17.

2 Final Exam Study Guide:

PUT YOUR ANSWERS IN RED
This study guide is a TOOL for you to use as you take your exam. All the information you need to
answer these questions is located in the power points. This study guide will not be graded for
accuracy. It is up to you to find the correct answers!
Good luck on your exam!!

MODULE ONE: Scientific Method

1. What is the purpose of the control group in an experiment? It is the group used in
comparison to the experimental group.
2. Which of the following is NOT one of the four main branches of Earth Science? Geology,
Oceanography, Hydrology, Astronomy, Astrology
3. Would quantitative or qualitative be a good measurement that can be recorded in a table or
chart? Quantitative because it is measurable
4. Give a definition of all the following terms:
Observations: a problem or question that you notice and wonder about
Research: look up necessary background information before experimenting

Hypothesis: an educated and testable statement that tries to explain the observation
Materials: the items and conditions that will be required to conduct the experiment
Experimental Procedure: the process that will allow or the hypothesis to be
scientifically tested
Independent variable: the single condition
Dependent variable: the condition that changes or responds to the independent
variable
Control: the group in a given experiment in which the independent variable is not
changed
Constant: all conditions within an experiment that are not changed
Data: the information that is recorded, organized, analyzed as a result of a scientific
investigation
Conclusion: a statement that is made following the investigation that supports or
contradicts the hypothesis.

Publish: the process of making your investigation available to other scientists to

review

Replicate: the process by which other scientists attempt to reproduce your results to
validate or undermine your feelings

MODULE TWO: Human Impact on the Lithosphere. Highlight the correct answer

5. Which of the following is not an impact that humans have on the lithosphere?
Use of Fossil Fuels
Pollution (Smog)
Soil Pollution
Mining,
earthquakes
6. Which one of these is NOT an impact of using fossil fuels?
Air pollution
Increase in greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide
Increase in the heating of the Earth's surface due to more greenhouse gases being
emitted
Radioactive decay of nuclear waste

7. Which one of the following is NOT an alternative to fossil fuels?

Solar
Wind
Geothermal
Biomass
Water
Uranium
Hydrogen
Gasoline
8. Decomposition of wastes ultimately releases greenhouse gases such as methane, which
increases Earth's temperature causing global warming to occur. How can this be avoided?

Reduce our wastes production on the Earths Lithosphere

9. Which of the following is NOT a way in which humans can reduce their impacts on the Earth's
Lithosphere?

Practice good energy conservation techniques

Reduce fossil fuel usage
Utilize more forms of alternative energy sources
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Continue to buy plastic water bottles.

MODULE THREE: Processes and Forces of the Lithosphere

10. Frost action, temperature, and organic activity are examples of physical or chemical weathering.
Highlight your answer.

11. What is the definition of a Delta? Large amounts of sediments are deposited at the mouth of a
river
12. List 3 methods of controlling erosion. Terracing, strip cropping or contour farming, drainage
13. Carbonation, plant acids and oxidation are examples of which type of weathering? Chemical
weathering

14. List 3 causes of soil mismanagement? Clearing vegetation, overuse of fertilizers, pollution
15. What is the top layer of the soil horizon called? Organic

16. The type of soil that is produced is dependent on what? Parent rock

MODULE FOUR: Plate Tectonics, Volcanos and Earthquakes

17. List 3 examples of evidence for continental drift. Matching coastlines, fossil evidence, and rock
formations
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

True or false, The Appalachian Mountains have stopped growing.

True of false, Convergent boundaries move apart.
Name the layers of the Earth from inner to outer. Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust
What is the name of a famous composite or strato volcano in the NW US? MT. St. Helens
Folding, fault blocking and volcanos all can form what kind of structures? Mountains
Which layer of the Earths interior contains the force to move tectonic plates? Mantle
The lithosphere is composed of which two layers? Crust and upper mantle
Small earthquakes that precede an earthquake are called? Aftershocks

MODULE 5: Non-Renewable Energy

26. Infrastructures already in place, cheap, and currently abundant. These are all reasons why we
continue to use fossil fuels as our source of electricity.
27. What is the name of a substance that often turns into coal as part of the carbon cycle? Hint: it is
also the first stage of coal formation. Peat
28. Oil shale produces what energy source? Kerogen
29. Fly ash, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are two pollutants that come from what activity?
30. Methane makes up the bulk of which fossil fuel? Natural gas
31. Acid mine drainage, emissions of more greenhouse gases than the country of Denmark, and
more habitat destruction than mountain top removal are hazards of which type of mining? Surface
or subsurface?
32. What is the fuel for nuclear fission? Uranium
33. Which fossil fuel is the cleanest burning? Nuclear energy
MODULE 6: Renewable Energy
34. Solar panels collecting the suns energy and converting it into electrical energy is an example of
what? Active or Passive Solar Energy?
35. Using sunlight to heat a house is an example of which type of solar energy? Active or Passive?
36. Why is solar energy not in widespread use? It is expensive to set up
37. The best region for solar energy in the US would be which of the following? Northwest, Northeast,
Southeast or Southwest?
38. What is the fuel used in fuel cells for cars? Hydrogen
39. Allows us to phase in renewable energy, slows global warming, lowers environmental damage,
decreases our dependency on oil; these are all good reasons why we should do what? Use
renewable energy
40. Water falling by gravity turns turbines, which creates electricity, is an example of which type of

renewable energy? Hydroelectric

41. Fermentation of plants produces what type of fuel? Biomass
MODULE 7: Geo Time and NC Geo History
42. What is the largest time span on the geological time scale? Eon
43. According to fossil records, life emerged from which habitat? Shallow seas

44. How long ago did dinosaurs disappear? 65 million years

MODULE 8: Midterm
MODULE 9: Oceans and Beaches
45. Give a definition of the following:
Rip Current: Cuts an opening in a sandbar and moves straight out into the ocean
Long Shore Current: moving parallel to the shore carrying large amounts of sand
Short Distance Current: surface currents that travel over short distances
Deep Current: caused by differences in water densities
46. Sea walls, channel dredging, and dune construction are ways that humans try to stop beach
erosion
47. What are two factors that cause ocean currents? Water density and wind patterns
48. What are two factors that affect water density? Salinity and temperature
49. Which layer of ocean water has the greatest change in temperature? The thermocline layer
50. What is upwelling? When nutrient rich cold water rises to the surface
51. Which phenomenon of ocean currents changes weather patterns around the Earth? El Nino
MODULE 10: Water Resources and Water Quality
52. Fresh water is limited on Earth. Name 3 areas where fresh water is found: rivers, laes, icebergs,
underground in aquifers
53. Explain the zone of aeration in an aquifer. All pores are filled with air
54. What makes an artesian well special? The water is under pressure in an artesian well. These
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.

wells are usually very deep and the water is cold

How much of the Earths surface is covered by water? 97%
Condensation, precipitation, evapotranspiration are all parts of which cycle? The water cycle
Which zone of an aquifer is completely filled with water? Zone of saturation
Conservation and alternative methods of obtaining fresh water are ways we can protect what?
Our drinking water supply
What are the layers of an aquifer from bottom to top? Zone of saturation, water table, zone of
aeration

MODULE 11: Atmosphere and Weather Systems

60.
61.
62.
63.
64.

Which is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere? Nitrogen

UV radiation is trapped by which gas in the stratosphere? Ozone gas
Animal respiration requires which type of gas? Oxygen
Animal respiration releases which type of gas as a byproduct? Carbon dioxide
How is acid rain formed? Acid rain forms as gases react with water vapor in the atmosphere
and form acids which return to earths surface in the form of precipitation

65. True or False. Atmospheric pressure decreases as altitude increases.

66. Why do winds blow from the ocean to land during the day? Atmospheric pressure decreases as

altitude increases
MODULE 12: Climate and Biomes

67. What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors? Biotic are living things in an
ecosystem abiotic are nonliving things in an environment
68. Every living thing in an ecosystem is important because all living things play a role in an

ecosystem no matter how big or how small. True or false?

69. Vegetation and climate are the two main factors that determine a biome. True or false?
70. Which major biome is NC in? temperate forest
71. The interaction of organisms with their environment is the best definition of what? Ecosystem
72. What is it that has no natural predators and takes over the habitats of native species? Invasive

species
73. Coastal plains, mountains and piedmont make up NC biomes. Which one is the largest? Coastal
plains
MODULE 13: Air Pollution and Global Change

74. Name 3 types of indoor air pollution. Carbon monoxide, pet dander, radon
75. Clay and plastic are used as liners in which waste disposal? Landfills
76. When and what caused the barrier islands to form? Formed by receding glaciers 18,000 years
ago
77. True or False: Global warming is causing problems with the weather.
78. What is the difference between stratospheric ozone and ground level ozone? Ground level
ozone is dangerous and is a caused of photochemical smog. Stratospheric ozone protects
us form UV radiation
MODULE 14: Meteorology
79.
80.
81.
82.

Rotation is a major indication of which type of weather phenomenon? Tornado

True or False: Thunderstorms and tornados are associated with warm fronts.
True or False: The eye wall of a hurricane is the most dangerous.
What are the 4 stages of hurricane development? Tropical wave, tropical depression, tropical
storm, hurricane.

83. Moist and sinking air is associated with a low pressure system. Would the probability of
84.
85.
86.
87.

precipitation be high or low?

Describe the Coriolis Effect. Earths rotation makes global winds seem to curve.
Describe a front. The boundary between a mass of warm air and a mass of cold air
What is the first step of a tornado formation? wind traveling in two different directions
Describe convection. Hot air rising in two different directions

MODULE 15: Planetary Motion

88. Which scientist determined the nature of the forces that keep the planets in their orbits? Kepler
nd

89. What is Keplers 2 law? Each planet revolves so than an imaginary line connecting it to the

sun sweeps over equal areas in equal rime intervals

90. What is the shape of an orbit? Elliptical
91. What is the definition of precession? Earths axis slowly but continuously points in different
directions in a path called precession

92. What causes seasons? The tilt of the Earths axis as it circles the sun
MODULE 16: The Suns Energy
93. The Sun produces energy through nuclear fusion or fission?
94. What is the term used to describe how the Sun heats the Earth? Radiation
95. Describe the greenhouse effect. The process by which the suns energy is absorbed by the
Earth and re-radiated at longer wavelength.