Unit 1: Scientific Method + Jarrett Creek
What are the four steps of the scientific process?
1. Asking a Scientific Question
2. Gathering Evidence
3. Making a Scientific Claim
4. Reporting Results
What is a chemical reaction?
A process in which one or more substances are converted (or changed) into one or more different substances
What is a mineral?
An inorganic, crystalline solid that forms through a natural process.
They can be identified by their characteristic physical properties (structure, hardness, color)
What is a constellation?
What does Relative Humidity Measure?
The amount of water vapor in the air
Why do scientists use the metric system over the imperial system?
It is more commonly accepted around the world. Only three countries use the imperial system, so in order for data/findings to be easily shared with the world, scientists use the metric system
What components are essential in identifying an atom?
Proton: tiny atomic particle that has mass and a positive electric charge
Neutron: tiny atomic particle that is electrically neutral and has about the same mass as a proton
Electron: tiny atomic particle with little mass and a negative electric charge
What are all of the characteristics of a mineral that can be used to identify what kind of mineral it is?
Special Characteristics: Smell/Taste, React with Acid, Magnetism, Fluorescence
What is the H-R Diagram and what does it show?
The H-R Diagram is a data chart that shows/groups different stars based off of their characteristics. The Luminosity and Temperature of the stars help show where a star is in their life cycle (main sequence, red giant, white dwarf)
The Earth's Atmosphere is primarily composed of what two gasses?
What is density?
What is the equation used to calculate it?
'The measure of the amount of matter that occupies a given space'
Calculated by dividing the mass of the matter by its volume (D=m/V)
The mass number, the atomic number, and the chemical symbol
What are the three different types of rocks and their sub-categories?
Igneous: (Felsic, Mafic, Intrusive, Extrusive)
Sedimentary: (Clastic, Organic, Chemical)
Metamorphic: (Foliated, Non-Foliated)
What are the different stages of the star cycle for a low/medium mass star?
Nebula -> Main Sequence -> Red Giant -> Planetary Nebula -> White Dwarf
What is the Coriolis Effect and why does it happen?
The effect of a rotating body that influences the motion of any object or fluid; on Earth, air moving north or south from the equator appears to move right or left, respectively. The combination of the Coriolis effect and Earth's heat imbalance creates the trade winds, polar easterlies, and prevailing westerlies.
This is due to Earth's rotation on its axis
What are the four main measurements needed to calculate streamflow?
Length, Width, Depth, and Velocity
What does the Bohr Model show?
What are the different types of plate boundaries?
Convergent Boundary: Two plates are moving towards each other
Divergent Boundary: Two plates are moving apart from each other
Transform: Two plates slide horizontally past each other
What does the electromagnetic spectrum show?
The full range of frequencies and wavelengths of electromagnetic waves
(From Radio Waves -> Gamma Rays)
What are the layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere
Jarrett Creek is apart of the Red Cedar Watershed. The runoff water can be apart of the reason Lake Menomin has algae blooms. What are the main components that create algae blooms in water?
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus cause algae to increase dramatically
What is the difference of ionic and covalent bonding?
Ionic: an electrostatic attraction between two atoms where one atom transfers an electron to the other atom
Covalent:the force of attraction that holds together two atoms that share a pair of valence electrons
What are the different type of glacial features?
Glacial Erratics
Glacial Striations
Glacial Tills
Moraines
Kettle Lakes
Scoured Lakes
Drumlins
What are the different layers of the Sun?
Core, Radiative/Convection Zone, Photosphere, Chromosphere, Corona
What are the three different types of clouds?
What changes to the cloud names when it is raining/precipitating?
Cirrus, Cumulus, and Stratus
When precipitation is occuring, the prefix or suffix of nimbo/nimbus is added