Earth & Space Science · Regents Review

The 60-Fact Study Guide

Review · Practice · Battle · Master

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Part 1 · Reference

60 Facts to Know

Your master list, grouped by topic. As you complete the activities and win battles, facts you prove you know light up green here.

📖 ESRT p.# This badge means the data behind that fact is on your 2024 Earth & Space Sciences Reference Tables — and the number tells you the page to turn to. On the Regents you can look these up; the rest you carry in your head.
Astronomy & the Universe 0 / 14
  1. 1The universe is about 13.8 billion years old (determined by the Hubble Space Telescope).
  2. 2Three pieces of evidence support the Big Bang: cosmic microwave background radiation, the expansion/redshift of galaxies, and the abundance of light elements (H and He).
  3. 3CMBR comes from all directions; it became detectable once the universe cooled and turned transparent (~380,000 years after the Big Bang).
  4. 4Hubble's Law: galaxies farther away recede faster, in proportion — evidence the universe is expanding.
  5. 5Redshift means a galaxy is moving away (light stretched to longer wavelengths); blueshift means moving closer.
  6. 6The first stars were ~75% hydrogen and 25% helium, with no heavier elements.
  7. 7In nucleosynthesis, heavier elements form at higher temperatures late in a star's life; elements heavier than iron form only in a supernova.
  8. 8More massive stars have shorter lifespans and fuse elements faster (up to iron). Low-mass red dwarfs live for trillions of years.
  9. 9Star life cycles: low-mass → red dwarf; medium-mass (Sun) → red giant → planetary nebula → white dwarf; high-mass → red supergiant → supernova → neutron star or black hole.
  10. 10The Sun is ~4.6 billion years old, a spectral class G yellow dwarf, surface temperature ~5000–6000 K.
  11. 11Energy is produced by fusion in the core, travels outward (radiative → convective zone), and is released at the photosphere.
  12. 12In fusion, the helium nucleus has slightly less mass than the hydrogen that formed it; that lost mass becomes the star's energy.
  13. 13Sunspots are cooler, darker areas on an 11-year cycle; fewer sunspots = lower output = cooler Earth (Maunder Minimum).
  14. 14On the H-R diagram, as the Sun becomes a red giant its temperature decreases while its luminosity increases.
Solar System & Celestial Motions 0 / 12
  1. 15Kepler's Laws: a planet moves fastest when it is closest to the Sun.
  2. 16Eccentricity measures how elliptical an orbit is — a larger value is more elliptical.
  3. 17Greater orbital distance = longer period of revolution and slower average orbital speed.
  4. 18Gravitational field strength follows g = Gm⊕/r²; a closer satellite feels stronger gravity, moves faster, and has a shorter period.
  5. 19Terrestrial planets are small, dense, and close to the Sun with few moons; Jovian planets are large, less dense, and far with many moons.
  6. 20The Moon recedes ~3.8 cm/year (average distance 384,400 km); tidal friction has slowed Earth's rotation.
  7. 21There are about two high tides ~12 hours apart as Earth rotates through tidal bulges from the Moon's gravity.
  8. 22Total solar eclipses are possible because the Moon and Sun have nearly equal angular diameters (~0.5°); they will end as the Moon recedes.
  9. 23The same side of the Moon always faces Earth because its rotation period equals its revolution period (tidal locking).
  10. 24An observer sees phases of Venus because Venus orbits inside Earth's orbit, changing its position relative to the Sun.
  11. 25The Sun and all eight planets formed at the same time (~4.6 billion years ago) from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust.
  12. 26Comets and asteroids may have delivered Earth's water; the D/H ratio traces the source — asteroid water is closest to Earth's oceans.
Plate Tectonics & Earth's Interior 0 / 6
  1. 27Earth's interior (outside in): crust, mantle, liquid outer core, solid inner core — density and temperature increase with depth.
  2. 28Continental crust (~30–50 km, granitic, ~2.7 g/cm³) is thicker but less dense than oceanic crust (~5–15 km, basaltic, ~3.0 g/cm³).
  3. 29Boundaries: divergent (mid-ocean ridge, seafloor spreading), convergent (subduction, trenches, volcanic arcs), and transform.
  4. 30A hotspot (Hawaii) is fixed; as a plate moves over it an island chain forms, youngest over the hotspot. The Pacific Plate moves NW, so islands age to the NW.
  5. 31Seafloor spreading makes new ocean crust at ridges; subduction destroys old ocean crust at trenches (few craters survive on ocean crust).
  6. 32Constructive processes build up (deposition, volcanism, uplift); destructive processes wear down (weathering, erosion, subduction).
Geologic History & Fossils 0 / 12
  1. 33Earth is ~4.6 billion years old; the oldest NY State rocks are ~1.3 billion years old (Adirondacks).
  2. 34Absolute (radiometric) dating uses radioactive decay; if 50% of the parent isotope remains, one half-life has passed.
  3. 35Carbon-14 dates young organic material; uranium-lead dates very old rocks.
  4. 36Stromatolites (cyanobacteria) are among the earliest life (~3.5+ bya); they photosynthesized and released oxygen.
  5. 37The Great Oxidation Event (~2.4–2.1 bya): rising O₂ reduced methane, less energy was absorbed, and the earliest ice ages followed.
  6. 38Banded iron formations formed when free oxygen reacted with dissolved iron in early oceans (hydrosphere change recorded in the geosphere).
  7. 39Earth's early atmosphere came from volcanic outgassing (CO₂, water vapor, N, H); free oxygen came from photosynthesis, not volcanoes.
  8. 40The NY State fossil is Eurypterus remipes, a Silurian eurypterid (~420 mya) — an arthropod.
  9. 41Gilboa, NY holds one of the world's oldest fossil forests (Devonian, ~390 mya).
  10. 42Index fossils are widespread but short-lived organisms used to correlate and date rock layers.
  11. 43Carboniferous forests formed coal: peat → lignite → bituminous → anthracite with heat and pressure.
  12. 44Higher atmospheric oxygen (~31% in the Carboniferous) allowed giant insects like Meganeura (65 cm wingspan).
Weather & the Atmosphere 0 / 6
  1. 45Air rises at the equator and ~60° (low pressure, wet) and sinks at ~30° and the poles. The calm, dry ~30° belts are the horse latitudes.
  2. 46The Coriolis effect deflects winds right (N. Hemisphere): trade winds blow NE→SW; prevailing westerlies blow SW→NE.
  3. 47Air mass labels: first letter = moisture (m = maritime/moist, c = continental/dry); second = temperature (T = tropical, P = polar, A = arctic).
  4. 48An incoming warm, moist (mT) air mass brings increasing cloud cover, precipitation, and temperature.
  5. 49Low air pressure brings stormier weather; over land a hurricane weakens (wind speed drops, pressure rises).
  6. 50The Bermuda High steers hurricanes; in the N. Hemisphere a high-pressure system rotates clockwise.
Water, Oceans & Climate 0 / 6
  1. 51Warm surface currents carry heat toward the poles (Gulf Stream warms NW Europe); cold currents move toward the equator.
  2. 52In thermohaline circulation, warm water flows north, cools, and sinks; meltwater lowers salinity/density and weakens the current.
  3. 53Water that is colder and saltier is denser (sinks); warmer, fresher water is less dense (rises).
  4. 54The Long Island aquifer (Upper Glacial, Magothy, Lloyd) supplies ~400 million gallons/day; higher porosity + permeability = faster flow.
  5. 55Saltwater intrusion: drought or over-pumping lowers the water table, letting ocean saltwater spoil coastal aquifers.
  6. 56Albedo: light surfaces (snow/ice 80–95%) reflect sunlight; dark surfaces absorb it → ice-albedo feedback accelerates warming.
Human Impact & Earth's Resources 0 / 4
  1. 57The greenhouse effect: rising CO₂ traps outgoing energy and warms Earth; CO₂ and temperature are positively correlated (ice cores).
  2. 58Ocean acidification: absorbed CO₂ forms carbonic acid, lowers pH, and reduces the carbonate ions shell-builders need.
  3. 59Garnet is the NY State mineral (Adirondacks, abrasive). Renewable = solar, wind, hydro, geothermal; nonrenewable = coal, oil, gas, nuclear.
  4. 60Human activity reshapes Earth's systems: plant cover cuts runoff/erosion; dams control floods but reduce sediment and block fish; reclamation restores mined land.
Mr. Brown's Science Labs · mr.brownsciencelabs@gmail.com
Part 2 · Guided Readings — Space

The Universe & the Solar System

Read each passage and choose the correct word from the word box for every blank. Fill a passage completely correctly to master its facts.

Mr. Brown's Science Labs · mr.brownsciencelabs@gmail.com
Part 3 · Guided Readings — Earth

Inside the Earth & Its History

Two more word-box readings, then rebuild the scrambled sentences. Tap words in the right order — correct spots turn green.

Mr. Brown's Science Labs · mr.brownsciencelabs@gmail.com
Part 4 · Readings — Air, Water & Humans

Earth's Systems & Human Impact

Three readings cover the atmosphere, oceans, and human impact. Then unscramble two sentences and expand the bare-bones sentences using the prompts.

Mr. Brown's Science Labs · mr.brownsciencelabs@gmail.com
Part 5 · The Gauntlet

Boss Battle

Defeat three bosses by answering correctly. A right answer damages the boss and masters that fact; a wrong answer lets the boss strike back. You must answer every question correctly to win each round.

Mr. Brown's Science Labs · mr.brownsciencelabs@gmail.com
Mr. Brown's Science Labs · mr.brownsciencelabs@gmail.com
earth space science regents study guide, big bang, nucleosynthesis, kepler, plate tectonics, hotspot, geologic history, eurypterid, gilboa, carbon cycle, ocean currents, albedo, ocean acidification, climate change, human impact, mr browns science labs