Interactions of Earth’s Spheres
Which of Earth’s spheres contains rocks and sediments?
Geosphere
How long does it take the Earth to rotate on its axis?
Earth’s rotation on its axis occurs every 24 hours.
True or false: the sun is the closest star to Earth
True
Where does the light we see from the moon come from?
The moon is lit by the sun. It is important to remember that the moon does not make its own light, it only reflects light from the sun.
All the living things on Earth are part of this. The first part of this word means "life."
Biosphere
Which of Earth’s spheres includes water?
Hydrosphere
What causes the length of shadows to change over the course of the day?
Earth's rotation causes shadows to be longer in the afternoon than at noon.
What is a star?
A star is an exploding ball of burning gas held together by gravity.
What causes us to see different phases of the moon?
The phases of the moon are caused by its orbit around the Earth
A group of stars that form a recognizable shape such as the big dipper. Today there are about 90 of them.
Constellations
What is the atmosphere made up of?
gases called "air" which consists of particles too small to be seen
Why do we have a leap year every four years?
Since it takes 365.25 days to complete one orbit, we account for the extra .25 days by adding an extra day to our calendar every four years.
Why does the sun appear so large and bright compared to other stars?
Because the sun is so much closer than other stars, it looks much bigger and brighter.
Which three things are connected in the system that causes us to see the moon’s phases?
The earth, moon and sun are connected because their orbits depend on each other. The earth orbits around the sun and the moon orbits around the earth.
A burst of high energy radiation made by the sun that can travel to Earth and interfere with cell phone reception and satellite communications.
Solar Flare
Which of Earth’s spheres do humans impact and how?
Humans can impact all four of Earth’s spheres.
- Humans can burn fossil fuels and release pollution into the atmosphere.
-Humans pile up garbage in landfills affecting the geosphere.
-Humans produce waste that flows into water bodies impacting the hydrosphere.
-Humans also impact the biosphere by cutting down trees.
-Humans also work to lessen their impact on the spheres through actions like recycling.
What kind of instrument, developed by Leon Foucault, provides physical evidence that Earth is rotating on its axis?
Foucault Pendulum
What are two things that stars produce? ___________________________ and ____________________________
light and heat
What caused the formation of the dark areas that can be seen on the moon with a telescope?
meteor impacts
The apparent shift of position of some stars through the year.
stellar parallax
Explain an interaction between the atmosphere and the geosphere.
Wind in the atmosphere breaks down rock which is part of the geosphere.
A mountain (geosphere) can block fog from moving to the other side which shows how the land can effect the weather.
If it is 9 am in San Francisco, is it also 9 am in New York? Why or why not?
Each day the sun appears to rise, move across the sky and set. However, this doesn’t happen at the same time in every location on Earth. Since the Earth rotates, New York will see the sun before San Francisco. So we need to adjust our clocks so that everyone has daytime during the same hours, it is necessary to use time zones. This way, anywhere you are on earth, the sun will be as high in the sky as it can be at noon.
What is one way that ancient people used the stars and constellations?
For centuries they have been used to navigate from one place to another using measurements taken from the stars and the horizon.
The ancient Greeks invented constellations for their mythology (storytelling).
What is the definition of a system?
A system is a set of things that are connected.
Streaks left by an asteroid hitting the moon as material is ejected due to the force of the impact.
Lunar Rays