Outline

Unit #A: Outline

A vocabulary list for this unit can be found at the bottom of the page.

9/6

Systems Probe

What do you know about systems?

--- In class survey!

a. What is a system? Where have you heard this term before?

b. Discussion... Come up with a working, classroom definition of a system.

Bicycle Activity

9/8

Earth is a System

Pre-video Vocabulary:

• Earth systems
• Satellite images
• Remote sensing
• Global monitoring

Watch this 5 minute video. Be prepared to answer the questions below.

• What are the many interacting Earth systems you can describe from this video? Describe the ways in which they interact.
• What are your thoughts on the impact of humans on our planet after seeing the satellite images of Earth?
• How has remote sensing changed our ability to study the Earth and how has it contributed to global monitoring of the planet?
• Think of one environmental issue and explain how global monitoring would be beneficial to gaining knowledge of its impact on the Earth.

9/9

The Spheres...

Interconnected Spheres

1. Discussion about above movie

2. NOTES: What are the different spheres? Why are the spheres separated the way that they are?

Lithosphere

Biosphere

Hydrosphere

Atmosphere

Cryosphere

Anthrosphere

Cosmosphere

VOCABULARY

• System --- a group of parts that interact to perform a function
• Interaction --- to work together
• Input --- something that enters a system from outside
• Output --- something that exits a system, an output of one system is often an input to another!
• Subsystem --- a smaller system within a system
• Function --- the end result, what is completed
• Boundary --- the edge of the system, this is set by the observer
• Earth systems --- components of Earth that work together to perform a function
• Satellite images --- pictures of Earth taken from outside the Earth's atmosphere
• Remote sensing --- using the electromagnetic spectrum to "view" the Earth (infrared = heat images, visible light = light)
• Global monitoring --- watching the Earth
• Biosphere --- living organisms (ex. bacteria, spiders, trees)
• Lithosphere --- Earth's surface and interior (ex. mountains, volcanos, minerals)
• Hydrosphere --- water on Earth (ex. rivers, waterfalls, oceans)
• Atmosphere --- gases that surround Earth (ex. oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor)
• Cryosphere --- frozen water (ex. glaciers, snow, permafrost) this sphere is part of the hydrosphere
• Anthrosphere --- humans and their constructions (ex. humans, dams, farms, airplanes)
• Cosmosphere --- everything including the Earth and space (ex. humans, Earth, Moon, Milky Way Galaxy)