Seasons

• Rotation vs. Revolution • Rotation is the spin of an object about its axis.

o The Earth rotates once a day (once every 24 hours). • Revolution is the orbit of one object around another.

o The Earth revolves around the Sun every 365.26 days. • Solar Heating

o The sun or any light, heats a surface most effectively when it is shining directly onto the surface.

• What Causes Earth’s Seasons?

o Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees – it always points in the same direction (Polaris, the North Star) as we orbit our Sun once a year

o This tilt causes the hemispheres to alternate in the amount of our Sun’s light and heat they receive through the year.

• Seasons vs. hemispheres o Northern and southern hemispheres have reversed seasons. o In summer, the sun is at a smaller angle,more effective heating. o In winter, the sun is at a larger angle, less effective heating. o

Ocean Currents

o Surface currents are caused by strong winds blowing over the ocean. They curve with the rotation of Earth They carry warm water away from equator and cool water away from the

poles They effect Earth’s temperatures

o Climate and Weather Currents help distribute heat around the globe by moving warm and cold

water around. The moving water changes the temperature of the air above it.

Sea Breeze and Land Breeze

• Specific Heat • Substances with a high specific heat warm and cool slowly.

o They take more energy to change temperature • Substances with a low specific heat warm and cool quickly.

o They take less energy to change temperature • Water has a high specific Heat • Sand (Land) has a low specific heat

• During the day…Sea Breeze

How does a breeze in the middle of a hot day feel? o The SAME amount of heat energy hits the land and the water on Earth, but water has a

higher Specific Heat than land. • The Land gets Hot much Faster than the water. • The Air that touches the land gets warm through conduction. • The Air over the ocean stays cooler. • Because Warm air is less dense than cold air, convection occurs.

• The warm air will rise up allowing the cool air over the ocean to come in to the land • This feels like a cool breeze from the ocean called a Sea Breeze. (It’s named by where it comes

from) • We learned from Specific Heat that water warms slowly, AND cools slowly. • At night when the sun goes down, the land cools very quickly because it has a low specific heat. • The ocean stays warm because it has a high specific heat and holds onto the heat longer. • The convection Current in the air is now reversed. • The warm air over the water rises, and the cold air over the land moves in over the ocean to

replace the warm air. • A cool breeze would pass over the ocean called a LAND BREEZE.(Again, named by where it

comes from)

Air Mass Notes

• An air mass is an extremely large body of air whose properties of temperature and moisture content (humidity), at any given altitude, are fairly similar.

• Air masses can cover hundreds of thousands of square miles. • Air mass source regions are geographic areas where an air mass originates. Source regions could be over

land or water.

• The longer the air mass stays over its source region, the more likely it will acquire the properties of the surface below.

• Continental -located over large land masses-dry

• Marine-located over the oceans-moist

• Tropical latitudes are typically located within about 25 degrees of the equator.

• Polar latitudes are typically located near the poles of 60 degrees north and south or more.

• Four combinations of air mass:

o cT – Continental Tropical – dry and warm o mT-Maritime Tropical-moist and warm o mP-Maritime Polar–moist and cold o cP-Continental Polar–dry and cold

Topographic Maps Notes

A topographic map is a map that shows surface features, or topography, of Earth. Elevation is an object's height above sea level. The elevation at sea level is zero. Contour lines are lines that connect points of equal elevation. Example: One contour line would connect points on a map that have an elevation of 100 ft. Another line would connect points on a map that have an elevation of 200 ft. Contour lines that are close together show a steep slope. Contour lines that are spaced apart show a gentle slope. The difference in elevation between one contour line an the next is called the contour interval. Example: A map with a contour interval of 20 ft would have contour lines every 20 ft. of elevation change, such as 0ft, 20 ft, 40 ft, and so on. Index contour lines are darker, heavier contour lines that are usually every fifth line and are marked by elevation. The contour lines falling between the index contour lines are called intermediate contour lines. These lines are finer and do not have their elevations given. There are normally four intermediate contour lines between index contour lines. Supplementary contour lines resemble dashes. They show changes in elevation of at least one-half the contour interval. These lines are normally found where there is very little change in elevation, such as on fairly level terrain.

Ecosystems Study Guide

• Herbivores

o Some animals do not eat other animals. They survive on plants and are known as “herbivores”. • Omnivores

o Some animals, like us, eat both plants and animals. o These animals are called “omnivores”.

• Consumers o “Consume” means “eat”.

Animals are consumers because they “eat” (consume) food provided by plants or other animals.

• Producers o Plants are living organisms. They need nourishment to survive.

Plants do not eat other plants or animals. Plants are called producers, because they make their own food inside themselves.

• Predator o A predator eats other animals. o Predator

The cat is a predator, because it eats other animals. The bear is a predator, because it eats other animals. People are predators too!

• Prey

o Any animal which is hunted and killed by another animal for food is prey. • Food Chains

o A food chain shows what is eaten. • Food chains always start with a plant.

o Food Chains - a Reminder A food chain shows which animals eat other animals or plants.

Plants don’t eat things. o A food chain starts with what gets eaten and the arrows point towards what does the eating. o Food chains only go in one direction.

• Food Webs o In the wild, animals may eat more than one thing, so they belong to more than one food chain. o To get the food they need, small herbivores may eat lots of different plants, and carnivores may

eat many different animals. • Interactions between Organisms

o There are different ways organisms interact with each other such as: Predation Parasitism Mutualism Commensalism

o What happens in predation? One organism will eat another. The organism that is eaten is called?

• Prey The organism that eats the prey is called?

• Predator Examples of Predation

Lions hunting zebras Bird hunting worm Polar bear hunting a seal

o What is the interaction between predator-prey? Predators eat their prey

o What does parasitism mean? One organism feeds on and usually lives on another organism. The organism that’s fed upon is the?

• Host The organism that feeds upon the host is the?

• Parasite o Parasites

Parasites, if in extreme numbers, will kill their hosts by taking away its blood and lowering its immune system.

Some parasites are external so they live outside the hosts body. Examples…

• Fleas • Leaches • Mosquitoes • Ticks

Examples of internal parasites that live inside the host… • Bacteria • Tapeworms • Hookworms

An example would be a deer tick and a White-tailed Deer. The tick gets food from the deer without killing it. The deer is harmed by losing blood to the tick, and possibly by getting an infected bite.

Also, black fly feed on cattle causing irritation. The cattle exert energy swinging their tails and heads trying to rid their bodies of the flies.

o What is the interaction between parasite-host? Parasites feed off of their hosts

What is mutualism? Relationship in which organisms from both species benefit from the symbiotic

relationship.

• In other words, “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.” o Ants and Aphids

The ants protect the aphids from predators. The aphids secrete a fluid that the ants use for food.

Ants provide protection; aphids in return provide food. o The honey bee gets to eat the nectar from the flower. The dandelion uses the bee to spread its

pollen to another flower for pollination. o Mutualism: Both Benefit

Example: Sea anemones have stinging tentacles. The tentacles are used to capture prey, but clown fish are not hurt by the tentacles’ sting. Clown fish use this to their advantage and live in sea anemones. The anemones provide protection to the clown fish. The clown fish attracts other fish that want to eat it and the anemone catches them with its tenacles.

• What is commensalism? o Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits while the other

organism is neither helped nor harmed. Example: an animal using a plant for shelter.

• Organism o 1st level of the environment

It is a single organism in an environment Example:

• A Bee (a single organism) • Population

o The second level of the environment o Made up of similar organisms o Some Examples:

Bees • Community

o The third level of the environment o Includes: made of different populations in the same area o EXAMPLE:

Trees, Birds, Bees, Squirrels • Ecosystem

o The 4th level o Includes abiotic and biotic o Biotic

Trees, Birds, Bees, Squirrels, producer, consumers o Abiotic

Rock, Sun, Water, Wind • Biosphere

o Include all of the ecosystems on Earth! Some examples are: Ocean Ecosystem Desert Ecosystem Freshwater Ecosystem Rain Forest Ecosystem Mountain Ecosystem Pond Ecosystem

• Competition o Organisms compete for the same food supply and resources.

• Biotic o Humans, Animals, Plants

• Abiotic o rocks, water, fire, wind, light, temperature, sound, lightning,

• What is ecology?

o Ecology- the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments, focusing on energy transfer

It is a science of relationships. • What do you mean by environment?

o The environment is made up of two factors: Biotic factors- all living organisms inhabiting the Earth Abiotic factors- nonliving parts of the environment (i.e. temperature, soil, light,

moisture, air currents) • Organism- any unicellular or multicellular form exhibiting all of the characteristics of life, an individual.

o The lowest level of organization

• Population-a group of organisms of one species living in the same place at the same time that interbreed and compete with each other for resources (ex. food, mates, shelter).

• Community- several interacting populations that inhabit a common environment and are interdependent.

• Ecosystem- populations in a community and the abiotic factors with which they interact (ex. marine, terrestrial).

• Biosphere- life supporting portions of Earth composed of air, land, fresh water, and salt water. o The highest level of organization

• Habitat vs. Niche • Niche - the role a species plays in a community (job) • A niche is determined by the tolerance limitations of an organism, or a limiting factor.

o Limiting factor- any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence of organisms in a specific environment.

Examples of limiting factors- • Amount of water • Amount of food • Temperature

• Habitat- the place in which an organism lives out its life (address) o Each link in a food chain is known as a trophic level.

Trophic levels represent a feeding step in the transfer of energy and matter in an ecosystem.

• Trophic Levels o RULE OF 10

Only 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next. • Example: It takes 100 kgs of plant materials (producers) to support 10 kgs of

herbivores. It takes 10 kgs of herbivores to support 1 kg of 1st level predator

Evidence of Continental Drift Notes

1. Alfred Wegener proposed Continental drift as the movement of continents slowly to their current locations.

2. Wegener suggested that all continents were once connected as one large landmass called “Pangaea". 3. Evidence that supported Wegener's theory:

a. -Fossil clues i. Mesosaurus was a freshwater and land reptile. How could it swim across the ocean?

b. -Climate clues i. Fossils of warm weather plants found in Arctic regions

ii. Evidence of glaciers - Glacial deposits androcks scoured and polished by glaciers found in South America.

c. -Rock clues i. Similar rock structures found in different continents.

4. Harry Hess suggested an explanation of the movement of the ocean floor. Hess proposed a theory that hot, less dense material below Earth's crust rises toward the surface at the mid-ocean ridge. It then flows sideways, carrying the seafloor away from the ridge in both directions. The material then cools and becomes denser which causes it to sink and make a new seafloor; he called his theory "Seafloor spreading."

5. Evidence of Seafloor Spreading: a. -Research ship "Glomar Challenger"

i. As the ship began gathering information from rocks found on the bottom of the ocean they discovered that rocks found near the mid-ocean ridge were newer and as they got further away from the ridge the rocks got older.

b. -Magnetic Clues i. Changes in Earth's magnetic field are preserved in rocks that form on both sides of the

ridge. They record the Earth's magnetic field direction. When this field reverses or changes the new rocks record the change.

Boundaries

1. Convergent plate boundaries are locations where lithospheric plates are moving towards one another. The plate collisions that occur in these areas can produce earthquakes, volcanic activity and crustal deformation.

2. Divergent plate boundaries are locations where plates are moving away from one another. This occurs above rising convection currents. The rising current pushes up on the bottom of the lithosphere, lifting it and flowing laterally beneath it.

3. Transform Plate Boundaries are locations where two plates slide past one another. The fracture zone that forms a transform plate boundary is known as a transform fault

Artificial Reefs Artificial reefs are created to build a underwater habitat where one at one times was not available. Overtime this will help increase the fish population in that area. All though the fish population is increasing some scientist believe that we can not truly see the increase of the habitat the artificial reef provides because human overfish in these new habitats causing a decrease in the population. Human depend on the ocean systems for:

1. Food 2. Energy 3. Minerals