← Earth and Environmental Science syllabus

VirginiaEarth and Environmental Science

Reporting Category: Oceanography, the Atmosphere, Meteorology and Astronomy

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What drives surface and deep ocean currents, and how do they affect climate?

Explain surface currents (driven by wind and deflected by the Coriolis effect into gyres), deep density-driven circulation, and upwelling, and describe how currents transfer heat and affect climate (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10).
A SOL-level answer on ocean currents for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: wind-driven surface currents and gyres, the Coriolis effect, the difference between warm and cold currents, deep density-driven (thermohaline) circulation, upwelling and marine productivity, and how the Gulf Stream affects climate, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

What is an estuary, and why is the Chesapeake Bay important to Virginia?

Describe estuaries and the Chesapeake Bay, including brackish water and its role as a nursery, and explain how watershed land use, runoff and sea-level rise affect coastal Virginia (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10 and human impact).
A SOL-level answer on the Chesapeake Bay for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: what an estuary is and why the Bay's brackish water makes it a nursery, the threats from nutrient runoff and eutrophication, the role of the watershed, sea-level rise and coastal flooding, and conservation, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

What does the ocean floor look like, and what controls the temperature, salinity and density of seawater?

Describe the features of the ocean floor (continental shelf, slope, abyssal plain, mid-ocean ridge, trench) and explain how temperature and salinity control seawater density (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10).
A SOL-level answer on the ocean for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the features of the ocean floor and how they relate to plate tectonics, what salinity is and what changes it, how temperature and salinity control seawater density, and why this drives deep circulation, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How does water move through the water cycle, and what is a watershed?

Explain the processes of the water cycle (evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration) and describe watersheds, groundwater and the water table (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.9 and ES.10).
A SOL-level answer on the water cycle for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the processes that move water (evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration), the energy that drives it, what a watershed and divide are, groundwater and the water table, and porosity and permeability, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

What makes ocean waves, and why does the sea rise and fall as tides?

Describe how wind generates ocean waves and the parts of a wave, and explain that tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun, including spring and neap tides (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10 and ES.11).
A SOL-level answer on waves and tides for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: how wind makes waves, the parts of a wave (crest, trough, wavelength, height) and what fetch controls, why tides are caused by the gravity of the Moon (and Sun), the daily pattern of two high and two low tides, and spring versus neap tides, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →