Chapter 2 Homework

Chapter 2 Section 1



1. Earth is composed of 4 geological areas. First is the hydrosphere which is all the bodies of water on earth(i.e. oceans, lakes, and rivers). There is also the lithosphere, the Earth's crust which is made up of land. The atmosphere is a layer of gases that extend beyond the planets surfaces and the biosphere is the part of the earth that supports all living organisms.



2. Mount Everest is the highest point on earth and is the greatest distance from sealevel. It is 29,028 feet above sealevel.



Creative Writing: I disagree because when things like meteroids and comets come into earths atmosphere they do leave long term effects on Earth. Even though most meteroids burn up before they hit Earth, some will hit. When they do it can cause much damage and destruction to the land by leaving huge craters and flattening and burning what is there when it hits.





Chapter 2 Section 2



1. Most of the movement of the surface of the Earth's surface is due to what happens in the deep layers inside the Earth. Some things that trigger changes in the enviornment come from Earth's inner layers like volcanos for example. When land masses slide apart and move past eachohter they create things like volcanos which causes magma to be pushed up from the mantle layer. This is what causes riges to be formed on the surface.



2. Internal forces of change effect the way landmasses on Earth look and are shaped. For example they cause mountains, folds in rock, faults in the Earth's crust, and they effect the way the plates spread and move, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Although external forces of change come from places other that the surface of Earth itself and cause things like the breaking down of rocks by weathering and erosion of land either from wind, glaciers, and water.

Creative Writing: Over the past 225 million years North America has changed signifigantly. Originally scientists think that all the land masses must have once fit together like a puzzle but gradually drifted apart due to internal forces. Plates slowly move about 1 inch each year, so the land masses are obviously more spread out then they were in the past. Also since there had been less movement long ago there would have been less mountain ranges and volcanos and large features on the surface of Earth becase these things are all caused by the movement of plates.