Copyright © 2012 Study Island - All rights reserved.
Generation Date: 04/03/2012
Generated By: Lori Hobbs
Earth Materials & Features
1. Limestone usually forms from tiny pieces of sea shells that collect and are buried on
the ocean floor. what type of rock is limestone?
A. volcanic
B. sedimentary
C. metamorphic
D. igneous
2. Landforms are made by the forces of wind, water, and ice at the earth's surface.
A wide U-shaped valley, like the one shown in the picture, would most likely be
formed by
A. a flood.
B. the wind.
C. a glacier.
D. fast moving water.
3. Where do fossil fuels come from?
A. soil that has been turned into liquid by large amounts of pressure
B. a kind of large mushroom that is now extinct
C. both plant and animal remains
D. water mixed with rock below the surface
4. Woolly mammoths were large prehistoric animals that lived in very cold areas,
known as tundras.
If fossils of many woolly mammoths were found in an area that is now a warm
desert, what is likely true of that area?
A. The area was home to all prehistoric animals.
B. The area has always been a warm desert.
C. The area was once a large ocean.
D. The area was once very cold.
5. What kind of rocks are made of particles that result from weathering and erosion?
A. fossils
B. sedimentary
C. metamorphic
D. igneous
6. What is the main thing people produce from fossil fuels?
A. energy
B. plants
C. fossils
D. water
7. What kind of sedimentary rock is formed from compacted sand?
A. conglomerate
B. limestone
C. marble
D. sandstone
8. When a power plant is used to break apart atoms of uranium metal, large amounts of
energy are released. People can use this energy to make electricity.
What is the name for this type of energy source?
A. solar energy
B. hydroelectric energy
C. nuclear energy
D. wind energy
9. How do fossils provide evidence of the history of the Earth?
A. Fossils suggest that dinosaurs live only on secluded islands away from modern humans.
B. Fossils show scientists that Earth was exactly the same in the past as it is today.
C. Fossils preserve a record of prehistoric plants and animals.
D. Fossils provide records about the Earth's history starting with the first museum.
10. What land formation is most likely to be formed by the wind?
A. sand dunes
B. river delta
C. canyon
D. plains
11. What process at the surface of the Earth is part of the formation of sedimentary
rocks?
A. Magma rises from the Earth's mantle.
B. Water deposits sediment in layers.
C. Rain falls into the ocean.
D. The cycle of day and night
12. Which possible alternative to fossil fuels uses the Earth's natural heat to generate
electricity?
A. hydroelectric energy
B. natural gas energy
C. wind energy
D. geothermal energy
13. Most of our understanding of the dinosaurs comes from
A. watching movies.
B. studying large animals.
C. studying live dinosaurs.
D. studying fossils.
14. One example of a synthetic fuel is _______. It is being studied as a possible
alternative to gasoline in automobiles.
A. chlorine
B. hydrogen
C. coal
D. jet fuel
15. What information do fossils provide about plants and animals?
A. Animals and plants have changed recently.
B. Animals and plants have changed over time.
C. Animals and plants have not changed over time.
D. Animals and plants have not developed together.
16. What can scientists learn by studying fossils?
I. how the Earth's surface has changed over time
II. the appearance of an organism and its structures
III. how species have changed over time
IV. how the Earth's climate has changed over time
A. I, II, III, and IV
B. II only
C. I, II, and III
D. II and III only
17. In which of the following present day locations could the fossils of a dinosaur that
lived in water be found?
A. in a canyon
B. under a lake
C. near a mountain
D. all of these
18. Deposition occurs when sediment is added to a landform.
Deposition often helps to form _______.
A. deltas
B. caves
C. oceans
D. canyons
19. Jenny's family has just moved to a large town that uses renewable energy. While
walking through town, she saw a dam with water flowing from a high reservoir down
to a lower reservoir.
What type of renewable energy does the town most likely use?
A. solar energy
B. wind energy
C. hydroelectric energy
D. geothermal energy
20. Mr. Chin has a new car. It needs sunlight. The sunlight is turned into energy. This
energy makes the car move. What type of energy does the car use?
A. non-renewable energy
B. coal
C. solar energy
D. wind energy
21. Which of the following is true about fossils?
A. Fossils found in upper layers of sedimentary rock are
older than fossils found in lower layers of sedimentary rock.
B. Fossils found in lower layers of sedimentary rock are
as old as fossils found in upper layers of sedimentary rock.
C. The relative age of fossils cannot be determined from their
position in sedimentary layers.
D. Fossils found in upper layers of sedimentary rock are
newer than fossils found in lower layers of sedimentary rock.
22. Valleys, canyons, caves, and arches are most likely caused by _______.
A. volcanic activity
B. deposition
C. erosion
D. all of these
23. When windmills—which are sometimes called turbines—spin around, they can be
used to generate electrical energy.
What do windmills capture from the air?
A. heat
B. electricity
C. energy
D. radiation
24. What energy form is created when deep wells pump out very hot water and steam to
turn turbines and create energy?
A. coal
B. geothermal energy
C. solar energy
D. nuclear energy
25. A team of scientists is studying three different layers of sedimentary rock to learn
about a particular bird species.
In the layer of rock that is closest to the Earth's surface, the birds' beak fossils are
found to be short and straight. In the layer below, the birds' beak fossils are found to
be long and straight. In the layer below that, the birds' beak fossils are found to be
long and curved.
Based on this information, the birds today most likely have
A. long, curved beaks.
B. no beaks.
C. short, straight beaks.
D. long, straight beaks.
26. Fossil fuels are energy resources, such as coal and oil. These materials formed
millions of years ago from remains of plants and animals.
The energy in the fossil fuels originally came from _________.
A. wind
B. magnetic fields
C. the Sun
D. ocean waves
27. Fossils are most commonly found in ______ rock.
A. paleolithic
B. sedimentary
C. igneous
D. metamorphic
28.
The piece of rock in the picture is a fossil that was found in the desert. What detail
about the fossil would show that the desert used to be a forest?
A. The animal in the fossil is a lizard that lives in the desert.
B. There are leaves in the fossil that are from an oak tree.
C. Andrew spent all afternoon looking at the fossil.
D. The fossil is brown, rounded, and 6 feet tall.
29.
Image courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service
This picture shows a fossil of an extinct animal. What kind of ecosystem did this
animal probably live in?
A. tropical treetops
B. a snowy mountaintop
C. a freshwater lake
D. desert soil
30. The tooth fossil in the picture came from a shark. That shark is known to have lived
only in the ocean.
What would it mean if the shark tooth fossil had been found in the Rocky Mountains?
A. that the Rocky Mountain area used to be a desert
B. that the rocks in the mountains had once been under water
C. that the ocean used to be a desert
D. that the wind had blown the fossil into the mountains
Answers
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. D
5. B
6. A
7. D
8. C
9. C
10. A
11. B
12. D
13. D
14. B
15. B
16. A
17. D
18. A
19. C
20. C
21. D
22. C
23. C
24. B
25. C
26. C
27. B
28. B
29. C
30. B
Explanations
1. The type of rock that forms from layers of sediment that are buried is called
sedimentary rock. Limestone is a sedimetary rock made from sediment that collects
on the ocean floor.
2. Fast moving water tends to erode a narrow channel, but glaciers move very slowly
because they are made of ice and snow.
Glaciers can erode a large area under them and form wide U-shaped valleys as they
slowly move downhill over many years.
3. Fossil fuels are formed from both plant and animal remains from long ago. Since
fossil fuels are made from plants, and plants get their energy from the Sun, fossil fuels
contain stored energy from the Sun.
4. Since woolly mammoths lived in very cold areas, it is likely that it used to be cold in
areas where their fossils are found. So, the warm desert described in the question was
likely once very cold.
Fossils can help scientists determine the characteristics of past organisms and habitats,
even if they are much different than current characteristics.
5. Sedimentary rocks are made of particles that result from weathering and erosion.
Sedimentary rock forms when rock is weathered, transported by erosion, deposited as
sediment, and then pressed together (through lithification) back into solid rock.
Rocks that are "soft" tend to be sedimentary rocks. These rocks also tend to be
layered, and they often have "fragmental" textures. That is, they look like broken
pieces of older rocks cemented back together.
6. People burn fossil fuels like coal to produce electrical energy that powers lights,
heating units, and appliances. People use oil to make the gasoline that powers
automobiles.
7. Sandstone is a type of sedimentary rock that is made of sand that has been
compacted over time. As weathering and erosion deposit layers upon layers of sand in
a location, the increasing weight of the layers causes sand particles in the lowest layers
to "lump together" into rock. This is how sandstone is formed.
8. Nuclear energy is created from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called
fission. At the power plant, the fission process is used to generate heat for producing
steam. The steam powers a turbine to generate electricity.
9. A fossil is any preserved evidence of life from the Earth's past. Fossils are usually
found in rock, but they can also be found in other materials such as ice and amber.
Fossils provide clues to what plants and animals looked like in the past, how the
organisms lived, and what their environments were like.
10. There are many forces at the Earth's surface that are always changing the shape of the
land. The wind is able to move loose soil and sand.
Where the wind slows down or changes direction it may drop a lot of sand, piling it up
into sand dunes.
11. Sedimentary rocks are sometimes formed when mud and tiny pieces of rock settle out
of moving water. This material is called sediment.
Over a long time, water deposits sediment in layers and the bottom layers become
buried. The pressure of the upper layers makes the buried pieces stick together,
forming a new sedimentary rock.
12. Geothermal energy is present in the core of the Earth and, in some places, it is close
enough to the Earth's surface to be captured and turned into electricity.
Geothermal energy is, basically, heat energy, which is produced in the molten core of
the planet. Some scientists, engineers, and businesspeople are currently working to
capture all of the geothermal energy that is available, and to convert it into electricity.
This would make it an alternative to fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.
13. Most of our understanding of the dinosaurs comes from studying fossils, which have
preserved the the physical features of organisms that lived millions of years ago.
14. A few synthetic, or man-made, alternatives to gasoline and other fossil fuels are
currently being tested by scientists, engineers, businesspeople, and some
governments.
Hydrogen is one of these alternatives, which does not occur naturally, in very large
amounts, on Earth. For hydrogen to be used as a fuel it would need to be made from
other sources of energy.
15. Fossils provide evidence that animals and plants have changed over time.
16. Fossils provide a variety of information that scientists can use to learn about the
Earth's past. The fossils of organisms can reveal their appearance and structure, as
well as how they have changed over time.
The types of organisms that were present in various periods of Earth's history can
provide information about changes in the Earth's climate. Many organisms, for
example, are known to survive within narrow temperature ranges. If fossils of those
organisms are abundant, then scientists gain an important clue about the typical
temperatures during that period.
Fossils can also provide information about how the Earth's surface has changed over
time. If fossils of marine organisms are found in areas that are now dry land, scientists
may assume that the area was once under water. This gives scientists important clues
about land elevation, landforms, and sea level at various times in Earth's history.
17. Fossils of organisms, including dinosaurs that lived in water, can be found in almost
any present day location. The environments of the past and present can be very
different from each other. For example, an area that was once under water could now
be dry land.
18. Deposition often helps to form deltas and sand dunes by transporting sediment to a
new location.
Flowing water in a river often erodes the sediment along its banks, causing the
sediment to flow along the river's path. The sediment can then build up at the mouth of
the river, where it exits to a larger body of water, and form a delta.
19. The town likely uses hydroelectric energy. Hydroelectric energy usually uses a dam
and water in high and low reservoirs to create energy.
20. Many things use solar energy. Light from the sun is collected. It is turned into energy
to make things work. Mr. Chins car uses solar energy.
21. Fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock forms in layers over
time. As time passes, new layers form upon the older layers. This means that as time
passes, fossils are buried deeper and deeper in the ground. Therefore, fossils found
in lower layers of sedimentary rock are older than fossils found in upper
layers of sedimentary rock.
22. Valleys, canyons, caves, and arches are most likely caused by erosion. Erosion often
shapes landforms by removing particles of soil and rock. This can leave behind
openings or form depressions in the Earth's surface.
23. Blowing wind has a type of energy known as kinetic energy, which is the energy of
motion.
Windmills capture this energy by allowing the wind to turn their blades in a spinning
motion. The energy of this motion is then converted into electrical energy.
24. The inner parts of the Earth contain thermal energy in the form of hot gases, lava, hot
water, and hot steam. This energy is called geothermal energy. In locations where the
Earth's crust is thin or cracked, this energy can be used to rotate turbines and turn
electric generators.
25. Sedimentary rock forms in layers over time. As time passes, new layers form upon the
older layers. This means that as time passes, fossils are buried deeper and deeper in
the ground. Therefore, fossils found in higher layers of sedimentary rock are newer
than fossils found in lower layers of sedimentary rock.
Since the layer of sedimentary rock that is closest to the Earth's surface contains short,
straight beak fossils, the bird species is most likely to have short, straight beaks
today.
26. Plants get their energy from the Sun, and animals get their energy from eating plants.
Since fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals, the energy in fossil fuels
originally came from the Sun.
27. Fossils are most commonly found in sedimentary rock, which forms as layers of
material settle upon each other, press together, and harden over time.
28. If there are leaves in the fossil from an oak tree, the desert probably used to be a
forest.
The Earth changes over time. When we find new fossils, we learn more about what the
Earth and its living things used to look like.
29. The fins and shape of the animal's body are clues that it was a fish. Fish must live in
water, so a freshwater lake is the best answer choice.
This fossil is from a group of fish called Phareodus. The fish lived in a freshwater lake in
Wyoming millions of years ago.
30. If the shark tooth fossil had been found in the Rocky Mountains, it would possibly mean
that the rocks in the mountains had once been under water. The rock layer
containing the fossil likely formed underwater as a flat layer of sedimentary rock. Then
as the Rocky Mountains began to form, the rock layer was uplifted.
When we find new fossils, we learn more about what the Earth and its living things
used to look like.
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