Earth and Space Systems Set 1

From the Piedmont province to the Coastal Plain, the land drops as much as several hundred feet. This drop, which is abrupt in some places and gradual in others, is known as the Fall Line. What feature(s) would rivers exhibit when they cross the Fall Line?

• Waterfalls and rapids

• Sudden increase in water volume

• Significantly higher water temperatures

• Shallow beds and slow currents

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

What powers stars?

• combustion

• fission

• fusion

• radioactivity

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-1

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

Which of these substances plays the most important part in chemical weathering?

• wind

• water

• ice

• frost

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

Which of these describes the area immediately below a water table?

• Zone of aeration

• Capillary zone

• Recharge zone

• Zone of saturation

Based on the drawing above, what is the main reason that Venus would appear brighter at point Q rather than at point R as seen from the Earth?

• The planet is closer to the Earth atpoint Q than at point R.

• More of the visible side of the planetis illuminated at point Q than at point R.

• The planet appears overhead against a dark sky when it is at point Q but not at point R.

• Light from the planet at point Q is lessaffected by the sun's gravity than at point R.

Answer explanation

The reason Venus would appear brighter at point Q rather than point R is the same reason we see a new moon or even a solar eclipse. When the moon is between us and the sun, we don't see any of the light from the sun reflecting off of the moon. Instead, the whole backside of the moon is lit up instead, meaning we can't see it. The same is true for Venus. Since it does not produce its own light and merely reflects it from the sun, Venus will not be as bright when it is directly in between us and the sun. So, at point Q it will seem brighter because we see more of the sun's light reflecting off of it.

NOTE: Unlike the moon, we can still see Venus at point R because it has an atmosphere which can reflect light very well but not perfectly. This makes it more visible than the moon would be, which has no atmosphere to reflect the light.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

The graph shows the outdoor temperature at a certain location during a 24-hour period. What possible occurrence happened at 2:00 P.M.?

• Daylight-savings time

• Eclipse of the moon

• A solar storm

• Thunderstorm passes

Answer explanation

Out of the choices given, the only event that is associated with a drop in temperature is a thunderstorm. During a thunderstorm, the temperature usually goes down on the surface because of a cold front passing by warmer weather. This causes the clouds to get mixed up, which then can turn into a thunderstorm. The other events either have no association with weather or very little.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

NGSS.MS-PS3-4

The two most common ions found in ocean water are -

• chloride and sodium

• potassium and calcium

• phosphate and nitrate

• magnesium and sodium

Answer explanation

Sodium chloride, common table salt, is the most common salt dissolved in the earth's oceans. When sodium chloride dissolved, sodium and chloride ions are formed.

Why is the surface temperature of the oceans more variable than the water near the ocean floor?

• Most energy is exchanged at the surface.

• Most animals live near the surface.

• The water is less dense at the surface.

• The salt concentration is more variable at the surface.

Answer explanation

The ocean is heated mainly by the sun. The surface of the ocean receives the most sunlight while waters deeper than about 100 meters receive no sunlight at all. This makes the temperature of the water near the surface of the ocean more variable than deeper water.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

A light-year measures -

• brightness

• distance

• radiation

• time

Which of the following is an example of chemical weathering?

• Splits in a rock due to tree roots

• Pulverized rock resulting from a landslide

• A rock broken into chunks after being carried by rapidly flowing water

• The dissolving of limestone by acid rain

Answer explanation

Chemical weathering is a process in which rocks are broken down chemically by natural effects such as rain or snow. These processes usually happen when there is pollution or extra chemicals in the precipitation. All of the processes include a change in chemical make up. Therefore, the only correct choice is limestone being dissolved by acid rain. The other answers are purely mechanical weathering, where there is no chemical change.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2