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2015 - 2016 - Science 8, Chapters 1, 13-19 Mid Term Study Guide
Chapter 1
1) What is a hypothesis? An educated guess
2) What is a dependent variable? The variable being measured
3) What is an independent variable? The variable that the researcher changes in an
experiment
4) What is an experimental control? The standard by which your results can be compared
5) What is the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law?
Scientific law describes what will happen, but does not explain why
Scientific theory is an explanation or model backed by results obtained from many tests
or experiments
6) What are ethics? Moral values about what is right and wrong.
7) What are constants? Variables that are identical between the control and the
experimental group
8) What is a barometer? An anemometer?
Barometer – An instrument that measures air pressure
Anemometer – used to measure wind speed
9) What is science? A system for gaining knowledge
10) What is a thermometer? A hygrometer? Thermometer – used to measure temperature
Hygrometer – used to measure water vapor in the air
11) What should conclusions to a scientific experiment be based on? Precise measurements
and tests
12) Which variable does the researcher intentionally change in a scientific experiment?
Independent variable
Chapter 15
13) What is radiation? transfer of energy in the form of rays or waves
14) What is convection? transfer of heat by the flow of a heated material
15) Where is atmospheric pressure the greatest? greatest near Earth's surface
16) What happens to atmospheric pressure as altitude increases? greatest near Earth's
surface and decreases as you move upward away from sea level.
17) What happens to the number of molecules in the air as the altitude increases? There are
fewer molecules of air at high elevations, so air pressure is less.
18) What is the source of all energy in the atmosphere? The sun
19) What is conduction?
transfer of energy that occurs when molecules bump into one another
20) What layer of the atmosphere is closest to the Earth? Troposphere
21) Which layer of the atmosphere blends into outer space? Exosphere
22) Which winds are responsible for the movement of much of the weather across the US and
Canada? prevailing westerlies
23) What causes a sea breeze? A land breeze?
the land heats and cools more quickly than the water
24) How are weather and climate different? Weather happens on a daily basis, climate is
weather that is averaged over a long period of time.
25) What prevents some solar radiation from reaching the Earth? Reflection and absorption
by the atmosphere
26) Which layer of the atmosphere contains the highest concentration of ozone? stratosphere
27) What causes the Coriolis effect? the Earth's rotation
28) How does the ozone layer protect the Earth? Keeps us from being exposed to high
concentrations of ultraviolet radiation
Chapter 16
29) What is an air mass and what can they cause? a large body of air that has the same
properties as the Earth's surface over which it develops.
30) What is relative humidity? a measure of the amount of water vapor that air is holding
compared to the amount needed for saturation at a specific temperature.
31) How does precipitation form? water droplets in a cloud combine, become too heavy, and
fall to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail,
32) What is a front? boundary between cold and warm air masses, or air masses of
different temperatures
33) How are dew point and saturation related? When air contains as much moisture as
possible at a specific temperature, it is BOTH saturated and at its dew point
34) What is dew point? When air contains as much moisture as possible at a specific
temperature and is saturated. Saturation and dew point occur together!
35) What does it mean when something is saturated? When air contains as much moisture
as possible
36) Describe cirrus clouds. High, thin, white, feathery clouds containing ice crystals are
usually associated with fair weather, but they can also indicate approaching storms
37) Describe cumulus clouds. Masses of puffy, white clouds, often with flat bases, that
form when air currents rise
38) Describe stratus clouds. Low, layered gray clouds that produce light precipitation
39) What does a meteorologist do? studies and forecasts the weather using data gathered
from many sources
40) What is a dew point and why do we see evidence of it early in the morning? See above air near the ground cools to its dew point as the sun goes down and the temperatures
drop
41) The interaction of what three things causes weather? Air, water, and the Sun
42) What will you usually find in areas of low pressure? cloudy weather.
43) Why do high pressure areas usually have good weather? the air masses sink, making it
difficult for clouds to form
Chapter 17
44) What are three major influences on climate?
large bodies of water, ocean currents, large cities
45) What causes seasons? Seasons are caused by differences in daylight, temperature,
and weather patterns due to the tilt of the Earth as it revolves around the sun
46) Where does El Niño begin? tropical Pacific Ocean
47) What three things are used to divide regions in a climate classification system? the types
of plants found there, temperature, amount of precipitation
48) What are structural and behavioral adaptations? Name several of each type. Hibernation
in the winter, estivation in the summer, migration, and hiding under logs to get out of the
sun are behavioral adaptations. Structural adaptations are growing fur, cactus needles,
or having the ability to change colors for camouflage are structural adaptations.
49) How many times in the past have glaciers covered large areas of Earth? at times (more
than once) in the past 2 million years, glaciers covered large parts of the Earth
50) How often does the shape of the Earth’s orbit around the sun change? Earth’s orbit is an
ellipse, an elongated closed curve, so the distance between the sun and the Earth
sometimes changes.
51) What are the major gasses that cause the greenhouse effect? Carbon Dioxide is the
major greenhouse gas
52) How is Earth’s atmosphere warmed by the greenhouse effect? Earth's atmosphere is
warmed by the greenhouse effect because heat radiated from Earth's surface is
absorbed by gases in the atmosphere.
53) Where do the rays of the sun strike the Earth the most directly? at the equator
54) What is the difference between hibernation and estivation? Hibernation is a behavioral
adaptation in which animals undergo a period of greatly reduced activity in winter.
Estivation occurs in the summer when the heat is too high.
55) What zone on the Earth receives the most solar radiation? the tropics
Chapter 18
56) What happens to wave height as a wave approaches shallow water? It increases
57) What effect does the alignment of the Sun-Earth-Moon have on tidal range? When the
sun, Earth, and moon are in a straight line the tidal range is the highest. The Spring
tides have the lowest low tides and the highest high tides
58) When is the tidal range the smallest? ? When the Sun, Moon, and Earth form a 90°
angle
When is the tidal range the largest? When the Moon, Earth, and Sun are in line
59) What are Spring Tides? When the Moon, Earth, and Sun are in line Neap Tides?
When the Sun, Moon, and Earth form a 90° angle What causes each? Gravitational pull of
the moon and sun
60) What causes surface currents? winds
61) What causes water to move when wind blows across it? When the wind blows across a
body of water, friction between the water and air causes the water to move.
62) What is wavelength? Wavelength is the horizontal distance between adjacent wave
parts ( crests or troughs)
63) What is a wave trough? The lowest point on a wave
64) What is a wave crest? The highest point of the wave
65) What is wave amplitude? Half the distance of the height of a wave
66) How did the oceans form? When precipitation filled low areas on Earth called basins
67) What is a basin? low area on Earth in which an ocean formed when the area filled with
water from torrential rains
68) What feature of a wave moves forward? Energy only
69) How does the salinity of the oceans remain balanced? Because substances are constantly
being added and substances are constantly being used by plants and animals.
70) Where does the North Atlantic Deep Water form? Cold, dense water around Norway,
Greenland and Labrador
71) How does wave amplitude correspond to the amount of energy the wave carries? If the
wave’s amplitude increases, the amount of energy it carries also increases
72) What is a tide and how are they formed? A tide is the rise and fall in sea level, it is a
giant wave produced by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon.
73) What is a tidal range and how is it calculated? The tidal range is the difference between
the level of the ocean at high tide and the level of the ocean at low tide. It is calculated
by subtracting the low tide from the high tide.
74) What is a density current and how are they formed? A density current forms when a
mass of seawater becomes more dense than the surrounding water. Gravity causes the
denser water to sink beneath the less dense water.
75) How do the water particles in a wave move? Water particles in a wave move in a circle,
returning to their original positions, only the energy moves forward.
Chapter 19
76) Where, and how fast, is new ocean floor being formed? About 2.5 cm per year along the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
77) What is chemosynthesis and where does it take place? Takes place near mid-ocean ridges
and is using chemicals to produce energy
78) How are trenches formed? Formed when one crustal plate is forced under another
79) Explain the difference between plankton, benthos, and nekton. Plankton depend on surface
currents to move them
Benthos live on or in the seafloor
Nekton – animals that actively swim in the ocean
80) List several examples of plankton, benthos, and nekton. Plankton – Diatoms, jellyfish
Benthos – crabs, snails, sea urchins
Nekton – Manatees, whales
81) What is the largest source of oil pollution in the ocean? Runoff from land
82) What ocean feature lies next to the continental shelf? Continental slope
83) What is an ocean rift? A crack in the sea floor What do we usually see there? Lava
erupts through rifts
84) What are placer deposits and where would you find them? Deposits found in areas where
rivers enter oceans
85) How do plants make energy? What are the raw materials and the products? Plants make
energy by using carbon dioxide, nutrients in the water and sunlight
86) What are the two major ways that oxygen enters ocean water? Plant photosynthesis and
from the atmosphere
87) Describe an abyssal plain and how it is formed. abyssal plains are flat seafloor areas
formed when deposits filled in valleys on the seafloor, they are from 4 to 6,000 meters
below the surface
88) Describe a continental shelf and what kinds of organisms you would find there. The
continental shelf is the gradually sloping end of the continent that extends under the
ocean surface. The continental shelves contain the largest number of mineral resources
as well as diverse life forms
89) Describe a continental slope. The continental slope extends from the outer edge of the
continental shelf down to the ocean floor.
Chapter 14
90) What is used to divide geologic time into units? Geologic time is divided into units based
upon the appearance and disappearance of types of organisms.
91) What is the term for the longest subdivision of geologic time? Eons are the longest and
are based upon the abundance of certain types of fossils
92) What is the term for the shortest subdivision of geologic time? Epochs are characterized
by differences in life forms but the differences may be found on different continents.
93) Describe how changes in the environment can result in physical changes in a species.
Environmental changes can affect an organism’s survival. Those that can adapt to changing
conditions through organic evolution survive. Those that are not adapted to changing
environments are less likely to reproduce and do not survive.
94) What things factored into the development of complex organisms from single celled
organisms? Stromatolytes are layered mats of cyanobacteria. About 3.5 million years ago
cyanobacteria began producing oxygen through photosynthesis. Some of the oxygen was
converted to ozone and formed a protective layer around earth. This protective layer
shielded the Earth from UV radiation and allowed more complex organisms
95) When did Homo Sapiens first appear? 140,000 years ago during the Cenozoic Era
96) What trilobite characteristic did not change over time? 3 lobes
97) How does plate tectonics affect organic evolution? As continents move, the seas became
shallower or deeper, mountains formed, and continents drifted to new environments. All
of these made conditions that organisms had to adapt to.
98) What change in amphibian ancestors allowed reptiles to evolve? They developed an egg
with a membrane or a harder shell that kept the eggs from drying out if they were not in
the water.
99) What does a species need to do to adapt to a changing environment? evolve
100) What will happen if a species doesn’t evolve during a changing environment? die or become
extinct
101) During which era do scientists think dinosaurs evolved from reptiles? Mesozoic
102) During which era did humans first appear? Cenozoic
103) During which era did dinosaurs rule? Mesozoic
104) What era are we currently in? How long ago did it begin? Cenozoic, it began 65 million
years ago after a great extinction at the end of the Mesozoic Era
105) What is natural selection? Natural selection is a theory proposed by Charles Darwin
that states that organisms with characteristics that are suited to a certain environment
have a better chance of surviving and reproducing than those that don’t have that
characteristic.
Chapter 13
106) What types of things, or conditions, help to preserve things as a fossil? If the organism
is buried quickly to protect it from scavengers and agents of physical destruction (waves
etc) and if it has hard parts.
107) What is a gap in a rock layer, or sequence, called? What does it indicate? Unconformities
are formed when agents of erosion, like running water or glaciers, remove rock layers by
washing or scraping them away.
108) What procedure can be used to determine the absolute age of an object? Geologists
determine the absolute age by using properties of the atoms that make up the materials.
One of these processes, Radiometric Dating, used radioactive decay.
109) What is the difference between absolute and relative age? Absolute age is an age in
years, relative age is a comparison to the ages of other things.
110) What is the Principle of Superposition? Why is it important? The Principle of
Superposition states that in undisturbed rock layers, the oldest rocks are on the bottom
and the rocks become progressively younger toward the surface. This principle is used to
determine relative age.
111) What do rock layers have in common if they are correlated? Rock layers are usually
correlated by finding the same types and ages of fossils.
112) How can fossil types help determine if layers of rock are from one continuous deposit? If
they have similar layers and have the same types and ages of fossils they can be
correlated.
113) What is relative dating? relative age is a comparison to the ages of other things and
can be found by using the principle of superposition
114) What is absolute dating? Absolute age is an age in years and can be found by using
radiometric dating.