Solar System
This force pulled together dust and gas to form the solar system.
What is gravity?
These rigid pieces of Earth's crust float on the mantle.
What are tectonic plates?
This unique property of water allows it to store and release large amounts of heat.
What is high specific heat?
Living and nonliving parts of an environment working together form this.
What is an ecosystem?
Cutting forests, building cities, and farming all change this Earth system.
What is the geosphere (or Earth's surface)?
Earth’s tilt causes this major pattern of temperature change over a year.
What are the seasons?
This process drives plate movement by heating and cooling material in the mantle.
What are mantle convection currents?
Greenhouse gases trap this type of energy inside the atmosphere.
What is thermal/infrared energy?
This element cycles through the atmosphere, living things, and the geosphere.
What is carbon?
Using groundwater faster than it can recharge causes this issue.
What is water scarcity?
The Sun produces energy through this process in its core.
What is nuclear fusion?
Earthquakes and volcanoes most often occur along these.
What are plate boundaries?
Warm ocean water transferring heat to the atmosphere causes this global climate event.
What is El Niño (or La Niña)?
Past climates can be studied using ice cores, tree rings, and these particles in sediment.
What are fossils?
Burning fossil fuels increases this atmospheric gas linked to climate change.
What is carbon dioxide?
This type of radiation from the sun warms Earth and drives weather.
What is solar radiation?
Rock broken down by wind, water, and ice is undergoing this process.
What is weathering?
Climate and weather differ because climate describes this long-term pattern.
What is average atmospheric conditions over time?
When abiotic conditions change, this aspect of ecosystems may decrease.
What is biodiversity?
Flooding and wildfires are becoming more common due to changes in this gas-trapping layer.
What is the atmosphere (greenhouse effect)?
Because Earth rotates on its axis, we experience this daily cycle.
What are day and night?
Molten rock underground is called magma; when it reaches the surface, it becomes this.
What is lava?
This process of water moving from ocean to air requires energy transfer (liquid → gas).
What is evaporation?
Ecosystems with higher biodiversity are better able to recover after disturbances—this is called what?
What is ecosystem resilience?
Some communities face greater impacts from natural hazards due to lack of resources—this concept is called what?
What is environmental inequity (or environmental justice)?