It’s all about relationships. As you prepare for exam-1, review the content below and formulate relationships
between various concepts. In many cases, don’t memorize, but explain in your own words and develop a
picture in your mind how the concepts work. Most importantly, as you learn the concept and relationship, be
able to explain using the proper terminology. Please make sure you take a look at the probable exam essay
questions at the end of this study guide.
Define the major areas of Earth Science (geology, meteorology, physical oceanography astronomy)
Relationship question: How is Earth science studied? and explain how the method of studying earth science
relates to the major areas of earth science.
Write a brief description describing each step of the scientific method and describe why the scientific method is
important to earth processes.
Relationship questions: Write a “brief” paragraph describing an experience you had where you tried something
and failed. Then you tried again but maybe failed a second time. Finally, after numerous tries, you finally
Using your paragraph, identify statements within your paragraph that use the scientific method steps which
allowed you to find success and explain how a person, more than likely, uses the scientific method to succeed
in life.
Describe the differences between an isolated, closed and open system.
Relationship question: Are you an open, closed or isolated earth system person. Explain why
Describe the for open system spheres that support the earth’s existence.
Relationship questions: Explain how the four open systems relate to how earth science is studied.
Draw a diagram that illustrates an interaction between at least two open systems — Do not use the example in
the lecture presentation
Explain how you interact with each open system.
Describe the meaning of positive and negative feedback mechanisms.
Relationship questions: Explain how positive/negative feedback relate to how earth science is suddied.
Provide an example of earth processes that demonstrate a positive / negative relationship — Do not use the
example in the lecture.
What is meant by chemical differentiation and the concept of density
Relationship questions: How does a shkened container filled with vegetable oil, plastic beads, copper BB’s,
wood chips and marshmallows relate to our earth’s interior?
How does chemical differentiation of our earth’s interior explain the origin of the earth?
Why are you taking the Earth Science course?
Relationship questions: How will completing this class and learning about your earth change your views of your
environment?
Although you are probably not majoring in earth science, how will you use this knowledge you learne
Sample Solution
Intro to Earth Science
Questions like how deep is the ocean and why do eclipse occur are best answered through an investigation into Earth Science. Earth Science is the study of the Earth and its atmosphere. Many different sciences are used to learn about the Earth. However, the four basic areas of Earth Science study are: 1. Geology, which is the study of the geosphere, or rock portion of the Earth. 2. Meteorology, the study of our atmosphere and the weather and climatic partners therein. 3. Oceanography, the study of our global oceans. 4. Astronomy, which uses principles understood from Earth to learn about the solar system, galaxy, and universe. Earth scientists observe, describe, and classify all features of Earth to generate hypotheses with which to explain their presence and their development.
Monetary policy is the policy laid down by the central bank, involving management of money supply and interest rates and is the demand side economic policy used by the government of a country to achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity (The Economic Times, 2017). One of the main lessons of the crisis is that central banks cannot simply neglect asset price developments on the tacit understanding that no matter how large and unsustainable price trends might become, they will be able to intervene in the aftermath of a crash to sweep up the pieces. The crisis has shown how costly this understanding can be in terms of, first, distorting the incentives of asset market participants in the boom phase and, second, tolerating the build-up of financial imbalances that can grow so large that their eventual unwinding is close to impossible to tackle with the conventional tools of monetary policy after a crisis.
Before the 2008 financial crisis, the common view was that a central bank should not react to asset price movements, except to the extent that they affect forecasts for inflation and the output gap (Munoz and Schmidt-Hebbel, 2012). They would instead stand ready to respond if and when a collapse in the prices of some assets threatened its ability to meet its policy mandates. In the aftermath of the crisis, there are increasing calls for central banks to be more proactive in responding to signs that an asset bubble may have emerged. This notion is often described as an imperative to “lean against the wind”, meaning that the central bank should act to lower asset prices that, by historical standards, seem unusually high (Gourio, Kashyap and Sim, 2017).
To contribute to financial stability, the first idea is that monetary policy should attempt to directly control financial booms that may lead to a crisis. Given the relationship between relevant interest rates and asset prices, advocators of this strategy argue that central banks can raise their policy interest rate to prick asset bubbles (De Grauwe, Mayer and Lannoo, 2008). To do this, central banks need a sufficiently broad and reliable strategic framework that can analyse and detect risks to price stability in a timely fashion. This strategic framework should include indicators that can signal macroeconomic and financial imbalances when they are forming. For example, when an unsustainable asset boom is inflating, fuelled by excess credit creation, the strategic framework should encourage the central bank to “lean against the wind” of financial exuberance. By doing this, the central bank would be implementing a more restrictive monetary policy stance than one they would implement in less perturbed financial conditions.
In this respect, there is also a conviction growing within the central bankin