Earth’s Systems & Energy
This Earth system includes rocks, soil, mountains, and all solid Earth materials.
What is the geosphere?
This type of rock forms when melted rock cools and hardens.
What is igneous rock?
Heat always moves this way when two substances are at different temperatures.
What is from warmer to cooler?
Coal, oil, and natural gas fall into this category because they take millions of years to form.
What are nonrenewable resources?
This renewable fuel is produced when plant sugars are broken down by fermentation.
What is ethanol?
This type of heat transfer in the mantle causes warmer material to rise and cooler material to sink.
What is convection?
This rock forms when layers of sediment are compacted and cemented together over time.
What is sedimentary rock?
This type of heat transfer occurs without direct contact, such as sunlight warming Earth.
What is radiation?
These molecules made of hydrogen and carbon make up petroleum.
What are hydrocarbons?
During fermentation, yeast produces carbon dioxide and this energy-rich substance.
What is alcohol (ethanol)?
These four systems are constantly interacting and reshaping Earth: geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.
What are Earth’s systems?
This process breaks rock into smaller pieces through wind, water, temperature change, or living things.
What is weathering?
This form of heat transfer is responsible for ocean currents and the movement of air in Earth’s atmosphere.
What is convection?
This property describes how easily a substance moves through a material.
What is permeability?
Solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass all belong to this category of resources.
What are renewable resources?
This atmospheric motion is caused by uneven heating and convection currents.
What is wind?
This type of rock forms when existing rock is changed by heat or pressure.
What is metamorphic rock?
This heat transfer occurs when fast-moving particles collide with slower-moving particles.
What is conduction?
This type of impermeable rock traps oil and gas in underground reservoirs.
What is cap rock?
This type of chemical reaction absorbs energy, such as photosynthesis.
What is an endothermic reaction?
This molten, semi-solid layer beneath the crust powers tectonic plate movement.
What is the mantle?
This scientific principle states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in Earth processes.
What is the conservation of matter?
Adding or removing this type of energy changes a substance’s temperature, particle motion, and sometimes its state.
What is thermal energy?
These two geological factors transform ancient organic matter into coal, oil, and natural gas.
What are heat and pressure?
This scientific concept explains why the number of atoms stays the same before and after a reaction.
What is the conservation of mass?