Week 1 Disussion

(Choose ONE and please copy question # and prompt at the top of your response)

1. Science as a verb – the process by which we acquire new knowledge. Give two examples from Ch. 2 of ways that science was doneon oceanographic voyages to learn something new. In other words, how was the Scientific Method applied? (Multiple students may reply without penalty provided different examples are shared).
2. Science as a noun – a body of knowledge, what is known about the natural world. Give two examples from Ch. 2 of ways that science was usedon oceanographic voyages. In other words, how did scientific knowledge help inform oceanographic voyages? (Multiple students may reply without penalty provided different examples are shared).
3. Give an example of two or more scientific disciplines that are used in the study of the ocean. Describe how they are used and/or what information they provide. (Multiple students may reply without penalty provided different examples are shared).
4. What force is responsible for the Density Stratification of the Earth? What was the result?
5. Name two sources of water that formed Earth’s liquid ocean.
6. Based on readings from Ch. 1 and the Video: Stromatolites in Shark Bay, Australia describe how Earth’s early atmosphere is different from today’s based on gas composition. Where did Earth’s early atmosphere come from? What is the oxygen revolution? Where did the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere come from? Cite two lines of evidence from the video. Also describe why the presence or absence of oxygen is important to life.
7. How old is the Earth? How do we know?
8. How old is Earth’s ocean? How do we know?
9. What evidence do we have that life originated in the oceans? How long ago did first life appear?
10. Name and describe ONE of the two hypotheses that attempt to explain the origin of life on Earth. (Two students may reply without penalty provided different examples are shared).
11. What conditions are necessary for a planet to support a stable ocean? (Multiple students may reply without penalty provided different conditions are described)
12. Are there oceans on other worlds? Justify your answer. (Multiple students may reply without penalty provided different conditions are described)
13. Describe the differences between latitude and longitude.
14. How is LATITUDE determined or measured? How is it used?
15. How is LONGITUDE determined or measured? How is it used?
16. How could you convince a 10-year-old child that the world is round? What evidence might the child offer to argue that it’s flat? How can you counter these objections? (Multiple students may reply without penalty provided different conditions are described)
17. Imagine that you set your watch at local noon in Kansas City on Monday and then fly to the coast. On Tuesday, at the coast, you stick a vertical pole in the ground and wait until its shadow is shortest, indicating that it is noon local time. You look at your watch, which is still set to Kansas time . The watch says 10:00 am. Are you on the east coast or the west coast? How do you know?
18. Knowing that Los Angeles is at about 34 degrees North latitude, describe where in the sky you would like to find the North Star.
19. If you were at the North Pole, where is the sky would you expect to find the North Star?