Earth Science, Smartbook pt 1

Question 1

Exponential growth rates are more aggressive than
_____ growth rates because they increase by more every passing year and can be difficult to stop or slow down.

Answer 1

Linear

Question 2

Successfully finding or producing food, finding clean water, and making shelter are ways humans ______ to thrive.

Answer 2

Modify the environment

Question 3

What is the ecological footprint?

Answer 3

The amount of land or sea needed to support the human lifestyle.

Question 4

Which two factors were primary in driving the beginning of the environmentalism movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s?

Answer 4

Water and air pollution

Question 5

What are sustainability practices?

Answer 5

Sustainability practices are methods of using resources so that they can be sustained forever.

Question 6

What is geology?

Answer 6

The study of the solid Earth and the processes that shape it

Question 7

What is the scientific method?

Answer 7

A process of evaluating the world

Question 8

Any natural or artificial geologic condition that poses a threat to human life or property is called a geologic _______

Answer 8

Hazard

Question 9

What degree of uncertainty or error do scientific predictions have?

Answer 9

Most scientific predictions have some range of errors which varies depending on the type of process and methods of measurement.

Question 10

If ______, there are more interactions between people and consequently more environmental problems.

Answer 10

Population is increased

Question 11

Over time, societies have used technology to increase food supplies at a(n) ______ rate, which has led to populations growing at a(n) ______ rate.

Answer 11

Exponential; exponential

Question 12

Choose all that are examples of how we practice science in our daily lives.

Answer 12

Taking medicine

Reading scientific reports

Composting household scraps

Creating a new recipe

Question 13

Humans tend to become ______ geologic hazards with large recurrence intervals.

Answer 13

Complacent about

Question 14

When did the environmentalism movement begin in the United States?

Answer 14

1960s

Question 15

How is the relative age of rocks or sediments determined?

Answer 15

The oldest rocks or sediments are found on the bottom layers, and the newest layers are found at the top.

Question 16

What is a geologic hazard?

Answer 16

Any geologic condition that creates a possible risk to human life or property.

Question 17

Scientific predictions or explanations are always very accurate and free of errors.

Answer 17

False

Question 18

Earth’s history shows that the system is ______, and human input has a ______ effect.

Answer 18

Dynamic; noticeable

Question 19

The science of the solid Earth is called

Answer 19

Geology

Question 20

Which of the following may generate environmental risk?

Answer 20

Natural processes or events

Question 21

A(n)
______ risk is the chance that a natural process or event will have negative consequences for a person or for a society.

Answer 21

Environmental or geologic

Question 22

Severely limiting the number of fish that can be caught and the number of trees that can be harvested is an example of what practice?

Answer 22

Sustainable

Question 23

Order these geologic hazards by placing those that cause the most anxiety at the top and those that humans tend to become complacent about at the bottom

Answer 23

Flooding, Earthquakes, and Volcanic Eruptions

Question 24

Superposition is the method used to determine relative
of rocks or sediments.

Answer 24

Age

Question 25

______ are 0.6 to 6 miles in diameter, and they are composed of small rocky fragments embedded in a mass of ice and frozen gases.

Answer 25

Comets

Question 26

Humans have a measurable impact on the planet, and the Earth system responds within a dynamic system.

Answer 26

True

Question 27

Choose all that are characteristics of the Moon’s gravitational field

Answer 27

Acts to minimize the amount of wobble in Earth’s axis, reducing the seasonal extremes experienced on the planet

Strongly influences ocean tides

Question 28

The facts that Mercury and Earth’s moon are heavily cratered and that radiometric dating has shown that Earth, the Moon, and asteroids all solidified at about the same time, are evidence in support of the ________ hypothesis

Answer 28

Nebular

Question 29

All planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun in a ______ direction (as viewed from above) and have regular orbits that are nearly circular. The Sun and most planets, except Venus, spin on their axes in a ______ direction.

Answer 29

Counterclockwise; counterclockwise

Question 30

Choose all of the following planets that are smaller than Earth.

Answer 30

Mars

Venus

Question 31

The major extinction event occurring about 65 million years ago and ending the reign of the dinosaurs is marked in the geologic time scale at the juncture between the ______ and ______ eras.

Answer 31

Mesozoic; Cenozoic

Question 32

Choose all of the following characteristics that are true for comets.

Answer 32

They are composed of small rocky fragments embedded in a mass of ice and frozen gases.

They are 0.6 to 6 miles in diameter.

Question 33

The Moon’s ______ strongly influences ocean tides and acts to minimize the amount of wobble in Earth’s axis, reducing the seasonal extremes experienced on the planet.

Answer 33

Gravitational field

Question 34

Choose all of the following statements that are true regarding our solar system

Answer 34

Most planets and the Sun spin about their axes in a counterclockwise direction.

The planets revolve around the Sun in the same counter-clockwise direction (as viewed from above).

All the planets and their moons lie in the solar plane, a plane that coincides with the Sun’s equator.

Question 35

Rank the following planets by size, with the smallest on the top and the largest on the bottom.

Answer 35

Venus
Earth
Neptune
Jupiter

Question 36

Geologists separate the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras of the geologic time scale at about 65 million years ago because ______.

Answer 36

Animal life worldwide made significant changes at that time, with the dinosaurs going extinct and the mammals taking over as the dominant animal type

Question 37

Choose all that are the possible causes of the mass extinctions on Earth, such as the one that occurred at the end of the Mesozoic era.

Answer 37

A series of large volcanic eruptions

A gamma-ray burst

The movement of continental landmasses

A large meteor impact

Question 38

The ________
provides warmth and generates wave energy, providing visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light on Earth. The _____
influences ocean tides on Earth.

Answer 38

Sun; Moon

Question 39

A large meteor impact, a series of large volcanic eruptions, and/or a gamma-ray burst are all possible causes of _________ on Earth, such as the one that occurred at the end of the Mesozoic era.

Answer 39

Mass extinctions

Question 40

In what way are extremophile bacteria related to the origin of life on Earth?

Answer 40

While Earth was forming, it would have been inhospitable for most of today’s life-forms, but these bacteria could survive under extreme conditions.

Question 41

Habitable zones, or places with ______, are the most likely places to seek out extraterrestrial life because ______.

Answer 41

Liquid water (H2O); all life-forms we know of require liquid water to survive

Question 42

What are the biosignatures that scientists will be looking for in future space missions?

Answer 42

Gases associated with organic life on Earth

Question 43

The ozone layer ______.

Answer 43

Acts as a protective shield for Earth by absorbing much of the incoming ultraviolet radiation

Question 44

Scientists once thought that comet and asteroid impacts no longer posed a risk to life on Earth. They now realize that ______.

Answer 44

Over the last 500 million years, impacts were relatively common, and the resulting environmental changes can lead to mass extinctions