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Chapter 2
Physical Earth
Solar System
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Earth, Sun, and stars
Milky way galaxy
Days and Nights
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Orbit
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The an oval-shaped path the Earth travels around
the sun
Revolution
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Circular journey around the sun
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365 1/4 days
Days and Nights
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Axis
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Earth spins on it
An imaginary line running through the South and
North Poles
Rotation
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Each complete turn the Earth makes
24 hours
Understanding Seasons
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Tilt
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Days and nights are longer or shorter
Tilt and orbit also cause changes in
Temperature during the seasons
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Depends on the directness of the sunlight hitting
the area
Latitudes
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Equator
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0 degrees
Mar. 19-21 and Sept. 22-24, the sun is directly
over the equator (date varies)
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Days are as long as nights
Known as Spring and Fall Equinoxes
Tropics
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Tropic of Cancer
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23 1/2 degrees N
Sun shines directly above on June 20 – 22 (date varies)
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Tropic of Capricorn
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23 1/2 degrees S
Sun shines directly above on December 20 – 23 (date
varies)
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Summer solstice (1st day of summer) in Northern Hemisphere
Winter solstice (1st day of winter) in Northern Hemisphere
Seasons reversed in Southern Hemisphere
Latitudes
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Low latitudes
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High latitudes
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Area between the Tropics (around the equator)
Is almost always hot
66 1/2 degrees N and S
Polar Zones - no direct sunlight
Very cold to bitterly cold
Middle latitudes
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Temperate zones
Have defined seasons - with distinct patterns of daylight,
temperature, and weather
Forces inside the Earth
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“Ring of Fire”
Circles the Pacific Ocean
 90% of Earth’s earthquakes happen here
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What’s the Earth made of????
75% water
 25% land
 Landforms
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Shapes and types of land
Mountains
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Rise usually more than 2000 ft above sea
level
What’s the Earth made of????
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Hills
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Plateau
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Are lower and less steep than mountains with
rounded tops
A large mostly flat area that rises above the
rest of the land
Plains
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Large areas of flat or gently rolling land
Pangaea: Supercontinent
200 million years ago
 Some force caused Pangaea to split and
start moving apart
 Plate Tectonics
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The theory that Earth’s crust is made of
huge, slowly moving slabs of rock called
plates
Plates
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A huge section of the Earth’s crust
Volcanoes and Earthquakes
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Plates move apart
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Magma leaks through, creates ridges
Plates push together
One going under the other
 Volcano produced
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Weak places where plates rub against
each other
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Forces result in earthquakes
Forces on the Earth’s surface
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Weathering
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Process that breaks rocks down into tiny
pieces.
• Caused by rain, wind, ice
• (Appalachian Mountains - Rocky Mountains)
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Erosion
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Process by which water, wind, and ice wears
away landforms and carries the material to
another place
Air and Water
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Atmosphere
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A multilayered band of
gases that surrounds
the Earth
Oxygen - people,
animals
Carbon-dioxideplants
Nitrogen
Acts as a blanket
from the sun
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97% of the Earth’s
water is found in the
oceans
Salty water
Fresh water
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Lakes, rivers, rain,
ground, ice caps
Weather or Climate??
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Weather
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The condition of the bottom layer of Earth’s atmosphere in
one place over a short period of time
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Day to day, rainy or dry
Temperature
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How hot or cold the air feels
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Celsius - Metric
Fahrenheit - Standard
Kelvin – Scientific
Weather or Climate??
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Precipitation
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Water that falls to the ground as rain, sleet, hail, or
snow
Weather or Climate??
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Climate
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The weather patterns that an area typically experiences over
a long period of time
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What people know from experience from year to year
 What effects climate?
 Landforms, Elevation, Latitude
Wind Cycle
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Winds
 East
- West winds
 Created
 North
by the Earth’s rotation
- South winds
 Hot
air rises and circulates to colder regions
 Cold air sinks and moves toward hotter region
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Keeps the earth from overheating
Ocean Currents
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Currents
 Created
 Fast
by earth’s rotation
moving rivers in the ocean
Carry warm water
 Carry cold water
 Affects the climate of certain places
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 North
Atlantic warms British Isles
 Peru Current cools Galapagos
Raging Storms
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Hurricanes
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“Andrew”-Florida 1992
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1.5 Million Homeless in
Gulf Coast
$108 billion est.
“Sandy” – East Coast
2012
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200,000 homeless
$65 billion est.
Typhoons
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160,000 homeless
“Katrina” - New
Orleans 2005
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Similar to hurricane
In the Pacific
Tornadoes
 Rain Storms
 Blizzards
Climates
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Vegetation
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The plants that grow in
an area
Landforms
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Landforms block or
allow weather
patterns
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Mountains block
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Over time, weather
becomes climate
Rain shadow
Plains allow
Tropical Climates
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Two types of tropical climates
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BOTH are hot and wet
Tropical wet climate
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Two seasons
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Great deal of rain
A little less rain
Tropical wet and dry climate
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Two seasons
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Much rain
Very little rain
Tropical Climates
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Vegetation
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Canopy
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Tropical rain forest
The dense mass of leaves forming the top
layer of the forest
Adaption
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Very little light gets to the bottom of the forest
Dry Climates
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Arid and semiarid
climates
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Hot and receive very
little rain
Vegetation
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Sparse, plants are far
between
Moderate Climates
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Found in the middle latitudes
Mediterranean
Marine west coast
Humid subtropical
In all three rain is moderate
Seasonal changes
 Temperature hardly ever gets below freezing
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Continental Climates
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Humid continental
Summers hot, winters cold
 High grasses, large forests
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Subarctic continental
Cool summers, winters cold
 Shorter grasses
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Polar Climates
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High latitudes
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Cold all year long
Tundra
Short cool summers, long even colder winters
 NO trees
 Very low grasses
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Vertical Climates
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Vertical climate
The climate changes according to the
mountains height
 The higher you go the colder it gets
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Average Lapse Rate
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For every 1000 m in elevation, temp drops
6.4 C
Top of Mt. Everest much like the climate of
Antarctica