Download Honors Earth Test Practice Questions F12

Earth Science Practice Test Questions
Unit 1 – Introduction to Earth Science and Mapping
1. How is a scientific hypothesis different from a scientific theory?
2. What unit of measurement would one use in a science class to measure the height of a door?
3. Briefly list the events that led to the formation of the solar system.
4. Which map projection would be most useful when making a road map?
5. The Mercator projection map shows Earth’s features on a grid. Why is this map useful to sailors?
6. Why is the contour interval included on a topographic map?
7. Give 3 specific examples of what one would study in a course about geology.
8. Explain the following statement: If Earth had no atmosphere, our planet would be lifeless.
9. Predict what the effect will be on some of Earth’s systems if a forest is cut down for lumber.
10. What country would you be in if you were at 45 degrees west and 15 degrees south? Which number is the latitude?
Units 2&3 – The Sun, Stars & The Universe
1. Briefly summarize the relationship between Doppler shift and the speed of a moving object.
2. Why would the moon make a good site for an observatory.
3. What two factors determine how radiation is arranged on the electromagnetic spectrum?
4. Which type of spectrum do most stars have?
5. What happens to the matter that is consumed in nuclear fusion?
6. Which property of a star can be determined by its color?
7. How long does it take our solar system to orbit the Milky Way Galaxy?
8. More distant galaxies have greater red shifts. What does this indicate about the universe?
9. What is cosmic background radiation?
10. How can a binary star system be used to determine a star’s mass?
Units 4&5 – Astronomy & Our Solar System
1. The moon rotates very slowly on its axis. Predict how this affects the lunar surface temperature.
2. What is an astronomical unit?
3. Newton learned that the orbits of planets are the results of what two forces?
4. What is the approximate length of the cycle of the phases of the moon?
5. What phase of the moon occurs approximately one week after the new moon?
6. Describe three features found on the moon’s surface.
7. What evidence supports the theory that liquid water may have existed on Mars?
8. Mercury is closer to the sun than Venus. Venus, however, is hotter. Why?
9. Why is it more difficult for gases to escape from the Jovian planets than from the terrestrial planets?
10. What evidence indicates that our solar system is about 4.5 billion years old?
Unit 6 – Plate Tectonics & Mountain Building
1. Briefly explain the theory of plate tectonics.
2. At what boundaries do subduction zones form?
3. In the Atlantic Ocean basin, where would the oldest oceanic lithosphere be found?
4. Describe the evidence that supports the hypothesis of continental drift.
5. Compare normal faults and reverse faults.
6. What types of faults are most commonly formed by compressional stress?
7. How is a syncline different from an anticline?
8. What type of stress is most common at divergent boundaries?
9. Explain how a slice of ocean crust could be found on top of a peak in the Himalayas.
10. What is Alfred Wegener best known for?
Units 7&8 – Earthquakes & Volcanoes
1. How did scientists determine the structure and composition of Earth’s interior?
2. Why type of seismic wave causes the greatest destruction to buildings?
3. Describe the composition and physical properties of the crust.
4. List the major differences between P waves and S waves.
5. Why are cinder cones usually small?
6. Describe the Ring of Fire.
7. How do hot spots form?
8. Give an example of each of the three types of volcanoes.
9. How are pyroclastic materials classified?
10. What is viscosity and how does it affect volcanic eruptions?
Unit 9 – Chemistry & Minerals
1. Three atoms have the same atomic number but different atomic mass numbers. What can you say about the atom?
2. Name the three types of particles found in an atom and explain how they differ.
3. If an element has a mass number of 31 and an atomic number of 15, how many protons,
neutrons, and electrons does it have?
4. Compare and contrast ions and isotopes.
5. Describe the three types of bonds. What do bonded elements create?
6. What two elements make up 75% of earth’s crust?
7. Give examples of two minerals that can be identified by unique properties. Describe each property.
8. How can new minerals form from existing minerals?
9. Name and describe four tests you could use to help identify a mineral.
10. Draw and label a silicon tetrahedron.
Units 10&11 – Resources & Rocks
1. What are the three main types of fossil fuels?
2. Briefly explain how active solar collectors work.
3. Explain why fresh water is a vital resource.
4. How can farmers help protect land resources?
5. Explain why an anticline might be a good place to search for petroleum and natural gas.
6. What are three things that you can do to save energy?
7. What effect can recycling paper have on the use of resources and the creation of pollution?
8. Describe how a hydrothermal solution can produce a vein deposit of ore.
9. Which igneous rock forms when basaltic lava hardens? When basaltic magma hardens?
10. Use what you have learned about the rock cycle to explain the following statement: One rock is the raw material for
another rock.
Unit 11 – Weathering, Erosion, and Soil Mastery
1. Roads in northern states need to be repaired more often than roads in the south. Why?
2. How do the effects of mechanical weathering on rock differ from the effects of chemical weathering?
3. Heat speeds up most chemical reactions. Why then does chemical weathering happen slowly in a hot desert?
4. How does mechanical weathering promote chemical weathering?
5. How does slope affect the formation of soil?
6. Describe the ideal conditions for a rock to weather quickly.
7. Using the Soil Texture Triangle (in your book and notes), what type of soil is 50% clay, 60% sand, and 50% silt?
8. Explain how changing the property on which GHHS stands from agricultural fields to a school could have created
erosion and mass movement.
9. In what ways are the erosional actions of wind, water, and glaciers similar? How are they different?
10. Describe how sand dunes migrate.
Unit 12– Fresh Water Mastery
1. Draw and label the water cycle.
2. Why do old rivers have broad, flat flood plains?
3. How does a meander form?
4. Why are particles in a river deposited by size?
5. How does a flood control dam work?
6. How would a reduction in friction in a stream channel affect the stream’s velocity?
7. Why are leaking landfills and septic tanks of concern to people who use groundwater?
8. How does a stream’s gradient affect its velocity?
9. How does a cavern form?
10. What is a drainage basin?
Unit 13 – Geologic Time & Earth’s History
1. Compare the techniques of relative dating to those of numerical dating.
2. Why does the law of superposition apply primarily to sedimentary rocks?
3. Briefly describe three types of fossils.
4. What is half-life?
5. Why is so little known about the Precambrian time?
6. Describe the role of the biosphere, hydrosphere, and solid Earth in forming the current level of atmospheric oxygen.
7. What present-day continents made up Gondwana?
8. What kind of animals are trilobites and cephalopods?
9. Explain the difference in fossilization between a mammoth frozen in ice and a seashell embedded in rock.
10. Explain why decay rates can be used with confidence in radiometric dating.
Unit 14 – Oceanography
1. Compare and contrast the size and topography of the Atlantic Ocean basin to that of the Pacific Ocean basin.
2. What is a continental shelf? What economic significance do continental shelves have?
3. In which ocean basin are most trenches found? Why?
4. What factors may affect the depth of the photic zone in any given area of the ocean?
5. There is usually very little sediment accumulation found at mid-ocean ridges. Why do you think this is true?
6. What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
7. Predict the effect that the damming of rivers would have on beaches.
8. Describe the influence that the Coriolis effect has on the movement of ocean waters.
9. Describe coastal upwelling and the effect it has on fish populations.
10. Where and how is the densest water in all the oceans formed?
Unit 15 – Meteorology
1. Describe the two principal motions of Earth.
2. How might the Earth system be affected if Earth’s axis were perpendicular to the plane of its orbit instead of being
tilted 23.5 degrees?
3. Why are temperature variations greater over dry land than they are over water?
4. Explain how urban areas contribute to localized convective lifting.
5. What happens when unstable air is forced to rise?
6. What is the difference between condensation and precipitation?
7. Describe the difference between clouds and water vapor.
8. If you were looking for a location to place a wind turbine to generate electricity, how would you use the spacing of
isobars in making your decision?
9. Compare and contrast polar air masses and tropical air masses.
10. Explain the greenhouse effect caused by Earth’s atmosphere.