Environmental Earth Science

Internal Earth Processes and Products
Overview

Section Essential question: How do the processes occuring inside the Earth relate to us here at the surface?
Concepts:

Evidence of Earth Structure

Plate Tectonics

Products of Internal Earth Processes
Concept Essential Questions: How do we know what is happening inside our planet? How does the inside of the planet change the surface? What surface events and structures are caused by the forces inside our planet, and how do they affect us?
Content Descriptions: People use measurements of seismic waves to gather evidence about the internal structure of the planet. Once you understand how seismology can be used to gather information about the interior of the planet, you can move on to what they reveal about Earth's structure. You will learn how both seismic and nonseismic evidence reveals the layers, temperatures, compositions and movement of the rock of this planet Seismic and nonseismic evidence reveals a hot, active, moving, changing interior powered by the heat of Earth's cores. This interior movement causes the surface of the planet to move also. Plate tectonics is the study of the this movement. You will learn what the evidence is that the surface of the planet is moving, and how this movement causes the structures found where the moving sections connect to each other. Once you understand how and why plate tectonics occurs, you can move on to learn the results of this activity. You will study the features formed by plate tectonics, the minerals and rocks that form from these processes that we use to build our societies, and the hazards (including earthquakes) caused by the enormous energies escaping from the interior of the planet.