Earth People and Environment

QUESTION SET #11. As we begin the semester, what does the word “geography” mean to you? 2. According to the Carl Sagan video, how did Eratosthenes conclude that the earth is round? Describe the process he used and how he accurately calculated the planet’s size. 3. What are three examples – from 3 different fields – of how GIS technology is being used in the workplace? 4. The concept of a Big History is based on the following 4 key concepts: a. a timelineb. a process of evolution (that is, change over time)c. threshold events or momentsd. new realities or properties after a threshold is passedPick something and briefly show how it has a Big History. It can be anything other than the universe itself (the topic of this course) or you (covered in your essay assignment).4. The concept of a Big History is based on the following 4 key concepts: a. a timelineb. a process of evolution (that is, change over time)c. threshold events or momentsd. new realities or properties after a threshold is passedPick something and briefly show how it has a Big History. It can be anything other than the universe itself (the topic of this course) or you (covered in your essay assignment). 5. Fill in the chart below summarizing Big History’s 8 Universal Thresholds.THRESHOLDNEW REALITY OR REALITIES IT PROVIDED123456786. We use something like the scientific method every day in our own lives, without realizing it. Think about the process that went into making an important decision in your life (for example, where to go to college). Can you connect parts of that decision-making process to aspects of the scientific method, as outlined in the slides? 7. What’s your birthday? ___April 23rd 1997_______________Let’s imagine that the last 120 million years of Earth history is scaled to one year. So January 1st took place 120 million years ago, July 1st 60 million years ago, and December 31st brings us up to modern times. When did your birthday fall on the geologic time scale? What types of creatures lived on Earth on your birthday, based on our scaling system? How was the Earth’s environment different at that time.(The scaling is important to this question – you need to do the math!) 8. Imagine that you are a middle school social studies teacher. What tactics or techniques would you use to familiarize your students with the concept of “deep time”? 9. Pick one “hero of the scientific revolution”. What did he or she do to help usher in the modern age? 10. Fill in the boxes about our planet, solar system and galaxy:ABOUT THE EARTHLIST THE PLANETS IN ORDER FROM THE SUNABOUT THE SUN &SOLAR SYSTEMAgeAgeDistance from Sun # of Rocky PlanetsCircumference# of Gas GiantsTiltHome GalaxyDistance to Moon# of Stars in GalaxyMostCommonElements Most CommonElements 11. All of the universe’s mysteries have not been solved! Why do we think that “dark matter” exists? What might it be? 12. If you are equipped with a spacecraft capable of traveling at the speed of light, how long would it take you to get to the following places?_________________ the Moon_________________ the Sun _________________ Saturn_________________ the farthest galaxy 13. You just built a time machine but unfortunately haven’t worked out all the kinks yet – when you set it for the year 4 BC it drops you off 4 Billion years ago! Why would this be a bad thing for your chances of survival?