EARTH LAYERS & PLATES
What is the rigid outer layer made of the crust and upper mantle?
The lithosphere
The water cycle moves through the geosphere, atmosphere, and this sphere that includes lakes and oceans.
Hydrosphere
What term refers to short-term atmospheric conditions?
Weather
This planet has a magnetosphere that helps protect it from harmful radiation
Earth
Pluto was reclassified as what in 2006?
A dwarf planet
What are large sections of Earth’s lithosphere that move at boundaries?
Tectonic plates
This microbial process turns atmospheric nitrogen into plant-usable forms.
These gases trap heat and contribute to climate change.
Greenhouse Gases
This theory explains how the universe began.
The Big Bang Theory
To be a planet, an object must clear this from its orbit.
Its neighborhood (objects within its orbital path)
Which type of plate boundary creates new crust at mid-ocean ridges?
Divergent boundary
Rain, runoff, and evaporation are all part of this Earth system.
The hydrologic (water) cycle
Earth is tilted on its axis by this many degrees.
23 degrees
A planet that orbits a star outside our solar system
Exoplanet
These cold, distant planets include Uranus and Neptune.
Ice Giants
What theory says continents were once part of a supercontinent?
Continental Drift Theory
Name the three types of rocks involved in the rock cycle.
Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
The movement of air caused by rising warm air and sinking cool air.
Atmospheric circulation
Gravity increases with this property of an object.
Mass
Earth orbits in this “just right” zone for life.
The Goldilocks Zone
What semi-solid layer allows plate movement?
The asthenosphere
Give two examples of exogenous Earth processes.
Weathering and Erosion
These cells drive weather patterns near the equator.
Hadley Cells
Name the three types of galaxies by shape.
Spiral, elliptical, irregular
This scientist confirmed the heliocentric model using a telescope.
Galileo