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8th Grade Unit 1 Vocabulary:
Using Technology to Study Our
World
Some terms can be found at this website:
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/AppD/glossary.html
Electromagnetic Spectrum – The range of energy which
contains parts or bands, such as visible light, infrared,
ultraviolet, microwave (radar), gamma ray, x-ray, and radio
and which travels at the speed of light. Different parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum have different wavelengths and
frequencies.
Geospatial Analysis - Detailed study of information such as
measurements, counts, and computations as a function of
geographical location.
GIS (geographic information systems) - A system for
capturing, storing, checking, integrating, manipulating,
analyzing, and displaying data which are spatially referenced
to the Earth's (usually) land surface. Remote sensing data
(aerial photos and Landstat data), digital summary data,
graphic data, and tabular data are captured and used to
analyze and provide statistics, graphics, graphs, and reports
according to specified users.
From B. Davis, GIS: A Visual Approach, ©1996. Reproduced
by permission of Onword Press, Santa Fe, NM (We need to
see if we can get permission.)
.
GPS (global positioning system) – Uses satellites to pinpoint
locations on Earth using a latitude and longitude.
Ground Truthing – This is done in the field where scientists
go out to the actual places shown in the images and confirm
that what they think they see on the image is actually true.
Occurs after remote sensing data has been collected.
Information System – A system of communication used
within an organization or group.
Pixels – The smallest unit of a digital picture. A satellite
image is made up of a matrix of many pixels, each having its
own digital value. Colors represent the relative reflected light
energy recorded for that small area. Images (or scenes) that
are created by the information collected by satellite sensors
are made up of pixels.
Remote Sensing – The process of gathering information
without touching, a technical term for the science of
gathering data using a sensor that is not in immediate
contact with the object being studied.
Satellite – A natural or man-made object that orbits a larger
object, such as Earth. A remote sensing satellite carries one
or more instruments for recording images and data of the
Earth. Remote sensing satellites will record the amount of
energy reflected from an object through multiple bands of the
EMS. The data and images are transmitted to a receiving
station using radio waves.
Sensor – A device used to gather and transmit information
remotely; device used to sense, or gather, the information
and data.
Sustainability – To keep in existence; to maintain.
Terms Used in Part I
Biological Evolution
Adaptation: a trait that increases the chances that an
organism will survive and reproduce
Artificial selection: the breeding of plants and animals with
desired traits to attempt to produce off spring with these
same traits.
Biological evolution: the change over time of living
organisms
Darwin: was a naturalist who proposed and provided
scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over
time from common ancestors through the process he called
natural selection.
Evolution: the change in population of a species over time.
Extinction: The evolutionary termination of a species
caused by the failure to reproduce and the death of all
remaining members of the species; the natural failure to
adapt to environmental change.
Fossil: evidence of past life preserved in rock.
Fossil record: the complete body of fossils that shows how
species and ecosystems change over time.
Fossilized: the process of becoming a fossil
Index fossil: a fossil found in a narrow time range but
widely distributed around the earth; used to date rock layers
Mutation: a random change to a gene that results in a new
trait
Natural selection: survival of the fittest organisms that are
the best adapted to their environment and the ones that will
live long enough to reproduce and pass on their favorable
adaptations
Species: the most specific classification of living things
Speciation: the process of natural selection producing a
new species out of existing species over thousands or
millions of years.
Theory: an explanation that ties together many hypothesis
and observations.
Trace fossil: a fossilized mark that is formed in soft
sediment by the movement or actions of an animal.
Trilobite: a marine organism that is an example of an index
fossil
Terms Used in Part 2
Geological Evolution
Absolute Dating: any method of measuring the age of an
event or object in years. the actual age for a rock or mineral
Continental drift theory: theory that states that the gradual
shifting of Earth’s plates causes continents to change their
global positions over time
Correlation: the matching up of rock layers from different
locations
Convergent plate boundary: the boundary formed by the
collision of two lithospheric plates.
Daughter Isotope: the stable isotope that results from
radioactive decay
Divergent plate boundary: the boundary between two
tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.
Half-life: the time needed for half of a sample of radioactive
substance to undergo radioactive decay.
Isotope: an atom that has the same number of protons(or
the same atomic number) as other atoms of the same
element do but that has a different number of neutrons (thus
a different atomic mass)
Law of superposition: states that the oldest rocks lie on
the bottom and the youngest rocks are on top of any
undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks.
Parent Isotope: an atomic nucleus that is undergoing
decay
Plate tectonics: the theory that explains how large pieces
of the Earth’s outermost layer called tectonic plates move
and change shape.
Radioactive Dating: the process by which the age of a rock
is determined by measuring the amount of radioactive
isotopes present in the rock or rock sample
Radiometric dating: the method used for absolute dating.
Radioactive decay: the process in which a radioactive
isotope tends to break down into a stable isotope of the
same element or another element.
Relative dating: uses information about rock layers and the
fossil record to determine the age relationships between
rocks
Unconformity: gaps in the rock record.
Terms Used in Part 3
Geologic Time Scale
Eon: the largest division of geologic time
Epoch: a subdivision of a geologic period
Era: a unit of geologic time that includes two or more
periods
Geologic Time scale: the standard method used to divide
the Earth’s long natural history into manageable parts
Cenozoic Era: era that began about 66 million years ago,
known as the “Age of Mammals”
Extinction Rate: the rate at which species die off
Mass extinction: occurs when a large proportion of the
earth’s species go extinct in a relatively short period of time.
Mesosauras: an example of a species that helped support
the continental drift hypothesis.
Mesozoic era: era that began 245 million years ago, known
as the age of the dinosaurs
Paleozoic era: era that began about 544 million years ago
and lasted for almost 300 million years
Period: a subdivision of the eras in geologic time