The Study of...
The study of the Earth and the universe around it.
What is Earth Science
A system of measurement used worldwide, also called the metric system.
What is International System of Units
Earth’s lithosphere is broken into enormous slabs, or plates, that are in motion. Scientists use this theory to explain how Earth’s continents drift.
What is Theory of Plate Tectonics
The shaking of Earth’s surface, caused by the release of stored energy along a fault. This occurs along plate boundaries.
What is Earthquake
The slabs that make up Earth’s crust and upper mantle that are able to carry continents.
What is Tectonic Plate
The study of the origin, history, processes, and structure of the solid Earth.
What is Geology
The amount of space an object takes up, or the measure of the size of an object.
What is Volume
A theory that states that the continents were a single landmass at one time in the past and have moved over time to their present positions. This theory was first suggested by Alfred Wegener.
What is Theory of Continental Drift
A break in rock along which rock slabs have moved. The shifting of Earth’s tectonic plates can produce this where earthquakes may occur.
What is Fault
A place where the plates that make up Earth’s crust and upper mantle either move together or move apart or move past one another.
What is Plate Boundary
The study of the Earth’s oceans, including waves, tides, or ocean currents.
What is Oceanography
A measure of the amount of matter in a substance or an object.
What is Mass
Process by which new ocean floor is being formed as magma rises to the surface and hardens into rock. This occurs as magma fills the space between separating plates.
What is Sea Floor Spreading
A supercontinent that existed about 200 million years ago that broke apart into several continents.
What is Pangaea
The place where the plates that make up Earth’s crust and upper mantle collide or come together. Layers of rock may bend or break at this boundary.
What is Convergent Boundary
The study of the Earth’s atmosphere, especially weather and climate.
What is Meteorology
Anything that has mass and takes up space.
What is Matter
The process by which magma rises to fill the gap between two plates that are moving apart.
What is Rifting
The hot, molten rock deep inside Earth.
What is Magma
The place where the plates that make up Earth’s crust and upper mantle move away from one another. Most of these boundaries are found on the ocean floor.
What is Divergent Boundary
The study of the universe beyond Earth.
What is Astronomy
The amount of mass in a given volume of matter.
What is Density
The process of moving part of the lithosphere down into the mantle along a convergent boundary.
What is Subduction
Magma that flows out onto Earth’s surface from a volcano.
What is Lava
The place where the plates that make up Earth’s crust and upper mantle move past one another.
What is Transform-Fault Boundary