1. Intro to Earth Science-Part 1
Studying Earth

2. Exploring the Earth System
A phenomena is an observable event or circumstance.
When we classify the earth ‘system’, we define it as the part of the universe, made up of interacting components that can be studied independently.
Earth can be thought of as a system. Energy can flow in and out of the Earth system, while matter remains mostly the same.
Think About It:
What everyday experiences would you cite as evidence to support the claim that there is a balance of energy coming in and going out of earth?

4. Exploring the Earth Systems
In the late 20th century, scientists began to think of Earth as a system of interconnected parts and processes.
These parts include:
Atmosphere: the mixture of gases and particles that surround a planet, moon, or other celestial body
Geosphere: the mostly solid, rocky part of Earth; extends from the center of the core to the surface of the crust; one of the four major spheres of the Earth system.
Hydrosphere (and cryosphere): the part of earth that is water. (The cryosphere is the frozen water on Earth, often excluding ice in the atmosphere.)
Biosphere: the part of Earth where life exists includes all of the living organisms on earth.
Scientists have discovered that changes in one part of Earth could affect conditions in several other parts.

5. Exploring the Earth Systems
Think About It:
How would each part of the Earth system be affected by a significantly warmer Earth? Explain your reasoning with evidence.

6. Exploring the Earth Systems
Biosphere
Atmosphere
Increase in Earth’s Temperature
Geosphere
Hydrosphere/ Cryosphere

7. Natural Systems
Matter and energy are the basic components in natural systems.
Components in systems interact through processes.
Once the components and processes of a system are identified, scientists can ask more specific questions about the system.
They can decide the data needed to understand the system
They can decide what tools are needed to collect and analyze data
They can understand the cause-effect relationships in the systems and make predictions and draw conclusions about them.

8. Natural Systems
Earth’s atmosphere and oceans interact through processes in the water cycle.
Interactions between the atmosphere and oceans affect Earth’s weather and climate patterns.
Global wind patterns in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, called trade winds, help develop surface ocean currents that, under normal conditions, move warm water westward from South America to Asia and Australia.
Every two to seven years, the trade winds weaken and warmer water pools in the middle of the ocean, creating and El Niño event.
This affects weather patterns in regions around the pacific ocean. The weather on the West Coast of South America is warmer and wetter than usual, and in the Western Pacific region, near Australia, the weather is drier.

9. The Water Cycle

10. Normal Conditions vs. El Niño
Think About It: The oceans can affect the temperature and moisture of air that moves over them. In the map showing normal conditions in the Pacific Ocean, cool surface weather is found off the western coast of South America. What can you predict about the characteristics of air moving over this part of the ocean?

11. Scale of Systems and Events
Scale refers to the size, time, and energy characteristics of a system or events.
Scientists can use information about scales to identify patterns and to describe, compare, and evaluate the significance of systems or events.
The systems that are important to Earth and Space science differ in size, duration, and energy.
They can be as small as an atom or as large as the Universe
They can exist and occur in time periods shorter than a second or longer than billions of years.
They can involve little or vast amounts of energy.

12. Earth as Part of a System
Earth is part of a larger system.
It belongs to our Solar System
Our Solar System belongs to a larger system, called the Milky Way Galaxy
There are many other ways to classify Earth as members of larger systems.

13. Earth is a System The Earth itself is a system.
Earth is a dynamic system, with different parts interacting with each other in complex ways that cause Earth to change over short or long periods of time.
On Earth, thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes are examples of events that happen very quickly, but can have lasting effects on Earth’s systems.
Processes that cause weathering and erosion often take long periods of time to cause noticeable change.
The changes that happen within a dynamic system with many interacting parts can be very difficult-but not impossible-to understand and predict.
Systems obey natural laws that do not change over time.