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Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Skills Worksheet
Active Reading
Section 3: The Hydrosphere and Biosphere
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Life exists on Earth because of several important factors. Most life
requires liquid water, moderate temperatures, and a source of
energy. The materials that organisms require must continually be
cycled. Gravity allows a planet to maintain an atmosphere and to
cycle materials. Suitable combinations of the things that organisms
need to survive are found only in the biosphere.
The biosphere is located near the Earth’s surface because most
of the sunlight is available near the surface. Plants on land and in
the oceans need sunlight to produce their food, and almost every
other organism gets its food from plants and algae. Most of these
algae float at the surface of the ocean. These tiny, free-floating,
marine algae are known as phytoplankton. Except for bacteria that
live at hydrothermal vents, most of the organisms that live deep in
the ocean feed on dead plants and animals that drift down from the
surface.
IDENTIFYING MAIN IDEAS
One reading skill is the ability to identify the main idea of a passage. The main
idea is the main focus or key idea. Frequently, a main idea is accompanied by
supporting information that offers detailed facts about main ideas.
In the space provided, write the letter of the term or phrase that best completes
each statement or best answers the question.
_____ 1. Life requires
a. moderate temperatures, electromagnetic radiation, and hydrothermal
vents.
b. precipitation, sodium chloride, and phytoplankton.
c. liquid water, temperatures between 10°C and 40°C, and a source of
energy.
d. gravity, algae, and bacteria.
_____ 2. Where on Earth are conditions suitable to most life located?
a. in the mesosphere
c. hydrothermal vents
b. in the biosphere
d. both (a) and (c)
_____ 3. Phytoplankton are
a. bacteria.
b. tiny marine algae.
c. plants on land.
d. dead plants and animals.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Holt McDougal Environmental Science
1
The Dynamic Earth
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Active Reading continued
In the space provided, write the letter of the description that best matches the term
or phrase.
_____ 4. Materials that organisms require
need
_____ 5. Plants need
_____ 6. The biosphere needs
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
sunlight.
plants and algae.
to be near Earth’s surface.
to be continually cycled.
dead plants and animals.
_____ 7. Organisms (other than plants) need
_____ 8. Most organisms that live deep in the
ocean need
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Read each question and write the answer in the space provided.
9. Define biosphere.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
SEQUENCING INFORMATION
One reading skill is the ability to sequence information, or to logically place item
sor events in the order in which they occur.
What is needed before the next thing can happen? Read each question and write
the answer in the space provided.
10. Before life can exist, it requires a source of energy, moderate temperatures,
and______________________.
11. Before a planet can maintain an atmosphere and cycle materials, it must
have.______________________
12. Before a plant can produce food, it requires______________________.
13. Before most organisms (other than plants) can survive, they need to have
plants and______________________to eat.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Holt McDougal Environmental Science
2
The Dynamic Earth
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Skills Worksheet
Critical Thinking
ANALOGIES
In the space provided, write the letter of the pair of terms or phrases that best
completes the analogy shown. An analogy is a relationship between two pairs of
words or phrases written as a : b :: c : d. The symbol : is read “is to,” and the
symbol :: is read “as.”
_____ 1. stratosphere : troposphere
::
a. biosphere : water
b. mantle : core
c. water cycle :
lithosphere
d. ocean : phytoplankton
_____ 5. plants : sunlight ::
a. water : evaporation
b. organisms : water
c. air : nitrogen
d. erosion : rock
_____ 6. river : gorge ::
a. erosion : gas
b. wind : tall rock
formation
c. water : wind
d. sediments : rocks
_____ 2. seismic waves :
earthquake ::
a. temperature : gas
b. weather : air
c. greenhouse effect
:atmosphere
d. electromagnetic
radiation : sun
_____ 7. convection current :
weather ::
a. Richter scale :
magnitude
b. eruption : climate
c. plate collision :
mountain
d. thermosphere
:temperature
_____ 3. tectonic plates :
asthenosphere ::
a. core : crust
b. atmosphere : gases
c. volcano : eruption
d. ice sheets : pond
_____ 8. aquifer : groundwater ::
a. life : oxygen
b. ocean : radiation
c. atmosphere : water
vapor
d. biosphere : land
_____ 4. winds : atmosphere ::
a. currents : hydrosphere
b. salinity : ocean
c. earthquakes :
ionosphere
d. ocean : climate
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Holt McDougal Environmental Science
3
The Dynamic Earth
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Critical Thinking continued
INTERPRETING OBSERVATIONS
Read the following paragraphs, and answer the questions below.
Alfred Wegener, a German who was educated as a
meteorologist and geologist, was one of the first scientists to
theorize about tectonic plates. Wegener suggested that past
continents had drifted apart over time to form the present
continents. This rearrangement of continents is known as
continental drift.
Wegener published his first complete statement on continental
drift in 1912. He supported his research by attempting to piece
together the edges of the continents in order to reconstruct a
formed supercontinent. Wegener believed that large blocks of the
crust (tectonic plates) could, over very long periods of time, flow
slowly over the mantle. Wegener’s theories remained the subject
of criticism until the 1960s, when geological evidence confirmed
that the ocean floors had been spreading and that large crustal
blocks were, in fact, moving. Plate tectonic theory has become the
cornerstone of modern geology. A crater on the moon was named
in honor of Alfred Wegener, “the father of plate tectonics.”
9. What title would you give this essay?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
10. Suppose Wegener had more concrete evidence to support his theories when his
papers were first published. Do you think his peers would have accepted his
theories more readily? Why or why not?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
11. Describe one aspect of the map of the world that hints Wegener’s theory might
be correct.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Holt McDougal Environmental Science
4
The Dynamic Earth
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Critical Thinking continued
AGREE OR DISAGREE
Agree or disagree with the following statements, and support your answer.
12. Because scientists are unable to predict when and precisely where an
earthquake will occur, the government has a duty to issue building codes to
ensure that all structures can withstand earthquakes.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
13. Individuals, as well as industry—and automobile manufacturers in particular
have an obligation to work to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that may
increase the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
14. We need to recycle our waste because Earth is a closed system with respect to
matter, and new matter does not enter the environment.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Holt McDougal Environmental Science
5
The Dynamic Earth