Earth Science 1st quarterly assessment reviewers
 Layers of the Atmosphere
INTRODUCTION
o Universe – everything we can touch, feel, sense,
measure and detect.
LESSON 1: Earth
o Earth
 is 4.5 billion years old
 there is life (factors: water)
LESSON 2: Systems of Earth
o Gaia Hypothesis – the concept of the earth’s
system; organisms interact with their inorganic
surroundings.
4 Subsystems of the Earth
o Geosphere – solid portion of the earth, that
includes the interior structure, rocks and minerals,
landforms, down to the deep depths of the core.
 Internal structure and surface features
a. Crust – consist of 5-70km thick layer of oceanic
and continental (thicker) crust overlaying another
- P-waves – travel fast through solid and liquid
portions
- S-waves – slowly travel only through solids
 Mohorovicic discontinuity/Moho (Andrija
Mohorovicic) – transitional boundary that
divides the crust and the mantle.
b. Mantle – made up of solid rock; largest part of
Earth
 Asthenosphere – the upper part of the mantle
directly to the crust
 Gutenberg discontinuity – transitional boundary
between mantle and core
c. Core – made up of Iron (liquid form) and Nickel
(solid form)
 Lehman discontinuity – transitional boundary
between the inner and outer core.
o Hydrosphere – the total amount of water (ice,
vapor, or liquid) found on earth
 Water covers 70% of the entire Earth’s surface;
most is ocean water
a. Hydrological Cycle – made possible by the
interaction of energy and matter.
- Sun’s energy is the power that drives the water
cycle
- Light and heat cause the water to evaporate
- Surface water – found on the surface of the water
- Groundwater – found below the ground
- 2.5% freshwater,97.5% Ocean (salt) water
- Aquifer – zone of saturation, area beneath the
ground
o Atmosphere – primitive atmosphere of Earth may
have been similar to composition of the solar nebula
- 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% gases
 Troposphere – densest
 Stratosphere – ozone layer; strong winds;
stratopause
 Mesosphere – layer above the stratosphere;
coldest layer
 Thermosphere – hottest layer; ionosphere; solar
winds.
o Biosphere – open system when it comes to the
transfer of energy and closed system when it comes
to matter.
 An organism can consume another organism; energy
LESSON 3: Rock-forming Minerals
o Minerals – naturally occurring inorganic solids
with crystalline and chemical composition.
 They are formed by natural geologic processes
 Building blocks of rocks
 Mineral Resources; (Metallic and nonmetallic)
 Physical properties of minerals;
- Color – most evident characteristic and is usually
the first property to identify minerals.
- Streak – color of mineral in powder form; mineral is
rub on a streak plate.
- Hardness – measure of the mineral’s resistance to
scratching; Mohs scale
- Cleavage and Fracture – used to describe how
minerals break into pieces
- Crystalline Structure – periodic array of atoms
- Transparency or diaphaneity – indicated the
extent of light that can pass through the mineral.
- Magnetism – defines the ability of the mineral to
attract or repel other minerals
- Tenacity – mineral’s ability to hold its particles
together; resistance
- Luster – shows how much light is reflected in a
mineral.
- Odor – distinct smell of a mineral
- Specific gravity – measures the density of mineral.
-
 Chemical Properties
- Silicate Class – largest group containing silicon and
oxygen.
- Carbonate Class – formed from deposited in
marine environments.
- Sulphate Class – found in areas with high
evaporation rate.
- Halide Class – contains natural salts
- Oxide Class – most important class in human
civilization; contains the metals considered to be
valuable
- Sulphide Class – important metals; copper
- Phosphate Class – contains minerals with
phosphorus, antimony or vanadium
- Element Class – pure native elements.
LESSON 4: Rocks
o Rocks – are natural substances consisting of
aggregate minerals clumped together with other
Earth mineral glued by natural processes
 3 types of rocks
1. Igneous rock – derived from Latin word ignis-fire
- Formed by the cooling and solidification
(crystallization) of molten or partially volcanic
material
- Flooring, table tops, walls
2. Sedimentary rock – sediment-to settle at the
bottom.
- Formed from different material deposits on Earth’s
surface
- Found in beaches, rivers and oceans
- Sandstones, limestones, coal
3. Metamorphic – Meta; change, morph; form
- Formed from igneous or sedimentary rocks that are
exposed from to high pressure and high temperature.
LESSON 5: Importance of Rock in Society
o Energy Resources; (Nonrenewable and
Renewable)
 Non-Renewable- the rate of their formation is
slow that none could be formed over the course of
human history.
- Finite, once extracted, depletion may follow
- Usually refer to fossil fuel (oil, natural gas and coal
- Fossil fuel because they were formed hundreds of
years ago.
- Coal – formed from plant material that has been
subjected to heat and pressure. Found almost all
countries
- Oil – formed from the remain of marine animals and
plants that lived millions of years ago.
- Natural gas – formed from fossil remains; when
layers of decomposing organic material are exposed
to heat and pressure; methane
 Renewable – energy generated from natural
resources such as sunlight, wind, water, various
forms of biomass and geothermal heat.
- Biomass – refers to biological or plant and animal
material used for as fuel for the generation of
electricity
a. Food waste
b. Wood – use when energy requirement is
low; burning; cooking
c. Solid wastes – are the common
nonbiodegradable refuse generated from
houses, schools and other establishments.
Used for energy production
d. Crop residues and animal wastes – are
leftover materials from harvesting crops and
animal waste.
e. Fuel crop – crops specially grown for
energy production; sugar cane; corn;
- Hydroelectric power – energy obtained from
converting the kinetic energy of fast-moving water
into electricity; water falls, running rivers, tidal
power and ocean waves; water is collected in dam or
reservoir and is allowed to flow in constant
- Solar power – converted energy derived from the
sun; solar panels
- Wind Energy – energy harnessed from the flow of
the air; wide open spaces where the wind is strong
such as seashores
- Geothermal energy – energy harnessed from the
heat coming within the Earth.
o Water Resources
 70% of Earth’s surface is covered with water.
 Uncontaminated groundwater is the most readily
available source of freshwater. Represents about
90% of the world’s readily available freshwater.
 Human Use:
- Rivers – rivers that are considered more useful are
those that are flowing so that replenishment is
apparent
- Reservoirs or lakes – usually are surface runoffs
and may be groundwater
- Groundwater – important source of water for
small-scale use. Found beneath earth’s surface.
Pumped up to the surface before it can be used
o Soil Resources
 Is the thin top layer of the Earth’s crust
 Most important use of soil is crop production.
 ARABLE LAND – refers to those that have
potential to be cultivated such as land whose soil is
suitable for agriculture
 Philippines; 41% is suited for agriculture, 18.2%
arable, 17.8 is permanent crops and permanent
pasture takes the remaining 5%.
LESSON 6: Mining for Mineral Extraction
o Global Need
- Most mineral resources are nonrenewable.
- Philippine ranks 3rd in gold, 4th copper, 5th in nickel,
6th chromite deposits
- Formed and generated in geologic time scales
- 3 most mined minerals iron ore, gold, copper injected straight into a rock in order to release the
- Iron (chief component of steel-technology) and natural gas.
copper (manufacturing) are the two most important LESSON 8: Water Treatment
metals in our modern civilization. - 700 million people in the world do not have access
o Applied Technology to clean water; 7 million die annually because of
 Two main mining techniques water release diseases and disasters.
a. Surface Mining – extracting ore or minerals near - 70% agricultural, 11% municipal, 19% industrial.
Earth’s surface; removal and stripping of surface o Applied technology
vegetation, dirt and layers of bedrock to reach the a. Physical treatment – filtration; sedimentation
mineral deposits. b. Biological Treatment – to be free of any living
1. Open-pit mining – most common method of form such as bacteria
surface mining; ore or minerals are extracted from c. Chemical Treatment – there are some harmful
an open pit; spiral or terrace-like chemicals which cannot be removed physically
2. Strip-mining – similar to open-pit mining; the Environ mental Impact
mineral being extracted is very near to the land - Exploitation or over abstraction or over withdrawal
surface from a water source.
3. Mountain top removal mining – explosives are
used to remove the overburden off the top of
mountains.
4. Highwall mining – method for mining
outcropping horizontal seams; un unmanned
continuous driver stands on the pit floor.
b. Underground Mining – technique used to dig
tunnels or shafts at greater depths to reach hard
mineral deposits like ore that may contain gold,
silver, copper
Examples: crushing, grinding, and washing of
the mineral ore.
Environmental Impact
a. Soil erosion – When topsoil is removed, land
becomes devoid vegetation
b. Dust – excavation and movement of equipment
generate a great deal of dust.
c. Destruction of habitats – the abrupt introduction of
machines, equipment, and people may disturb the
habitats of many organisms.
d. Contamination of soil, surface water, and
groundwater by chemicals.
e. Loss of valuable land – additional space is needed
for the storage of debris
LESSON 7: Energy Production
Global Need
a. Applied Technology
1. Fossil Fuel Extraction
- Coal – this source of energy is formed from plant
remains buried under layers of sediment pressed.
- Oil – more useful than coal, found in large water
bodies like oceans and seas.
- Natural gas – chiefly methane, found in shale
rocks that can be recovered through the process of
fracking-method where high pressure fluid is