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52 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define and describe the scientific method.
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-the process by which "science" advances
1. Observe phenomena-gather and analyze data 2. Form hypothesis based on initial observations and data 3. Collect data, measure, and experiment 4. Scrutinize original hypothesis based on results of #3 above 5. Revise and continue to test or.... discard hypothesis and start over |
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What are the five "spheres" of the earth?
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-atmosphere (air)
-geosphere (land) -hydrosphere (water) -biosphere (life which requires all three) -celestial sphere (the stars etc.) |
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What are the residents of the solar system?
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-sun, mercury, venus, earth, mars, asteroid belt, jupiter, saturn uranus, neptune, plutioid, moons (earth 1, mars 2, gas giants 160 +), comets (dirty ice balls)
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What are the terrestrial planets?
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-earth-like; mercury, venus, earth, mars
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What are the Jovian planets?
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-jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune
-also known as gas giants because they are mainly giant balls of gas |
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Compare and contrast the Terrestrial and Jovian planets.
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Terrestrial
-close to the sun -short years -"warm" -closely spaced orbits -small size and mass -metal and rock interior -solid surface -dense -slow rotation (long days) -weak magnetic field -no rings -few moons -comparably thin or no atmosphere Jovian -far from the sun -long years -"cold" -widely spaced orbits -large size and mass -small rock and/or H core -gradational surface -not dense -fast rotation (short days) -strong magnetic fields -many rings -many moons (160) -"thick" atmosphere with massive wind storms |
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What are the two forces that are responsible for establishing satellite orbits around a larger body, such as a star?
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-gravity and inertia
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What is a comet? Where do comets come from and what happens when a comet enters the solar system?
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-dirty ice balls- made of water ice, dust and frozen gases
-come from the huge area surrounding the solar system known as the "oort cloud" -when they enter the solar system they gather gas and dust -the dust reflects the light from the sun, so a dust and gas trail become visible. -comet tails always point away from the sun |
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What does the condensation theory attempt to explain? How?
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-formation of the solar system
1. nebula flattens out and lump in middle becomes sun 2. dust gather condensation and molecules begin sticking together 3. solar wind pushes gases out and jovian planets begin forming 4. jovian planets gather remaining gases and terrestrial planets become fully formed |
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what type of galaxy is our galaxy?
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-spiral
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Define lunar eclipse.
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the moon is darkened as it moves wholly or partially through the earth's shadow
-the moon is not completely dark but reddish in color |
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Define solar eclipse.
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-the sun is partially or totally darkened on part of the earth as the moon's shadow moves across the surface
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What are the phases of the moon?
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-new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescent
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What do waxing and waning mean?
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The terms waxing and waning both describe the moon between its full and new phases. Waxing refers to the moon when the part that you can see is increasing (getting bigger) versus waning which refers to the moon when the part that you can see is decreasing (getting smaller).
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What causes the seasons?
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1. the angle at which the sun's rays strike the earth based on where the earth is in its orbit and the tilt of its axis
2. length of lightness and darkeness |
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What are solstices and equinoxes?
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-during a solstice it is either the longest day of sunlight or the shortest day of sunlight (as in winter)
-the sun is vertical at 23 1/2 degrees N during summer solstice and 23 1/2 degrees S during the winter solstice -equinoxes are when the sun is vertical at the equator and there is an equal amount of daylight and darkness. occurs in september and march |
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Why is Earth "just the right place" and why?
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-perfectly distanced from the sun so it is not too hot or too cold
-sustainable atmosphere full of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon to make it possible for creatures to breathe -the atmosphere generates winds that circulate moisture and moderates the climate -the ozone layer protects us from harmful and deadly UV radiation -the "greenhouse effect" keeps us from freezing -we have liquid water which is necessary for our diet and to keep plant life alive as well |
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Describe the Big Bang Theory.
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-founded by Hubble
-12-14 billion years ago the entire universe was contained in a dense hot entity called the singularity -soon after it exploded, matter appeared and clumped to form the physical universe -the universe is spinning, open, and expanding |
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What causes seasons?
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the angle at which the suns rays hit the Earth
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Einstein?
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-theory that light bends
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Newton?
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-gravity
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Cannon?
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-developed a stellar classification system; classified stars
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Copernicus?
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1st to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology
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Hubble?
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-said that the known universe is expanding
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Kepler?
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-discovered the 3 major laws of planetary motion
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Galileo?
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-named the 4 largest moons of Jupiter
-made improvements to the telescope -led to the birth of modern science |
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Aristarchus?
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-correctly ordered the planets and identified the central fire with the sun
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How does the Earth move around the sun?
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-it revolves
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Explain how the suns rays heat the earth.
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-the higher the angle of the sun, the more intense the solar radiation
-in winter the same amount of the sun's energy is spread over a larger area that in summer, effectively lowering the heat available to warm the earth at that location |
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Besides the angle of the suns rays what other factor affects the amount of solar energy reaching the earth's surface?
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-atmospheric thickness
-radiation passing through a greater thickness of atmosphere is subject to greater absorption and reflection |
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How long is a lunar month?
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29.5 days
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What are some regional factors of tides?
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-land shape, slope and shape of sea floor, "gyre"
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What is a diurnal tide cycle?
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-1 high tide and 1 low tide per day
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What is a semidiurnal tide cycle?
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-2 high tides and two low tides per day
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What are the three causes of tides?
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-the mutual attraction between the sun moon, and the water
-1/3 sun -2/3 moon |
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What is the difference in range of spring and neap tides?
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-spring have the greatest tidal range and neap tides have the lowest
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how many stars are in our galaxy?
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-one! the sun
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What is the energy source of the sun?
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-hydrogen fusion
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What does terrestrial mean?
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-earth-like
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Where is the asteroid belt thought to have come from?
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-maybe a planet once that blew up or a planet that was forming, but never fully formed
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What is an asteroid?
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-composed of rock and metal and carbon
-small bodies circling the sun, usually between the orbits of mars and jupiter |
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What are the two tails that comets have?
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-ion tail (blue)
-dust tail (white) |
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How large are comets typically?
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1/2 to 5 miles
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Describe moons.
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-satellites revolving around planets
-made of rock or rock and ice |
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What are the shapes of galaxies?
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-spiral, elliptical, irregular
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How big are galaxies and how many are there?
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-100 billion light years across
-80-100 billion galaxies in the universe |
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What can be found in galaxies?
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-supernovas, solar systems, dust and gas clouds, black holes and maybe "dark matter and energy"
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What are some more reasons why earth is "just the right place"?
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-perfect tilt of axis so we have seasons and moderate climate
-24 day heats effectively and balances sunlight -gravitational pull between moon and sun allow tides to circulate ocean water and cleanse the shores -strong magnetic field that protects life from a continuous stream of particles from the sun, known as the solar wind |
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Explain the singularity and the big bang theory.
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-tiny, super hot and dense
-it is the source of all matter, energy, space and the marking of time -universe forms about one billion years later and continues to expand -if closed universe we will crunch in 80-100 billion years -if open universe we will expand forever (cold, dark, dead) |
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What is oceanography?
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-oceanography is the study of the world's oceans, its water, biota, physical and chemical character and its origins
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what are the 4 major areas of study in oceanography?
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-physical, chemical, geological, and biological
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Spheres impact?
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-help describe how water moves around the earth's surface
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