Earth and Space

Science
Earth and Space
Science

LECTURE
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

The earth rotates on its axis and revolves

`
around the sun in an elliptical path. Rotation –
the axis passes the body; Revolution – the axis
is outside the body.
The earth rotates counterclockwise, meaning
from west to east, this explains why the sun
rises in the east and sets in the west
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION
Day and night happens because of the rotation
of the earth` on its axis
the seasons is a consequence of the tilt of the
See video clip
axis of the earth
the phases of the moon and the eclipses are
consequences of the relative motion of the
earth, moon and sun
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION
The earth follows an elliptical orbit. This
explains why there are `times when the earth is
closer to the sun and farther at times.
Aphelion is the farthest position that the earth
could be located on its axis from the sun.
Perihelion is the nearest position that the earth
could be from the sun.
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

Perigee is the nearest location that an object

`
orbiting the earth could be.

Apogee is the farthest position that an object

revolving around the earth could be.
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION
TIDES refer to the rise and fall of sea levels
`
caused by the combined effects of the
gravitational forces exerted by the Moon, the
sun and the rotation of the earth

Tides has the effect of slowing down earth’s

rotation, in later time, days would be longer
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION
Earth’s interior consists of the mantle and
the `core
The mantle consists of three parts: (1) the lower
part of the lithosphere, (2) the region below it
referred to as the asthenosphere, and (3) the
region below the asthenosphere called the
lower mantle.
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION
The Core consists of two parts: (1) the outer
` inner core
core and (2) the

The outer core is about 2,260 km thick. It is a

liquid region composed mostly of iron, with
smaller amounts of nickel and sulfur in liquid
form
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

The inner core is about 1, 220 km thick. The

`
inner core is solid and is composed of iron,
nickel, and sulfur in solid form
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

TYPES OF ROCKS ON EARTH

`
Igneous
metamorphic
sedimentary

Igneous rocks form when molten rock, called

magma, cools and solidifies
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

TYPES OF ROCKS ON EARTH

`
Sedimentary rocks are usually created by the
breakdown of igneous rocks. They form in layers
as small particles of other rocks or as the
mineralized remains of dead animals and plants
that have fused together over time
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

TYPES OF ROCKS ON EARTH

`
Metamorphic rocks form when sedimentary or
igneous rocks are altered by heat and pressure
deep underground.
 The EARTH
BASIC INFORMATION

Earthquakes
`
An earthquake is a violent movement of the rocks
in the Earth’s crust
The scientific study of earthquakes is referred to
as seismology. An instrument that measures
earthquake is referred to as seismometer.
 The EARTH
EARTHQUAKES
The magnitude of an earthquake is a measure of
the earthquake size and `remains unchanged with
distance from the earthquake.
Intensity, however, describes the degree of
shaking (and thus, give a description of the
effect/damage) caused by an earthquake at any
given place and decreases with distance from
the earthquake’s epicenter.
 The EARTH
EARTHQUAKES
Richter Magnitude Scale: developed to assign a
single number to quantify
` the energy released
during an earthquake.

The scale is a base-

10 logarithmic scale.
 Prevailing Winds in the Philippines

MONSOON

The word monsoon is derived

` from the Arabic
word, “mausim” which means season.
2 Reasons for the wind shift, or monsoon – (1) the
movement northward from winter to summer of the
huge upper subtropical high pressure system,
specifically known as the Bermuda High, and; the
intense heating of the Mohave desert creates rising and
surface low pressure, called a thermal low
 Prevailing Winds in the Philippines

MONSOON

Southwest (summer) `
monsoon (habagat) – occurs
from May to October.

Northeast Monsoon
(Retreating Monsoon) – occurs
from November to April.
 Trade Winds
prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds
found in the tropics
` be found within the
These wind patterns could
lower portion of the Earth’s atmosphere, in the
lower portion of the troposphere near the
Equator

They are named because of their ability to

quickly propel trading ships across the ocean
 Trade Winds
prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds
found in the tropics
These wind patterns could be`
found within the lower portion of
the Earth’s atmosphere, in the
lower portion of the troposphere
near the Equator

They are named because of their

ability to quickly propel trading
ships across the ocean
 Trade Winds
prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds
found in the tropics
`
The trade winds blow predominantly from
the northeast in the Northern hemisphere
and from the Southeast in the Southern
hemisphere.
 ITCZ
INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE
is an area of low pressure
that forms where the `
Northeast Trade Wind
meet the Southeast trade
winds near the earth’s
equator.

This zone is characterized

by showers and
widespread thunderstorms
Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

THE BIG BANG THEORY

Proposed by Le maitre and Gammow
`
According to this theory, at the beginning
of the universe, the whole matter of the
universe was once concentrated in an
extremely dense and hot fireball
 Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

THE BIG BANG THEORY

Then about 20 billion years ago a vast
`
explosion (big bang) occurred

The matter was broken into pieces, which

were thrown out with high speed in all
directions forming stars and galaxies; which
are still moving away from each other
 Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

THE BIG BANG THEORY

The Big Bang theory` also proposed that

the explosion would leave an afterglow
from the explosion. In the 1960’s, scientists
discovered the existence of cosmic
background radiation
Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

STEADY STATE THEORY (obsolete)

Bondi, Gold and Fred Hoyle (and James
`
Jeans) developed this theory
According to this theory, the number of galaxies
in the observable universe is constant and new
galaxies are continuously created out of empty
space, which fill up the gaps caused by the
boundary of the observable universe
 Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

STEADY STATE THEORY

As a result, the overall size of the mass of the
`
observable universe remains constant, thus a
steady state of the universe is not disturbed at
all

The size and mass of the universe never change.

The universe has no beginning and end.
Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

PULSATING THEORY
According to this theory, the universe is
`
supposed to be expanding and contracting
alternately (i.e. pulsating)
The theory proposed, in addition to the expansion of
the universe that at a certain time, the expansion of
the universe may be stopped by the gravitational pull
and may contract again
 Theories of the Evolution of the Universe

PULSATING THEORY
After it has contracted to a certain size,
`
explosion again occurs and the universe will
start expanding
 DID YOU KNOW?

SYZYGY
the alignment of three or more celestial
`
bodies in the same gravitational system
along a straight line
The closeness of the earth either to the Sun
or to the Moon causes an unusually very
high tide
 DID YOU KNOW?

SYZYGY

` occur at times of
Solar and lunar eclipses
syzygy, as do transits and occultations
 DID YOU KNOW?

MOON ROCKS

` are measured
the age of moon rocks
though radiometric dating techniques

The age of moon rocks are approximately

4.5 billion years old.
 DID YOU KNOW?

POLARIS
Polaris or the North Star is the brightest
`
star of the Little dipper in the constellation
Ursa Minor, near the celestial north pole.
Since it always indicates due north from an
observer anywhere on earth, Polaris is
important for navigation
 DID YOU KNOW?

HELIOCENTRIC THEORY
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the
`
Heliocentric Theory that claims that the sun
is the middle of the solar system
 DID YOU KNOW?

SMOG
The ozone layer is part of the stratosphere,
`
this layer blocks harmful ultraviolet
radiation from the sun

Harmful form of ozone (SMOG) is found in

the troposphere.
 DID YOU KNOW?

METEOROLOGY

Meteorology is the ` interdisciplinary

scientific study of the atmosphere that
focuses on weather processes and
forecasting. Meteorology helps us be
informed with forthcoming tropical storms
 Earth and Space
Science

Practice Test: 20 items

 In our daily weather forecast, the
region where two tropical wind
1 systems converge characterized by
showers and widespread thunderstorm
is called ____________________.
A. trade winds
B. local disturbance
C. warm and cold fronts
D. inter tropical convergent zone
 Which one should be TRUE if Earth’s
2 rotation axis did not tilt?

Days and nights would be the same length everywhere

I. on earth.
There would be no hours of darkness on points along
II. the equator.
III. Earth would have no seasons.
Each part of the Earth would have the same daily
IV. temperature pattern.
 Which one should be TRUE if Earth’s
2 rotation axis did not tilt?

A. IV and I
B. I and III
C. II and IV
D. III and IV
 Tides caused by the moon’s gravity, create a
frictional force that is gradually slowing
3 down Earth’s rotation speed. One million
years from now, scientist may discover that
compared to today, Earth’s

A. day is longer
B. year is shorter
C. day is shorter
D. year is longer
 Which of the following facts support
4 the big bang theory’s explanation of
the creation of the universe?

A. The universe seldom expand

B. The universe has no beginning nor end
C. The universe does not expand nor contract
D. The universe will have background radiation
 The harmful form of ozone that can be
5 seen as smog is formed in the
___________________.

A. exosphere
B. ionosphere
C. troposphere
D. stratosphere
 We have energy responsible for life on
6 Earth. The source of this energy is the
____________________.

A. moon
B. wind
C. star
D. sun
 Syzygy is the term that describes the
alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth that
7 causes extraordinary tides. This
phenomenon occurred during the period
from December 30, 1986 to January 4, 1987.
 It aggravated the severe storms that
occurred along the Atlantic Coast. Three
7 coinciding events occurred during the five-
day period.

The moon’s orbit was closest to Earth-about

I. 223,000 miles instead of 240 000 miles
The moon was directly between Earth and Sun,
II. causing a New Moon
Earth’s orbit was closest to the Sun – 91 ½ million
III. miles, instead of the normal 93 million miles
 It aggravated the severe storms that
occurred along the Atlantic Coast. Three
7 coinciding events occurred during the five-
day period.

Why is tide higher than normal?

 It aggravated the severe storms that
occurred along the Atlantic Coast. Three
7 coinciding events occurred during the five-
day period.

A. I, II and III
B. I and II
C . I and III
D. II and III
 The rocks brought by astronauts from
the moon were found to be
8 approximately
_____________________ billion years
old.
A. 5.5
B. 2.5
C. 4.5
D. 1.5
 What important metallic elements are
9 found at the inner core of the earth?

A. iron and nickel

B. iron and silicon
C. phosphorus and silicon
D. magnesium and potassium
 10 Why do we see the sun rise in the east?

A. the earth revolves

B. clockwise the sun is stationary in the east
C. the earth rotates from east to west
D. the earth rotates from west to east
 If you lose your direction while
11 traveling at night, which star should
you look for and what constellation?

I. Polaris
II. Rigel
III. Ursa minor
IV. Ursa major
 If you lose your direction while
11 traveling at night, which star should
you look for and what constellation?

A. I and IV
B. II and IV
C. II and III
D. I and III
 Which location should have most
nearly twelve hours of daylight and
12 twelve hours of darkness during
December? A town that is located
____________________.
A. close to the equator
B. close to the North Pole
C. close to the South Pole
halfway between the equator and the South
D. Pole.
 As the earth revolves, due to the tilting
13 of its axis what natural phenomena
occur?

A. weather
B. seasons
C. day and night
D. global warming
 The point in the earth’s orbit when the
earth is farthest from the sun is called
14 ____________________.

A. perigee
B. parallax
C. aphelion
D. perihelion
 The astronomer Copernicus was the
first person to publicly state that the
15 earth ____________________.

A. does not move

B. is slowing down
C. revolves around the sun
D. is the center of the solar system
 Which kind of rock is abundant in the
16 Bicol region?

A. shale
B. igneous
C. sedimentary
D. metamorphic
 Meteorology is a very important
branch of natural science, without
17 which we cannot be informed of
forthcoming ____________________.

A. comet
B. meteor
C. typhoon
D. earthquake
 Which of the following BEST
differentiates an earthquake’s intensity
18 from its magnitude?

intensity describes the depth from which the earthquake originated while
A. magnitude refers to the energy of the of the earthquake
intensity cannot be measured while magnitude can be
B. measured using a seismograph
intensity refers to the strength of the quake while magnitude
C. refers to the degree of destruction it caused at its epicenter
intensity is a measure of how much damage an earthquake causes at the
D. surface while magnitude is the strength of the quake
 The prevailing wind systems
experienced in the Philippines are
19 ____________________.

A. East and West monsoon

B. North and South monsoon
C. Northeast and Southwest monsoon
D. Northeast and Southeast monsoon
 If the air at 61 degrees is holding the
maximum amount of moisture that it
20 can, and the temperature suddenly
drops to 45 degrees, what is likely to be
the result?
I. The humidity will remain unchanged
II. The air will become saturated with water vapor
III Precipitation will be released in the form of rain.
IV Precipitation will be released in the form of hail.
 If the air at 61 degrees is holding the
maximum amount of moisture that it
20 can, and the temperature suddenly
drops to 45 degrees, what is likely to be
the result?
A. I and III
B. II and I
C. I and IV
D. II and III