Cumulative Note These are BIG BROAD ideas only know the over all idea not specific details Scientific Method o Scientists get money for grants through peer review o Hypothesis a proposed explanation for a scientific problem o Theory a widely accepted explanation for why things work the way they do Major rock types and where they are found o Metamorphic Mountain range o Sedimentary Deltas oceans rivers o Igneous Volcanoes What happens at each tectonic boundary o Divergent Plates pull apart mid ocean ridge oceanic crust created normal faults o Convergent Plates collide Create mountain ranges and volcanoes Reverse fault o Transform Plates slide past each other Strike slip faults How we date rocks o Relative dating o Numerical dating radioactivity o Used together to create geologic column What do geologists study o Dirt oceans rocks water every aspect of earth Why is geology important Why is it important in Alabama o Geology is connected to everything we use everything is either grown or mined o Alabama contains coal steel Birmingham steel oil and natural gas Basics of Earth history o Earth is 4 5 billion years old o Universe is 13 7 billion years old o We know ages because of dating meteorites and the moon o Also because of Big Bang theory o General timeline of earth s history After earth formed single celled organisms began to appear These organisms created chains These chains became plankton and algae Soft bodied creatures appeared followed by shelled creatures then creatures with bones leading to an explosion of life In short life started out simple then became more complex there was also more diversity over time Major fossil energy sources o Coal oil natural gas Obtained by fracking mining drilling They form over a long period of time in specific conditions oil window