← Earth and Environmental Science syllabus

VirginiaEarth and Environmental Science

Reporting Category: Earth's Materials, Resources and Plate Tectonics

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do earthquakes and volcanoes form, and how do we locate and measure them?

Explain how earthquakes and volcanoes form at plate boundaries, locate an earthquake epicenter using P-wave and S-wave arrival times, and relate volcano type to magma composition (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.7).
A SOL-level answer on earthquakes and volcanoes for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: focus versus epicenter, the difference between magnitude and intensity, locating an epicenter from P-wave and S-wave lag at three stations, why earthquakes and volcanoes cluster at plate boundaries, and how magma composition controls eruption style, with worked exam questions.
13 min answer →

What are Earth's layers, and how do seismic waves reveal them?

Describe the compositional and physical layers of Earth's interior (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core; lithosphere and asthenosphere) and explain how seismic waves provide the evidence (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.7).
A SOL-level answer on Earth's interior for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core, the lithosphere and asthenosphere, the difference between continental and oceanic crust, and how P-waves and S-waves and the shadow zone reveal that the outer core is liquid, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

Which of Earth's resources are renewable, and what are the trade-offs of how we use them?

Distinguish renewable and non-renewable resources, describe the major energy sources and Virginia's mineral and energy resources, and evaluate the environmental impacts and conservation of resource use (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.3 and ES.4).
A SOL-level answer on Earth's resources for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: renewable versus non-renewable, how fossil fuels form, nuclear and the alternatives (solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal), Virginia's coal, limestone, sand and gravel, and the environmental trade-offs and conservation of resource use, with worked exam questions.
13 min answer →

What makes something a mineral, and how do you identify one from its properties?

Define a mineral and identify common rock-forming and ore minerals from their physical properties, including hardness, luster, streak, cleavage, color and density (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.4).
A SOL-level answer on minerals for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the five-part definition of a mineral, the physical properties used to identify them (hardness, luster, streak, cleavage and fracture, color, density), the major mineral groups led by the silicates, and why structure-based properties beat color, with worked exam questions.
13 min answer →

What drives the plates, and what happens at each type of plate boundary?

Explain plate tectonic theory: the evidence for moving plates, mantle convection as the driving force, the features and motions at divergent, convergent and transform boundaries, and Virginia's geologic provinces (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.7).
A SOL-level answer on plate tectonics for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the evidence from continental fit, fossils and seafloor spreading, mantle convection as the driving force, the features at divergent, convergent and transform boundaries, hot spots, and Virginia's geologic provinces from the Coastal Plain to the Appalachian Plateau, with worked exam questions.
14 min answer →

How do the three rock types form, and how does the rock cycle turn one into another?

Classify igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks by how they form and explain the rock cycle, including how cooling rate, lithification, and heat and pressure transform rock (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.5).
A SOL-level answer on rocks for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: how igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form, the link between cooling rate and crystal size, clastic versus chemical sediment, foliated versus nonfoliated metamorphic rock, and how the rock cycle transforms one type into another, with worked exam questions.
13 min answer →