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Semester 1 Exam Study Guide Key

Scientific Method:

  1. Steps of the scientific method

State the question, collect info, form hypothesis, test, record data, draw conclusion

  1. Variables: identify controls, independent and dependent

Controls- do not change, ind-changed by the scientist, dep-changes in response to independent variable

Measurement:

  1. Identify science tools (meter stick/ruler, graduated cylinder, balance)

Graduated Cylinder- Volume

Meter stick/ruler- length

Balance- mass

  1. List the 3 units for each type of measurement

Length: Meters, cm, mm – Volume: Liters, mL – Mass: Grams, kg, mg

  1. Define/describe mass, volume, length, density

Mass- amount of material in an object. Volume-amount of space object takes up. Length- the distance from one point to another. Density-mass per unit volume.

Earth’s interior:

  1. Identify the layers of the earth and label (#’s go clockwise)

Crust(2), Mantle(3), Core(4), Asthenosphere(5), Lithosphere(1)

  1. Compare and contrast oceanic and continental crust

Oceanic-basalt, more dense, thinner. Cont-granite, less dense, thicker

  1. What is a seismic wave?

Energy released by an earthquake that travels through the earth

  1. What is a seismograph?

Tool used to measure the amount of energy released by an earthquake

  1. Explain what seismic waves tell us about Earth’s interior

Speed up in more dense substances and slow down in less dense. P waves can travel through the core, but they bend, S waves are blocked by the liquid core. This creates a Shadow Zone.

Earthquakes/Volcanoes:

  1. Know the parts of an earthquake (fault, epicenter, focus)

Fault-plane where the rock breaks. Epicenter-point above the focus on Earth’s surface. Focus-point within earth where the earthquake takes place

  1. Identify the 3 types of seismic waves and how they move

P-Waves move back and forth. S-Waves move at right angles to direction. Surface Waves move in a side-to-side swaying motion.

  1. Which waves can go through liquids or solids?

P Waves

  1. Explain the Ring of Fire.

Plate boundaries around the Pacific Ocean where there are many volcanoes and earthquakes

  1. What is a hot spot? Give an example.

Hot spot is an area of the mantle which is hotter than the surrounding areas, causes magma to rise up through crust – Hawaii

Continental Drift:

  1. Whose idea was it?

Wegener

  1. What is the idea of continental drift?

Continents are moving across the Earth’s surface.

  1. What was the name of the large landmass when continents were joined together?

Pangaea

Plate Tectonics:

  1. What does the theory explain?

How plates move

  1. What are the convection currents?

Currents within the mantle which move around when heated and cooled

  1. Where do convection currents take place inside the Earth and which layer of the Earth produces the heat that moves them? Asthenosphere, Heat comes from core
  2. Heat rises in the mantle because it is __LESS__ dense and sinks because it’s MORE dense
  3. What do we call the large sections of the Earth’s crust? Know that they are part of the lithosphere which includes oceanic and continental crust. Plates
  4. What is a plate boundary? Know the 3 types (convergent, divergent, transform)

Place where plates meet; Convergent- coming together. Divergent- moving apart. Transform-side by side

  1. Geologic activities such as mountains are formed at convergent boundaries. Earthquakes are formed at all boundary types, and volcanoes occur along divergent and convergent boundaries.
  2. Based on the following boundaries, list if lithosphere (crust) is created, destroyed, or neither:

Convergent- destroyed, neither. Divergent- created. Transform- neither.

Sea Floor Spreading:

  1. Explain what happens during this process.

Plates move apart under the ocean floor

  1. What type of boundary does it occur along? Why?

Divergent. Plates are moving apart due to convection currents

  1. Explain if crust is created, destroyed, or neither during this process.

Created

  1. Explain why oceanic crust sinks beneath continental crust.

It is more dense

  1. If plates are spreading apart, why doesn’t the Earth continue to get larger and larger?

It is subducted/ destroyed on the other side of the Earth.

Natural Resources:

  1. What is a natural resource?

Resources which are created naturally by the Earth.

  1. Difference between renewable and non-renewable resources; examples of each

Renewable: Within a lifetime it can be recreated.

Nonrenewable: Fossil Fuels, Renewable: Solar Energy

  1. What is an ore, mineral, fossil fuel

Ore: Can be mined for a profit.

Mineral: Non-living, solid materials found in nature.

Fossil Fuel: From living things and can be used for energy.

  1. 3 types of fossil fuels: Coal, Oil and Natural Gas. Coal is formed from buried plants, oil is formed from buried, tiny marine plants and animals (plankton).

Minerals:

  1. Characteristics of a mineral (be able to define each)

Non-organic, solid, crystalline structure, hardness, luster, transparency, color, streak, etc.

  1. List the different tests used to identify a mineral and label them as physical or chemical (be able to explain each).

Phy: Crystals, Cleavage/Fracture, color, Streak, luster, hardness, transparency.

Chem: Fluorescence, reaction to acid, and ability to burn.

  1. What is the Moh’s hardness scale

Determine hardness by scratching one mineral against another.

Rocks:

  1. 3 types of rock

Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and igneous.

  1. 3 ways to classify a rock

What it’s made of, how it is formed, and crystal size.

  1. How does igneous rock form? Give 2-3 examples.

Cooling magma/lava. Granite, Kimberlite, obsidian

  1. Contrast the two main types of igneous rock (intrusive vs. extrusive).

Int: Forms inside the Earth. Ext: Forms outside of the Earth.

  1. How does metamorphic rock form? Examples

Heat and Pressure. Gneiss, marble, garnet schist

  1. Constrast the two main types of metamorphic rock (foliated vs. non-foliated)

Foliated: Bands Non: No bands, tiny crystals.

  1. How does sedimentary rock form? Examples

Broken pieces compacted together. Conglomerate, sandstone, travertine.

  1. What is the rock cycle?

Shows how a rock can change from one type to another.

Fossils:

  1. What is a fossil? Remains or traces of prehistoric organisms.
  2. List the main types of fossils and how they form

Trace-footprint, cast- copy of shape, mold- cavity left, permineralized/ petrified-water and minerals flowing through mold, Preserved/ original remains- stuck in ice/ amber/ tar, carbon- stamp of carbon on rock.

  1. What type of rock do most fossils form in?

Sedimentary

  1. Which fossil provides clues about the activities of an organism?

Trace

  1. What is the difference between a mold and cast fossil?

A mold is the empty cavity. A cast is the copy of the shape of the organism.

  1. What is an index fossil?

A fossil used for dating because it lived for a short time, it was abundant, and geographically widespread.

  1. Contrast relative dating v. absolute (carbon) dating.

Relative Age / Absolute Age
Age in comparison to the age of other things. / The number of years since the rock or organism formed.
METHOD: Uses principle of superposition. / METHOD: Uses amount of Carbon (in once-living things).

Adaptations

  1. Give 4 examples of structural adaptations of animals.

Warning coloration, mimicry, protective coloration, and body parts.

  1. Give 4 examples of behavioral adaptations of animals.

Building a nest, building a dam, playing dead, and migration.

  1. How does natural selection lead to evolution?

The organisms that are better suited to the environment will survive and reproduce.

  1. What defines the members of a species?

Similar organisms which are able to reproduce.

  1. List 1 natural and one human cause of an extinction of a species? ___N:climate change, natural disasters__ ___H:deforestation, pollution, hunting_.
  2. An organisms coloring or body parts are examples of _structural_ adaptations.
  1. A moth caterpillar looks like a snake to protect itself is an example of __mimicry__ adaptations.
  1. A snake showing it is poisonous by exhibiting bright red and yellow coloring is an example of __warning coloration___ adaptations.