Geologic time is the time scale that scientists and geologists use visualize and represent the history / timeline of earth. There are two main categories; relative and absolute age.
First, relative age is the 'about' age of something, assuming the age of something without providing specific numbers. It provides a sort of chronological order of events, and can be determined by comparing one item with another. The principle of superposition and inclusion can help you determine something's relative age.
Absolute age is the actual numerical value, such as age. Radiometric dating can help you date the absolute age of something. Radiometric dating is a technique that determines age by studying the radioactive decay of organisms within the item or fossil.
Adaption is someone or something developing a trait or organism that assists or makes their life easier within their environment. Variation is the random things that make you distinct from other people, such as heterochromia. Adaptions and variations occur when your DNA or genes make a mistake, giving you a distinct and special trait. Some traits are negative and will hinder you, such as being born with one less arm. Other traits, such as being born with an extra arm that you can control, is a positive perk.
In the animal world, adaptions occur when there is a threat or challenge that is hard to overcome. In an environment with limited food and resources, animals might start experiencing variations that are meant to help them adapt. The useless variations, maybe shell color, will fade away because the species don't get any extra help from it. But mutations like longer neck or enhanced eyesight, will keep repopulating because they survive long enough to repopulate.
In class, we did an experiment on studying sunflower seeds and their variations. Our teacher gave our group ten sunflower seeds, and we were to measure the length and thickness of each sunflower seed. None of them were identical, each varying slightly in the measurements. This happens because each sunflower seed, when it is developing, collects a unique blend of their parent plants' genes. Some special sunflower seeds also develop mutations from UV exposure and other causes, causing them to grow with double the size, or other mutations.
Modern tomato 100 year old tomato
Genetically modified organisms are organisms that have had their genetics modified. Lots of scientists have used this to produce improvements within crop quality or crop yield, most commonly used in crops / plants such as corn, wheat, and rice. Some genetic modifications could include specific insect repellants within the plant and the ability to ripen over longer time. One common and popular example of genetic modification is the 100 year old tomato and the modern day tomato that has gone viral on a lot of social media platforms.
There are five main ways fossils are formed.
Mineralization
Mineralization occurs when rock-forming materials, such as calcium carbonate(CaCO₃) infiltrate into an organisms internal structure, filling in gaps or even replacing some of their tissue. This method can preserve the internal structures of an organism.
Carbonization
Carbonization is when pressure removes a dead organism's liquids, fluids, and gases. The pressure removes everything but the organism's carbon outline, which is also called film. Fossil films generated by carbonization are usually black or dark brown in color. Often, fish, insects, and plant leaves are most common to be found as carbonized fossils.
Molds and Casts
Sediments will have hardened around the organism, forming a mold. Molds usually only show hard elements of parts of the structure, for example shells or bone. If other sediments later join into the mold, it can form a natural cast.
Trace Fossils
A trace fossil is a piece of preserved evidence of activity or action from the organism. It might be footprints or leftover food left from the organism. Footprints might indicate the speed and weight of a dinosaur.
Original Material
Original material is the best type of fossil. The original tissue of the organism is preserved in the absence of oxygen for a long time, they fossilize.
This unit, my favorite part is probably the fossil part. I find it really interesting to learn and look at pictures of different types of fossilization. For example, I find amber-submerged fossils super interesting, imagining the process of the amber going from sticky tree sap to a hard and colorful jewel. Also a jewel being made form tree sap is super cool. I feel that it's super interesting that nature can make its own mark, leaving it behind for a long time, and it gives earth a more lively feeling.
F=ma is the second law of Newton, and means 'force = mass x acceleration', as shown in the picture I attached. It means that changing the force wil change the acceleration, and changing the acceleration means changing the motion(since you are changing the velocity).
This means that a larger force applied will result in higher speed and a larger mass will be harder to accelerate.
Friction is a force that resists the motion when two surfaces are sliding against eachother. They are in every surface and are little increments in the surface, and when scraped against other surfaces, will slow down the sliding, causing it to go against the force from you.
So in class, we did an experiment on ping pong balls. We put a piece of tape on the table, and surprisingly, when the ping-pong balls were placed on it, they didn't slide off, and that was due to the friction. Then, we bounced the ping-pong balls off of eachother, and we tried to see where they bounced off, or in which direction they bounced in.
Potential energy and kinetic energy are both main types of energies amongst others(for example; mechanical energy, gravitational, sound). Potential energy is energy that is stored energy, and it depends on the object's distance from earth's surface. The farther you are, the more potential energy you store. However, kinetic energy is energy of motion, so basically the faster it moves the more kinetic energy it has.
Electrostatic force is a type of force caused by electric charges. Normally, objects can have three types of charges; positive, negative, or neutral. When two objects have the same type of charge, they repel and push away from each other. When they have opposite charges, they are attracted towards each other. A common example is that if you rub your hair with a balloon, the balloon will later stick to a wall. This happens because electrons(from your hair) move to the balloon, giving it a negative charge, so it can stick to the wall
This unit, I did not have a particular favorite part. This was because that all the stuff we learnt was standard stuff and it was boring and did not seem very interesting. I felt like maybe our experiment could have been more exciting to pique more interest among other students like me.