TOP TEN THINGS TO STUDY FOR TEST #1 - 2014

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Test Date: TUESDAY SEPT 16th. Test #1 will consist of 10 multiple choice questions. Some questions will be slight variations of the Self Test or RQ questions, but other questions will be a bit harder than those in the RQ's and they will cover the material in class presentations and assignments, in addition to the reading you've been doing for the RQ's.

CLASS ACTIVITIES: The material covered in the ungraded class activity on  Plotting Change over Time (Class Notes pp 13-14 and  covered in class on  Aug 28 & Sep 2) and the ungraded Periodic Table Background Activity (Class Notes pp 109-113 and covered  in class on Sep 4 & 9.)

Topic #1 Course Overview & Science Background (see pp 6 -9 in Class Notes for an overview)
Topic #2 Quantifying Global Change - Scales, Rates & Time Series including background on scientific notation on p 12 in Class Notes), the video on The Powers of Ten & the class activity on Plotting Change over Time pp 13-14 in Class Notes)
Topic #3 Matter & Energy Overview and the Periodic Table Background Activity on pp 109-113 in Class Notes.
Topic #4 Electromagnetic Radiation  ( and the Electromagnetic Spectrum )
Topic # 5 The Radiation Laws Part I  (Laws #1- #4 only) These laws are introduced in the textbook reading you did to prepare for Self Test /RQ-2, including SGC E-Text pp 36-44. They are covered in lecture on Sep 11th.

1. Understand the things we've discussed about SCIENCE in general and how it operates -- and read through the Topic #1 material in CLASS NOTES.  Specific Hint:  Review the important aspects of the scientific process (observations, analysis, conclusions, substantiation, repeatability), and the difference between hypotheses and theories.  Also be familiar with the uniqueness of GLOBAL CHANGE SCIENCE (i.e. we can't do lab experiments on the whole earth).and with the important tools for doing global change science (e.g., the paleo record, remotes sensing, computer models).

2. Be sure you understand that there is a huge RANGE OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES to be addressed when quantifying GLOBAL CHANGE. Know how to use scientific notation to express numbers that are very large and very small (see review on p 14 of Class Notes). Specific Hint:  To gain some familiarity looking at lots of things in nature described with SCIENTIFIC NOTATION see how it is used to describe the features shown in the POWERS OF TEN video on p 12 in Class Notes. Now flip to pp 25 and 26 and see how the huge range of wavelengths in the Electromagnetic Spectrum are described using scientific notation.   (NOTE: You can watch the  Powers of Ten video again in D2L under Videos > Class Videos.) 

3. Be able to recognize and/or select the proper terminology to describe different types of "change over time" in TIME SERIES GRAPHS. Specific Hints.: Know what the KEELING CURVE is and why it is such an important, "iconic" time series graph for Global Change (remember 350.org?) Review pp 13-14 in Class Notes, including the terms defined in the box on p 13. Could you apply some of these terms to describe the changes in mean global temperature seen in the graphs on p 15 in Class Notes?

4. MATTER. Understand the basic concepts relating to MATTER, ATOMS & MOLECULES including the structure of atoms, i.e. made up of different particles (proton, neutron, nucleus, electron, etc.), and different views or models of the atom. Specific Hints: Be able to answer questions about a "dot diagram" like the one on p. 17 in Class Notes or be able to arrange atoms represented as dot diagrams in proper formation in the Periodic Table (as in the Appendix discussed in Class on Sept 4th –see pp 109-113 in Class Notes). Do you understand how the Periodic Table is organized? Also know the difference between matter vs. energy, proton vs. photon!

5. ENERGY. Understand the difference between the two main forms of energy:  kinetic energy (KE) & potential energy (PE) (see Class Notes p 21-22). Specific Hints: What kind of energy is Electromagnetic Energy -- kinetic or potential? . Know what the LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY states and how it relates to Energy Efficiency. (see p 22 in Class Notes).

6. MATTER & ENERGY RELATING. Be familiar with the quantum behavior of electrons within atoms (pp 18-19  and 23-24 in Class Notes) and how molecules also exhibit quantum behavior (vibration, rotation, etc.) (discussed in class on Sep 9th). Specific Hint: Know, what a PHOTON is and what happens when photons of electromagnetic energy are absorbed or emitted by electrons in atoms or by molecules. Do you understand the differences in the way matter and energy interact in Visible Light /Ultraviolet radiation vs. Infrared radiation (i.e., QUANTUM BEHAVIOR of electrons within atoms for UV & Visible and of molecules rotating, bending or vibrating for IR)?

7. ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION.  Specific Hints: Know how to express the relationship between wavelength (λ), wave speed (c), and frequency (ν) in both words ( "The shorter the wavelength the greater the energy & the higher the frequency." bottom of p 25 in Class Notes) and in an equation (in the SGC E-Text Chapt 3 pp 37-38 and discussed in class on Sept 9th). Know what generates (i.e. "the typical source of) UV, Visible, and IR electromagnetic radiation (Class Notes p 26 and corresponding reading in the Electromagnetic Spectrum Reading PDF  ( linked in the Checklist for the week of Sep7).

8. ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM Know how wavelengths and frequencies vary in the different parts of the spectrum . Specific Hints: be able to divide a graph of the spectrum into UV, VISIBLE, AND IR wavelength regions (i.e., know the key boundaries for the VISIBLE LIGHT wavelength band in micrometers as shown in Fig. 3-3, p 38 in SGC- E-text and on pp 25-26 in Class Notes). Know which colors of the visible light spectrum have longer wavelengths and which have shorter; recall R-O-Y-G-B-V

9. RADIATION LAWS #1 and #2 Know what a blackbody is, what the blackbody radiation curve looks like (note: it's also called the Planck function curve (Law #2) and what information is represented by the curve (see SGC E-Text Fig 3-7a , p 42). Be able to tie this in with Radiation Law #1: All substances emit radiation. Specific Hint: Know how a blackbody curve of the Sun differs from that of the Earth (i.e., be able to understand what SGC Fig 3-8 on p 42 is showing – as well as the figure on the bottom of Class Notes p 28 that compares Solar vs Terrestrial radiation.

10. RADIATION LAWS # 3 (Stefan-Boltzmann Law & Law #4: Wien’s Law) -- be able to state (or recognize) what these laws mean in simple words if the formula is given and be able to recognize that in the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, E & T are directly (not inversely) related in the Law’s formula: E = σT ⁴  , while in Wein’s Law, wavelength and temperature are inversely related in the Law’s formula: λmax = k/T, (where k is a constant). Understand what each of these laws tell us about the differences in how the Sun and Earth radiate ANSWER: Stefan-Boltzmann tells us that the Sun, being hotter, radiates much, much more energy than the Earth does, while Wien’s law tells us that the Sun, being hotter, radiates a maximum of energy at short (UV & visible) wavelengths and the Earth, being cooler, radiates all of its energy at long (IR) wavelengths.

NOTE: At least one of the questions on the test (taken from the "Top 10" above) will be related to something that was covered in either Lesson 1 of the Climate Basics Tutorial on "CO₂ and the Greenhouse Effect" OR  the "Saved by the Sun" Video segments shown in class thus far. (The Lesson 1 tutorial is posted under Assignments in D2L.  You can  review the first two parts of "Saved by the Sun" that we watched in class (Sep 9th and 11th)  in D2L under Videos > Class Videos.)