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EARTH’S HISTORY PRACTICE TEST
Earth’s Layers
1.
What is the correct order for the layers of the Earth from the outer most layer to the inner most layer?
a. Mantle, inner core, outer core, crust
b. Crust, outer core, inner core, mantle
c. Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust
d. Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
2. In which layer of the Earth would you find convection currents?
a. Crust
b. Mantle
c. Outer core
d. Inner core
3.
The layer of the Earth that is broken into tectonic plates is the…
a. Lithosphere
b. Asthenosphere
c. Outer core
d. Inner core
4.
Which layer of the Earth do these tectonic plates “float” on top of?
a. Lithosphere
b. Asthenosphere
c. Outer core
d. Inner core
5.
Which statement BEST describes the movement of a convection current?
a. Cool materials rise; hot materials sink
b. Hot and cool materials sink
c. Hot materials rise; cool materials sink
d. Hot and cool materials rise
Plate Tectonics
6. What causes tectonic plates to move?
a. Convection currents in the mantle
b. Convection currents in the lithosphere
c. Convection currents in the inner core
d. They push each other around
7. At a transform boundary, 2 tectonic plates are…
a. Colliding together
b. Dividing apart
c. Sliding or scraping past each other
d. There is no movement
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8.
The picture to the right shows which type of plate boundary?
a. Convergent boundary
b. Divergent boundary
c. Transform boundary
d. Fault boundary
9. The picture to the right shows which type of plate boundary?
a. Convergent boundary
b. Divergent boundary
c. Transform boundary
d. Fault boundary
10. Mountains are most likely to occur at which of the following boundaries?
a. Convergent boundary
b. Divergent boundary
c. Transform boundary
d. Subduction boundary
11. At which type of plate boundary does new crust form?
a. Convergent boundary
b. Divergent boundary
c. Transform boundary
d. Fault boundary
12. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a mid-ocean ridge that occurs as a result of the movement of tectonic plates.
Which process most often occurs at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
a. Tectonic plates move away from each other.
b. Tectonic plates collide.
c. Tectonic plates slide past each other.
d. There is not tectonic plate movement at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
13. What is the name of the process when the oceanic crust sinks under
the continental crust, as seen in the image to the right?
a. Convection
b. Subduction
c. Sea floor spreading
d. Superposition
14. During subduction, why does the oceanic crust sink below the continental crust?
a. Oceanic crust is more dense
b. Oceanic crust is colder and older
c. Oceanic crust is younger and less dense
d. Oceanic crust is less dense
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15. According to the map above, what type of plate boundary occurs between the South American Plate and the African
Plate?
a. Transform boundary
b. Divergent boundary
c. Convergent oceanic-continental plate boundary
d. Convergent oceanic-oceanic plate boundary
16. Hot spots are BEST described by which of the answer choices below?
a. A weak spot in the mantle
b. An area where magma rises and melts the crust above it
c. A plume of magma that stays in one place as the plate above it moves
d. All of the above
Pangaea/Continental Drift
17. The theory that all continents were once connected and are slowly moving apart is called…
a. Floating continents
b. Pangaea
c. Continental drift
d. Continental shift
18. Which is the BEST evidence that two continents were once connected?
a. They have similar types of rocks and fossils.
b. They are in the same stage of succession.
c. They exist along the same line of latitude.
d. They have the same climate today.
19. A scientist finds a fossil of the same organism in both India and Africa. These fossils provide evidence for which
scientific theory below.
a. Adaptation
b. Continental drift
c. Climate change
d. Law of superposition
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20. The movement of the two continents as shown in the image to the right is caused
by…
a. Volcanic eruptions
b. Magnetic changes
c. Coastal flooding
d. Tectonic plates
Law of Superposition/Age
21. When something causes layers of rock to shift and no longer look normal, it makes it difficult to determine its age.
What is this called?
a. Unconformity
b. Fossil
c. Intrusion
d. Ice core
22. Which of the following is an example of relative age?
a. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old.
b. The fossil is 1 million years old.
c. The fossil of the shark is older than the fossil of the dog.
d. Ms. Sarnelli is 57 years old, and Mr. Smith is 29.
23. The Law of Superposition states…
a. The deeper into Earth you dig, the younger the material gets
b. The deeper into Earth you dig, the older the material gets
c. No matter what layer of the Erath, everything is the same age
d. The material in the mantle is the oldest
24. Which sequence of rocks is arranged from youngest to oldest?
a. A, B, C, G
b. F, G, E, C
c. G, A, F, E
d. A, E, D, B
25. Letter A represents which type of unconformity?
a. overturning
b. igneous intrusion
c. fault
d. nonconformity
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26. The picture below shows layers of sedimentary rock. According to the picture, which of the following statements is
TRUE?
a. Fossil 4 is older than fossil 1.
b. Fossil 3 is the oldest fossil.
c. Fossil 5 is older than fossil 3.
d. Fossils 2 and 5 are the same age.
27. The Law of Uniformitarianism states…
a. The Earth never changes
b. The Earth is an always changing place
c. Earth has stopped changing since humans arrived
d. The Earth only changes every 1 billion years
28. Which of the following can scientists use as to learn about the climate of the past?
a. Ice cores
b. Rocks
c. Fossils
d. All of the above
29. How old is Earth?
a. 1 million years old
b. 1 billion years old
c. 4.6 million years old
d. 4.6 billion years old
30. According to the tree ring image, which of the following rings
shows evidence of a good year for growth with enough rainfall
and sunlight?
a. Ring 6
b. Ring 10
c. Ring 8
d. Ring 14
31. Which statement below is true about dating techniques?
a. Both carbon dating and radioactive dating can be used on everything
b. Radioactive dating can be used only on things that were once alive
c. Carbon dating can be used on only things that were once alive
d. Radioactive dating can only be used if the sample is less than 60,000 years old
32. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years. If you have a sample of 180 grams, how much will be left after 17,100
years?
a. 90 grams
b. 45 grams
c. 22.5 grams
d. 11.25 grams
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33. Looking at the graph below, what can you approximate the half-life of Strontium-90 to be?
a.
b.
c.
d.
27 years
54 years
81 years
125 years
Geologic Time Scale
34. How is the Geologic Time Scale divided?
a. Into equal time segments
b. Before dinosaurs and after dinosaurs
c. When catastrophic events occurred
d. Before humans and after humans
35. Which of the following statements best summarizes the history of life on Earth?
a. Living organisms on Earth have become increasingly complex over time
b. Earth has been populated by living organisms for most of its history
c. The end of each Era saw an extinction of all life on the planet
d. Ocean creatures like jelly fish were the very first living things on the planet
36. The first 3 Eons of time are combined together and referred to simply as the ________________ Time.
a. Ancient
b. Phanerozoic
c. Cenozoic
d. Precambrian
37. The most common theories for the mass extinction occurring at the end of both the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras
are…
a. A great starving time
b. Meteor strikes
c. Ice ages
d. A major flood covering all the land
MAKE SURE YOU CAN ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
38. What is the answer to the BIG QUESTION: “How old is Earth, and how do we know?”
39. Explain how scientists were able to reconstruct the Geologic Time Scale.
40. Explain why fossils are found only in sedimentary rock layers.
41. Explain why Earth is not getting any larger over time if crust is being created at divergent boundaries.
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