Download The Physical World

THE PHYSICAL
WORLD
Chapter 2
The Solar System
Our solar system is made up of the
sun and objects that rotate around
it
 The sun is at the center

 The
Largest star, or ball of burning
gas

The sun’s mass creates a strong
gravitational pull keeping all
objects revolving around it
The Planets



Largest objects in the Solar system behind the sun
8 planets
Inner planets/Terrestrial Planets Mercury
– Venus – Earth- Mars
 Solid rocky crusts

Outer Planets/ Gas Giants Jupiter
– Saturn – Uranus – Neptune
 More gaseous and less dense
 Have orbiting moons and thing rungs
Asteroids, Comets, and Meteoroids

Asteroid- small irregular shaped planet like
objects



located b/w Mars and Jupiter in the Asteroid
belt
Comets- made of icy dust particles and
frozen gasses
Meteoroids- pieces of space debris – chucks
of iron and rock
 Meteorites-
when it hits the earth
Barringer Crater - Arizona
The Earth - Largest of the inner planets

About 70% of the earths surface is water
 Oceans,
lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water
make up the earths hydrosphere

About 30% of the Earths surface is land
 The
land makes up the part of the earth called the
lithosphere
 The
earth’s crust
The Earth

The air we breath is part of the earth’s atmosphere
 layer
of gasses extended above the planets surface
 78% nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and small amounts of
other gasses

All people, animals and plants that live on or close
to the earths surface. The part of earth that
supports life is called the biosphere.
Landforms

Landforms are the natural features of the earth’s
surface
 Includes

bodies of water
Underwater landforms exist as well.
 Continental
Shelf- underwater extension of the costal
plain.
 Continental Slope – sharp drop to the ocean floor
 Pg 33
Heights and Depths



Highest point- Mt. Everest
Lowest Dry Land Spot –Shore of the Dead Sea
Deepest Spot – Mariana Trench
Activity

Draw a diagram that labels the following:
 Hydrosphere
 Lithosphere
 Atmosphere
 Biosphere
 Continental
Shelf
 Continental Slope
FORCES OF CHANGE
Layers of the Earth

1. Core
Inner core- located at very center, very hot, made up of nickel
and melted iron under pressure
 Outer Core – Made up of Nickel and iron and surrounds the
core


2. Mantle


Next to the outer core is a layer of thick dense rock
3. Crust
rocky shell forming the earths surface
 Broke into more than a dozen slabs, called plates, which float
on the earths mantle

Plate Movement

Pangaea- “super continent” before all the
continents separated.
 Today

broken apart into smaller continents
Continental Drift- theory that the continents were
once joined and have slowly drifted apart
Plate Tectonics

Physical process that has created all of the earths
physical features
 Slowly
moving plates change the earth appearance
 Create mountains, volcanoes. Earthquakes or trenches
 Magma gets pushed to the earth’s earths core and
ridges are formed

The lithosphere is broken up into what are called
"tectonic plates". On Earth, there are currently
seven to eight major and many minor plates
Colliding and Spreading Plates


Mountains= when continental plates collide
Subduction- when a plate slides below another
plate
 one
tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate,
sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge


Accretion-a process by which material is added to a
tectonic plate or a landmass
Spreading- sea plates pull apart
Folds and Faults


Folds- bends in layers of rock caused by plates
squeezing the earth’s surface until it buckles.
Faults- cracks in the earths crust cause by plates
grinding or sliding past each other.
Earthquakes



Sudden violent movements of tectonic plates long
the fault lines.
result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's
crust that creates seismic waves
Ring of Fire- most earthquake prone zone on the
planet
Great Alaskan Earthquake 1964
Volcanoes

Mountains formed by lava, or magma, that breaks
through the earth’s crust
Weathering and Erosion

Weathering- breaks down rocks



Physical- rocks physically broken down into small pieces
Chemical- chemical makeup is changed
Erosion- wears rocks down




Wind Erosion- movement of dust sand and soil from one place to
another
Glacial Erosion-caused by the large sheets of ice moving a
picking up dirt and rocks – destroy forests and creates large
valleys
When they melt they drop large amounts of rocks called morains
Water Erosion- water cuts into land and wears away soil and
rock
EARTH’S WATER
The Water Cycle


Water makes up the world’s hydrosphere
The total amount of water on the Earth does not
change, it is just constantly moving
Water Cycleregular movement of water
 Sun
evaporates the water from the earths surface
 Evaporation-
changing of liquid into vapor, or gas
 Water
vapor is gathered in the air and when air cools it
can not hold as much vapor.
 Excess water vapor changes into liquid water
 Condensation-
process where excess water vapor turns into
condensation
 Water
droplets form water and make clouds
 When clouds get to heave moisture is released in the
form of precipitation
 Precipitation-
rain snow or sleet
Bodies of Water



70% of the Earth is water, but most of this is salt
water. Only a small percentage is fresh water.
Because of the World’s growing need for fresh
water scientist found a way to turn salt water into
fresh water
Desalination- process which ocean water is turned
into fresh water by removing the salt.
 This
is expensive and not used by many countries
Freshwater


Makes up 3% of the Earth’s total water supply.
The Great Lakes contain the largest supply of fresh
water
Groundwater


Some freshwater lies beneath the earth’s surface
We use wells and spring taps to access this water