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| 13777188132 | First Law of Thermodynamics | energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be converted from one form to another | 0 | |
| 13777203590 | Second Law of Thermodynamics | when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat) | 1 | |
| 13777218403 | High Quality Energy | organized & concentrated; can perform useful work (fossil fuel & nuclear) | 2 | |
| 13777228305 | Low Quality Energy | disorganized, dispersed (heat in ocean or air wind, solar) | 3 | |
| 13777240291 | Units of energy | joules, calories, kilocalories, BTU's, kilowatt-hours | 4 | |
| 13777242170 | Power | the rate of doing work | 5 | |
| 13777248072 | Units of Power | Watts and kilowatts | 6 | |
| 13777269807 | Electromagnetic Radiation | form of energy, travel as waves-radio wave, IR, visible light, UV, gamma rays | 7 | |
| 13777293547 | Ionizing Radiation | has enough energy to knock electrons from atoms, forming ions and capable of doing damage to DNA. (Gamma rays, X-rays, UV) | 8 | |
| 13777297828 | Radioactive Decay | unstable radioisotopes decay releasing gamma rays, alpha & beta particles | 9 | |
| 13777311748 | Half-Life | length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay | 10 | |
| 13777320604 | Nuclear Fission | nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons | 11 | |
| 13777326430 | Nuclear Fusion | a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy. | 12 | |
| 13777333984 | Parts of the hydrologic cycle | evaporation, transpiration, runoff, condensation, precipitation, infiltration | 13 | |
| 13777347034 | Fate of precipitation | runoff or infiltration, percolation | 14 | |
| 13777351011 | Aquifer | underground water-bearing layers of porous rock, sand, or gravel | 15 | |
| 13777363209 | Water Table | The upper level of the saturated zone of groundwater | 16 | |
| 13777371135 | cone of depression | lowering of the water table around a pumping well | 17 | |
| 13777374922 | Salt water intrusion | over pumping of groundwater near coast causes salt water to move into aquifer. | 18 | |
| 13777381974 | Ways to conserve water | agriculture = drip/trickle irrigation; industry = recycling; home = use gray water, repair leaks, low flow fixtures | 19 | |
| 13777393138 | Distribution of Water on Earth | 97 % seawater, 3% freshwater (2% icecaps and glaciers, <1% in ground water, surface, organisms and atmosphere). | 20 | |
| 13777398458 | Carbon | component of all organic molecules | 21 | |
| 13777408735 | Photosynthesis | process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high-energy carbohydrates such as sugars and starches | 22 | |
| 13777414757 | cellular respiration | organisms break down carbohydrates; releases energy, returns C to atmosphere | 23 | |
| 13777444892 | Nitrogen | component of proteins (amino acids) and nucleic acids. | 24 | |
| 13777447896 | nitrogen fixation | Process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia | 25 | |
| 13777454413 | Nitrification | ammonia is converted to nitrate ions (NO3-). | 26 | |
| 13777456537 | Assimilation | plants incorporate ammonia and nitrate ions into organic molecules | 27 | |
| 13777490582 | Ammonification | decomposer bacteria break down organic compounds into ammonia | 28 | |
| 13777498074 | Denitrification | Specialized bacteria convert nitrogen compounds into N2 gas which is released into the atmosphere. | 29 | |
| 13777504701 | Phosphorous | component of nucleic acids | 30 | |
| 13777515884 | P cycles more slowly | no gaseous phase, mostly found in rocks as PO4, released by weathering | 31 | |
| 13777525363 | Plate Tectonics | Earth's crust is broken into plates which move relative to each other, movement caused by convection currents dissipating Earth's internal heat | 32 | |
| 13777568023 | Volcanoes and Earthquakes | Occur at tectonic plate boundaries: | 33 | |
| 13777582136 | Divergent plate boundaries | Areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid oceanic ridges or rift valleys. | 34 | |
| 13777622210 | Convergent plate bounaries | Oceanic plate subducts under ocean or continental plates, causes volcanoes and trenches | 35 | |
| 13777622211 | Transform boundaries | plate slide past each other, causes earthquakes | 36 | |
| 13777638759 | Rock cycle | relationship of rocks and rock formation processes. | 37 | |
| 13777647018 | Rock types according to origin | igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic | 38 | |
| 13777651261 | Minerals | are not renewable. Mineral deposits most abundant at plate boundaries. | 39 | |
| 13777683172 | Ore | concentration of mineral is high enough so that it is profitable to mine | 40 | |
| 13777695406 | Mineral Reserve | identified deposits, profitable to mine | 41 | |
| 13777707907 | Surface Mining | strip mining, cheaper, less dangerous to miners. Problems: toxic runoff, acid drainage. | 42 | |
| 13777710877 | Soil Texture | size of soil particles; sand, silt, clay | 43 | |
| 13777717928 | Humus | organic material in soil | 44 | |
| 13777722474 | Leaching | removal of dissolved materials from soil by water moving downwards | 45 | |
| 13777730575 | Permeability | ability to transmit water | 46 | |
| 13777739070 | Porosity | ability to hold or absorb water | 47 | |
| 13777747230 | Troposphere | 0-17 km above Earth's surface, site of weather, organisms, contains most atmospheric water vapor. (temperature decreases with increasing altitude, pressure decreases) | 48 | |
| 13777757774 | Stratosphere | 17-48 km above surface, contains ozone layer approximately 20-30 km above Earth's surface (12-18 miles) (temperature increases with increasing altitude, pressure decreases) | 49 |
