Mr. Gift Earth/Environmental Science INTRO TO EARTH SCIENCE
WHAT IS EARTH SCIENCE? The study of the earth and the universe (multiverse) around it Multiverse? – our universe is only one of multiple universes Several different branches of Earth Science in order to cover all aspects
LITHOSPHERE (GEOLOGY) Origin, history, and structure of the solid earth Natural resources Forces within earth Fossils to learn about earth’s past
HYDROSPHERE (OCEANOGRAPHY) Study of earth’s water (3/4 of earth’s surface) Oceans, rivers, groundwater, water vapor Oceanography – study of oceans and life in oceans
ATMOSPHERE (METEOROLOGY) Study of Earth’s gases Weather patterns Weather forecasts Climate Change
BIOSPHERE (ECOLOGY) Study of the complex relationships between living things and the environment Balancing the environment Pollution and its affects on the planet Ecosystem – community of organisms and the environment they inhabit Biosphere – all life on earth and physical environment which supports it
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES All of these branches of Earth science have environmental issues We will be studying the following: Water shortages/pollution Climate Change Species degradation/extinction Overpopulation/Ecological Footprint
ASTRONOMY Study of universe beyond earth Oldest branch Ancient Babylonians charted planet positions 4,000 years ago
THE BEGINNING......of the universe Time and matter What is matter What is the difference/similarities of matter and energy What is time?
BIG BANG THEORY E X P A N D I N G Universe – rewind it...what happens Lead scientists to believe Universe was together at one time
BIG BANG THEORY All matter and energy compressed into extremely small volume 14 billion years ago (??) sudden event (big bang) sent all matter and energy hurling outward As cloud expanded, matter gathered into clumps and evolved into galaxies
The Size of our Universe and Our Place in the Cosmos OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
WHERE DO WE LIVE? We obviously live on the planet earth Earth Revolves around our start called the Sun One of multiple planets in our solar system
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Earth is the 3 rd planet from the Sun in our SOLAR SYSTEM Approximately 100 billion stars in our galaxy
OUR GALAXY Our Solar System is located in the Milky Way Galaxy Galaxy - a large system of stars held together by mutual gravitation and isolated from similar systems by vast regions of space Approximately billion galaxies in the universe
LOCAL GROUP Cluster of Galaxies in a “smaller” area Ours includes 54 galaxies (including our own)
UNIVERSE Totality of existence, [ including planets, stars, galaxies the contents of intergalactic space, and all matter and energy.
SIZE OF OUR UNIVERSE On Earth, we use miles or km for measurement Earth’s circumference at the equator is 24,901 miles (40,075 km)
SIZE OF OUR UNIVERSE In our solar system, we use Astronomical Units (AU) 1 AU is approximately 150 million km Earth is 1 AU from the sun Neptune is AU from the sun (4.5 billion km)
SIZE OF OUR UNIVERSE In the Universe we use light years (ly) Light year – How far light can travel in one year Light travels 300,000 m/s 1 light year (ly) = 9.46 trillion km Ex: the Milky Way is between 100,000 and 120,000 light years across
/