Earth's Place in the Universe
1. Astronomy and planetary exploration reveal the structure, scale, and change
of the solar system over time.
a. How the differences and similarities among the sun, the terrestrial
planets, and the gas planets may have been established during the
formation of the solar system.
b. Evidence from Earth and moon rocks for the solar system's formation
from a nebular cloud of dust and gas approximately 4.6 billion years
ago.
c. Evidence from geological studies of the Earth and other planets that
the early Earth was very different from today.
d. Evidence that the planets are much closer than the stars.
e. The sun is a typical star and is powered by nuclear reactions,
primarily the fusion of hydrogen to form helium.
f. Evidence for the dramatic effects of asteroid impacts in shaping the
surface of planets and their moons, and in mass extinctions of life on
Earth.
*g. Evidence for the existence of planets orbiting other stars.
2. Earth-based and space-based astronomy reveals the structure, scale, and
change over time of stars, galaxies and the universe.
a. The solar system is located in an outer edge of the disc-shaped Milky
Way galaxy which spans 100,000 light years.
b. Galaxies are made of billions of stars and form most of the visible
mass of the universe.
c. Evidence that all elements with an atomic number greater than that of
Lithium have been formed by nuclear fusion in stars.
d. Stars differ in their life cycles, and visual, radio, and X-ray
telescopes collect data that reveal these differences.
*e. Accelerators boost subatomic particles to energy levels that simulate
conditions in the stars and in early history of the universe before
stars formed.
*f. Evidence that the color, brightness and evolution of a star are
determined by a balance between gravitational collapse and nuclear
fusion.
*g. How the red-shift from distant galaxies and the cosmic background
radiation provide evidence for the "big bang" model that suggests that
the universe has been expanding for 10 to 20 billion years.
Dynamic Earth Processes
3. Plate tectonics operating over geologic time has changed the patterns of
land, sea, and mountains on the Earth's surface.
a. Features of the ocean floor (magnetic patterns, age, and sea floor
topography) provide evidence for plate tectonics.
b. The principal structures that form at the three different kinds of
plate boundaries.
c. How to explain the properties of rocks based on the physical and
chemical conditions in which they formed, including plate tectonic
processes.
d. Why and how earthquakes occur, and the scales used to measure their
intensity and magnitude.
e. Two kinds of volcanoes, one with violent eruptions producing steep
slopes and the other with voluminous lava flows producing gentle
slopes.
*f. Explanation for the location and properties of volcanoes that are due
to hot spots and those that are due to subduction.
Energy in the Earth System
4. Energy enters the Earth system primarily as solar radiation and eventually
escapes as heat.
a. The relative amount of incoming solar energy compared with Earth's
internal energy and the energy used by society.
b. The fate of incoming solar radiation in terms of reflection,
absorption, and photosynthesis.
c. The different atmospheric gases that absorb the Earth's thermal
radiation, and the mechanism and significance of the greenhouse effect.
*d. The different greenhouse conditions on Earth, Mars, and Venus, their
origins and climatic consequences.
5. Heating of Earth's surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection
within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents.
a. How differential heating of the Earth results in circulation patterns
in the atmosphere and oceans that globally distribute the heat.
b. The relationship between the rotation of the Earth and the circular
motion of ocean currents and air in pressure centers.
c. The origin and effects of temperature inversions.
d. Properties of ocean water such as temperature and salinity can be used
to explain the layered structure of the oceans, generation of
horizontal and vertical ocean currents, and the geographic distribution
of marine organisms.
e. The distribution of rain forests and deserts on Earth in bands at
specific latitudes.
*f. The interaction of wind patterns, ocean currents, and mountain ranges
that results in the global pattern of latitudinal bands of rain forests
and deserts.
*g. Features of the ENSO cycle (El Nino) in terms of sea-surface and air
temperature variations across the Pacific, and some climatic results of
this cycle.
6. Climate is the long term average of a region's weather and depends on many
factors.
a. Weather (in the short run) and climate (in the long run) involve the
transfer of energy in and out of the atmosphere.
b. Effects on climate of latitude, elevation, topography, as well as
proximity to large bodies of water and cold or warm ocean currents.
c. How the Earth's climate has changed over time, corresponding to changes
in the Earth's geography, atmospheric composition and/or other factors
(solar radiation, plate movement, etc.).
*d. Use of computer models to predict the effects of increasing greenhouse
gases on climate for the planet as a whole and for specific regions.
Biogeochemical cycles
7. Each element on Earth moves among reservoirs in the solid Earth, oceans,
atmosphere, and organisms as part of biogeochemical cycles.
a. The carbon cycle of photosynthesis and respiration, and the nitrogen
cycle.
b. The global carbon cycle in terms of the different physical and chemical
forms of carbon in the atmosphere, oceans, biomass, and fossil fuels,
and the movement of carbon among these reservoirs.
c. Movement of matter among reservoirs is driven by the Earth's internal
and external sources of energy.
*d. The relative residence times and flows of carbon in and out of its
different reservoirs.
Structure and Composition of the Atmosphere
8. Life has changed Earth's atmosphere and changes in the atmosphere affect
conditions for life.
a. The thermal structure and chemical composition of the atmosphere.
b. How the composition of the Earth's atmosphere has evolved over geologic
time including outgassing, the origin of atmospheric oxygen, and
variations in carbon dioxide concentration.
c. The location of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere, its role in
absorbing ultraviolet radiation and how it varies both naturally and in
response to human activities.
California Geology
9. The geology of California underlies the state's wealth of natural resources
as well as its natural hazards.
a. The resources of major economic importance in California and their
relation to California's geology.
b. The principal natural hazards in different California regions, and the
geological basis of those hazards.
c. The importance of water to society, the origins of California's fresh
water, and the relationship between supply and need.
*d. How to analyze published geologic hazard maps of California and use the
map information to identify evidence of geological events of the past
and predict geological changes in the future.
