MTEL Earth Science Test Breakdown

Scientific Inquiry has five subareas with a total of 14 to 16 questions.

Natural Resources, Human Activities, Preservation of Ecosystems: uses, classification, location and importance of natural resources, and the positive and negative impact of humans on the environment.
Nature of Scientific Inquiry, Relationship of earth science, technology and other disciplines: process of observation and experimentation, ethical issues regarding reporting results, communication between scientists, and comparisons between science and technology.
Gathering, Organizing, Reporting and Interpreting Data: evaluating methods and procedures, graphic representations, relationships, and reports shared with the scientific community.
Creation, Use and Interpretation of Common Models: alternative methods and models and classifying, analyzing, and interpreting maps and diagrams.
Safety in the lab: proper use of equipment and materials, basic safety precautions, and procedures to handle accidents and methods to treat injuries.

Astronomy has six subareas with a total of 18 to 20 questions.

Physical Characteristics and Motion of the earth: historical study methods, ways to determine characteristics of the earth, and interpreting the evidence and consequences of the earth’s motion.
The earth’s Sun: structure, composition and features, importance to earth, methods of study, sources of energy to and from the sun, and the sunspot cycle and its effect on the earth.
The earth’s Moon: history, properties, features and movements, interaction between the earth, sun and moon and the role of technology, and exploration in understanding the earth-moon relationship
The Solar System: scale and organization, gravity, origins, characteristics and properties of the planets and other celestial bodies, physical and mathematic models, and the application of Kepler’s laws.
Stars: types, characteristics, motions, life cycles and study methods, various telescopes and how to use them, the H-R diagram, and the formation and initial development of the solar system.
The Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy and the Solar System: size, structure, scale and motion, historical study methods, the expanding universe, the red shift, and the Doppler Effect.

Meteorology has seven subareas with a total of 20 to 22 questions.

Earth’s Atmosphere: properties, composition, structure and properties, energy transfer, how solar radiation works and its impact on the earth, global wind patterns, and the Coriolis Effect.
Water: properties and characteristics in various states, phase changes, cloud formation, precipitation, energy changes, atmospheric conditions. and weather predictions.
Weather Systems: characteristics of and relationship between broad-scale and local systems, methods and instruments used in collecting and analyzing data, air masses, fronts. and vertical air movement.
Weather Maps: preparation and use, symbols and their meanings, inferring recent and predicting future weather conditions based on these maps.
Weather Forecasting: effects on humans, principles and technology, computer models and satellite photos, types and characteristics of hazardous weather, and the role of the National Weather Service.
Major Climatic Regions: locations and characteristics, factors that influence and affect climate and the relationship between climate and weather.
Human Activities and Natural Processes: theories and effects on global climate, methods of analyzing and controlling these effects, common air pollutants and factors that influence them, and the various theories of global warming.

Geology and Oceanography has eight subareas with a total of 24 to 26 questions.

Mineral and Rock Formation: processes, characteristics and methods to identify and classify, classification schemes, and explanation of various types of rocks and minerals.
The Structure of the Earth: theories, evidence and effects of crustal movement, seismic waves, dynamic equilibrium, continental drift and sea floor spreading, and plate tectonics and geological phenomena.
Erosion: how erosion and weather change the surface of the earth, mechanical, chemical and biological factors that affect the rate of rock, soil and weather production and change, agents and factors that affect rates, and patterns and the effects of glacier changes on Massachusetts.
Geological Time Divisions: theories and supporting evidence, condition and characteristics of fossils, application of the principles of geology, radioactive dating, and using paleontological information.
The Hydrologic Cycle: water movement on and under the surface, factors that affect local water budgets, analyzing a water table, and the surrounding rocks and the characteristics of ground water and wells.
Ocean Water: factors that influence circulation patterns and types, causes and effects of tidal and wave motions.
The Ocean Basin: identifying characteristics, structure and topography of ocean zones, and features of the ocean floor and how and why its structure changes.
Marine Life and Marine Habitat: groups, characteristics and zones of plants, and animals and the relationship between the organisms and their environment.