Totally Crazy SOL Study Sheet Here are a few friendly reminders to brush up on before taking the big SOL. Some of these things we have

yet to go over; the rest should be straight review!

• Planets in order from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,(Asteroid belt) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

• Planets in order of size: Pluto, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter

• Planets closest to the sun orbit the fastest

• Full moon during a lunar eclipse; new moon during a solar eclipse

• Full and New Moon = Spring tide (highest); 1st and 3rd quarter = Neap tide

• Dark areas of the moon are called Maria

• Rotation is spinning in place

• Revolution is going around a larger object

• We only see one side of the moon because it rotates once for each revolution

• Sun makes its energy from fusion in the core (hydrogen converted into helium)

• The sun is an AVERAGE sized yellow star

• Black holes and neutron stars are remnants of once very large stars

• Our sun will turn into a red giant next, then a planetary nebula, then a white dwarf

• Hot stars are blue and cooler stars are red

• Sunspots occur on an 11 year cycle (magnetism/convection/photosphere)

• We see the Sun’s corona during a solar eclipse

• At any given time, 50% of the Earth is in nighttime

• We have seasons because the Earth is tilted on its axis

• From smallest to largest: Planet, Sun, Solar System, Galaxy, Universe

• Our Milky Way galaxy is a spiral galaxy 100,000 light years across

• Most stars are hydrogen and helium

• Northern hemisphere tilted toward the sun = summer in North/winter in South; First days of summer and winter are called the solstice; first days of autumn and spring are called equinoxes(equal parts day and night)

• Stars move in the sky at night b/c the Earth is rotating on it’s axis

• Red shift = object in space moving away from you / Blue shift = moving toward you

• Apollo 11 took the first men to the moon

• Meteor showers come from the remains of comets that have passed by Earth’s orbit

• Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) are nonrenewable; meaning once they are used up, we can’t make more

• An asteroid probably lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs

• Atoms are the basic building block of all matter: Atoms make up elements, elements make up molecules, molecules make up minerals, minerals make up rocks, rocks make up the Earth!

• Rocky mountains are younger than the Appalachian mountains

• Denser substances ALWAYS sink to the bottom

• Density is the object’s Mass divided by Volume (D=M/V)

• The mineral Calcite is a carbonate, it will react with acid (fizzle and bubble)

• The mineral halite is also known as rock salt (it has a cubic shape)

• The mineral sulfur is bright yellow and has a distinct smell

• The mineral mica is flat and breaks off into thin sheets (good cleavage)

• A diamond is the hardest mineral

• Talc is the softest mineral

• The mineral magnetite has magnetic properties

• Streak is the color of the mineral’s powder (see picture)

• Cleavage is when a mineral breaks evenly; fracture is when it breaks into random pieces

• Youngest rock layers are almost always on top

• From largest to smallest: Pebble, Sand, Silt, Clay

• Convection currents in the mantle help to drive plate tectonics

• Impermeable means water can’t pass through

• Humus is in the “A-Horizon” of soil (The TOP)

• Ice floats because it is LESS dense than water

• Zones of a water table from top to bottom (surface, aerated zone, water table, zone of saturation, bedrock)

• Words associated with Igneous rock: intrusive(inside earth), extrusive(volcanic eruptions), melting, magma, lava, intrusions, dike, sill, laccolith, granite, basalt(makes up the ocean floor)

• Small mineral grains = cool quickly; large mineral grains = cool SLOWLY

• Words associated with sedimentary rock: fossils, stratification, sand/silt/clay, transportation and deposition, limestone, sandstone, shale, delta, karst

• Hard parts become fossilized (teeth, bones)

• Words associated with metamorphic rock: heat and pressure, regional(large scale), contact(small scale), foliation (banding of minerals), gneiss, marble, slate, quartzite

• On the Mohs scale of hardness, higher numbers will scratch lower numbers

• Trenches occur at ocean-ocean subduction zones (deepest part of the ocean)

• These words will always be found together: Calcite, Limestone, Karst, Caves, Sinkholes, Caverns, Concrete = Valley and Ridge province of Va)

• Most sand is quartz; glass can be created from quartz

• You need 3 seismic stations to find the epicenter of an earthquake

• Focus is where the earthquake actually occurs underground

• Body waves (P&S), and Surface waves are generated during an earthquake; surface waves cause more damage, body waves travel faster

• CFC’s destroy ozone in the stratosphere

• Ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation (located in the stratosphere)

• We live in the troposphere where ALL weather occurs

• Ionosphere is part of the thermosphere (associated with auroras and reflection of radio waves)

• Currents in the atmosphere are generated by cool air sinking and warmer air rising

• A strong atmospheric current of wind at the top of the troposphere is called the JET STREAM

• Clouds form as air rises, cools, and condenses (condensation nuclei (dust) are needed for raindrops to form)

• Words associated with glaciers: River of ice, moraine (piles of sediment and debris remaining after the glacier has melted), esker, U-shaped valley, till, drumlin,

• Anemometer measures wind speed; thermometer measures temperature; barometer measures air pressure

• Isobars connect points of equal atmospheric pressure

• Notice the cold front and warm front in the picture below: The cold front is associated with triangles; the warm front is associated with semi-circles:

• Stationary Fronts don’t move – they will give you rain for a few days

• Fronts are traveling in the direction of the symbols (triangles or half-circles)

• Air always moves from HIGH to LOW pressure (think of a deflating balloon)

* In picture “A” deposition of sediment occurs where the inside speed of the river is the slowest (point bar); erosion occurs on the outside where the river speed is greatest. An oxbow lake appears in picture “B” after the river has broken off and changed its course, leaving a lake of water behind. In pictures “C” and “D”, most of the original water is gone, leaving a swampy area behind.

• Ground water usually resides in aquifers

• An aquifer is usually bordered on top and bottom by two impermeable layers of rock

• Wells suck water out of aquifers and leave a cone of depression

• Horizons are the layers of soil

• Beneath all soil is bedrock

• The Geologic Time Scale is used to show the history of the Earth since its formation.

• The Earth is about 4.6 billion years old

• Eon is the largest grouping of time

• Eons are broken into Eras

• Eras are broken into Periods and Epochs

• The current Era is Cenozoic

• The current Eon is Holocene

• Birds are relatives of dinosaurs

• Humans and dinosaurs never lived at the same time

• Examples of absolute dating (which give an exact age of rock or fossil) are radiocarbon and radiometric

• Relative dating uses rock layers to show age comparisons

• The ice age ended about 10,000 years ago

• The great lakes formed during the end of the last ice age

• The picture below is the international date line (it follows the 180 degree line of longitude)

• The North Pole is at 90 degrees N latitude

• The South Pole is at 90 degrees S latitude

• Latitude are lines like: ________________ that are measured in degrees N or S

• Longitude lines go up and down and are measured in degrees E or W

• 0 degrees latitude is the equator

• 0 degrees longitude is the prime meridian

• On topographic profiles, lines are called contour lines

• Contour lines show elevation

• Contour lines close together = steep mountain

• Contour lines far apart = flat landscape

• Gradient is the steepness of a slope

• Only 1% of the water on Earth is available for human use

• Over 70% of the Earth is covered by water

• Virginia Provinces are the different regions of Virginia (From right to left below)

• Coastal Plain is flat and made of sand and gravel

• Piedmont is the largest (where we live)

• Blue Ridge has the highest peak (Mt. Rogers)

• Valley and Ridge has Limestone, Caves, and Karst Topography

• Appalachian Plateau has fossil fuels like coal

• Ocean currents move water around the Earth

• Cold water rises up from deep down bringing nutrients to ocean plants, animals, and plankton

• Warm currents bring warm weather to continents

• A famous warm water current is the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean (see picture)

• Most hurricanes form in the warm waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea

• Tornadoes can form over land or water (water spouts)

• The Fujita scale measures tornado intensity

• The Saffir-Simpson scale measures Hurricane intensity

• The Gulf Stream is a famous warm-water current in the Atlantic Ocean

• Clouds form when water vapor rises, cools, and condenses.

• In order for water to condense, you it needs tiny microscopic particles of dust called condensation nuclei

• Hail is associated with strong thunderstorms called super cells and tornados

• Cumulonimbus clouds give the strongest storms

• Nimbostratus give you rain

• Cumulus are the big, puffy clouds

• All clouds are in the troposphere

• High Pressure weather is sunny with clear skies

• Low pressure weather is cloudy, usually with rain or wind.

• Porosity is the amount of space between the particles of rock. Materials that have a HIGH porosity (lots of space) include sandstone, limestone, sand. Materials that have a LOW porosity (tiny or no space) include granite, marble,

and clay.

• Permeability is the ability of water to pass through a substance. Usually a rock with high porosity will have high permeability too, meaning water can pass through easily. However, the pore spaces have to be connected!

• Sea Breezes happen during the day when wind blows in from the ocean

• Land breezes happen at night when the wind blows out from the beach

• Sea breezes and land breezes occur because land and water heat up and cool down at different rates. This causes pressure changes. Pressure changes (From High to Low) make the winds.

• Land heats up fast and cools down fast.

• Water heats up slowly and cools down slowly

• Our atmosphere is about 78% NITROGEN, 21% OXYGEN, and LESS than 1% Carbon dioxide

• Plants, rocks, and oceans help to absorb Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere

• Industry, cars, and animals all add to the amount of Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere

• Carbon dioxide levels are associated with temperature rise and global warming

• The dew point temperature is the air temperature where the moisture in the air begins to condense or change from a vapor to a liquid. In order for a surface to collect dew out of the air (like a glass of ice water or blade of grass), the temperature of that surface must be at or below the dew point temperature.

• A halocline (to the left) is different layers of water separated by salinity levels (the amount of salt in the water)

• Saltier water sinks because it is more dense than fresh water

• When Seawater freezes, the salt comes out and the ice is simply fresh water

• A thermocline (below) is how temperature changes with water depth. As you go deeper and deeper, the water becomes colder and colder.

• This is a triple-beam balance, we use it to measure an

objects mass (in grams)

• This is a graduated cylinder, we use it to measure an objects volume (in mL)

• To find an object’s density, simply divide the Mass by the Volume.

• This is the Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Radio waves have the longest wavelength

• Gamma rays have the shortest wavelength

• Shorter wavelengths carry higher energy

• Visible light is made from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet

• By looking at the spectrums of stars we can figure out their temperature, composition, and direction of movement

• Ultraviolet, X-ray, and Gamma Rays can destroy your body’s cells and give you cancer

• The Doppler effect is whenever sound or light waves become compressed (closer together) or elongated (spread far apart).

• Waves become compressed when the object is moving toward you

• Waves become elongated when the object is moving away from you

• When objects in space like stars or galaxies are moving away from us, their light waves are elongated, this is called RED SHIFT.

• Red shift is evidence that the present universe came from one single location during the big bang approx. 15 billion years ago.

• When objects in space like stars and galaxies are moving toward us, their light waves are compressed, this is called BLUE SHIFT