Earth's Features and Processes

Farmers in a hilly region plant grass and trees along the slopes of their land.
Why is this a good method to prevent soil erosion?

• Plants slow down lava flow

• Roots help hold the soil in place

• Plants turn sediment into fossils

A student finds a rock that formed from cooled lava. It has tiny crystals and looks glassy.
Which type of rock did the student most likely find?

• Igneous

• Sedimentary

• Metamorphic

Over millions of years, layers of sediment built up on the ocean floor. Pressed together, they formed rocks with visible fossils of fish and shells.
What kind of rock is this most likely to be?

• Igneous

• Sedimentary

• Metamorphic

A geologist observes two volcanoes. Volcano A has gentle slopes and flows of thin, runny lava. Volcano B has steep slopes and erupts explosively with thick lava.
Which statement best describes Volcano A?

• Volcano A is a cone volcano.

• Volcano A is a shield volcano.

• Volcano A forms from ash and rocks only.

• Volcano A has no lava involved.

Fossils of sea animals are found in rock layers high in the mountains.
What does this evidence most likely suggest?

• Sea animals once lived in the mountains.

• Volcanic eruptions brought the animals there.

• The area was once underwater.

• The fossils were placed there by humans.

A fossil of a fern plant is found in a desert. Ferns usually grow in wet areas.
What can scientists conclude from this discovery?

• The desert was once a rainforest or wetland.

• Ferns used to be desert plants.

• Ferns can now grow in dry places.

• Wind carried the fern fossil to the desert.

A group of students visited a beach and noticed the shoreline had changed since last year. Some trees had fallen into the ocean.
Which process most likely caused this change?

• Erosion from water and wind
  

• Formation of igneous rocks

• Earthquake shifting the land