Earth's Systems
100: What is a system?
Answer: A group of parts that work together as a whole.
100: What process changes water from a liquid to a gas in the water cycle?
Answer: Evaporation.
100: What is elevation?
Answer: The height of a point above sea level.
100: What is a topographic map used to show?
Answer: The surface features of an area including elevation and landforms.
100: What two gases make up 99% of Earth's atmosphere?
Answer: Nitrogen and oxygen.
200: Name the four main spheres of Earth.
Answer: Atmosphere, Geosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere.
200: What is magma?
Answer: Hot molten material inside the Earth.
200: What landform has both high elevation and high relief?
Answer: Mountains.
200: What do contour lines represent on a map?
Answer: Points of equal elevation.
200: What causes wind to blow?
Answer: Differences in air pressure caused by uneven heating of Earth’s surface.
300: What two energy sources drive the Earth system?
Answer: Heat from the Sun and heat from Earth’s interior.
300: How does sedimentary rock form?
Answer: From sediment that is buried and compacted over time.
300: What is the difference between a plateau and a plain?
Answer: A plateau has high elevation and low relief; a plain has low elevation and low relief.
300: What is the purpose of GPS?
Answer: To determine exact locations on Earth using satellites.
300: What is relative humidity?
Answer: The percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum it can hold at a certain temperature.
400: How does melting ice in Greenland affect the land beneath it?
Answer: The land rises because it becomes lighter as ice melts.
400: What powers the water cycle?
Answer: Heat energy from the sun.
400: How do contour lines on a topographic map show steep slopes?
Answer: Lines that are close together indicate steep slopes.
400: How do satellites help map Earth’s surface?
Answer: They collect data and images from space to create detailed maps.
400: Describe what happens at a cold front.
Answer: Cold air pushes under warm air, forcing it to rise quickly, causing storms.
500: Explain how events in one Earth sphere can affect the others, giving an example.
Answer: An event like a volcanic eruption in the geosphere releases ash into the atmosphere, affects the hydrosphere with lava, and impacts the biosphere by affecting living things.
500: Describe the steps in the rock cycle.
Answer: Magma cools to form rock, rock breaks down into sediment, sediment forms sedimentary rock, and the cycle continues.
500: Explain how constructive and destructive forces shape Earth’s surface.
Answer: Constructive forces build up land (like mountains), while destructive forces wear down land (like wind or rain erosion).
500: Explain how GIS can help predict flooding.
Answer: GIS layers data like elevation, rainfall, and river paths to identify flood-prone areas.
500: How do cyclones form and why do they spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?
Answer: Cyclones form from low-pressure centers with rising warm air; the Coriolis effect causes them to spin counterclockwise.