Transcript Unit 1 PowerPoint Presentation

Unit 1: Science!
GEOSC 10: Geology of the National Parks
Presented by Dr. Richard Alley
The Pennsylvania State University
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
Unit 1: SCIENCE !
•
•
•
Is a human activity--it isn’t Truth, but it works.
Is the best way we have to answer many
questions (How does something work? How can
we use that information to cure disease or find
clean water or otherwise help us?)
Science cannot answer many questions (What
should we do? Why are we here?)
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
Scientific Method
•
•
•
•
Get a new idea (hypothesis; genius);
See if it beats old idea in predicting what will
happen (experiment);
If yes (after many tests), use the new idea; if no,
still use old one;
Repeat--there’s always more to learn.
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
Scientific Method (cont.)
•
•
•
•
Ideas that work better may be True, Close, or
Lucky, so science never sure.
Science can prove ideas wrong, but cannot
prove them correct;
But, if we act as if science finds truth, we
succeed in doing many things;
IF we follow scientific method.
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
Why National Parks?
•
•
•
•
US idea, Yellowstone first (1870);
Take a quick visit to Yellowstone, and imagine it
as a power plant or cola ad;
Problem: parks for “conservation unimpaired for
future generations” but “enjoyment” for this
generation;
Doing both is not easy.
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
Why Geology?
•
•
•
•
Find valuable things (oil, water; gems);
Avoid hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes,
landslides);
Learn how Earth works to keep it and us happy
and healthy;
Have fun (Why are the parks so pretty? What
were dinosaurs like?).
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
Some Geological Background…
•
•
•
We WILL cover evidence during this course, but
we have to start somewhere);
Earth 4.6 billion years old, pieces from space fell
together under gravity;
Heated as it formed (natural radioactivity, and the
heat from stopping those falling pieces--think of
hot-brake smell after stopping a truck on a steep
hill);
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks
More Geological Background
•
•
•
Heating melted Earth and allowed it to separate
into layers;
Think of car-bottom clump on a snowy day--ice
and rocks and dead-squirrel parts all lumped
together, but separate when they melt in garage;
Layers are: iron-rich core, iron-silica mantle,
more-silica/less-iron crust
(refer to Chemistry Sidebar in text if this seems
unfamiliar)
GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks