Basic Science Skills
a way of learning about the natural world
What is science?
an inorganic, naturally occurring solid with a definite chemical composition and crystalline structure
What is a mineral?
the pieces of our lithosphere
What are plates?
the study of Earth's atmosphere, including weather and climate
What is meteorology?
the study of our solar system
What is astronomy?
a possible answer to a scientific question
What is a hypothesis?
rock formed from cooling magma or lava
What is an igneous rock?
Wegner's idea that all continents were once joined in a large landmass he called "Pangaea"
What is continental drift?
the condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place
What is the weather?
spinning on an axis; creates day and night
What is rotation?
an interpretation of an observation
What is an inference?
igneous rock formed from magma
What is an intrusive igneous rock?
process where denser crust sinks beneath the less dense crust and returns to the mantle
What is subduction?
the envelope of gases that surround the planet
What is the atmosphere?
sphere-shaped object that orbits a star and does not produce its own light
What is a planet?
grouping items based on similarities
What is classification?
type of sedimentary rock made from rock fragments that are squeezed together
What is a clastic rock?
heat transfer within fluids (heat rising, cold sinking)
What is convection?
formed when water vapor condenses around tiny particles in the atmosphere
What are clouds?
tendency of an object to resist a change in motion
What is inertia?
the science that focuses on planet Earth and its place in the universe
What is Earth Science?
measured using the Mohs scale; scratch test
What is hardness of a mineral?
when plates move apart
What is a divergent boundary?
the middle layer of our atmosphere; it protects us from meteoroids)
What is the mesosphere?
different shapes of the moon we see from Earth; depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces us
What are the phases of the moon?