Download Earth and Space Science

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Earth Space Science Questions to Review for the Kansas State Assessment Test
Name
Directions: Choose the best answer for each question.
Hour
Score
S.HS.4.1.2
The student understands the theory of Plate Tectonics explains that internal energy drives the Earth’s ever changing structure.
1.
What do scientists believe is the reason plates are moving?
A) convection currents
B) solar radiation
C) sublimation
D) advection
2.
Each type of tectonic plate movement causes characteristic land forms. Which type of plate movement can form a rift valley?
A) collision of two tectonic plates
B) divergence of two tectonic plates
C) two plates slipping past each other
D) subduction of one plate under another
3.
Which is not a type of plate boundary?
A) Divergent
B)
Convergent
C) Transform
D)
Translation
4.
In California, the North American Plate and Pacific Plate slide past each other creating the San Andreas Fault. What kind of
tectonic plate boundary is it?
A) Divergent
B) Convergent
C) Transform
D) Transaxal
5.
Deep ocean trenches, subduction zones, volcanic island arcs are associated with which type of plate boundary?
A) Divergent
B)
Convergent
C) Transform D) Translation
6.
What type of plate boundary occurs where one plate plunges under another plate?
A) Divergent
B) Convergent
C) Transform
D) Translation
7.
Oceanic ridges, rift valleys and volcanic activity are associated with which type of plate boundary?
A) Divergent
B) Convergent
C) Transform
D) Translation
8.
Early evidence for plate tectonics suggests that these two land masses might have been together at one time.
A) Australia & S. America
C) S. America & N. America
B) Africa & S. America
D) Africa & Australia
9.
Which support the idea that a diverging plate boundary separates North America and Europe?
A) Age of the ocean floor gets progressively older as you go away from the center of the plate boundary.
B) Major polarity reversals of Earth magnetic field have been preserved in the Atlantic Oceans floor rocks systematically on
both sides of the plate boundary.
C) Active volcanism occurs along the center of the plate boundary.
D) All of the above.
10. What interpretation can be made from the following maps? (Left Map: Triangles are locations of active volcanoes. Solid line is
location of tectonic plate boundaries; Right Map: location of earthquakes)
A) The distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes in concentrated only along continental edges.
B) The distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes appears related to locations where tectonic plates interact.
C) The distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes appears to coincide with ocean tidal activity.
D) The distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes is random.
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11. The major cause of an earthquake is
A) the stress that builds up between lithospheric plates
B) ground that is comprised of soft sediment tends to move often
C) the weight of manmade objects (high rise buildings) causing the ground to shift
D) all of the above
S.HS.4.3.2
The student understands the relationship between the earth, moon, and sun explains the seasons, tides, and moon phases.
12.
Earth follows an elliptical orbit around the sun with the sun off center. As a result, Earth is at its closest orbital position on
about January 3 and at its furthest on about July 4. What is the significance of these facts?
A) Earth has seasons while the other planets do not.
B) Distance from the sun is not the cause for Earth’s seasonal temperature variations.
C) It explains the occurrence of 2 of our most popular celebrations (New Years and Fourth of July).
D) None of the above.
13.
The Sun’s angle of incidence refers to the angle at which its energy (heat) strikes Earth’s surface. What is the cause of the
changing angel of incidence with changes in latitude?
A) Earth’s rotation
B) Earth’s revolution
C) Earth’s spherical shape
D) All of the above.
14.
Which is not a result of Earth’s tilt?
A) Annual change in the concentration of the sun’s rays on the surface at our location.
B) Annual change in the sun’s day time altitude.
C) Annual changes in the amount of day light hours.
D) All of the above are results of Earth’s tilt.
15. Which contributes most to cooler winter temperatures in the northern hemisphere?
A) Earth is at its greatest distance from the sun.
B) The northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun.
C) Incoming solar radiation is spread over a larger surface area.
D) More solar radiation is reflected by Earth's upper atmosphere.
16. Which is the major cause for the seasonal temperature variation at any given latitude on Earth?
A) Earth’s changing distance in its elliptical orbit of the sun.
B) Earth’s tilted axis with respect to the plane of its orbit.
C) Earth’s changing orbital speed as it revolves around the sun.
D) All of the above are major causes.
17. Which contributes to warmer temperatures as you travel from the polar regions toward the equator?
A) Due to spherical shape of Earth, the equator is slightly closer to the sun than the rest of the planet.
B) Greater vegetation along the equator allows for more solar heating.
C) Generally the sun’s radiation is concentrated over a small surface area.
D) Snow and ice reflect most of sun’s radiation near the poles.
18. Which of the following is the driving force for all weather and climate on Earth?
A) The Sun
B) The atmosphere
C) The rate at which substances absorb heat at different rates
D) Ocean currents and El Nino
19. Earth experiences seasons because of
A) Its distance from the sun.
B) Its axial tilt.
C) The shape of its orbit around the sun.
D) All of the above
20. What is the major cause of Earth’s tides?
A) The gravitational attraction of the moon on Earth.
B) The gravitational attraction of the sun on Earth.
C) Centrifugal forces caused by Earth’s rotation.
D) Dynamic atmospheric circulation (wind) on the surface of the oceans.
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21. Which is the correct order for the phases of the moon?
A) Full moon, new moon, waxing quarter, waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning quarter, waning crescent, waning
gibbous
B) Full moon, waning gibbous, waning crescent, waning quarter, new moon, waxing gibbous, waxing crescent, waxing
quarter.
C) New moon, waning quarter, waning gibbous, waning crescent, full moon, waxing quarter, waxing crescent, waxing
quarter.
D) New moon, waxing crescent, waxing quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, waning quarter, waning
crescent
22. Which moon phase is shown at position B in the diagram above?
A) Waning crescent
B) Waning gibbous
C) Waxing gibbous
23. The moon goes through phases because
A) Earth orbits the sun
B) Earth orbits the moon
D) Waxing crescent
C) the moon orbits the sun
D) the moon orbits Earth
24. Percent of Earth that can be lighted by the sun at any time is
A) 23.5%
B) 50%
C) 66.5%
D) 100%
S.HS.4.4.1
The student understands stellar evolution.
25. Most stars are composed mainly of
A) iron and titanium
B) titanium and hydrogen
C) hydrogen and helium
D) helium and iron
26. Nuclear fusions consists of
A) Light elements such as hydrogen and helium are fused to create heavier elements with energy as a by product.
B) The nucleus of heavy elements such as lead and uranium are split to create lighter elements with energy as a by product.
C) The nuclei of atoms are attracted to one another and combine to form complex compounds.
27. What is the source of the immense energy of stars like our sun?
A) The combustion of millions of tons of hydrogen every second.
B) The fusion of millions of tons hydrogen into helium in the core of the core at very high temperatures.
C) The decay of millions of tons of uranium within the core.
28. The change in a star from birth to death is controlled by
A) the rate of fuel consumption in the star’s core.
B) the shifting balance between gravity and outward pressure due to nuclear fusion in the core.
C) The amount of material that is added to the star as it moves through the galaxy.
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29. As stars die the core collapses due to increasing gravitational forces. The stellar object has the greatest density?
A) Red giants.
B) White dwarfs
C) Supernovas
D) Neutron stars
30. The changes that a star experiences during its evolution from birth to death are the result of the interaction of which two
forces?
A) Gravitational forces working to collapse the star and nuclear fusion in the core creating an outward pressure force that
would explode the star.
B) Gravitational forces pull the star inward and rotational forces work to push the stellar matter outward.
C) Gravitational forces within the star are working to crush the star while gravitational forces from outside the star are
working to pull the star apart.
31. The graph above, the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a very important tool for astronomers in their study of stars. Which
stellar properties are used as the axis of the graph?
A) Temperature and age.
B) Temperature and brightness (luminosity or absolute magnitude).
C) Brightness (luminosity or absolute magnitude) and Size
D) Brightness (luminosity or absolute magnitude) and Composition
32. Which group does the sun belong to on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, shown above?
A) White dwarfs
B) Giants
C) Supergiants
D) Main Sequence
33. According to astronomers, at the formation of the universe all matter was consolidated into a dense sphere of hydrogen atoms.
If this is so, what is the scientific explanation for the formation of the remaining 90 naturally occurring elements shown on the
periodic table?
A) Heavier elements were created at the time of the big bang when the sphere of hydrogen exploded violently with great heat
and pressure dispersing the matter which later cooled to form the universe as we know it.
B) The hydrogen sphere erupted in a big bang and over time gases condensed and fused together forming the various heavy
elements we see today.
C) Heavier elements were created as a result of the extreme temperatures and pressure of fusion reactions in stars or during
supernova explosions of massive stars.
D) At this time there is not an acceptable hypothesis to account for the formation of the heavier elements present in the
universe.