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Introduction to ES
Bancroft-vths-intro to es vocab
Question | Answer |
---|---|
What is astronomy? | the study of the universe |
What is the atmosphere? | a life-giving gaseous envelope surrouning the Earth |
What is the biosphere? | includes all life on Earth |
What is a closed system? | a self-contained system in which no matter can enter or leave |
What is the core? | the dense inner sphere of the Earth |
What is the crust? | the light and very thin outer layer of the Earth |
What is Earth science? | all sciences that collectively seek to understand Earth and its neighbors in space |
What is Earth system science? | it aims to study Earth as a system composed of numerous interacting parts |
What is an environment? | everything that surrounds and influences an organism |
What is geology? | the study of Earth that is divided into the two broad areas, physical and historical |
What is the hydrosphere? | a dynamic mass of liquid that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to atmosphere, predcipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again |
What is a hypothesis? | a tentative or untested explanation |
What is the lithoshpere? | the rigid outer layer of Earth that includes the crust and uppermost mantle |
What is the mantle? | a less dense principle region of Earth in between the crust and the core |
What is meteorology? | the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather and climates |
What is a model? | a less precise term for hypothesis because it is sometimes used to describe a scientific theory |
What does the nebular theory suggest? | that the bodies of our solar system evolved form an enormous rotating cloud called the solar nebula, composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a small percentage of the heavier elements |
What is a negative feedback mechanism? | a mechanism that works to maintain the system as it is |
What are nonrenewable resources? | resources whose processes that create them are so slow that significant deposits take millions of years to accumulate |
What is oceanography? | not a seperate science that involves the application of all sciences in a comprehensive and interrelated study of the oceans in all their aspects and relationships |
What is an open system? | a system in which both energy and matter flow into and out of the system |
What are paradigms? | they explain a large number of interrelated aspects of the natural world |
What is physical environment? | the nonliving parts of the environment such as water, air, soil, rock, temperature, humidity, and sunlight |
What is a positive feedback mechanism? | a mechanism that enhances or drives change |
What are renewable resources? | resources that can be replenished over relatively short time spans |
What is a system? | any size group of interacting parts that form a complex whole |
What is a theory? | a well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts |