercury, the innermost planet, orbits the Sun in about three months, while
Neptune takes 165 years.
The Sun contains about 99.9 percent of all the mass of the solar system.
Nebular Hypothesis:
According to this theory, the Sun and all the planets of our Solar System began
as a giant cloud of molecular gas and dust. Then, about 4.57 billion years ago,
something happened that caused the cloud to collapse. This could have been the
result of a passing star, or shock waves from a supernova, but the end result was
a gravitational collapse at the center of the cloud.
From this collapse, pockets of dust and gas began to collect into denser regions.
As the denser regions pulled in more and more matter, conservation of
momentum caused it to begin rotating, while increasing pressure caused it to
heat up. Most of the material ended up in a ball at the center while the rest of
the matter flattened out into disk that circled around it. While the ball at the
center formed the Sun, the rest of the material would form into
the protoplanetary disc.
The planets formed by accretion from this disc, in which dust and gas gravitated
together and coalesced to form ever larger bodies. Due to their higher boiling
points, only metals and silicates could exist in solid form closer to the Sun, and
these would eventually form the terrestrial planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth,
and Mars. Because metallic elements only comprised a very small fraction of the
solar nebula, the terrestrial planets could not grow very large.
In contrast, the giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) formed
beyond the point between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where material is cool
enough for volatile icy compounds to remain solid (i.e. the Frost Line). The ices
that formed these planets were more plentiful than the metals and silicates that
formed the terrestrial inner planets, allowing them to grow massive enough to
capture large atmospheres of hydrogen and helium. Leftover debris that never
became planets congregated in regions such as the Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt,
and Oort Cloud.

Artist’s impression of the early Solar System, where collision between particles
in an accretion disc led to the formation of planetesimals and eventually planets.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Within 50 million years, the pressure and density of hydrogen in the center of
the protostar became great enough for it to begin thermonuclear fusion. The
temperature, reaction rate, pressure, and density increased until hydrostatic
equilibrium was achieved. At this point, the Sun became a main-sequence star.
Solar wind from the Sun created the heliosphere and swept away the remaining
gas and dust from the protoplanetary disc into interstellar space, ending the
planetary formation process.
DEFINITION OF EARTH’S SPHERES
The spheres are the four subsystems that make up the planet Earth. They are
called spheres because they are round, just like the Earth. The four spheres are
the geosphere (all the rock on Earth), hydrosphere (all the water on Earth),
atmosphere (all the gases surrounding Earth), and biosphere (all the living things
on Earth).
To better understand how the 4 spheres of the Earth work….
LET’S BREAK IT DOWN!
EARTH’S LAND MAKES UP THE GEOSPHERE.

Geo means “earth.” The Earth’s geosphere

(sometimes called the lithosphere) is the
portion of the earth that includes rocks and
minerals. It starts at the ground and extends
all the way down to Earth’s core.
We rely on the geosphere to provide natural resources and a place to grow food.
Volcanos, mountain ranges, and deserts are all part of the geosphere. Put
simply, without the geosphere, there would be no Earth!
EARTH’S WATER MAKES UP THE HYDROSPHERE.
 Hydro means “water.“ The hydrosphere
includes the oceans, rivers, lakes,
groundwater, and water frozen in glaciers.
97% of water on Earth is found in the oceans.
Water is one of the most important
substances needed for life and makes up
about 90% of living things. Without water, life
would not be possible.

EARTH’S AIR MAKES UP THE ATMOSPHERE.

Atmos means “air.” The atmosphere

includes all the gases surrounding the Earth.
We often call the atmosphere “air.” All
planets have an atmosphere, but Earth is
the only planet with the correct combination
of gases to support life.
The atmosphere consists of five layers and is responsible for Earth’s weather.
Even though it seems like air is made of nothing, it consists of particles too small
to be seen. All these particles have weight that push down on Earth. The weight
of air above us is called air pressure.
EARTH’S LIVING THINGS MAKE UP THE BIOSPHERE.

Bio means “life.” The biosphere is made up

of all the living things on Earth and it
includes fish, birds, plants, and even people.
The living portion of the Earth interacts with
all the other spheres. Living things need
water (hydrosphere), chemicals from the atmosphere, and nutrients gained by
eating things in the biosphere.
The four spheres interact.

The spheres interact to effect Earth’s systems

and processes, and they are constantly
changing each other.
For example, ocean currents (hydrosphere)
affect air temperature (atmosphere): The Gulf
Stream is a powerful water current in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s warm water
moderates the temperatures on the east coast of the USA.
Another example of how the spheres affect each other is through erosion.
Erosion happens in the desert when wind (atmosphere) shapes the sand in the
geosphere. Water (hydrosphere) can also shape land, such as in the formation of
the Grand Canyon.
Humans can have major impacts on all the spheres.

Humans have a huge impact on all spheres.

Negative impacts, such as burning fossil fuels,
pollute the atmosphere. Piling up our waste in
landfills affects the geosphere. Pumping waste
into the oceans harms the hydrosphere. And
overfishing and habitat destruction can reduce the diversity of living things in
the biosphere.
However, people everywhere are working to change things. Recycling efforts are
increasing all over the world, and companies are finding new ways to reduce
fossil fuels. In the US alone, people are recycling six times more than a
generation ago.
EXAMPLES OF EARTH’S 4 SPHERES

Even though the island of Kauai in

Hawaii gets more rain than almost any
area on Earth, one side looks like a
desert. The shape of the land (geosphere)
effect where it rains (hydrosphere).

Every time you recycle, you are impacting

all four spheres. Efforts such as recycling are
important to keep all four of our spheres healthy.

Erosion creates mushroom rocks when wind

carries sand close to the ground. This is
another example of how the atmosphere affects
the geosphere. Sand carried by wind carves the
bottom of the rock more than the top.

Three types of Rock and Rock Cycle

Geologists classify the rocks of earth’s crust in one of three categories —
igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary — based on how the rock was created.
Each type of rock has its own unique characteristics:
 Igneous: Igneous rocks form from the cooling of melted rock (either lava or
magma) into solid form. If the cooling occurs underground, the rock is an
intrusive, or plutonic, igneous rock. If the cooling occurs on the earth’s
surface, the rock is an extrusive or volcanic rock.
Geologists describe different igneous rocks according to their texture and
composition.
 Metamorphic: Metamorphic rocks form when existing rocks are subjected to
intense heat and pressure, usually deep below the earth’s surface. These
conditions change the original minerals of the rock into new minerals.
Geologists classify metamorphic rocks according to how much they have been
changed from the original, or parent, rock. Low-grade metamorphic rocks still
appear very similar to the parent rock, while high-grade metamorphic rocks have
been changed so much that they look very different from the parent rock.
 Sedimentary: Sedimentary rocks are either detrital or
chemical. Detrital rocks are formed by the compaction of separate particles,
or sediments, into a rock. The particles are pieces of a different, pre-existing
rock that have been weathered and transported by wind, water, ice, or
gravity. Chemical sedimentary rocks form from minerals that have been
dissolved in water and precipitate out, forming a solid rock.
Geologists describe sedimentary rocks according to the size and shape of the
particles in them or their mineral composition (in the case of chemical
sedimentary rocks).
The rocks of earth’s crust are constantly being recycled and changed into new
forms through geologic processes. This continual transformation of rocks from
one type to another is called the rock cycle. Through processes such as
weathering, heating, melting, cooling, and compaction, any one rock type can be
changed into a different rock type as its chemical composition and physical
characteristics are transformed.