Download Over 100 Ways to Pass the Earth Science Regents Earth shape and

Over 100 Ways to Pass the Earth Science Regents
Earth shape and Materials:
1. The same substance always has the same density
2. Dynamic equilibrium means balance (river stays the same, water moves in and out)
3. Heating a material (increasing temperature) causes it to expand: its pressure decreases.
4. Water expands when it freezes (ice floats) and is most dense at 4oC (P. 1 ESRT)
5. Most changes are cyclic and predictable.
6. Ocean crust (basalt) is thin, dense (p. 10 ESRT), mafic (page 6 ESRT)
7. Continental crust (granite) is thick, less dense and felsic
8. The true shape of the Earth is an oblate spheroid, but from space it looks like a sphere. It’s wider through
the equator. We’d weigh more at the Poles.
Exaggerated:
scale:
9. The best MODEL of the Earth is a VERY smooth sphere.
10. altitude of Polaris equals your latitude, so Polaris is at 410 altitude for VCHS.
11. Latitude lines go east-west, like the lines on a y-axis. The equator is 0 latitude. we ‘climb’ them north
and south, like the rungs of a ‘ladder’. (3, 4 and 5 ESRT)
12. Longitude lines go north-south. They are like lines on an x-axis and measure east and west. (pages 3, 4
and 5 ESRT) The Prime Meridian is 0 longitude.
13. Longitude is based on the sun’s APPARENT path of 150/hr arc across the sky. Earth is really rotating.
14.
USE THE REFERENCE TABLES
15. The closer the isolines (contour-isobar-isotherms-) are together, the steeper the slope or gradient
16. Practice drawing isolines, profiles and calculating gradients and % deviation.
17. The “v’s” on contour lines point uphill. Rivers flow the opposite way.
Earth Motions
18. The earth rotates from west to east in 24 hours and this creates the Coriolis Effect, sun’s path, star
trails and time.
19. The earth revolves counterclockwise in 365 1/4 days, which is 10/day. This causes our changes in
seasons and seasonal constellations.
20. The moon is always half lit and has phases because of the angle at which we view it. It takes about a
month for the moon to revolve around earth.
21.
Planets appear to go backwards (retrograde) as the earth passes them in space
22.
Summer solstice is June 21st and we have about 15 hours of light in Montgomery
23.
Winter solstice is December 21st an we have only 9 hours of light in Montgomery
24.
Equinoxes: March 21st and September 23rd and EVERYBODY has 12 hours light.
252.
Equator ALWAYS has 12 hours of day-light
26.
When the sun is low in the sky, as in December or at sunrise and sunset, shadows get longer.
27.
Foucault's pendulum and the coriolis effect prove the earth rotates
28.
Apparent diameter of objects (sun, moon) gets larger when the object is closer to Earth
29.
Vertical rays (overhead sun) occurs in the tropics between 23 1/2 oN and 23 1/2 oS. The sun is
NEVER EVER EVER overhead in NYS.
30.
Earth is closer to the sun in our winter (perihelion) and our orbit is faster
31.
The closer the planet is to the sun the faster it moves.
32. Page 15 ESRT has lots of information about our solar system, including eccentricities.
Deep Space
33. Page 15 ESRT has a chart that compares stars’ luminosity to their temperatures and sizes.
34. We live in an expanding universe, as shown by the RED SHIFT of spectrum (Doppler effect).
35. Our solar system is about 2/3rd out on an arm of the spiral galaxy the Milky Way.
36. Red stars are cool, and blue stars are hot. (p. 15 ESRT)
37. Most insolation (sunlight) is in the form of VISIBLE light.
38. Reradiation is energy given off as heat (infrared) after it is absorbed
39. Heat moves from source (hot thing) to sink (cold thing)
40. Chemical weathering occurs mostly in warm, humid climates
41. Physical weathering occurs mostly in cold, humid climates (good for frost wedging)
42.
Air moves clockwise and outward around a high (in northern hemisphere)
43.
Air moves counterclockwise and inward around a low
44.
Good absorbers of energy is a good radiator. (heats up and cool offs fast)
45.
Hottest part of the year is in July and coldest is January
46.
Hottest part of a sunny day is after 1:00p.m. and coldest is just before dawn
47. Dark, rough surfaces ABSORB light well, but light, shiny surfaces REFLECT light.
48.
As temperature increases, air pressure decreases
49.
As moisture increases, pressure decreases. WATER VAPOR IS LIGHT!!!!
50.
Air pressure decreases with altitude (P. 14 esrt)
51.
High pressure systems are cool and dry; low pressure systems are warm (?) and wet. Page 14
ESRT has earth with its CONVECTION CURRENTS that causes the WINDS and indicate wet and dry areas.
52.
Wind is due to the UNEQUAL HEATING of earth
53.
Wind blows from high to low pressure (from cold to warm places)
54.
Wind is named from the direction that it is coming from and our weather moves from west to east in
the United States because we are in the prevailing southwesterlies.
55.
The closer the air temperature is to the dew point the greater the chance for condensation: the air is
saturated, the relative humidity is 100%
56
57.
Porosity does not depend on particle SIZE: round sorted materials have best porosity
58.
As particle size increases, permeability increases (bigger spaces)
59.
Capillarity increases when particle size decreases (water climbing up)
60. Chemical weathering occurs mostly in warm, humid climates
61. Physical weathering occurs mostly in cold, humid climates (good for frost wedging)
62.
Dynamic equilibrium means balance (river stays the same, water moves in and out)
63.
Apparent diameter of objects (sun, moon) gets larger when the object is closer to Earth
64.
Vertical rays (overhead sun) occurs in the tropics between 23 1/2 oN and 23 1/2 oS. The sun is
NEVER EVER EVER overhead in NYS.
656. Index fossils are good time markers (widely spread, lived a short time)
66. The half-life of a radioactive element IS ALWAYS THE SAME. (page 1 ESRT)
67.
Air cools as it rises because it expands.
69. Ice Ages occur because either the sun is producing less energy, our orbit/tilt change or there is a lot of
ash/dust in our atmosphere from volcanoes, etc, blocking light
70.
Water bodies moderate temperature: (keeps nearby areas cooler in the summer and warmer in the
winter) because water is: transparent, moving, has a high specific heat (p. 1 ESRT), and loses energy due
to evaporation.
71. Page 4 ESRT has a map of cold and warm ocean currents.
72. Hurricanes weaken over land.
73. Hurricanes rotate counterclockwise, and storm surges hit in front of the right side of the hurricane.
74. The greenhouse gases are Water Vapor, Carbon dioxide C0 2 and methane gas CH 4.
75.
Streams are the number one agent of erosion in NYS today.
76.
Stream velocity depends on slope and volume of water
77.
Stream velocity and erosion are fastest on the outside of meander bends, and deposition is
greatest on the inside of the bend where water is slow.
78.
Heavy, round and dense particle settle out first, creating sorted deposits
79. DIRECT Glacial sediments (till) are unsorted, scratched, polished. Found in our areas, meanders and
drumlins. Glacial outwash sediments are sorted.
80. Evidences of glaciation (ice ages): U- shaped valley, erratics, kettle lakes, drumlins, striations
81. Coastal erosion is due to longshore currents. Creates sandbars and barrier islands.
82. Landscape regions are determined by bedrock type, structure, elevation, relief and stream patterns.
83. NYS has transported soils from glaciers. Soil does not match bedrock.
84. Resistant bedrock does not weather fast, creating ridges and escarpments (Shawangunk)
85. Sedimentary rocks - strata - flat layers - most likely to have fossils (p. 6-7 ESRT) Most of the SURFACE
of the continents are sedimentary rocks.
86. Igneous rock from magma: (p. 6 ESRT). Identified by texture and composition. Most of the crust is
igneous rock
87. Metamorphic- (page 6-7 ESRT) Foliated or nonfoliated. Regional metamorphism implies pressurefoliation. Contact metamorphism (from igneous intrusion) implies recrystallization.
88. Some mineral properties depend on internal atomic arrangement (crystal shape, hardness, cleavage)
89.
Mid-ocean ridge (page 5 ESRT)-sea floor spreading-divergent boundary- new crust
90.
Trenches - crust being destroyed-subduction zone- deep earthquake pattern, volcanoes
91.
P waves are faster than S waves. Studying seismic waves gives us our ‘inferred properties of
earth’s interior on p. 10 ESRT
92.
P waves - can pass through solids & liquids, but S waves are stopped by liquids (earth’s outer core)
93.
You need 3 seismometer stations to find earthquake epicenter
94. Law of Superposition - bottom layer of sedimentary rock is oldest
95. Principle of cross-cutting: Intrusion and faults are younger than the rock they are in
96. Unconformity: erosion is followed by deposition: gap in geologic record
97. Arid landscape: steep slopes with sharp angles. Humid landscape: smooth with rounded slopes
98. Uranium 235 dates old, usually igneous rocks
99. Carbon 14 dates organic material that’s been dead less than 70.000 years.
HINTS FOR TAKING THE REGENTS EXAM AND DOING BETTER
100. USE THE REFERENCE TABLES!
101.Take your time.You have three hours to do the exam
102.Read introductory paragraphs and study diagrams before looking at questions. Underline key words.
103.Draw diagrams to help you visualize the questions asked - where possible WRITE ON THE EXAM!!
104.Use a straight-edge to read graphics, to mark points on a graph and to measure distances.
105.If certain words cause confusion, cross them out and substitute a different word, then read the
question again.(example: substitute the word "false" for "not true")
106.Don't leave any questions blank
107.Read ALL CHOICES before deciding on an answer.
108. If you are not sure of an answer, try to eliminate choices that you think are clearly wrong and narrow
down your choices. Then make your most careful guess.
109. Ask yourself: Is it in the reference tables, or can the reference tables help me?
110 .Check your test a second time, but only change an answer if you find an obvious mistake. Your first
choice is usually correct.
111. Look up formulas, even if you think you know them. Substitute information from the question into the
formula.
112. Skip over hard questions that are stumping you. Go back to them later. Something else in the test may
give you a clue to the harder problems.
113. Read axes on graphs carefullyj!!!!
114. A good night sleep is as important as ALMOST ALL the above items.
115. Relax-you've seen all this stuff before.
ADAPTED FROM ONLINE PAPERS
JMCMAHON 2009