Earth Science (Introduction)

          Here's our first day discussion at NS. It's about Earth Science, which serve as our review cause we already discuss this on our lower years of study.

          First of all, we have to define Earth Science, well it is the branch of science that deals with the physical constitution of the earth and its atmosphere. Earth Science includes  geology; the study of Earth,  oceanography; the study of the ocean, meteorology; the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather, and astronomy; the study of the universe.

       Since were discussing about Earth here, the most widely accepted model explaining the formation and evolution of the Solar System including the earth is the Nebular Hypothesis. In the Nebular Hypothesis, stars form in gravitationally contracting clouds. The center region of a cloud contracts faster and actually forms the star but gas and dust is left orbiting and from this orbiting gas the planets form. When the center of the star becomes hot enough to generate heat by nuclear reactions (fusion) the star lights up and blows away the gas orbiting it, leaving mainly the heavier bodies such as planets. Along with the formation of Earth, layers and spheres of Earth are also formed. There are four major spheres of earth: Hydrosphere(all forms of water), Atmosphere(air), Biosphere(includes all life) and Geosphere(the crust, mantle, and core). View the Illustration below to review the Earth's Layer Structure.

Earth's Layer Structure

   Do you know that there's a theory that proposes that Earth’s outer shell consists of individual plates that interact in various ways and thereby produce earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and Earth’s crust itself? That process is called Plate Tectonics.    To explain further the formation of earth and plate tectonics, watch the video below

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The Early Earth and Plate Tectonics

  To determine the location on the globe, there are lines that are used to determine the exact location: 

• Longitude
is distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees.

• Latitude
is distance north or south of the equator, measured in degrees.

    We also discuss about Earth System Science;a system is any size group of interacting parts that form a complex whole.Earth system science studies Earth as a system that is composed of numerous parts, or subsystems.And also Scientific Inquiry. Science assumes the natural world is consistent and predictable. The goals of science are to discover patterns in nature and to use the knowledge to predict.  

You can view our lesson here.

REFERENCE:

-mac  dictionary

-http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~blackman/ast104/nebular.html

-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA