Unit 5-7 Mastery

Imagine Rohan and Avery are planning a fun day at the beach. Besides enjoying delicious seafood and surfing the waves, in what other cool ways do humans rely on the vast oceans? Let's dive in with Jackson to explore!

• Oxygen production from phytoplankton

• Weather regulation due to coastal water temperature

• Transportation

• Relief from hurricanes and tornadoes

Answer explanation

Humans rely on the vast oceans for oxygen production from phytoplankton, weather regulation due to coastal water temperature, and transportation.

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Imagine diving into the vibrant world of coral reefs with Elijah, Abigail, and Henry. Recently, they've noticed a worrying decline in the bustling life that usually thrives here. Scientists are scratching their heads, but a popular theory points to global warming. It seems the rising temperatures are too hot to handle for some of the reef's tiniest inhabitants, causing a domino effect that threatens everyone in this underwater community. Now, our trio is on a mission to find out which action WON'T help save the day for the coral reefs.

• create artificial coral reefs in cooler waters

• limit fishing around the reefs

• ban the placing of anchors in the reefs

• ban cities from discarding sewage into coral reef areas

Answer explanation

Creating artificial coral reefs in cooler waters won't help save the day for the coral reefs because it does not address the root cause of global warming affecting the current reefs.

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Imagine Kai, David, and Avery are on an adventure and they come across an erupting volcano! Kai wonders, how did this magnificent volcano come to be? It could have formed and erupted when —

• less dense oceanic crust was forced under denser continental crust, causing the oceanic crust to heat up, melt, and flow upward to relieve pressure.

• denser oceanic crust was forced under less dense continental crust, causing the continental crust to heat up, melt, and flow upward to relieve pressure.

• two equally dense tectonic plates collided and both pushed upward, causing friction that heated up minerals between the two rising plates.

• two equally dense tectonic plates separated and allowed hot minerals from Earth's crust to flow upward and out of the opening that formed between the two plates.

Answer explanation

When the less dense oceanic crust was forced under denser continental crust, it pushes into the molten part of the mantle and forces the magma upwards to relieve pressure.

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Imagine David, Benjamin, and Daniel are on an adventure in Hawaii. They're curious about how these beautiful islands came into existence. The Hawaiian islands were formed in this geological hotspot because —

• tectonic plates shifted over time, allowing lava to reach Earth's surface and produce volcanoes. It's like the Earth playing a slow game of building blocks!

• tectonic plates shifted over time, creating ocean basins that lava filled until it created volcanoes. Think of it as the Earth's way of filling up a giant bathtub!

• a divergent plate boundary, known for frequent volcanic activity, provided the magma needed to form new crust material. It's as if the Earth is constantly renovating its surface!

• a subduction plate boundary, known for frequent volcanic activity, provided the magma needed to form new crust material. Imagine the Earth gobbling up one plate under another and then burping out a volcano!

Answer explanation

The Hawaiian Islands were formed by such a hot spot occurring in the middle of the Pacific Plate. While the hot spot itself is fixed, the plate is moving. So, as the plate moved over the hot spot, the string of islands that make up the Hawaiian Island chain were formed.

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Imagine Benjamin and Arjun are on a thrilling underwater adventure, exploring the vast and mysterious sea floor. Suddenly, they stumble upon the formation of an ocean basin right before their eyes! What incredible process are they witnessing that forms an ocean basin?

• Two crustal plates moving apart

• Two crustal plates freezing

• Two crustal plates melting

• Two crustal plates colliding

Answer explanation

A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth's mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust.

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Alright, super sleuths William, Maya, and Benjamin! It's time for a two-part detective mission. First up, Part A: Uncover the last piece of evidence that supported the plate tectonic theory. Ready, set, investigate!

• The continents fit together like a puzzle

• Mountain ranges lined up across oceans

• Fossils were discovered that connected continents together

• The ocean floor was spreading and new crust was filling in the spaces

Answer explanation

Alfred Wegener noted evidence of a "supercontinent" which eventually moved to form the continents we know today. Fossils of similar organisms across widely disparate continents encouraged the revolutionary theory of continental drift.

Today, Earth scientists accept seafloor spreading as an integral part of plate tectonics. As mantle rock convects upward, the decreasing pressure will cause it to melt. Then, that melt will percolate up into the spreading center, and some of it will erupt at the surface. Bathed by ocean water, the lava cools, and you have new seafloor.

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Imagine you're on a thrilling adventure back in the early twentieth century with Oliver, David, and Elijah. As budding geologists and meteorologists, you're piecing together the groundbreaking theory of plate tectonics. Amidst your discoveries, which piece of evidence made you scratch your head, realizing it didn't quite fit the puzzle that Earth's crust plates were on the move?

• Stumbling upon similar fossils in completely different regions of the world

• Finding matching rock and mountain formations that seemed to tell a story of unity

• Observing land features shaped by sand and erosion, which seemed out of place

• Noticing land features created by glaciers on each continent, hinting at a chilly past

Answer explanation

The correct choice is observing land features shaped by sand and erosion, which seemed out of place, as it contradicts the idea of Earth's crust plates moving.

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Imagine Anika, Maya, and Rohan are on a thrilling adventure, diving deep into Earth's mysteries after the scientific community embraced Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift. Their quest leads them to uncover secrets that propel the development of the theory of plate tectonics. They become super sleuths in understanding how Earth's plates dance by –

• unraveling the mystery that there are different types of boundaries where plates meet.

• believing that all plates are born from volcanoes and meet their end in earthquakes.

• discovering that Earth is home to only three giant plates.

• concluding that plate boundaries are just a myth.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is unraveling the mystery that there are different types of boundaries where plates meet, as Anika, Maya, and Rohan discover various plate boundaries during their adventure.

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Imagine Anika and Rohan are in a science museum, staring at a fascinating exhibit. The exhibit shows tiny particles arranged in a beautiful geometric pattern, all of them dancing in place. What phase is this mesmerizing substance in?

• gas phase.

• solid phase.

• liquid phase.

• plasma phase.

Answer explanation

The mesmerizing substance in the exhibit is in the solid phase, as the tiny particles are arranged in a geometric pattern and not moving freely like in a gas or liquid phase.

Imagine Emma, Abigail, and Benjamin are observing a snowflake under a microscope in their science class. They're curious about the behavior of H₂O molecules in this solid phase. Which statement best describes these molecules?

• They move slowly in straight lines.

• They move rapidly in straight lines.

• They are arranged in a regular geometric pattern.

• They are arranged in a random nongeometric pattern.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is that H₂O molecules in a snowflake are arranged in a regular geometric pattern, not moving in straight lines.