Hannah Spalding's Science Blog

  Lab Quiz 1:  1.)  What is occurring at the mid-Atlantic Ridge?     a. The plates are moving apart from one another (diverging) 2.) What happens to the age of the ocean basin as you move from the middle of the Atlantic toward the African coastline?     a. It gets older 3.) Which observation about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge region provides the best evidence that the seafloor has been spreading for millions of years?     d. Seafloor bedrock is younger near the ridge and older farther away. 4.) True or False: Ocean sea floors spread at a consistent rate over time?     a. False 5.) Sea floor spreading is measured using what scale?     a. mm/yr Lab Investigation Photos: Lecture Notes:

Timeline:  Pangaea- 200-300 mya Dinosaurs-   Humans~ 2 mya   Moon~ 4500 mya   Snowball earth(s)~ 716- 635 mya (ancient earth)   Ordovician Mass Extinction~ 443 mya Devonian Mass Extinction ~ 359 mya ~443 mya   Permian Mass Extinction ~ 251 mya (in paleo earth)     Triassic - Jurassic Mass Extinction - 200 mya (of paleo earth)   Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction (KT) ~ 65.5 mya

  WEEK 8: ORIGINS IN THE UNIVERSE The Big Bang The best-supported scientific theory for how the universe was created The Big Bang was an expansion or an inflation rather than an explosion  The universe is still expanding today  Nebulae: clouds of gas and dust  Nuclear fusion: occurs when there are enough particles under intense heat and pressure in the center core, the star ignites and becomes a fully functioning star  An average star (like the Sun) or a supermassive star is then formed As the star burns through its fuel, it loses mass; and has less gravity and its size increases An average star turns into a red giant  As it continues burning fuel, the red giant becomes very large  The outer layers are blown off creating a planetary nebula and the inner core of the star remains (called a white dwarf star)  A supermassive star turns into a super red giant These stars have more mass = burn through fuel quicker  Losing gravity and becoming extre...

  Lab WEEK 7: SOLAR SYSTEM Our Solar System The Milky Way  Galaxy: a collection of billions of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity in space Solar System: located in the Milky Way Galaxy  The Milky Way is a large spiral-shaped galaxy which contains hundreds of billions of stars At the center of the Milky Way is a supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A (mass of 4 million suns) Our Sun, Earth, and planets are located halfway between the center and the outer edge on a small partial arm called the Orion Spur  There are 8 planets in our solar system:  Mercury  Venus  Earth  Mars  Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune  ACRONYM (closest to farthest from the sun) = My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nutella Four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are rocky planets because they have a solid surface Four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are gaseous planets because they are composed of gases, mainly hydrogen ...

  Lab  1. How do the phases of the moon occur?  - Not sure about this, but I think it has something to do with the way the Earth orbits.  2. What causes the seasons?  - I think that seasons are caused by the way the Earth spins on its axis, and how it moves around the Sun.  3. What causes a lunar eclipse?  - This has something to do with shadows I think but I'm not positive.  Textbook   Heliocentrism vs. Geocentrism  Geocentrism: the theory that Earth is at the center of the solar system Sun and other planets revolve around it  Heliocentrism: the theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe  Earth orbits the Sun  Root words  Geo: earth Centr: center Helio: sun  Equinoxes Mark the day in which all of Earth receives an equal amount of sunlight - 12 hours  Spring equinox: March 20th  Autumn equinox: September 23rd  Solstices  Winter solstice: usually around Dec. 21 Summer solstice: usuall...