National Earth Olympiad

Syllabus

o The first round will contain 70 multiple choice questions, for total time of 60
minutes.
o For the first round, most of the questions will be general, and will test your
basic knowledge in Earth Science.
o It is recommended that the book High School Earth Science from wikibooks is
read. It is available for online reading and download from:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/High_School_Earth_Science

Environmental Studies
1. Renewable and Non Renewable Energy
Sources

19. Environmental Personality i.e. Al Gore,

2. Ecosystem

Wangari Maathai etc.

3. The Ecological Pyramids

4. Biodiversity

Astronomy

5. Air Pollution

Observational Astronomy

6. Water Pollution

1. Relative motion between the Sun, Moon

7. Soil Pollution

and Earth Day and Night, Seasons,

8. Marine Pollution

Lunar Phases, Solar and Lunar Eclipses,

9. Noise Pollution

Calendar

10. Thermal Pollution

2. Sky Constellations, Bayers designation of

11. Nuclear Accidents and Nuclear Holocaust

stars, Celestial Coordinates (Right

12. Ozone Layer Depletion

ascension, declination), Ecliptic plane,

13. Acid Rain

Precession

14. Global Warming

3. Planetary Observations Conjunction,

15. Climate Change

Opposition, Greatest Elongation, Albedo

16. Earth Summit

4. Stellar brightness and Color Brightness,

17. Agenda 21

Luminosity, Colour, Spectral Classification

18. Environmental Organization i.e. IPCC,

5. Telescopes Optics and Operation of Small

UNEP etc.

Telescopes, Radio Telescopes,

Space Telescopes

Space Science

Introduction to Solar System

1. Thermosphere, magnetosphere, solar wind

1. Sun Interior, Atmosphere, Sunspot

2. The influence of solar surface activities to

2. Terrestrial plants Mercury, Venus, Earth,

the Earth

Mars

Atmosphere

3. Outer planets/Gaseous Planet Jupiter,

Basics and Energy of the Atmosphere:

Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

1. Composition and History of Atmosphere

4. Dwarf planets

2. Physics of Atmosphere : Pressure, Density,

5. Comets

Temperature, Ideal Gas Law,

6. Asteroids

Hydrostatic Equilibrium, Energy, Heat and

7. Satellites

Sensible Heat, Heat Transfer,

8. Planetary Rings

Radiation, Solar and Terrestrial Radiation

9. Space Exploration in the Solar System

3. The Greenhouse Effect

The Sun is a star

Moisture, Clouds, and Precipitation:

1. Nuclear fusion in the solar interior

1. Water and its three phases

2. The birth of the solar system

1. Latent Heat

3. The concept of color-magnitude diagram

2. Hydrological Cycle

(HR diagram)

3. Humidity and its related variables

The Earth in the Universe

4. Saturation

1. The Earth in the solar system

5. Dew and Frost

2. The Sun in the Milky Way

6. Cloud Condensation Nuclei

3. The Milky Way in the Universe

7. Fog and its types

8. Adiabatic warming/cooling

8. Divergence and Convergence

9. Clouds, Cloud Identification and

9. Vertical Motion

Classification

10. Scales of Weather Systems

10. Unusual Clouds

11. Synoptic-Scale Systems

11. Atmospheric Stability

12. Local wind systems (land-sea and

12. Inversion

mountain-valley breezes)

13. Instability and Its causes

13. Katabatic winds

14. Buoyancy

14. Feohn

15. Topographic Effect

15. Small-Scale winds

16. Thermodynamic Diagrams

16. Turbulence and eddies

17. Precipitation Processes

Weather Systems and Patterns:

18. Cloud Seeding

1. Air masses and their classification

19. Precipitation types and formation

2. Fronts and their types

mechanisms

3. Upper-air fronts

Air Pressure and Motion:

4. Jet streams

1. Atmospheric pressure

5. Polar front theory

2. Weather Maps

6. Extratropical cyclones

3. Newtons Law of Motion

7. Upper-level waves and surface storms

4. Basic Forces acting on the Air

8. Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) and their

5. Atmospheric Motion (wind)

classification

6. Winds produced by Balanced Forces

9. Mesoscale convective systems

7. Surface Winds

10. Local thunderstorms

11. Floods

1. Instrument shelter

12. Cloud electrification and lightning

2. Thermometers

13. Tornadoes and the damaging scale

3. Barometers

14. Waterspouts

4. Hygrometers

15. Convective cells

5. Psychrometer

Climate and Climate Change:

6. Rain Gauges

1. Mean temperature and pressure patterns

7. Anemometers

2. General circulation

8. Radiosonde

3. Precipitation (Rainfall) patterns

9. Dropsonde

4. Polar front and subtropical jets

10. Sky conditions

5. Monsoon

11. Remote sensing of weather

6. Atmosphere-Ocean interaction

12. Satellite and RADAR observations

7. Ocean currents and upwelling

13. Rainfall estimates

8. El Nio and the Southern Oscillation

14. Doppler effect and Doppler radar

9. Climate patterns and classification

15. Acquisition of weather data, Conventional

10. Climate change and its causes

and Unconventional data

11. Past climate

16. Forecasting methods and Tools

12. Global warming and its consequences

17. Uncertainty and Predictability

13. Air pollution and aerosols

18. Probability forecasts

14. Climate-related environmental issues

19. Reflection and Refraction

Observations, Weather Forecasts, and

20. Scattering

Atmospheric Optics:

21. Transmission

22. Color of objects

10. Color of sea water

23. Aurora

11. Nutrients in ocean

24. Twinkling

12. Dissolved oxygen

25. Twilight

13. Light intensity in ocean

26. The green flash

14. Altimeter

27. Mirage

15. Evaporation

28. Halos

16. Precipitation

29. Sundogs

17. River runoff

30. Sun pillars

Current

31. Rainbows

1. Geotropic Current

32. Coronas

2. Eddy

Hydrosphere

3. Coriolis Force
4. Sea surface dynamic topography

Hydrography
5. Thermohaline circulation
1. Water temperature
6. Friction force
2. Water depth
Tide
3. Water density
1. Semi-diurnal tide
4. Salinity
2. Diurnal tide
5. Sea level
3. Neap tide
6. Pressure
4. Spring tide
7. T-S diagram
5. Equilibrium theory of tide
8. Mixing layer
6. Tide-generating force
9. Sound velocity in ocean

7. Low water

1. Sedimentary structure and interpretation

8. High water

and Geological records in global

9. Tidal range

change.

Wave

Principle of plate tectonics and its

1. Wave height

application.

2. Wave period

Plate tectonics & Seismology

3. Wave length

1. Crustal deformation and its relation to

4. Wave speed in shallow water

earthquakes.

5. Wave speed in deep water

2. Principle of seismology and related

6. Tsunami

calculation.

Geosphere

Physical Geography
1. Physical Geography (geomorphology,

Mineral & Rocks

climatology, hydrology, soil geography,
1. Identification of selected minerals from the
major vegetation zones): landform vs.
list (Appendix 1).
process, landform vs. geological
2. Classification of selected rocks from the list
structures, basic hydrology.
(Appendix 1).
2. Soil Development and Identification of
3. Identification of reefal limestones and reefmajor soil types,
building organisms.
3. Landscape Identification
Historical Geology (sedimentology,
paleontology, stratigraphy, paleo-global
change)