This page is full of resources to help students better understand what they are reading in the textbook Understanding Earth. It is specifically designed to go with the seventh edition. However, usually different editions just cover the same material but in a different order with maybe one extra chapter.
Chapter 1: The Earth System
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: crust, mantle, core asthenosphere, inner core, lithosphere, plate tectonic system
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 2:30) peeling the onion, the crust, Archean eon
Chapter 2: Plate Tectonics: The Unifying Theory
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 2:30) lithosphere, ocean-continent convergence, subduction, Pangaea, Rodinia, Andes Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Himalaya Mountains, Tibetan Plateau
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: continental drift, Pangea, plate tectonics, Alfred Wegener, convergent boundaries (subduction, Ring of Fire, Himalaya Mountains), divergent boundaries (Great Rift Valley, sea floor spreading, Mid-Atlantic Ridge), transform faults (San Andreas Fault)
How North America Got Its Shape: Rodinia, African Plate, Pangaea, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, South Atlantic Ocean
Chapter 3: Earth Materials: Minerals and Rocks
Weathering and Erosion: weathering, erosion
Chapter 4: Igneous Rocks: Solids from Melts
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: dikes, subduction zone,
Chapter 6: Metamorphism: Alteration of Rocks by Temperature and Pressure
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: Himalaya Mountains
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 7:25) Himalaya Mountains
Chapter 7: Deformation: Modification of Rocks by Folding and Fracturing
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: Faults, San Andreas Fault
Chapter 8: Clocks in Rocks
Laws of Relative Rock Dating: comparative age (relative age), superposition, cross-cutting
Cake and Stratigraphy: stratigraphy, superposition,
Law of Superposition: horizontality, superposition, unconformity
Faunal succession: faunal succession
The History of Life on Earth – Crash Course: (start at 4:30), eon, eras, periods, epochs, Archean eon, Proterzoic eon, Phanerozoic eon, Permian-Triassic Extinction Event (mass extinction), Jurassic Period
How North America Got Its Shape: Colorado Plateau
Radiometric or Absolute Rock Dating: measuring absolute time with isotopic clocks, absolute age, radioactive decay, isotope, parent atom, daughter atom, half-life
5 Isotopic Dating (AM): half-life, isotopic dating, Carbon-14
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 2:30) Archean eon
Chapter 9: Early History of the Terrestrial Planets
The Nebular Theory: nebular theory (nebular hypothesis), nebula (solar nebula), supernova, protosun, planetesimals, terrestrials, outer planets (gas giants)
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 2:30) Earth’s crust
Introduction to the Solar System: Crash Course: solar, planetesimals, terrestrial planets, giant outer planets
The Earth: Crash Course: Earth, Differentiation of Earth, Earth’s core, Earth’s crust, Earth’s mantle
The Moon: Crash Course: Highland Regions (lunar highlands), Maria Regions (lunar maria), Heavy Bombardment
Explore the Solar System: The Rocky Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
What’s the Difference Between Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, Meteors & Meteorites?: comet, asteroid, asteroid belt, meteorites
Meet the 5 Dwarf Planets!: dwarf planets, Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris, Kuiper Belt, astroids, asteroid belt, Dawn
Dwarf Planets Song: dwarf planets, Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris, Kuiper Belt
Exoplanets 101 | National Geographic: exoplanets
Chapter 10: History of Continents
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: Modification by Collision (Himalaya Mountains)
How North America Got Its Shape: Rodinia, Laurentia, Iapetus Ocean, Pangaea, North American Plate, Farallon Plate, Colorado Plateau, Appalachian orogeny
The Wilson Cycle: Wilson cycle
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 2:30) subduction, craton, Archean eon, Pangaea, Columbia, Rodinia, Andean orogeny, Himilayas, Tibetian Plateau
Accretion: accreted terrain, accretion
Rebound: An Earth Story: glacial rebound
Professionals Now Studying Craton Boundaries: (play at 1.25 speed) craton
Active Continental Margins: (start at 1:00) active margins (active coastline)
Passive Continental Margins: (start at 6:00) passive margins (passive coastline)
Chapter 11: Geobiology: Life Interacts with Earth
What is Astrobiology?: Astrobiology
Autotrophs and Heterotrophs: autotroph, heterotroph, photosynthesis, chemoautotroph, respiration
How Banded Iron Was Formed: banded iron formation, cyanobacteria, stromatolite,
Biogeochemical Cycles: biochemical cycle, biosphere, photosynthesis, respiration
From the Cambrian Explosion to the Great Dying: Cambrian explosion, extinction events (mass extinction), evolution?
Fossils: cyanobacteria, chemofossils,
What Is An Ecosystem?: ecosystem
The History of Life on Earth: (start video at 5:05) cyanobacteria, Cambrian explosion, triassic extinction (mass extinction), coevolution (evolution),
Extremophiles 101: extremophiles
What are genes?: gene
Chapter 12: Volcanoes
Plate Tectonics Theory Lesson: volcanism in subduction zones, Ring of Fire
Landforms, Hey!: volcanos
How North America Got Its Shape: Yellowstone Caldera
Chapter 13: Earthquakes
What Is An Earthquake? | The Dr. Binocs Show: (play at 1.25 speed), earthquakes, epicenter, seismograph, tsunami
Earthquake!! Foreshock, Mainshock, or Aftershock?: (plat at 1.25 speed), earthquakes, foreshock, aftershock, epicenter
How We Design Buildings To Survive Earthquakes: building codes
Incorporating California Building Code: (start at 2:20) building code
Elastic Rebound Demonstration using a Yardstick: elastic rebound theory
Basic Geophysics: Focal Mechanisms: focal mechanism (fault mechanism), normal fault, reverse fault, strike-slip fault, p-wave
Seismic Waves: earthquakes, p waves, s waves
Chapter 14: Exploring Earth’s Interior
4 Billion Years in Under 10 Minutes: (start video at 5:00) paleomagnetism
Heat Transfer: (end at 4:07) conduction, convection
Chapter 15: The Climate System
What is Albedo?: albedo
Biogeochemical Cycles: Carbon cycle (3:45 to 4:45), Geochemical Cycle
Climate Models | Global Weirding: climate models (watch on 1.25 speed)
What are El Niño and La Niña?: El Niño, La Niña
Understanding ENSO: ENSO, El Niño, La Niña, Feedback
Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles: (2:15 to 4:00, play at 1.25 speed), Carbon cycle, Carbon reservoir (example of geochemical reservoir), greenhouse gas
What is an Ice Age?: long-term global variations, ice age, glacial ages, Milankovitch cycles
When will the next ice age happen?: long-term global variations, ice age, glacial maximum
The Greenhouse Effect: greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas
Feedback loops: How nature gets its rhythms: positive feedbacks, negative feedbacks
Explaining How the Water Vapor Greenhouse Effect Works: greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, water vapor feedback, positive feedbacks
Reservoirs, Fluxes and Residence Times in the Water Cycle: (play at 1.25 speed) flux, geochemical reservoirs, residence time
The Hydrologic and Carbon Cycles: Always Recycle! – Crash Course Ecology #8: (start at 5:15) carbon cycle, geochemical reservoirs (plants, oceans, geosphere, permafrost), positive feedbacks, greenhouse effect
What Is Ocean Acidification & Why Does It Matter?: chemical reactions, ocean acidification
Four Spheres Part 2 (Hydro and Atmo): Crash Course Kids #6.2: the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, troposphere, stratosphere
A Comprehensive Review of the Earth’s Atmosphere: (end at 2:05) the atmosphere, troposphere, stratosphere
Ocean on the Move: Thermohaline Circulation: thermohaline circulation
A Century of Global Warming in Just 35 Seconds: twentieth-century warming
Chapter 16: Weathering, Erosion, and Mass Wasting
Weathering and Erosion: weathering, chemical weathering, physical weathering (mechanical weathering), erosion
Angle of repose…Physics of toys: angle of repose
Creep: creep
Exfoliation: Onion Skin Weathering: exfoliation
Frost Wedging: frost wedging
Identifying Rocks : What Makes Rocks Red?: hematite
What’s the Dirt on … Dirt?: soil, humus
Kaolinite: kaolinite
What is liquefaction?: liquefaction
Mass Wasting: (play at 1.25) mass wasting, classifications of mass wasting, talus, slide, slump, flow, fall, creep, mass movement
Chapter 17: The Hydrologic Cycle and Groundwater
What Is Groundwater?: groundwater, aquifer, water table (groundwater table), saturated zone, unsaturated zone,
The Hydrologic and Carbon Cycles: Crash Course Ecology #8: (end at 5:15) hydraulic cycle, runoff
Chapter 18: Stream Transport: From Mountains to Oceans
Landforms, Hey!: deltas
Chapter 19: Winds and Deserts
Deserts 3 Wind Erosion and Deposition: deflation, desert pavement, ventifact, sandblasting, sand, loess
Desert Landforms Podcast: wadi, dry wash, pediment
The Coriolis Effect Explained: Coriolis Effect, low pressure, hurricane
Chapter 20: Coastlines and Ocean Basins
Weathering and Erosion: erosion at shorelines (Cape Cod)
Chapter 21: Glaciers: The Work of Ice
Mass Balance | Crash Course Cryosphere #2: glacier, ablation, accumulation, iceberg calving
Glaciers in a Changing Climate: Crash Course Cryosphere #3: crevasse, moraine, drumlin, accumulation zone, ablation zone
Cold and Warm Glaciers | Crash Course Cryosphere #6: moraine, basal sliding (basal slip), drumlin
Chapter 22: Landscape Development
Landforms, Hey!: landforms, plateaus, mesas
Desert Landforms podcast: mesa, plateau, landforms
Chapter 23: The Human Impact on Earth’s Environment
Natural Resources – Bozeman Science: natural resources, renewable resources, nonrenewable resources, fossil fuels, solar energy, wind power
Reserve: fossil fuels, reserve
Occurrence: resource (she calls it occurrence), hypothetical resource, conditional resource, reserve
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