Download Unit 1: Earth History 1. Distinguish among eons

 Unit 1: Earth History 1. Distinguish among eons, eras, periods, and epochs. Know them in order. 2. Understand relative age and absolute age dating. 3. Know the principles of relative dating and be able to sequence geologic features. 4. Know the different types of fossils, how they form, and examples. 5. During which eras/periods do the following significant events occur: simple marine organisms, first vertebrates, first land plants and animals, first reptiles, mass extinctions, earliest mammals, dinosaurs, hominids appear? Unit 2: Earth’s Materials 1. What is the difference between weathering and erosion? Give examples. 2. What are the properties/characteristics of minerals? 3. What tests can be performed to determine a minerals identity? 4. Describe the formation, features, and types of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Unit 3: Earth’s Processes 1. Describe the three types of plate boundaries and characteristic features associated with them. 2. Know the 3 types of faults, what causes them, and what occurs along them. 3. Describe the agents of erosion, examples, features associated with them, and how to prevent/limit them. 4. Understand each type of mass movement, where they are likely to occur, and what effect they can have. 5. Know the 3 types of seismic waves, how they travel, and what they can tell us about earthquakes. Unit 4: Earth as a Planet 1. Describe the soil and erosion on the Moon. 2. Understand solar and lunar eclipses. Be able to label a diagram of each. 3. Describe the formation of the solar system? 4. Explain the factors that determine if a planet will have a strong magnetic field/atmosphere? 5. Explain Kepler’s Laws. Calculate a planets period of rotation (using GRASS). 6. Compare and contrast asteroids and comets. Unit 5: Earth Science 1. Describe the composition of the Sun. Be able to label a diagram. 2. What is the highest point in the sky that the sun reaches called? 3. Relate the solar activity cycle with sunspots, solar flares, and prominences. 4. What is a binary star? How do we locate them? 5. Explain the difference between absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude. 6. How does the Doppler effect indicate a stars movement towards or away from Earth? 7. Compare and contrast the lifecycle of a small star and a massive star. 8. What is parallax? Explain how it is used to measure the distance to a star.