Nature of Science
This is the first step of the scientific method, where a scientist notices something unusual.
What is making an observation?
This sphere includes all water on Earth, including oceans, rivers, and glaciers.
What is the hydrosphere?
This is the thin, solid outer layer of Earth where we live.
What is the crust?
This type of front brings cooler temperatures and often causes thunderstorms.
What is a cold front?
This process breaks down rocks into smaller pieces without moving them.
What is weathering?
This is a testable explanation that a scientist creates before performing an investigation.
What is a hypothesis?
Plants and animals belong to this Earth system.
What is the biosphere?
This layer is made of hot, slow-flowing rock and causes tectonic plates to move.
What is the mantle?
This type of front brings warmer temperatures and steady rain.
What is a warm front?
This process moves weathered rock from one place to another by wind, water, or ice.
What is erosion?
The factor a scientist changes on purpose in an experiment is called this.
What is the independent variable?
When plant roots break apart rocks, these two spheres are interacting.
What are the biosphere and geosphere?
Earth’s core is divided into these two parts.
What are the inner core and outer core?
This type of pressure system brings clear skies and calm weather.
What is a high-pressure system?
This process drops or lays down sediments in a new place, creating features like deltas and sandbars.
What is deposition?
This part of an investigation stays the same so the experiment is fair.
What are constants?
Water evaporating from the ocean and entering the air is interaction between these two spheres.
What are the hydrosphere and atmosphere?
This layer produces Earth’s magnetic field because it is liquid and made of metal.
What is the outer core?
This type of pressure system brings clouds, humidity, and storms.
What is a low-pressure system?
Acid rain breaking down limestone is an example of this type of weathering.
What is chemical weathering?
A student repeats an experiment multiple times to make the results more reliable. This is called ____.
What is repetition?
Permafrost melting in the Arctic shows interaction between the cryosphere and this other Earth system.
What is the hydrosphere?
This semi-solid layer of the mantle allows tectonic plates to move because it flows slowly like plastic.
What is the asthenosphere?
On a weather map, fronts form where these two conditions meet.
What are air masses with different temperatures and humidity?
A river carrying sediment downstream and creating a delta where it enters the ocean involves this sequence of processes.
What is weathering → erosion → deposition?