Wetlands are shallow areas covered by water. Wetlands are able to absorb a tremendous amount of water. Wetlands could reduce the effects of which of the following weather hazards?

• floods

• blizzards

• earthquakes

• tornadoes

The image below shows lava flowing from the Krafla volcano in Iceland.

How is a new land feature formed from lava?

• by the constructive process of lava hardening to add new land on top of the ground

• by the destructive process of lava flow carrying sediment away from the volcano by erosion

• by the constructive process of lava depositing sediment to build up the surface of the ground

• by the destructive process of lava weathering rock to carve a new landform in the volcano

Some buildings are designed so that their bases are not directly connected to the ground. Instead, isolation bearings at such a building's base allow it to slightly move relative to the ground it rests on.

Using isolation bearings is one way that engineers protect a building from

• tsunamis

• earthquakes

• flooding

• erosion

Technological advancements, such as the wind vane, barometer, and thermometer were invented to help people forecast the weather. Many other instruments, such as weather satellites and radar, have also been created to help with weather forecasting.

Advances in weather forecasting techniques contribute many important things such as

• the ability to predict storms.

• the ability to make storms change direction.

• the ability to change the weather.

• the ability to prevent storms.

Which of the following would show an example of the changes of the Earth's surface?

• a picture of a car taken last year

• a comparison of a very old map to a new map of the U.S. coastline

• a model of a new house made by an architect

• a drawing of a horse on a cave wall

Clive is an architect and is designing a new elementary school. He is considering ways to design the building to reduce the effects of future tornadoes.

Which of the following is a design feature that could help Clive achieve this goal?

• a series of lightning rods on the building's roof

• wide emergency exits placed on every side of the building

• solid steel fire escapes reaching the ground outside of each upstairs window

• a windowless basement at the building's foundation

What can farmers do to prevent erosion between crops each year?

• Plant trees in the fields when the crops are not growing.

• Plant cover crops to keep the soil in place.

• Leave the fields bare so rain can directly reach the soil.

• Plow the land often to keep the soil loose.

Juanita wants to learn about the way clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. She gets a sturdy wooden box and fills it most of the way with clay. She buries a few hard-boiled eggs in the clay.

Juanita pours water into the box and lets it soak into the clay. She lets the clay dry out, then she carefully removes it from the box one layer at a time. She finds that the egg shells have all been crushed.

If the eggs in Juanita's experiment represent rocks in the real world, her experiment shows how swelling clay can cause

• weathering

• deposition

• frost heaves

• erosion

Which of the following would cause the most soil to erode away?

• having very little rainfall for a year

• planting new trees in a flat area.

• putting heavy rocks over the ground

• pulling out plants and leaving the ground bare

The picture below shows a river that meanders, or flows in a pattern shaped like an "s."

What causes a river to meander?

• Fish carry soil and rock from one side of the river to the other.

• One side of the river receives more sunshine than the other.

• When water evaporates from the river, it takes soil from one river bank with it.

• Flowing water erodes soil from one river bank and deposits soil onto the other.