• Sun

    Course Outline - The Physical Setting / Earth Science

    1 Introduction to Earth’s Changing Environment

    • Observations
    • Density
    • The Changing Environment
    • Human Interaction with the Environment

    2 Measuring Earth

    • Size and Shape of Earth
    • Spheres of Earth
    • Locating Positions on Earth
    • Fields
    • Mapping Earth’s Surface

    3 Earth in the Universe

    • Origin and Age of the Universe
    • Structure of the Universe
    • Solar System

    4 Motions of Earth, Moon, and Sun

    • Apparent Motions of Celestial Objects
    • Models That Help Explain Apparent Celestial Motions
    • Actual Earth Motions
    • Earth and Moon Motions and Time
    • Actual Motions of Earth’s Moon

    5 Energy in Earth Processes

    • Electromagnetic Energy
    • Transfer of Energy
    • Transformation of Energy
    • Temperature and Heat
    • Heat Energy and Changes of State
    • Earth’s Energy Supply

    6 Insolation and the Seasons

    • Solar Radiation and Insolation
    • Variation of Insolation
    • Heat Budget and Climate Change
    • Seasons

    7 Weather

    • Atmospheric Temperature
    • Atmospheric Pressure and Density
    • Wind
    • General Circulation of the Air in the Troposphere
    • Atmospheric Moisture
    • Air Masses and Fronts
    • Storms and Severe Weather
    • Weather Prediction and Probability

    8 Water and Climate

    • The Water Cycle
    • Climate

    9 Weathering and Erosion

    • Weathering
    • Erosion

    10 Deposition

    • Factors Causing Deposition
    • Sorting of Sediments and Deposition
    • A Model of an Erosional-Depositional System
    • Characteristic Features of the Chief Depositional Agents

    11 Earth Materials—Minerals, Rocks, and Mineral Resources

    • Minerals
    • Rocks
    • Mineral Resource

    12 Earth’s Dynamic Crust and Interior

    • Small Scale Crustal Changes
    • Earthquakes and Igneous Activity, Including Volcanoes
    • A Model of Earth’s Interior
    • Plate Tectonics

    13 Interpreting Geologic History

    • Relative Dating of Rocks and Events
    • Correlation
    • Geologic History From the Rock Record
    • Absolute Dating of Rocks Using Radioactive Decay
    • Evolution of Earth and Life

    14 Landscape Development and Environmental Change

    • Measuring Landscape Characteristics
    • Landscape Regions
    • Factors of Landscape Development
    • Bedrock
    • People, Environmental Change, and Landscapes