Why are meteorites important? What do they tell us that we can't find out from Earth rocks?
What are the four stages in planetary (or moon) development? How has surface evolution varied?
What are the four layers of the Earth's interior? Where does the magnetic field originate?
How do we study the cores of planets and moons? How can planet density estimate core composition?
What are midocean ridges? Subduction zones? Transform faults? Give examples on Earth.
What drives plate tectonics? Where in the solar system is plate tectonics occurring?
Where does one find very young rock in the Solar System? How about the oldest rocks?
What are the main constituents of Earth's atmosphere? Where did they come from?
How have the oceans, coupled with CO2 been important in maintaining Earth's surface temperature?
What made the Earth's core hot? Why has Earth's core remained hot but cores in other planets not?
What is the ozone layer? What does it do for us? Why is decreased ozone a health threat?
Why do we always see the same side of the moon? Is the far side always dark? Is there water?
Which parts of the moon represent old rock? Which are young? How do we know that? (2 ways!)
Know the differing kinds of moon rocks and soil, and the conditions under which they formed.
What do we know about the interior of the moon? What about the core? Is it liquid?
What kind of surface evolution has occurred on the moon? How are micro-meteorites important?
There are four theories for how the moon came to be. Know them. Which is best? Why?
How has Mercury been studied? What observations/landings/mappings have been made?
What is unusual about Mercury's orbit? Does Mercury have a substantial atmosphere?
What is unusual about Mercury's temperature? Why does it have such extreme variations?
What is the present geological activity of Mercury? What are lobate scarps? How'd they form?
What is known about Mercury's core? How do we know this? Is there a magnetic field?
Why is Venus so hot? Why didn't Earth evolve like this? Is Venus heating up or in equilibrium?
How've we studied Venus? Have we been there? Where are the clouds? What's the surface like?
Where is the Venusian water now? What is the significance of deuterium measurements?
What is the density of Venus's atmosphere? What's it made of? What happened to the water?
What sorts of features have we found on Venus? What's this tell us about geological activity?
What are cratering studies? How has it been applied to Mercury? Venus? Earth? Moon?
Does Venus have plate tectonics, or is it just 'tectonics'? Why doesn't Venus have hard plates?
What are coronae? Are there craters on Venus? What do their numbers and distribution tell us?
Why do we think Venus' surface is young? Are there lava flows? Does Venus have a magnetic field?
How has the Venus hot atmosphere possibly effected the geological activity of the planet?
How (or why) is planet size (mass) important in geological evolution. In atmospheric composition?
How are Earth and Venus similar? How different? How are Mars and Earth similar? How different?
Describe Mars' atmosphere, it's density and composition. How has Mars' atmosphere evolved?
How does a planet's escape velocity and temperatures determine its atmospheric composition?
Why is the Martian surface orangey-red? Why is the solar wind devastating to Mars but not Earth?
What kind of terrain is seen on Mars? Is it all old? All young? Why are the volcanos so large?
Is there water on Mars? Where is it known to exist? Where might it also exist?
Why can't there be running water on Mars now? If we warmed Mars' surface, could liquid water form?
Was there ever running water on Mars? How has the atmosphere changed in the last 2-3 billion yrs?
Where did Phobos and Deimos come from? What are they made of? What is unusual about their orbit?