EARTH AND ITS RESOURCES

Earth and Its Neighbors

Solar Systems: the Sun and the objects that are traveling around it.

Planet: any of the eight large bodies that travel around the Sun and shine by reflecting its light.

Gravity: a force of attraction, or pull, between any object and any other objects around it.

Inertia: the tendency of a moving object to keep moving in a straight line.

Lithosphere: the hard, outer layer of Earth, about 100 kilometers thick.

Crust: the rocky surface that makes up the top of the lithosphere.

Resource: any material that helps support life on Earth.

Hydrosphere: Earth´s water.

Earth´s Changing Crust

Fault: a crack in the crust, whose sides show evidence of motion.

Geologist: a scientist who studies Earth.

Magma: hot, molten rock deep below Earth´s surface.

Lava: magma that reaches Earth´s surface.

Weathering: the breaking down of rocks into smaller pieces.

Erosion: the picking up and carrying away of pieces of rock.

Deposition: the dropping off of bits of eroded rock.

Meteorite: a chunk of rock from space that strikes a surface (such as Earth or the Moon).