8th Grade Common Quiz 3 Review

Which of these conditions would MOST likely be shown in the fossil record as a reason for mass extinctions?

• increased competition for resources

• falling sea levels and global cooling

• organisms with beneficial traits

• increased solar activity

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

A large number of species on Earth became extinct during a short time period about 65 million years ago. Based on this pattern of extinction, which is the MOST likely cause?

• gradual climate change

• continued climate stability

• sudden global climate change

• gradual ecosystem succession

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Some scientists believe that the mass extinction of dinosaurs was caused by the impact of a large meteorite on Earth. This impact would have caused a darkening of the sky due to dust blown into the upper atmosphere. This darkening would have reduced the sizes of some ecosystems because of

• longer seasons.
  

• accelerated erosion.
  

• reduced photosynthesis.

• increased number of hurricanes.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Which of these do scientists offer as the MOST recent explanation as to why many plants and animals died out at the end of the Mesozoic era?

• worldwide disease
  

• global mountain building
  

• rise of mammals that preyed upon plants and animals

• impact of an asteroid created dust that blocked the sunlight

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

Which of these had the greatest impact on the current shape of Nevada’s Basin and Range landscape?

• tidal forces

• wind erosion

• plate tectonics

• global warming

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Which of the following is the MOST recent evidence of plate tectonics?

• volcanic activity and sea-floor spreading at the mid-ocean ridges
  

• similar fossils found on continents that are now separated by oceans
  

• the observation that the continents of South America and Africa fit together like in a puzzle

• similar rock formations found on different continents that are now separated by oceans

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The principle of uniformitarianism states that most of the landscape of Earth was formed slowly and over a long period of time. Which occurrence of Earth is LEAST supported by this principle?

• soil development

• volcanic eruption

• plate movement

• fossil formation

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Which diagram shows the relative direction of tectonic plate movement that forms rift zones?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Which event MOST likely caused the formation of folded mountain ranges on Earth?

• tectonic plates pulling apart
  

• tectonic plates pushing together
  

• tectonic plates sliding past each other

• tectonic plates breaking into small pieces

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Geologists believe Africa and South America were once much closer to one another. One of their main sources of data is a

• large group of similar plant and animal fossils.
  

• set of seismology readings from deep sea trenches.
  

• set of surveys showing the distribution of island chains.

• group of samples of new oceanic crust from ocean basins.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3