Critical Resources – Middle School
1. Which crop would be most affected by the disappearance of pollinators?
A. soybeans
B. corn
C. wheat
D. rice
2. Which federal agency regulates and protects public drinking water systems?
A. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
B. US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
C. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
D. Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
3. Which federal agency regulates and protects bottled drinking water?
A. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
B. US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
C. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
D. Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
4. Which federal agency helps out in an emergency?
A. Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
B. US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
C. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
D. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
5. What is a mixture of water, aggregate and cement that can be molded into hard solids of different shapes?
A. concrete
B. cement
C. bricks
D. lumber
6. What is limestone that has been converted to calcium oxide by heating, and then been ground fine?
A. cement
B. gravel
C. bricks
D. concrete
7. What is clay soil mixed with other materials, molded into blocks and then fire-hardened or air dried?
A. bricks
B. asphalt
C. gravel
D. cement
Correct Answer - A
Critical Resources – Middle School
8. What is a semi-solid form of petrolum used for surfacing roads?
A. asphalt
B. gravel
C. cement
D. concrete
9. What is wood that has been cut into beams, planks or studs?
A. lumber
B. wood chips
C. cord wood
D. board feet
10. What is it when overgrazing and/or drought converts arable land to desert?
A. desertification
B. deforestation
C. overgrazing
D. erosion
11. What is it when all the trees in a forest or woodland are removed and not replanted?
A. deforestation
B. overgrazing
C. salinization
D. erosion
12. What is it when cattle, goats or other livestock eat up most or all of the plants in an area?
A. overgrazing
B. erosion
C. deforestation
D. desertification
13. What is land capable of being plowed and of growing crops?
A. arable land
B. fragile land
C. depleted soil
D. a soil farm
14. What is it when continued irrigation leaves salty minerals in the soil making it hard for plants to grow?
A. salinization
B. desertification
C. deforestation
D. erosion
Correct Answer - A
Critical Resources – Middle School
15. What is it when the movement of wind or water carries away the upper layers of soil?
A. erosion
B. salinization
C. desertification
D. overgrazing
16. What is critical for acting as a solvent for metabolic processes in organisms?
A. water
B. calories
C. oxygen
D. calcium
17. How long can a human being last without water - on average?
A. about 3 days
B. about 1 day
C. about 10 days
D. a month
18. What is critical for providing building blocks for enzymes needed for metabolism?
A. proteins
B. water
C. iron
D. calcium
19. What is kwashiorkor?
A. protein malnutrition
B. starvation
C. a vitamin D deficiency
D. a niacin deficiency
20. What nutrient deficiency disease has the symptoms of muscle wasting, enlarged abdomen and reddish hair?
A. kwashiorkor
B. pellagra
C. rickets
D. starvation
21. What nutrient deficiency disease has the symptoms of rash, sores, swollen mouth, red tongue, fatigue and memory
loss?
A. pellagra
B. rickets
C. starvation
D. kwashiorkor
Correct Answer - A
Critical Resources – Middle School
22. What nutrient deficiency disease has the symptoms of bowed legs or knock-knees, bone tenderness and easily
broken bones?
A. rickets
B. starvation
C. kwashiorkor
D. pellagra
23. What nutrient deficiency causes wasting and fatigue?
A. starvation
B. kwashiorkor
C. pellagra
D. rickets
24. What is it when food is scarce over a wide region?
A. famine
B. a food shortage
C. crop failure
D. starvation
25. What are the structures and services a society uses to enable the movement of people, energy and materials
A. infrastructure
B. parking lots
C. buildings
D. a road
26. How many upright studs do you need to frame the walls of a house 32' x 32'? Use this formula: number of studs =
((wall length in feet x 12") / 16") x 4 walls.
A. 96
B. 32
C. 384
D. 24
27. How many yards of concrete would you need for a foundation slab 1' thick x 32 ' wide x 32' long? Use this formula:
number of yards = (thickness x width x length) / 27.
A. about 38
B. about 32
C. about 1024
D. about 27
28. It takes about 10 studs per 10 feet of wall to frame the wall of a house. What is the minimum number of trees needed
to frame the walls of a house 50 feet by 40 feet if the tree could yield 50 studs?
A. 4
B. 10
C. 200
D. 20
Correct Answer - A
Critical Resources – Middle School
29. It takes about 1 ton of asphalt to cover 1 foot of a four lane highway. How many tons would be needed for a mile of
highway?
A. 5,280 tons
B. 1 ton
C. 10,560 tons
D. 2000 tons
30. Who manages forests for different timber production, wildlife and wateshed protection?
A. foresters
B. agronomists
C. civil engineers
D. architects
31. Who improves crops through breeding, biotechnology and changing cultural practices?
A. agronomists
B. civil engineers
C. architects
D. foresters
32. Who designs and builds roads, bridges, and sewers?
A. civil engineers
B. architects
C. foresters
D. agronomists
33. Who designs buildings?
A. architects
B. foresters
C. agronomists
D. civil engineers
34. Which of these global agencies is concerned with eradicating hunger, eliminating poverty and the sustainable
mangement and use of natural resources
A. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
B. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC)
C. United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
D. Habitat for Humanity
Correct Answer - A