Astronomy and Earth Science

Review

1. How does the height of the sun’s path through the sky and the length of the shadow change over the course of the year?

• Shorter shadows in the summer (sun is nearly over head-direct light)• Longer shadows in the

winter (the sun is low in the sky- indirect light)

2. What causes day and night to occur on earth? Draw a diagram

• The side of Earth facing the sun is in day time.• The side facing away from

the sun is in night.• The earth rotates every 24

hours on its axis to cause day and night to occur.• High latitudes (near the

poles) will have 24 hours of sunlight in the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter.

3. What causes the different seasons to occur on earth and why are they opposite for the N and S hemisphere? Draw a diagram.

4. Draw a diagram of our solar system. Include and label: Sun, 8 planets, at least one dwarf planet, asteroid belt, and a comet.

5. Which planets move around the sun the fastest?• The closer a planet is to

the star it orbits, the faster it revolves around it.

6. How are the inner planets, outer planets, and dwarf planets alike? How are they different?

• Inner- small and rocky• Outer- large, gaseous, many moons and rings• Dwarf- spherical but small and don’t have a clear

path around the sun.

7. What objects in our solar system have a lot of gravitational pull? Why?

• Larger, more massive objects –such as Jupiter or the Sun, have a greater gravitational pull (so you weigh more)

8. What objects in our solar system have a little bit of gravitational pull? Why?• Smaller, less massive objects (like the moon) have

less gravitational force. • Your weight will decrease- but your MASS will stay

the same!

9. What happens to gravitational pull as you get closer to the object?

• The closer the object the more the gravitational force increases. • This is why the moon,

even though it is small, has a large affect on Earth’s tides.• However, since the sun is

so large, it still has a pull, despite being 93 million miles away.

10. What force keeps all objects in place in our solar system?

• Gravity- the larger and closer the object, the greater its gravitational force.

11. What is direct light and indirect light? When does NJ see these types of light and why?

• Direct light is seen during the summer, when the sun is directly overhead due to the Earth’s tilt.• Indirect light occurs during

the winter.

12. Describe the difference between rotation and revolution? How long does each one take on Earth to occur?

13. How is a magnetic field a benefit to the earth? How is it made?• It protects Earth from the Sun’s CME’s (charged

particles)• It is made by Earth’s liquid iron core

14. How are the earth, moon and sun arranged to allow for a solar eclipse?

• The moon is between the Earth and the Sun and blocks the sun’s rays from reaching the Earth’s surface (those in the umbra get a total eclipse.)

15. How are the earth, moon and sun arranged to allow for a lunar eclipse?

• The moon moves into Earth’s shadow. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon will appear red as the sunlight filters through Earth’s atmosphere.

16. In rock layers, which rock is the oldest? Which is the youngest?

• Oldest on the bottom, youngest on the top.• This helps us identify the relative ages

of fossils- we can tell if they are older or younger than the fossils above or below them.• When a species goes extinct, it will no

longer appear in the fossil record• Movement of the plates can cause the

layers to be disrupted

17. Which events occur suddenly (S) and which ones take more time to occur (L)Sudden or quick events• Earthquakes _______• volcanic eruptions ______ • tsunami _______

Long time events• Mountain range formation _______• Ocean formation ______ • Continental drift _______

18. What is weathering? Give examples.

• Breaking down of rocks due to physical or chemical reactions• Examples include:

freezing, temperature changes, animal (burrowing) or plant action, wind, water, or acid rain.

19 What is erosion? Give examples.

• Movement of rock or soil from an area is erosion.• Erosion can happen due

to water (streams), ice, (glaciers), wind (sandstorms), or gravity (landslide)

20. How can erosion be prevented?• Plant roots, terracing, fencing, damns, alternating

crops can all help prevent erosion.

21. Early organisms found on Earth were probably very __________ (simple or complex) Explain.

• Simple- one celled prokaryotic (no nucleus) organisms.• As time passed,

organisms slowly evolved into more and more complex organisms• Our fossil record shows

this evolution from simple to complex.

22. Draw the five stages of the rock cycle and explain each process (arrow) that allows a rock to change form.

23. What type of rock is most likely to contain fossils? Explain.

• Sedimentary rock• Igneous rock forms when magma or lava cools- this hot

material would melt a fossil• Metamorphic rock forms when a rock undergoes heat

and pressure- this would crush and destroy a fossil

24. What are the four parts of soil and how does it form?

• Minerals• Organic matter

(dead/decaying organisms or bacteria)• Air• Water

• Soil forms as rocks weather into smaller pieces and mix with other materials

25. What is the Ring of Fire and how did it form?• A chain of

volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.• Volcanoes and

earthquakes frequently occur on this subduction zone.

26. Where are earthquakes and volcanoes most likely to occur and why?

• They will most likely occur on plate boundaries because that is where most plate movement occurs.

27. What are the four layers of the Earth?

28. What evidence supports the theory of continental drift (four pieces of evidence)?

1. Puzzle like fit of continents2. Matching plant and animal

fossils on different continents3. Matching rock types and ages

on different continents4. Climate clues- tropical plant

fossils in Antarctica and glacier evidence in Africa suggest the continents were not always at their present latitudes

29. What three types of plate boundaries are there? Name and describe them.

• Transform Divergent Convergent

30. What makes the plates on the crust move? Explain this picture.

• The liquid mantle beneath the crust is constantly moving due to heat from the core. The hot mantle rises and carries the plates on the surface of the earth.• This movement of the mantle

due to earth's heat is called a Convection Current

31. Is the magnetic north pole the same thing as the geographic north pole? Explain

• They are not the same. The geographic north pole represents the axis- the imaginary line around which the earth spins.• The magnetic north pole-

created by the liquid metal in Earth’s core, changes position (sometimes even flipped N to S) and does not line up with the geographic north pole.