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P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 8.

Stars
The birth of a star
Hydrogen
gas and
dust in
space

This is
pulled
together
by gravity

If there is
enough force
the nuclei
start to fuse

All stars have a life cycle


Distances of stars
Scientists use two ways to work out the distances of
stars from Earth:
They can look at the relative brightness of the stars
They can use parallex (a near star will shift its position
against the background of more distant stars)

Light Years
A light year is the
distance travelled by
light in one year.

The redshift
Hotter stars have
more red in their
spectrum.

Stars will also die. The mass of a


star determines whether the star
will explode as a supernova (big
stars) or shrink to a white dwarf.

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 1.


Time and space
The structure of the Earth
* The crust is 10-40km deep
and is solid rock
* The mantle is rock and
extends half way to the
centre of the Earth
* The core is mostly made
from iron; solid outer core,
liquid inner core

The Universe is made of


millions of galaxies.
Galaxies come in different
shapes and contain millions of
stars.
The solar system is made up
of the sun (our closest star)
at the centre and everything
that orbits the sun.

The Earth was formed around


5000 million years ago along
with the solar system.
The Universe was formed
around 14 000 million years
ago.

Scientists find out


information about the
Universe and the Earth by
using telescopes, sending
probes, collecting and
examining rocks and studying
how things happen over time.

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 2.


James Hutton and Deep time

Collecting
rock
samples
(D)

Looking
at fossils
(D)

Data and
explanations
The rock
cycle changes
the Earth
over time (E)

The older
rocks are
usually
deeper (E)

James Hutton studied rocks and fossils over many


years. He believed that processes such as
sedimentation and erosion took place slowly over time
and that the Earth had once been very different.
Nowadays scientists study rocks and use fossils to find
out how the Earth once was. They find lots of data and
then come up with explanations to say how things were.

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 3.


Continental drift
Alfred Wegener put forward the idea of continental
drift in 1922. He had studied the Earth and had found
lots of evidence that let him to believe that the
continents could once have all been joined together:

The shapes of the


continents fit
together like a jigsaw

Matching
rock types

Matching fossils
of animals and
plants

Data and Evidence

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 4.


Seafloor spreading
Seafloor
spreading.

Oceanic ridge.

Scientists found a chain of mountains under the sea


when they first started to map the sea floor (D).

It was suggested that the seafloor spread either side


of of an oceanic ridge (E).

There was a zebra-like pattern to the magnetism in the


rocks at either side of the ridge that is symmetrical
(D).

Seafloor spreading.

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 5.


Plate tectonics

The giant slabs of rock (tectonic plates) move at a rate


of about 10cm per year. This movement is caused by
convection currents in the Earths solid mantle. The
movement causes the ocean floor to grow wider at
oceanic ridges and it can be destroyed at an oceanic
trench.

This explains
earthquakes and
most volcanoes!

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 6.


Geohazards at home
Geohazard
Earthquake

Volcano

Tsunami

Problems
Damage to
buildings.
Loss of human
life.
Damage to
habitats and loss
of human life.
Damage to
buildings,
habitats and loss
of human life.

Solutions
Better
construction
methods and
warning systems.
Monitoring the
pressure, better
warning systems.
Better warning
systems.

What other problems or solutions did you come up


with?

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 7.


What killed off the dinosaurs?
The dinosaurs appeared to have disappeared from the
Earth about 65 million years ago. But why?
Data gathered
Clay containing iridium was
found in Italy dating back
65 million years ago.

Explanation
Iridium is found in
meteorites or asteroids so
there must have been one
of these collide with the
Earth.
A huge crater at Chicxulub The crater must have been
was dated to 65 million
formed from an asteroid.
years ago.
In India a third of the
Basalt must have come as
land surface is covered in floods of molten rock.
basalt.
There must have been a
super volcano

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 9.


How did the Universe begin?

Evidence for
the Universe
expanding
comes from the
red shift.

Scientists are still


finding out more data
so that some day they
may be able to decide
what is happening to
the Universe.

The big bang theory


explains how the
Universe was once a
very hot, dense, tiny
mass that exploded.

What are the


other
observations
that support
the Big Bang
Theory?
* Expanding Universe
* Red shift
* Cosmic background radiation
* Oldest stars are younger
than the Universe

P1 The Earth in the Universe. Card 10.


This last card is to make notes on everything you can
remember

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