Earth Science Trivia

What are the curves of this river called?

• tributaries

• deltas

• oxbow curves

• meanders

The shape of the arched rocks in this picture is caused by

• Ancient carvings

• Wind weathering and eroding the rock

• River flowing through it

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Which sentence best describes the Earth system?

• It is a very stable, simple system that does not change much over time.

• It is an isolated system that does not gain or lose energy to other systems.

• It is a dynamic system with parts that interact with each other over short and long periods of time.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

Earth rotates on an axis. The diagram shows how the tilt of this axis can shift over a cycle of tens of thousands of years based on gravitational pull from the sun. What change will Earth most likely experience as the axis tilt approaches 24.5º?

• Ocean temperatures will decrease, and land temperatures will decrease.

• Winter temperatures will increase, and summer temperatures will decrease.

• Summer temperatures will increase, and winter temperatures will decrease.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

Select all the correct statements about the conservation of carbon in Earth’s four spheres.

• If the amount of carbon going into the atmosphere is increasing, then the total amount stored in Earth’s other spheres must be decreasing

• If the amount of carbon in the geosphere does not change, then the amount going into the geosphere must equal the amount that goes out of it.

• If the amount of carbon leaving the biosphere equals the amount leaving the hydrosphere, then the amount entering both spheres must be the same.

• If the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and the amount in the hydrosphere both increase one year, then the total amount in the biosphere and the geosphere must decrease.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

What process changes sediments into rock

due to burial, compaction, and cementation?

• Eruption

• Lithification

• metamorphism

• melting and cooling

Does Earth represent an open environmental system or a closed environmental system?

• Earth is a closed environmental system because energy can enter or leave the system but no significant amount of matter can enter or leave the system.

• Earth is a closed environmental system because no significant amount of energy or matter can enter or leave the system.

• Earth is an open environmental system because energy can enter or leave the system even though no significant amount of matter can enter or leave the system.

Which of these is an example of different scales in system interactions?

• A drought in an area causes farmers to need to irrigate their fields.

• A decreased amount of rain results in decreased crop heights in a backyard garden, leading to smaller produce

• The global atmosphere is warmer one winter, leading to a decreased snow pack in a mountain region, leading to a decreased water level of a lake in the region in the spring.

A meteorologist claims that the unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean during an El Niño year affects the number of tornadoes in Alabama. El Niño events occur approximately every 2 to 7 years. The graph show tornado data for Alabama over a number of years. Which statement could the meteorologist use to support the claim?

• There are fewer tornadoes than average in years there is no documented El Niño event.

• There was a documented El Niño in 1982-1983, and the number of tornadoes was above the average the next few years.

• There was a greater-than-average number of tornadoes in 1972 and 1982, so those must have been greater El Niño years.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

The sun and Earth form a system in space in which different factors interact to drive processes. Which answer correctly matches the driving factor of each process?

• heat drives the motion of Earth's orbit and Gravity drives the formation of clouds

• Gravity drives the motion of Earth's orbit and rotation drives the formation of clouds

• rotation drives the motion of Earth's orbit and heat drives the formation of clouds

• Gravity drives the motion of Earth's orbit and heat drives the formation of clouds

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2