Transcript category 3 part2

STAAR Reporting Category 3
Earth and Space
Middle School Science
Science STAAR Need to Know
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Rock Cycle
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Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics explains the movement of large
sections of Earth’s crust called tectonic plates. The
force behind tectonic plate movement is thought to be
currents of magma flowing in Earth’s mantle.
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PLATE TECTONICS
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Plate boundaries
Tectonic plates slowly collide against one another
along plate boundaries. Sections of the plates
may break off and be pushed down, up, or to the
side. Mountain ranges, ocean trenches,
earthquakes & volcanic activity are all common
along plate boundaries.
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Pacific Plate
is the largest
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Changes in the Earth over time
Weathering- the process of rocks being broken
down into smaller pieces.
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Two types of Weathering
Mechanical
Rocks break into
smaller pieces by
physical means –
Water, ice, wind,
gravity, organisms
& changing
temperatures
Chemical
Rocks break into
smaller pieces by
chemical reactions –
Air, water, acid &
salts react with
minerals in rocks to
form new
substances
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Erosion
Destructive


The movement of
particles from one
location to another is
erosion
Weathered particles of
rock are transported by
gravity, living organisms,
water, glaciers & wind.
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Deposition

Constructive
The settling (depositing) of eroded
particles as sediments wherever they
are transported by wind or water.
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LAND & EROSIONAL
FEATURES
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All the land that
drains into a
specific body
of water.
Groundwater
and surface
water both
contribute to
the water in a
watershed.
Surface water
becomes
groundwater
by soaking
into the sand
and soil or by
traveling
through cracks
in rock.
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Two important ways that oceans affect climate on land
1. Land heats up faster than water because land has a lower specific
heat than water does. This causes the air over land to heat faster
than the air over water. The warm air rises, starting a convection
current that pulls air toward land from the ocean. This keeps air
over the land from getting too hot and brings moist ocean air
inland.
2. Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air does. When warm,
moist air is cooled, clouds form and can produce precipitation.
This warm air can be cooled by rising into the colder upper
atmosphere, by moving over cold ocean or lakes, or by mixing
with colder air. (Ex. Front boundary- the edge where cool, dry air
meets warm, moist air. Often causes stormy weather)
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WEATHER SYSTEM
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WEATHER SYSTEMS
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WEATHER & CLIMATE
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WEATHER & CLIMATE
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Nitrogen
Cycle
Nitrogen
changes back &
forth from
nitrogen gas to
the nitrogen
compounds used
by plants &
animals.
Nitrogen is passed from plants to other organisms through food
webs in the ecosystem. Once plants & animals use the nitrogen it
returns to the atmosphere as a gas, completing the cycle.
Some fertilizers contain nitrogen compounds because plants need
nitrogen to grow. Though there is plenty of nitrogen gas in the
atmosphere, plants can’t use this form. In nature nitrogen can be
changed from a gas to a form that plants can use by lightning or by
soil bacteria and fungi in a process called nitrogen fixation.
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Problems if too much Nitrogen in
environment
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Carbon Cycle
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Effects of carbon on environment
One of the biggest ways
humans affect the carbon
cycle is by burning fossil
fuels.
Burning fossil fuels
transforms carbon into
carbon dioxide.
Higher levels of carbon dioxide cause the
atmosphere to hold more heat energy. This may
be the cause of warmer temperatures measured
in recent years on Earth. (Called “The
Greenhouse Effect”)
This could affect the climate in many places.
The kinds of plants and animals in these
climates may change if the warming continues.
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Without the carbon and nitrogen cycles, there
would be no life on earth!
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Catastrophic events affect the earth
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Ways humans affect the earth
Two common
forms of
pollution:
1. Gases released
into the
atmosphere
2. Chemicals that
are carried by
water into a
watershed
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Humans can cause extinctions
Human can change:
•The quality of the air, water & soil we use
•Ecosystems by removing plants & animals & by
introducing new species, such as invasive plants &
pets
•Invasive species don’t naturally live in the
ecosystem where they are introduced.
•Invasive species compete with/or drive out native
species (species that live naturally in an
ecosystem)
FIRE ANTS- invasive species- accidentally introduced to North
America from South America. They have few predators in NA &
aggressively attack & kill many kinds of native plants & animals.
They have upset the balance of ecosystems in many southern
states.
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Renewable
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Non renewable
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Inexhaustible
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