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Introduction

To

Environmental Science

Name: _______________________________________________ Unit 1

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In this introductory unit, our “big idea” questions are:

What are Earth’s 4 spheres?

What sciences make up Environmental Science?

What is an observation and an inference, and how are

they related?

What variables exist in an experiment?

How do we graph independent and dependent variables to

show relationships between variables?

How can mathematical calculations show relationships

between variables?

To answer these questions, we will learn about & review:

Earth’s 4 Spheres & Environmental Science’s 4 Sciences

Observations & Inferences

o Lab: Observations & Inferences

Variables, Graphing & Types of Relationships

Mathematical Skills: Place Values, Rounding, Scientific

Notation, Percent Deviation, & Rate of Change

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(1) __________________

(2) __________________

(3)

___________________

(4) ___________

(1) __________________

(2) __________________

(3)

___________________

(4) ____________

The Spheres of

the Earth

Sciences in

Env. Science

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Review:

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Observations vs. Inferences

Observations & Inferences Practice

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Lab: Observations & Inferences

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Variables, Graphing & Types of

Relationships

Variables:

_____ types of variables exist in scientific experiments

Scientific Variables

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Let’s Practice!

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Graphing & Types of Relationships:

What is a graph?

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

What types of relationships between variables can graphs show?

(1) ________________: The independent variable

__________________ and the dependent variable

__________________

(2) ________________: The independent variable

_________________ and the dependent variable

_________________

(3) ________________: As the independent variable

_________________, the dependent variable increases and

decreases in a _____________________ manner

(4) ________________: As one variable _________________, the

other remains the _____________

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Let’s Practice!

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REVIEW

Match the type of graph with the relationship it is

showing.

Indirect (inverse)

Cyclic

Direct

Static

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Mathematical Skills: Place Values, Rounding,

Scientific Notation, Percent Deviation, & Rate of

Change

Being mathematically literate is important in Earth Science; thus we will take time

to review SOME important math skills that will help you be successful this year.

Place Values:

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Let’s Practice!

Circle the correct answers to the following questions:

Rounding:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

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Scientific Notation:

Scientific notation is used to make very large or very small numbers (written in

standard notation) more understandable. For very large numbers, you will move

the decimal point to the left AND count the number of times you must move it

(this will be your exponent). For very small numbers, you will follow the same

steps but move your decimal point to the right. Let’s look at some examples:

For VERY LARGE numbers:

For very small numbers:

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You must be able to write numbers in both scientific notation AND in standard

notation. Below are some practice problems:

Percent Deviation:

You may assume that every measurement you make is accurate. However you

may make mistakes when making measurements or calculating values.

Percent deviation, or percent error, is a formula that is used to quantify how

accurate you are when making measurements. In this calculation, student

measured (observed) values are compared to actual (accepted) values.

Percent Deviation (Percent Error) =

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Real-life example:

*Note: If you have a “negative” percent error, this DOES NOT mean that you have

a value less than zero. What do you think it DOES mean?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

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Let’s Practice!

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Rate of Change:

What is “change”?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Most changes in nature are ___________________ and

_____________________________

Dynamic Equilibrium:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Rate of change:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Rate of change formula:

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Let’s Practice!