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Standard 6.1 Plate Tectonics and Earth’s Structure ‑

Plate tectonics accounts for important features of Earth’s surface and major geologic events.

          Priority One - Students know

a)  evidence of plate tectonics is derived from the fit of the continents; the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, and mid ocean ridges; and the distribution of fossils, rock types, and ancient climatic zones. 

b)  Earth is composed of several layers:  a cold, brittle lithosphere; a hot, convecting mantle; and a dense, metallic core.

c)  lithospheric plates the size of continents and oceans move at rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle.

d)  that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults and that volcanoes and fissures are locations where magma reaches the surface.

e)  major geologic events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, results from plate motions.

f)  how to explain major features of California geology (including mountains, faults, volcanoes) in terms of plate tectonics.

          Priority Two - Students know

g)  how to determine the epicenter of an earthquake and know that the effects of an earthquake on any region vary, depending on the size of the earthquake, the distance of the region from epicenter, the local geology, and the type of construction in the region.

Geography4Kids

This site offers an introduction to the earth sciences that include topics on the Earth's structure, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

World Plate Tectonic Map

Has a Google satellite map with selected geological features marked on it followed by a map of the Tectonic Plates.  You are able to zoom in or out of the Google map to see the features from different heights.

How Volcanoes Work

The San Diego State University Geology Department has created an online resource that combines print information, movies, and interactive quizzes.

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Standard 6.2 Shaping Earth’s Surface ‑

Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment.

          Priority One - Students know

a)  water running downhill is the dominate process in shaping the landscape, including California’s landscape.

b)  rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport sediment, change course, and flood their banks in natural and recurring patterns.

c)  beaches are dynamic systems in which the sand is supplied by rivers and moved along the coast by the action of waves.

          Priority Two - Students know

d)  earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods change human and wildlife habitats.

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Standard 6.3 Heat (Thermal Energy) Physical Science ‑

Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all the objects are at the same temperature.

a)  energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow or by waves, including water, light and sound waves, or by moving objects.

b)  that when fuel is consumed, most of the energy released becomes heat energy.

c)  heat flows in solids by conduction (which involves no flow of matter) and in fluids by conduction and by convection (which involves flow of matter).

d)  heat energy is also transferred between objects by radiation (radiation can travel through space).

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Standard 6.4 Energy in the Earth System ‑

Many phenomena on Earth’s surface are affected by the transfer of energy through radiation and convection currents.

          Priority One - Students know

a)  the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on Earth’s surface; it powers winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.

c)  heat from Earth’s interior reaches the surface primarily through convection.

d)  convection currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and oceans.

          Priority Two - Students know

b)  solar energy reaches Earth through radiation, mostly in the form of visible light.

e)  differences in pressure, heat, air movement, and humidity result in changes of weather.

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Standard 6.5 Ecology (Life Science) ‑

Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

          Priority One - Students know

a)  energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis and then from organism to organism through food webs.

b)  matter is transferred over time from one organism to others in the food web and between organisms and the physical environment.

c)  populations of organisms can be categorized by the functions they serve in an ecosystem.

d)  different kinds of organisms may play similar ecological roles in similar biomes.

e)  the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depend on the resources available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities of light and water, a range of temperatures, and soil composition.

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Standard 6.6 Resources ‑

Sources of energy and materials differ in amounts, distribution, usefulness, and the time required for their formation.

          Priority Two - Students know

a)  the utility of energy sources is determined by factors that are involved in converting these sources to useful forms and the consequences of the conversion process.

b)  different natural energy and material resources, including air, soil, rock, minerals, petroleum, fresh water, wildlife, and forests, and know how to classify them as renewable or nonrenewable.

c)  the natural origin of the materials used to make common objects.

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Standard 6.7 Investigation and Experimentation ‑

Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations.

As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.

          Priority One - Students Will:

a)  Develop a hypothesis.

b)  Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.

c)  Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between variables.

d)  Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.

e)  Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.

f)  Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the maps and construct and interpret a simple scale map.

g)  Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the relative ages of rocks and intrusions).

h)  Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the phenomena

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