Download Midterm Study Guide

Name_________________________________Date__________________Period_____
Midterm Review Sheet
Geosciences Fall
Introduction
1. What is the difference between a scientific Theory and a Scientific Law?
2. How many centimeters are in 12 meters?
3. How many kilometers are in 300,000 centimeters?
4. What type of graph is best for comparing percentages?
5. What type of graph should we use for showing change over time?
6. What variable goes on the Y-Axis? Independent or Dependent?
7. White light can be broken in to different colors because different colors have different ______________________?
8. Gamma rays, X-rays, visible light, and radio waves are all types of what?
9. What do scientists call the smallest packet of light energy?
10. What type of heat transfer occurs when hot things rise and cool things sink?
11. What type of heat transfer occurs when heat spreads out from an object?
12. What do we call a factor in an experiment that can change?
13. What is the difference between an inference and an observation?
Unit 1 The Universe
14. What color of Star is the hottest? The coolest?
15. What is the definition of a light year?
16. What do astronomers use to measure distance to stars?
17. What is the difference between absolute and apparent magnitude?
18. On a hertzsprung-russel diagram where are the hottest brightest stars?
19. List four stages that the sun will go through in its life in order.
20. How do stars get energy?
21. What force causes stars to form?
22. What do the largest stars in the universe end their lives as?
23. What is it called when a large star explodes?
24. What is a rotating neutron star that emits radio waves called?
25. What is a galaxy?
26. What are the 3 types of galaxies?
27. What is the name of our own galaxy? What type is it?
28. What type are most galaxies in the Universe?
29. How wide is our galaxy in Light Years?
30. How do we know that the Universe is expanding?
31. What are 3 forms of Evidence for the Big Bang?
Unit 2: The Solar System
32. Describe the Nebular Model in 3 steps.
33. What are the 2 main types of planets?
34. Which type of planets are closest to the sun?
35. Which type of planets are most dense?
36. Which type of planets rotate the fastest?
37. Which type of planets are largest?
38. Which type of planets have thin atmosphere?
39. What is a cloud of gas and dust in space called?
40. What are terrestrial planets composed of?
41. What are the Jovian Planets composed of?
42. What do we call a large rocky body floating in space that is like a flying mountain?
43. What is the difference between a meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite?
44. Where are asteroids located in the solar system?
45. Where does a comets tail always point?
46. What are 2 places that comets come from?
47. What is the visible surface of the sun called?
48. Where does fusion take place in the sun?
49. What is the outer most layer of the sun called?
50. What is the lower orange-red layer of the sun’s atmosphere called?
51. Why do sunspots appear darker than the surrounding areas?
52. Solar flares cause bright lights at the poles of Earth as ions in our upper atmosphere get excited. What are these called?
53. What are 2 advantages of radio telescopes?
54. What is the main problem with refracting telescopes called? (Difficulty focusing different colors)
55. What is an advantage of reflecting telescopes over refracting telescopes?
56. Which type of telescope uses an objective lens?
Unit 3: Minerals and Rocks
57. On the periodic table what does the group number tell you?
58. What is an atom?
59. What does the atomic number tell you?
60. What is a valence electron?
61. What is an isotope?
62. How many valence electrons would each element “like” to have?
63. What is the difference between a covalent and ionic bond?
64. What are 4 processes that form minerals?
65. What group of minerals is made of the elements Oxygen and Silicon?
66. Why is color not a good property to use in mineral identification?
67. What is the color of a mineral in its powdered form called? (we rubbed it on a piece of tile)
68. What is it called when a mineral breaks in even planes?
69. What do we call a minerals resistance to scratch?
70. What type of rock forms when magma or lava cools and hardens?
71. What type of rock forms when small particles get compacted or cemented?
72. What type of rock forms when other rocks are exposed to heat or pressure?
73. What is the process in which rocks are broken down into smaller pieces?
74. What is the process in which sediments are picked up and moved to another location?
75. What is an intrusive igneous rock?
76. What is an extrusive igneous rock?
77. Which has larger crystals? Extrusive or intrusive?
78. What is the difference between a foliated and non foliated metamorphic rock?