Earth Science

352 Pages·2015·9.06 MB·English

by  Rochelle Plott

Credits

1.1 Copyright, Utah State Office of Education, 2013.

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This book is adapted primarily from the excellent materials created by
the CK-12 Foundation – http://ck12.org/ – which are licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike license. We
express our gratitude to the CK-12 Foundation for their pioneering work
on secondary science textbooks ,without which the current book would
not be possible.

We also thank the amazing Utah science teachers whose collaborative
efforts made the book possible. Thank you for your commitment to
science education and Utah students!

Cover and textbook design by Corrine Beaumont, PhD. Photo issued under a
Creative Commons attribution license, Corrine Beaumont.

Cover adapted from “Grand Canyon National Park: View from Yaki
Point, Christmas Day 2014” by Grand Canyon National Park
https://www.flickr.com/photos/grand_canyon_nps/16086864956/
This book is yours to keep, so write on all the
pages you like. There’s even space on the back

cover for your name.

It’s your learning,
It’s your book.
Enjoy!
WHY science?

Many students equate science to learning vocabulary terms, labeling
pictures, and memorizing facts. Science by nature is much more
inclusive and loosely defined. Have you ever asked yourself questions
about your surroundings and wondered how or why they are
happening? This is science. Science works best when driven by
curiosity and innovation. In order for you to experience science in its
fullest sense you must take it beyond the textbook and into your
everyday experience, but in order to be meaningful there are certain
guidelines that can help us. Science is not constrained to Earth
Science, but there are cross-cutting concepts threaded throughout all
scientific disciplines. These include:

 Patterns
Example found in Earth Science:
We observe specific patterns in weather over time, which helps us define
regional climates.

 Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation;
Example found in Earth Science:
If sections of the Earth’s crust moves, then earth quakes occur, mountains
form, and volcano erupt.

 Scale, proportion, and quantity;
Example found in Earth Science:
The size and distance the solar system is massive, so we produce scale models.

 Systems and system models;
Example found in Earth Science:
We create models of Earth’s mantle, to show how convection currents move
the magma, acting as a conveyer belt for the Earth’s crust. Understanding
this model can show how moving Earth’s crust creates many of the land
features we observe.

 Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation;
Example found in Earth Science:
Light from the sun is absorbed by the surface of the Earth and converted to
heat. The heat energy is then cycled through the Earth’s atmosphere
powering the weather.

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 Structure and function;
Example found in Earth Science:
The structure of a water molecule creates unique characteristic. These
characteristics allow it to support life on Earth.

 Stability and change;
Example found in Earth Science:
When we remove vegetation away a hillside to build a home, we affect the
stability of the ground which may cause a mud or land slide when it rains.
When studying any specific scientific discipline you should attempt to
keep these cross-cutting concepts in mind in order to gain a better
perspective of the world as whole and the nature of science. Included
in the concepts are the skills and practices that a scientist utilizes.
When asking questions about the natural world there are certain skills
and practices that can help you be generate better conclusions,
explanations and inferences. These practices include:

 Asking questions and defining problems
 Developing and using models
 Planning and carrying out investigations
 Analyzing and interpreting data
 Using mathematics and computational thinking
 Constructing explanations and designing solutions
 Engaging in argument from evidence
 Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
While these practices and cross-cutting concepts are crucial to your
overall success in science, in order to be most meaningful they do
need some context. This is where the study of disciplinary core ideas
are most impactful. If you study (Earth Science) or any other scientific
discipline without the cross-cutting concepts and scientific practices then
you limit yourself to fact memorization and miss how these concepts
relate to our everyday life and our society as a whole. Studying
individual scientific disciplines are the vehicle for understanding cross-
cutting concepts and acquiring scientific skills. When individual
disciplines are studied within the context of practices and cross-cutting
concepts they become more meaningful and more impactful.

For example: When looking for solutions to atmospheric pollutions it
is not a problem to be solved by chemists or physicists or geologists
independently. It can only be solved when scientists come together
with an understanding of how their independent research relates to the
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larger problem at hand. If we focus solely upon a few facts or cool
phenomenon we can overlook how the study of science can really

improve and impact our society and personal experiences.
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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Universe

- How do we know what we know about the universe? (Pg 16)
- What fuels a star? (Pg 27)
- What is at the center of the universe? (Pg 37)
- What are conditions like on the inner planets? (Pg 47)
- What are condition like on the outer planets? (Pg 58)
- What other objects are in the solar system? (Pg 68)

Chapter 2: Inside Earth

- How does the internal structure of the Earth affect the temperature
of the Earth? (Pg 78)
- What causes earthquakes and volcanoes? (Pg 90)
- What discovery was made during World War II that revived the idea
of the continental drift hypothesis? (Pg 96)
- Does the movement of Earth’s plates affect all living things? (Pg 110)

Chapter 3: Atmosphere

- Is the Greenhouse Effect a good thing or a bad thing? (Pg 122)
- How does heat on Earth resemble a household budget? (Pg 128)
- Why is it winter in the Southern Hemisphere when it is summer in
the Northern Hemisphere? (Pg 132)
- What makes the wind blow? (Pg 135)
- Why were winds so important to the early explorers? (Pg 142)
- What is ozone and why are we concerned about a hole in the
ozone? (Pg 148)
- What causes the change in the weather? (Pg 155)
- How do they forecast the weather? (Pg 160)
- What causes severe weather? (Pg 164)
- What are short-term climate changes? (Pg 168)
- How has Earth’s climate changed? (Pg 171)
- What causes climate change? (Pg 174)
- How are fossil fuels formed? (Pg 180)
Chapter 4: Hydrosphere

- Why can’t we drink most of the water on Earth? (Pg 188)
- How do we use water? (Pg 196)
- How do humans and animals cause water pollution? (Pg 201)
- What makes H O unique? (Pg 207)
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- What is a freshwater ecosystem? (Pg 212)
- Was there always water on Earth? (Pg 218)
- What causes water to move in the ocean? (Pg 224)

Chapter 5: People and Planet

- How do technological advances increase human knowledge? (Pg
234)
- How is a seismologist like a medical doctor? (Pg 238)
- Will water cause the next war? (Pg 239)
- Are soil and water renewable resources? (Pg 246)
- How will the removal of the Elwha Dam affect the freshwater
ecosystem upstream? (Pg 250)
- What data do scientists provide that informs the discussion of Earth
resource use? (Pg 255)
- Can we predict natural hazards? (Pg 260)
- What causes a heat wave? (Pg 272)
- What is a tsunami? (Pg 278)
- Which human activities contribute to the frequency and intensity of
natural hazards? (Pg 282)
- How do humans impact the carbon cycle? (Pg 289)
- How do scientists use technology to continually improve estimates
of when and where natural hazards occur? (Pg 293)
- What is one of the deadliest science jobs? (Pg 298)
- Does a picnic bring rain? (Pg 303)

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Utah Science Core Curriculum Alignment
Standard 1: Students will understand the scientific evidence that
supports theories that explain how the universe and the solar
system developed. They will compare Earth to other objects in
the solar system.

Objective 1: Describe both the big bang theory of universe formation
and the nebular theory of solar system formation and evidence
supporting them.

a) Identify the scientific evidence for the age of the solar system (4.6
billion years), including Earth (e.g., radioactive decay).
b) Describe the big bang theory and the evidence that supports this
theory (e.g., cosmic background radiation, abundance of elements,
distance/redshift relation for galaxies).
c) Describe the nebular theory of solar system formation and the
evidence supporting it (e.g., solar system structure due to gravity,
motion and temperature; composition and age of meteorites;
observations of newly forming stars).
d) Explain that heavy elements found on Earth are formed in stars.
e) Investigate and report how science has changed the accepted ideas
regarding the nature of the universe throughout history.
f) Provide an example of how technology has helped scientists
investigate the universe.
Objective 2: Analyze Earth as part of the solar system, which is part of
the Milky Way galaxy.

a) Relate the composition of objects in the solar system to their
distance from the Sun.
b) Compare the size of the solar system to the Milky Way galaxy.
c) Compare the size and scale of objects within the solar system.
d) Evaluate the conditions that currently support life on Earth
(biosphere) and compare them to the conditions that exist on other
planets and moons in the solar system (e.g., atmosphere,
hydrosphere, geosphere, amounts of incoming solar energy,
habitable zone).
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