Study Guide for Semester Test 1
Chapter 1










How people change the world around them to meet their needs or to solve practical problems is called
technology
A model that imitates something in the real world is called a simulation
Scientists who study weather and climate are called meteorologists
Over millions of years, mountains and other features on Earth’s surface are worn away by destructive forces
An oceanographer would be most likely to study the hydrosphere
In an experiment, the one variable that is purposely changed to test a hypothesis is called the manipulated
variable
A factor that can change in an experiment is called a variable
A well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental results is a scientific theory
You are inferring when you explain or interpret the things you observe
A possible explanation for a set of observations or answers to a scientific question is a hypothesis
Chapter 2










On a topographic map, contour lines connects points of equal elevation
A landform made up of flat or gently rolling land with low relief is a plain
A hemisphere is one half of the sphere that makes up Earth’s surface
An index contour can be used to find the elevation of a feature on a topographic map
The topography of an area depends on each of the following except pixels
Elevation is often a main difference between a coastal plain and an interior plain
A key is a list of all a map’s symbols
The prime meridian runs through Greenwich, England
The imaginary line that circles Earth halfway between the poles is called the equator
A map’s scale relates distance on a map to a distance on Earth’s surface
Chapter 3










Friedrich Mohs invented a system to describe and compare hardness of minerals
A vein is a narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is sharply different from the surrounding rock
The purpose of heating iron ore to a very high temperature in a blast furnace is to heat the iron so that it
separates from other elements in the ore
Hard, colorful minerals that have a brilliant or glassy luster are gemstones
Steel is an example of a useful alloy
A mineral that splits apart easily along flat surfaces has the property called cleavage
Color alone cannot be used to identify a mineral because only a few minerals always have their own
characteristic color
Earthy, shiny, waxy, metallic, and pearly are terms used to describe a minerals’ luster
The size of a mineral’s crystals depends on the rate of cooling of the magma or solution from which the mineral
formed
Metallic is NOT one of the six types of crystal shapes
Chapter 4










Most metamorphic rock forms deep underground
A rock called a porphyry has large crystals surrounded by smaller crystals
Granite is not a sedimentary rock
The minerals that make up most of Earth’s crust are called rock-forming minerals
A rock’s texture is the look and feel of the rock
Erosion and deposition play roles in the formation of a sedimentary rock
Slate is basically a denser, more compact version of shale
Basalt is an igneous rock
The names of the three major groups of rocks refer to how the rocks formed
Chemical rocks form when minerals that are dissolved in a solution crystallize on Earth’s surface
Chapter 5










Molten material erupts through a valley of mid-ocean ridge.
Alfred Wegener was the first to propose the theory of continental drift.
The transfer of energy through space is called radiation.
In the convection current of a pan of soup, the cooler, denser fluid sinks to the bottom.
Scientists who study the forces that make and shape the planet Earth are called geologists.
Earth’s lithosphere is broken into separate sections called plates.
Subduction is the process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath trenches.
Scientists rejected Wegener’s theory because he could not explain what force pushes or pulls continents
Continental crust consists mainly of the rock granite.
A break in Earth’s crust where rocks slipped past each other is called a fault.
Chapter 6










The type of stress force that produces a strike-slip fault is shearing.
Reverse fault forms when the hanging wall moves upward past the footwall
Liquefaction occurs when an earthquake’s shaking turns loose soil into mud
An instrument used to measure and record ground movements during an earthquake is called a seismograph.
A break in the crust where slabs slip past each other is a fault.
Tension is the stress force that pulls on the crust and stretches rock
The point beneath Earth’s surface where the crust breaks and triggers an earthquake is called the focus.
Anticlines and synclines are two types of folds.
P seismic waves arrives first at a seismograph
A force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume is called stress.
Chapter 7






A volcano that is erupting or has shown signs that it may erupt in the future is called active
Layers of thin, runny lava that flow over a wide area before they cool and harden can build up a lava plate
Volcanic soils are fertile because they contain potassium and phosphorus
High in silica is not a physical property of magma from an explosive eruption
Inside a volcano, magma collects in pocket called a magma chamber
An area where magma melts through the crust in the middle of a plate is called a hot spot
Chapter 8










Contour plowing is a practice that involves plowing fields along the curves of a slope
The loose, weathered material on Earth’s surface is called soil
The rate of weathering depends on the type of rock and on the climate
The grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried by wind, water, or ice is called abrasion
Plant roots do NOT cause oxidation of the soil
The process that breaks down rocks and other materials at Earth’s surface is called weathering
Fungi, bacteria, and worms are soil decomposers
The movement of rock particles by wind, water, ice, or gravity is called erosion
George Washington Carver taught farmers about different methods of soil formation in the South in the early
1930s
Loam is the best soil for growing plants
Chapter 9










A channel along which water is continually flowing down a slope is called a stream.
Because of longshore drift, sediment moves down a beach with the current.
Glacial deposition is the result in the formation of Long Island in New York.
The Missouri River can be called a tributary because it flows into the Mississippi River.
Waves erode the land through impact and abrasion.
Gravity is the force that pulls rock and soil down slopes.
When a river flows out of a steep, narrow mountain valley, an alluvial fan forms because the river water slows
down.
Creep is the type of mass movement that can result in the tilting at odd angles of gravestones and fence-posts.
The till deposited at the edge of a glacier forms a ridge called a moraine.
The amount of sediment in a river is called its load.