7th Grade Earth Science Study Guide for Final Exam Fall 2013 The following study guide is to help guide your studying for the final. The guide is organized into units and sections, you can refer to your notes, and the handouts I have given you throughout the semester, as well as some of the notes posted on the blog. If you have any questions, don t hesitate to ask! Unit 1: Space 1. Why do we study astronomy a. Big bang theory i. The difference between a theory and a fact ii. The Universe is constantly expanding, and getting bigger. b. Unit of measuring distances in space i. Astronomical unit (in Kilometers): Shorter distances, for example, to measure the distance between planets, or between planets and the sun. ii. Light year: For measuring large distances. Example: between galaxies. 2. Galaxies a. Classification of galaxies are based on their shape i. Elliptical ii. Spiral iii. Barred spiral iv. Irregular b. There are billions of galaxies in our Universe. c. Our home galaxy is the Milky Way, which holds our Solar system. 3. Stars a. Lifetime of a star i. Stellar Nebulae ii. Average Star iii. Red Giant iv. Planetary Nebula v. Neutron Star b. Common characteristics of stars i. All stars star with hydrogen core, which is converted to helium. ii. All stars are born from nebulae or small clouds of gas and dust.
c. Types of stars and their characteristics i. Blue giant: hot large star ii. Red giant: cooler outer layer, large star iii. Red dwarf: cool, small star iv. Main sequence star: the typical star such as the sun v. White Dwarf: very cool, small star vi. Neutron star: tightly packed remnants of a star vii. Black hole : star that has collapsed on itself d. The light from a star tell us the following: i. What does the star consist of ii. How big is the star iii. How hot is it iv. How far away is it e. Types of energy produced by a star i. Heat energy ii. Light energy iii. UV radiation iv. X rays f. Types of star clusters i. Open clusters ii. Globular cluster 4. Constellation a. Ursa major and Ursa Minor i. Why are they called Little dipper and big dipper? 5. Zodiac a. List the 12 zodiacs in order. Unit 2: Solar system 1. The sun a. Parts of the sun i. Hydrogen core ii. Photosphere iii. Chromosphere iv. Flare v. Prominence vi. Corona vii. Facula
viii. Sunspot b. The difference between facula and sunspot c. The difference between flare and prominence d. Solar wind e. The importance of the sun. 2. Inner planets a. Mercury i. Crater covered surface because it has no atmosphere to stop meteoroids and other small bodies from hitting it ii. Biggest crater is Caloris Basin iii. Has extreme temperatures because of its very slow spin (slowest). iv. Does not have any moons. b. Venus i. Hottest planet because of its thick atmosphere. ii. Appears to be a yellow star, because it is filled with sulphur. c. Earth and the moon. i. Why is Earth, the only habitable planet? 1. Has an atmosphere that protects us from meteoroids, UV light and other dangerous rays from the sun. 2. The only planet to have liquid water. 3. It atmosphere has Oxygen. 4. The temperature is just right, not too hot, not too cold. ii. How do day and night form? 1. When Earth spins around itself iii. How do seasons form? 1. By the orbiting of Earth around the sun. iv. The moon 1. Why do we see the moon lit at night? (Lit = has light) 2. Phases of the moon 3. The theory about where the moon came from 4. What is the surface of the moon like? 5. Why do we only see one side of the moon? d. Jupiter i. What is the Great Red Spot ii. What do the bands mean iii. What is the importance of Jupiter to Earth? iv. How fast is its spin relative to other planets spins? v. Explain why jupiter has tornadoes and storms. e. Saturn i. What are the rings made of? ii. Where did the rings come from?
iii. How large is it? iv. Dragon storm f. Uranus i. The way Uranus spin. ii. Does it have rings? iii. How many moons does it have? g. Neptune i. How was Neptune discovered ii. Does it have rings? iii. How many moons does it have? iv. What is the importance of Triton 3. Small bodies a. Dwarf planets i. Characteristics of a dwarf planet ii. Examples of dwarf planets iii. Why was pluto demoted to a dwarf planet status? b. Comets i. Parts of a comet 1. nucleus 2. ion tail 3. dust tail ii. Difference between ion tail and dust tail iii. The composition of comets. c. Asteroids i. Where do they come from ii. What are they made of iii. Where are they found. d. Meteoroides i. What are they made of? ii. Where do they come from? iii. How do they move? e. Meteors i. What are they made of? ii. Where do they move? f. Meteorites i. What are they made of ii. Their types, and what is each made of. Unit 3: Scientific Methods 1. What are the scientific method steps?
a. Asking Questions b. Making Observation c. Forming Hypothesis d. Testing hypothesis (By designing a controlled experiment) i. A controlled experiment is an experiment that tests only one variable. ii. Why do scientists test only one variable at a time? 1. To be able to see the result of changing just one thing. iii. Sometimes scientists can t design a controlled experiment, in this case, they make observations and collect them to try to get an explanation to their hypothesis. e. Analyzing results i. Scientists need to record and write down the results of their experiment, even if the experiment failed. ii. Analyzing experiments help scientists explain and understand their observations f. Drawing conclusions i. It is deciding if your results agree with the hypothesis or not. Meaning, if the hypothesis is true or if the hypothesis is not true. ii. Finding out that the results don t agree with the hypothesis is equally as important as the results agreeing with the hypothesis. g. Communicating the results. i. How do they communicate results? 1. It can be by making a presentation, or writing reports, or posting on the internet. ii. Why is it important to share results? 1. To give a chance for other scientists to repeat the same experiment and check if they will get the same results. iii. What would happen if another scientists repeated an experiment and his results were different? 1. More studying and more testing needs to be done to make sure the hypothesis is true. 2. Scientists may use all of the steps, skip some of them, or repeat a step or two. 3. What is the goal of scientific methods? a. To come up with accurate and correct answers to questions or solutions to problems. Unit 4 (Chapter 18): Section 1: Astronomy 1. What is astronomy? a. Name the astronomers that contributed to the understanding of Astronomy. 2. What does the Ptolemaic theory state? 3. What does the Copernican theory state?
4. What was the contribution of Tycho Brahe? 5. What did Johannes Kepler think of Brahe s theory about the universe? What did Kepler contribute? 6. What did Galileo make that was a huge contribution to the study of Astronomy? 7. What are the first observations of Galileo's? 8. What did Isaac Newton s laws of gravity explain? 9. What did Edwin Hubble contribute to modern astronomy? 10. How does astronomy affect our keeping of time? a. The astronomical calendar i. Day ii. Month iii. Year b. How did people in the past keep track of time? Unit 4 (Chapter 18): Section 2: Telescopes 1. Telescopes a. How do telescopes function? b. Types of Telescopes i. Optical Telescope 1. what is it used for a. Magnifying objects 2. Parts of Optical telescope a. Objective lense b. Focal point ii. Refracting Telescopes 1. How does it collect and focus light? iii. Reflecting telescopes 1. How does it collect and focus light? 2. Advantages of reflecting telescopes a. What is the use of mirrors. c. Large Telescopes i. What factor affects how clear can the image be? ii. What did scientist do to avoid interference from the atmosphere? 2. Light a. Electromagnetic Spectrum b. Which electromagnetic radiation has the shortest wavelength? c. Identify the types of electromagnetic radiations. i. The importance of studying all electromagnetic radiations d. How do you detect electromagnetic radiation? i. Non optical telescopes
3. Radio telescopes a. Importance of radio telescopes b. How do they work. 4. Non optical telescopes a. The reason for scientists to use non optical telescopes in space. Rocket Science 1. History of Rockets a. The first scientist to propose the usage of rockets? b. The first to build a rocket? In which year? c. What is the ancestor of all modern rockets? d. What is NASA and how did it form? When was it first started? What does it stand for? 2. Rockets a. How do they move in space? b. What is the force that push the rocket forward? c. What do all rockets need to carry with them that is not present in space? 3. How do rockets work a. The relationship between velocity and gravity. b. Orbital velocity vs. Escape velocity Good luck!