All science

Hydrosphere

The Hydrosphere is all the water on the planet, including water in the ground (groundwater), water in the atmosphere (vapour), and water on the surface.

Biosphere

The Biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living organisms (the biota)

Geosphere

The geosphere is the solid part of the Earth, including all rocks, minerals, and landforms on the surface and interior.

Atmosphere

The layer of gases surrounding the Earth or another planet.

Precipitation

Water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail.

Condensation

The process in which water vapor in the atmosphere turns into liquid water.

Runoff

Water that flows over the land surface into streams and rivers.

Sublimation

The transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas state without passing through the liquid state.

Evaporation

The process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor.

Igneous Rock

Rock formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

Intrusive Igneous Rock

Igneous rock formed from magma that cools and solidifies beneath the Earth's surface.

Extrusive Igneous Rock

Igneous rock formed from lava that cools and solidifies on the Earth's surface.

Magma

Molten rock located beneath the Earth's surface.

Lava

Molten rock that has reached the Earth's surface.

Basalt

An Example of Igneous Rock:

A common dark-colored, fine-grained extrusive igneous rock.

Granite

An Example of Igneous Rock:

A common coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock rich in quartz and feldspar.

Metamorphic Rock

Rock formed from pre-existing rocks that have been subjected to intense heat and pressure.

Marble

An Example of Metamorphic Rock: A non-foliated metamorphic rock produced from limestone or dolostone.

Slate

An Example of Metamorphic Rock: A fine-grained, foliated metamorphic rock derived from shale or mudstone.

Pumice

An Example of Igneous Rock: A light-colored, highly porous extrusive igneous rock formed from frothy lava.

Sedimentary Rock

Rock formed from the accumulation, compaction, and cementation of mineral or organic particles.

Sandstone

An Example of Sedimentary Rock: A clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of quartz sand.

Limestone

An Example of Sedimentary Rock: A sedimentary rock composed mostly of calcium carbonate.

Chalk

A soft, white, porous sedimentary rock made of calcium carbonate.

What contains fossils?

Sedimentary rock.

What contains interlocking crystals?

Igneous rocks.

What type of rock contains crystals?

Igneous and metamorphic rocks both contain crystals.

What type of rock contains small grains and falls apart easily?

Sedimentary rock.

New Zealand Plate Boundary

Located at the convergent and transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate.

New Zealand Formation Process

Formed through tectonic uplift, volcanism, and the ongoing collision of the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates.

Alpine Fault

A major geological fault running the length of New Zealand's South Island caused by lateral and oblique plate movement.

How does an earthquake occur?

Tectonic plates move, get stuck due to friction, build up stress, and suddenly slip, releasing energy as seismic waves.

What are seismic waves?

Vibrations of energy that travel through the Earth during an earthquake.

What is an earthquake?

A sudden shaking of the ground caused by the movement of tectonic plates along a fault line.

What is a greenhouse gas?

A gas in the atmosphere that traps heat, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor.

What is the epicenter?

The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.

What is the hypocenter?

The point within the Earth where an earthquake starts.

What is plate movement?

The slow, continuous motion of Earth's tectonic plates across the mantle, driven by convection currents.

Strike-slip fault

A fault where tectonic plates slide horizontally past one another.

What happens when two tectonic plates move against each other?

They can collide, pull apart, or slide past one another, resulting in earthquakes, mountain building, or volcanic activity.

Faults

Fractures in the Earth's crust where weak rocks break and move during tectonic plate collisions.

What do faults cause?

Earthquakes and sudden releases of seismic energy when stress built up along the fracture is released.

How do seismic waves and shaking intensity behave during an earthquake?

Waves spread from the epicenter outward; the closer to the surface and the higher on the Richter scale, the more violent the shakes can be.

Hydrosphere and Atmosphere Interaction

Water evaporates from the hydrosphere to form vapor in the atmosphere, which later falls as precipitation.

Biosphere and Geosphere Interaction

Plant roots break down rocks in the geosphere, and organisms inhabit soil and landforms.

Biosphere and Hydrosphere Interaction

All living organisms in the biosphere require water from the hydrosphere to survive and grow.

Atmosphere and Geosphere Interaction

Wind from the atmosphere causes erosion of rocks in the geosphere, while volcanic eruptions release gases into the atmosphere.

Earth System Interactions

The atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere constantly interact, where a change in one sphere affects the others.

Water Cycle

The continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth, driven by evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Centre of the earthquakes

The epicenter (surface) or hypocenter (focus) where an earthquake originates.

Primary Wave (P Wave)

A fast-moving, compressional seismic wave that can travel through both solid and liquid layers of the Earth.

Secondary Wave (S Wave)

A slower, transverse seismic wave that can travel only through solid layers of the Earth.

Surface Waves

Seismic waves that travel along the Earth's surface rather than through its interior, causing the most severe ground damage.

What are the 3 main types of seismic waves?

Primary (P) waves, Secondary (S) waves, and Surface waves.

What is the difference between P-waves, S-waves, and Surface waves?

P-waves are fast compressional waves moving through solids and liquids; S-waves are slower transverse waves moving only through solids; Surface waves travel along the Earth's surface and cause the most damage.

What is a fault?

A fracture in the Earth's crust where rocks break and move during tectonic plate collisions.

What is magnitude?

A measure of the energy released by an earthquake.

Why does New Zealand have earthquakes?

Because it sits on the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, where ongoing tectonic movement and friction build up stress that is released as seismic energy.

What is a logarithmic scale?

A scale where each step increases by a power of 10, used in earthquake magnitude so that each whole number increase represents roughly 32 times more energy released.

What are the 4 spheres of Earth?

Hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere.

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

What is Air Pollution?

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

The introduction of harmful contaminants into the Earth's atmosphere, causing health issues and environmental damage.

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

What is Ozone Depletion?

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

The thinning of the ozone layer caused by chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), increasing UV radiation reaching Earth.

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

What is Acid Rain?

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

Rain made acidic by atmospheric pollution, primarily sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, causing damage to forests, water bodies, and structures.

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

What is Global Warming?

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

The long-term heating of Earth's climate system observed since the pre-industrial period due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning.

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

What is Greenhouse Effect Amplification

An example of a damage to the atmosphere:

An increase in the natural greenhouse effect caused by excess greenhouse gases, leading to rising global temperatures.

What is something damaging to the atmosphere?

Air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, ozone-depleting substances, and acid rain.

What are the effects of greenhouse gases?

They trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming, climate change, rising sea levels, and more frequent extreme weather events.

Greenhouse Gas Effects

Trapping outgoing thermal radiation, causing atmospheric warming and disrupting global ecosystems and weather patterns.

What are the main greenhouse gases?

Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.

What is the most abundant greenhouse gas?

Water vapor (H₂O), accounting for roughly 36% to 72% of the greenhouse effect.

What percentage of the greenhouse effect comes from carbon dioxide?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) accounts for approximately 9% to 26% of the greenhouse effect.

What percentage of the greenhouse effect comes from methane?

Methane (CH₄) accounts for roughly 4% to 9% of the greenhouse effect.

Key Structures of Plant and Animal Cells

Nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm and mitochondria; plants also have cell walls and chloroplasts.

How are plant and animal cells the same/different?

They both have a Nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm and mitochondria; plants also have cell walls and chloroplasts

Definition of Tissue

A group of similar cells working together to perform a specific function.

Definition of Organ

A structure made of different tissues working together to perform a specific task.

Definition of Organ System

A group of organs working together to carry out major body functions.

Cell to Organism Hierarchy

Cells form tissues, tissues form organs, organs form organ systems, and systems form organisms.

Producer

An organism that makes its own food using sunlight.

Consumer

An organism that eats other organisms for energy.

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down dead material and wastes.

Food Chain

A linear sequence showing how energy flows from one organism to another.

Food Web

A complex network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.

Trophic Level

The position an organism occupies in a food chain or web.

Photosynthesis

The process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.

Chloroplast

The plant cell structure where photosynthesis takes place, containing chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll

The green pigment in chloroplasts that absorbs sunlight for photosynthesis.

Equation for Photosynthesis

Carbon dioxide + Water + Sunlight -> Glucose + Oxygen

Role of Sunlight in Photosynthesis

Provides the energy needed to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose.

example of a part of the digestive system:

Mouth

Chews food and mixes it with saliva.

Example of a part of the digestive system:

Oesophagus

Muscular tube that pushes food from the mouth to the stomach.

Example of a part of the digestive system:

Stomach

Uses acids and enzymes to break down food.

Example of a part of the digestive system:

Small Intestine

Absorbs nutrients from digested food into the bloodstream.

Example of a part of the digestive system:

Large Intestine

Absorbs water and prepares waste for elimination.

Example of a part of the digestive system:

Liver

Produces bile to help break down fats.

Example of a part of the digestive system:

Pancreas

Produces digestive enzymes to help break down food.

example of a part of the digestive system:

Gallbladder

Stores bile produced by the liver.

Process of Digestion

Food is broken down mechanically and chemically, nutrients are absorbed, and waste is eliminated.

What happens to digested food?

Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine and delivered to body cells.

Role of enzymes in digestion

They act as biological catalysts to speed up the breakdown of large food molecules into smaller, soluble ones.