1st law - The planet orbits the sun in elliptical
Earth Science
Topic 1: Astronomy
 Universe
 Solar System
 Sun, stars, and other space objects
 Astronomical Phenomenon
Universe
 Vast gaseous and space where galaxies, stars,
planets, moons, and other heavenly bodies
suspended and move with perfect orderliness.
 4.6% Baryonic matter
 24% cold dark matter
 71% dark energy
 Most abundant elements: hydrogen, helium and
lithium
 Big-bang Theory - Edwin mass of the universe was
once concentrated in an extremely hot and dense
fireball called YLEM; Hubble
 Steady State Theory – there is no beginning nor end
to the universe. As galaxies recede due to expansion
of the universe, new materials are constantly being
produced in an empty space left behind
Solar System
 Consists of the sun and all bodies revolving around
it
 Solid Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
 Gas Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
 Laws of Planetary Motion
o Ptolemaic System by Ptolemy – Earth is the
center of the universe.
o Copernican System by Copernicus – Sun is
the center of the universe.
 3 Law of Planetary Motion by Johannes Kepler
paths
2nd law - The closer a planet comes to the sun,
the more rapidly it moves.
3rd law – The ratio of the cube of a planet’s
mean distance from the sun to the square of its
orbital period id constant
Theories on the Origin of the Solar System
 The Planetesimal Theory – sun collided with star
 The Companion Star Theory – the sun has a
companion star that exploded when it collides with
the sun
 The Nebular Hypothesis – the universe came from
a saucer shape nebula eventually cooled causing it
to spin in space
 Oscillating Universe Theory – Fred Hoyle
proposed this theory after he discarded Steady
State Theory, he proposed that the universe is
expanding as in big-bang theory but its expansion
would slow down and would eventually come to a
halt because of mutual gravitational attraction
Sun
 Photosphere – light we see from the sun
 Sunspot – black patches which can be seen during
sunset
 Chromosphere – the color sphere which gives
pinkish color to the sun during solar eclipse
 Corona – outermost layer of the suns atmosphere
which, like the chromosphere, is only visible during
solar eclipse
 Reversing Layer – lowest layer of the sun’s
atmosphere which absorbs solar wavelengths.
Moon
 Earth’s satellite
 Distance from earth is 384,000 km
 Diameter: ¼ of the Earth’s
 Pull of gravity: 1/6 of the Earth’s
 Shadow

o Umbra – the darkest portion of the shadow cast by
an astronomical object during an eclipse,
o Penumbra – a partial outer shadow that is lighter
than the darker inner shadow umbra, e.g. the area
between complete darkness and complete light in an
eclipse
 Eclipses
o Lunar eclipse – a partial or total hiding of the
 Meteorite – a piece of rock that has reached
Earth from outer space
 Meteoroids – a mass of rock in space, often
a remnant of a comet, that becomes a meteor
when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere and a
meteorite when it falls to Earth
 Revolution – movement of the earth around
the sun along its orbit
 Rotation – rapid movement of earth around
its own axis
 23.5 degrees – tilt of the earth from the
vertical
 Galaxies – groups of billions of stars and
their planets, gases and dust held together by

moon when the earth’s shadow is casted upon it gravity

o Solar eclipse – a partial/total hiding of the sun
when the moon comes between it and the earth

Stars Earth Science

 Most composted of 72% hydrogen,
25%heliumand 3% other materials (carbon, TOPIC 2: Geology
iron, nickel)
 Diastrophism
 Neutron Star – very dense compact mass of
 Volcanism
neutrons; star which collapsed under its own
 Earthquakes
gravity  Rocks
 Black Holes – areas in space with strong  Layers of Earth
gravitational pull that no matter or energy can  Soil
escape from it  Dating Techniques

Other Space Objects Diastrophism

 this pertains to the movement of all solid parts of the

 Asteroid – an irregular shaped rock thar orbits
the Sun, mostly occurring in a band asteroid
belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
 Comet – an astronomical object that is
composed of mass of ice and dust and has a
long luminous tail produced by vaporization
when its orbit passes close to the Sun
 Meteor – a mass of rock that has reached
Earth from space that burns up after entering
the Earth’s atmosphere
earth
 Direction of forces and movements they produce
o Upward forces – cause the local or widespread rising
or uplift of the crust
o Downward forces – cause the local or widespread
sinking subsidence of the crust
o Sideward force – cause the horizontal motion of the
crust called thrust. Large masses of rocks slide and
slip against each other into new positions
 Causes of Diastrophism
 Continental Drift Theory - Alfred Wegener; there was  Intermediate – volcanoes are sometimes quiet, and
only a single super continent called Pangaea situated sometimes explosive or a combination or both
at the center of the equator.
 It broke up into pieces which slowly moved away
from each other. The pieces formed the continents
today.
 Theory of Seafloor Spreading - five years after
Wegener discovery a brake or rift was found at the
middle of the ridge running along its length where
ballistic magma wells out to the surface. This ballistic
magma solidified forming a new crust it pushes the
old crust causing the ocean floor to spread
 Plate Tectonic Theory - the lithosphere is divided into
six more plates. The plate may composed of the
continental crust on top of the oceanic crust alone.
These plates are slowly, but nevertheless continually
in motion.
 Effects of Diastrophism
 Folding – occurs when the crust crumples or wrinkles Earthquakes
due to compressions or pushes from opposite
directions.  any movement or shaking of the ground
o Tectonic – earthquake caused by the movement of
 Faulting – occurs when the rock masses of the crust
are pulled apart forming cracks or fractures on the tectonic plates or shifting of faults

crust. o Volcanic – earthquake caused by the movement

 Three Plate Boundaries of molten magma from deep under the earth’s

 Spreading or divergent boundary – The gap formed is crust up

immediately filled up with molten material that wells  Terminologies

up from lower mantle  Tidal wave – large mass of water displaced by an

 Colliding or convergent boundary – As the plates earthquake and may be destructive

collide, the leading edges of one plate is bent  Intensity – Of an earthquake is measured in terms of

downward allowing it to slide beneath the other; its effect to a man, its damage to manmade

oceanic crust slides beneath continental crust structures and changes in natural objects and land

 Fracture or transform boundary – sliding scraping and surfaces

deforming the edges of the continents
Volcanism
 the building up of landforms due to volcanic activities
is rapid and process is dramatic
 Classification of Volcanoes
 Quiet – exhibit non-explosive eruptions. But they
discharge fluid lava and gases into the lower levels,
destroying crops and burying everything in their path
 Explosive – erupts violently
 Magnitude – measure the energy released by the
earthquake. It provides information about the
severity of earthquake apart from damage it caused
 Richter Scale - a scale from 1 to 10 used to measure
the severity of earthquakes according to the amount
of energy released, with a higher number indicating
stronger tremors
 Mercalli Scale - a scale for measuring the intensity
of earthquakes, ranging from 1 to 12, in which 1
denotes a weak earthquake and 12 one that causes
complete destruction
  Seismograph - an instrument that detects the
presence of an earthquake and measures and records
its magnitude
 Seismogram - a record of an earthquake made by a
seismograph

Rocks

 Kinds of Rocks

Igneous rocks – heavy, unlayered, dark rocks formed by

the cooling and hardening of

molten materials called magma

Lava – magma that reaches earth’s surface

Intrusive igneous rocks – formed from magma that did not

reach the surface of the

earth. These are generally light-colored and have large

crystals

Extrusive igneous rocks – formed from lava that cooled

down and solidified on the

surface of the earth. Rapid cooling caused small crystals

to form

Sedimentary rocks – formed by the accumulation and

consolidation of mineral and

particulate matter deposited by the action of water, wind,

glacial ice.

Metamorphic rocks – the hardest kinds of rocks produced

by the hardening of igneous

and sedimentary rocks