Home / Unit review sheets

Unit review sheets

One dense page per unit: the must-know facts, the formulas and Reference Tables pages to reach for, and the key vocabulary. Page numbers refer to the 2026 Revised Edition of the Reference Tables for Earth and Space Sciences. Built for the student who wants paper. Use the print button for a clean copy, one unit per page.

Unit 1 · Measurement and Earth Science Skills

measurement

Must know

An observation is made directly with the senses or instruments; an inference is a conclusion drawn from observations.
Density is a property of a material and does not change with sample size.
Water's density is 1.0 g/mL; denser than that sinks, less dense floats.
The Reference Tables no longer print equations, so density, percent deviation, and rate of change must be memorized.

Formulas and tables

density = mass ÷ volumerate of change = change in value ÷ time% deviation = (difference from accepted ÷ accepted) × 100

Key terms

Observation, inference, density, percent deviation, rate of change, direct and inverse relationship, cyclic change.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 1 to find the gaps.

Unit 2 · Mapping the Earth

mapping · topographic maps

Must know

Latitude runs 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles; longitude runs 0° at Greenwich to 180°.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude of Polaris equals your latitude.
Earth rotates 15° per hour, so each 15° of longitude is one hour of solar time.
Contour lines never cross; they bend upstream where they cross a stream, so the V points upstream.

Formulas and tables

gradient = change in field value ÷ distance

Key terms

Latitude, longitude, prime meridian, field, isoline, contour line, contour interval, gradient, profile.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 2 to find the gaps.

Unit 3 · Dynamic Earth: Tectonics

earth interior · plate boundaries · earthquakes · volcanoes

Must know

The lithosphere (crust plus rigid upper mantle) is broken into plates that move on the plastic asthenosphere.
S-waves cannot pass through liquid; the S-wave shadow zone reveals the liquid outer core.
Boundaries: divergent (spreading), convergent (subduction and collision), transform (sliding past).
Magma high in silica and gas erupts explosively; low-silica magma erupts gently.
Each whole magnitude step is about 32 times more energy.

Formulas and tables

Earth’s interior model (page 11); plate map (page 13); hot spots (page 12)

Key terms

Lithosphere, asthenosphere, convergent, divergent, transform, subduction, epicenter, focus, P-waves, S-waves, viscosity, hot spot.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 3 to find the gaps.

Unit 4 · Minerals, Rocks, and the Rock Cycle

minerals · rock families · rock cycle

Must know

A mineral is natural, inorganic, solid, crystalline, with a definite composition.
Identify minerals with the Mineral Identification Flowchart (pages 16 and 17), starting from luster and using the Mohs scale on page 16.
Igneous: crystal size shows cooling rate (large = slow, intrusive); composition runs felsic to mafic.
Sedimentary clastic rocks are named by particle size; metamorphic rocks by foliation and grade.
The rock cycle has no fixed start; any rock can become any other.

Formulas and tables

igneous composition and Bowen’s Reaction Series (page 14); Rock Cycle Infographic (page 15)

Key terms

Mineral, hardness, streak, luster, cleavage, igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, intrusive, extrusive, foliation, rock cycle.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 4 to find the gaps.

Unit 5 · Surface Processes

weathering · erosion deposition

Must know

Weathering breaks rock in place; erosion transports the pieces.
Chemical weathering speeds up in hot, wet climates; more surface area weathers faster.
Faster water carries larger particles; as it slows, the largest settle first (sorting).
Glaciers leave unsorted till, moraines, erratics, and striations, all over New York.

Formulas and tables

no table for this now: know that faster water carries larger particles

Key terms

Weathering, erosion, deposition, sediment, sorting, graded bedding, till, moraine, erratic, striations, frost wedging.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 5 to find the gaps.

Unit 6 · Landscapes

landscapes

Must know

Landscape regions have abrupt boundaries set by the underlying bedrock.
Mountains have distorted bedrock; plateaus are high with flat, horizontal bedrock; plains are low and flat.
The Catskills are a plateau, not mountains: high but flat-lying bedrock.
Arid climates keep slopes steep and angular; humid climates round them.
Uplift builds the land up while weathering and erosion wear it down (dynamic equilibrium).

Formulas and tables

New York landscape regions map (page 10); bedrock map (page 8)

Key terms

Landscape region, elevation, relief, plateau, plain, drainage pattern, dynamic equilibrium, arid, humid.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 6 to find the gaps.

Unit 7 · Geologic History

geologic history

Must know

Superposition: in undisturbed layers, the bottom is oldest.
An intrusion or fault is younger than any layer it cuts (cross-cutting).
An unconformity is a buried erosion surface, a gap in the record.
After each half-life, half the remaining parent isotope decays to daughter.
A good index fossil is widespread but short-lived.

Formulas and tables

radiometric dating table (page 12): C-14 = 5730 yr, U-238 = 4.5 billion yr, K-40 = 1.3 billion yr

Key terms

Relative dating, superposition, original horizontality, cross-cutting, unconformity, correlation, index fossil, half-life, geologic time scale.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 7 to find the gaps.

Unit 8 · Meteorology

weather · weather systems · weather maps

Must know

Relative humidity is how close the air is to saturation; at the dew point it is 100%.
Air flows from high to low pressure; the Coriolis effect curves it.
One standard atmosphere is 1013.2 mb, or 29.92 inches of mercury; the conversion is no longer printed in the tables.
Fronts are boundaries between air masses; decode station models for temperature, wind, and pressure.
Cold fronts bring brief heavy storms; warm fronts bring long steady precipitation.

Formulas and tables

Key to Weather Map Symbols and station models (page 18); lower atmosphere cross section (page 19)

Key terms

Troposphere, relative humidity, dew point, air pressure, air mass, front, station model, Coriolis effect, mid-latitude cyclone.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 8 to find the gaps.

Unit 9 · Climate

climate

Must know

Weather is a moment; climate is the long-term average.
Controlling factors: latitude, elevation, nearness to water, mountains, and ocean currents.
Water moderates temperature, so marine climates have smaller annual ranges than continental ones.
On the leeward side of mountains, descending dry air makes a rain-shadow desert.
New York sits in the prevailing southwest wind belt.

Formulas and tables

planetary wind belts (page 19); surface ocean currents (page 20)

Key terms

Climate, marine climate, continental climate, windward, leeward, rain shadow, ocean current, lake-effect snow.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 9 to find the gaps.

Unit 10 · Astronomy

astronomy · moon and beyond · solar system · stars and universe

Must know

Seasons come from the 23.5° axial tilt, not distance from the sun.
The sky appears to move 15° per hour because Earth rotates.
Moon phases cycle over 29.5 days; eclipses are rare because the moon's orbit tilts about 5°.
Gravity increases with mass and decreases with the square of distance.
Star color shows temperature: blue is hottest, red is coolest.
Redshift of distant galaxies is evidence the universe is expanding (the Big Bang).

Formulas and tables

eccentricity = distance between foci ÷ major axis (memorize; not in the tables)Solar System Objects Data Table (page 2); H-R Diagram (page 4); Life Cycles of Stars (page 5)

Key terms

Rotation, revolution, solstice, equinox, moon phase, eclipse, tide, eccentricity, gravity, luminosity, redshift, Big Bang.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then take a 10-question checkpoint on Unit 10 to find the gaps.

Unit 11 · Human Impact and Sustainability

human impact

Must know

The natural greenhouse effect keeps Earth about 33 C-degrees warmer and livable.
Burning fossil fuels has raised CO2 from about 280 ppm to over 420 ppm, trapping more heat.
Renewable resources replenish about as fast as we use them; nonrenewable ones do not.
Clearing land accelerates erosion; the ozone and acid-rain recoveries show that action works.

Key terms

Renewable and nonrenewable resource, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, climate change, sustainability.

Check yourself

Cover the facts above and say each one aloud from memory. Then mix this unit into a full review set to test it under exam conditions.