175 THINGS TO KNOW FOR THE MIDTERM
1. What is an observation?
Information about your surroundings that you obtain using your 5 senses or a measuring
device that extends you senses.
2. What is an inference? How is it different from an observation?
An interpretation you make about your surroundings based on observations. Inferences
can be incorrect even if the observations are accurate, but the more observations the
better an inference is likely to be.
3. What is the formula for density? Formula for volume? Mass? Density units?
D = m/v V= m/d M= vd units for density = grams per cubic centimeter
4. What makes something dense?
When the atoms are spaced closely together
5. What is the formula for percent deviation (also called percent error)?
Find it in your ESRT page 1
6. What is the formula for rate of change?
Find it in your ESRT page 1
7. What are the major steps in the scientific method?
Problem Question, Hypothesis, Procedure, Data Collections, Data Analysis, Conclusion,
Communicate Results
8. What is a hypothesis? An educated guess at the problem question justifies by an prior
knowledge or experience
9. What does a good conclusion do? Answers and explains the problem question using
the results from the experiment
10. What are latitude lines? What do they measure? What is the reference line for
latitude? Where is it located? Parallel lines drawn on a globe or map that measure your
distance in degrees north or south of the equator. What is the highest latitude on earth
and where on earth is that? 90 degrees N or S at the N and S Poles
11. Draw the earth and draw latitude lines on it. Check on a globe for help.
12. What are longitude lines? What do they measure? What is the reference line for
longitude? Where is it located? Vertical lines drawn on a globe or map that measure
position east or west of the Prime Meridian, located in Greenwich England. What is the
highest longitude on earth and where on earth is it? 180 degrees E or W at the
International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean.
13. Draw the earth and draw longitude lines on it. Check on a globe for help
14. How are the latitude lines drawn differently than the longitude lines? Latitude lines
never touch each other. Longitude lines all cross at the poles.
15. What is another name for “parallels”? Latitude Lines
16. What is another name for “meridians”? Longitude Lines
17. What is the Prime Meridian? Zero degrees longitude
18. What is the International Date Line? Where date changes. Cross from right to left
and move one day ahead.
19. What is Polaris? The North Star
20. How can you use Polaris to find your latitude? Latitude equals the angle of Polaris
above the horizon
21. What is Solar Noon? Where is the sun at Solar Noon? When the sun is at its highest
point in the sky at a given location.
22. What is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)? The time at the prime meridian in
Greenwich, England
23. How can you find your longitude at sea using time? Bring a clock set to GMT, and
compare the time on the GMT clock with your time at solar noon based on the sun. for
every hour earlier in the day you are than GMT time you are 15 degrees west of the
Prime Meridian. For every hour later in the day you are than GMT time you are 15
degrees east of Prime Meridian.
24. How fast does the earth rotate in degrees per hour? 15 degrees
25. How many time zones are there on earth? 24
26. How wide (in degrees) is each time zone? 15
27. How many time zones are there in the continental USA? Name them. 4: Eastern,
Central, Mountain, Pacific
28. If it is 6 pm in NY, what time is it in CA? 6 EST, 5 CST, 4 MST, 3 Pacific Standard
Time
29. If it is noon in Greenwich and 2 pm where you are, what is your longitude? 30 E
30. If you see Polaris on the horizon, what is your latitude? Equator/ zero degrees
31. What is the true shape of the Earth? Oblate spheroid (bigger at the equator)
32. What evidence is there for the shape of the earth? Lunar eclipse, ships disappearing
in the horizon, pictures from space, sailing around the world
33. What is a field? What is a field value? A field value is a measurement and a field is
a group of field values plotted on a map.
34. What is an isoline? A line that connects points of equal field values
35. What is the formula for gradient? Find it in your ESRT page 1
36. What is another name for gradient? (hint: begins with s….) Slope
37. What is a contour line? Isoline that connects points of equal elevation
38. What is a contour interval? The interval between two adjacent contour lines on a map
39. How can you determine the contour interval by looking at a map? Look for it in the
key, or subtract the values of two adjacent contour lines
40. What are the field values on a topographic map? elevation
41. What does a hilltop look like on a topographic map? Enclosed circles Draw one.
How do you find the highest possible elevation of a hilltop on a topo map if there is no
benchmark? Find the last contour line. Add to it the contour interval, then subtract 1.
42. What is a hachure and what does it indicate on a topographic map? Hachure is a tick
mark on a contour line that indicated a closed depression.
43. What is the Rule of V’s? When contour lines cross a river, they make a “v” that
points upstream. Water flows downstream.
44. What is the elevation of sea level? Zero feet or zero meters
45. How do you draw a topographic profile? Line up a scrap paper on the map, make tick
marks on the scrap wherever the line crosses contour lines and label the elevation of each
line. Transfer the elevations to a vertical graph using dots, then connect the dots using a
smooth line.
46. What is a mineral? What is not a mineral? Minerals are naturally occurring
inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition.
47. What determines all of a mineral’s physical properties? The internal arrangements of
its atoms.
48. What is a silica tetrahedron? A silicon atom surrounded by 4 oxygen atoms, the
basic building block of silicate minerals Draw one.
49. Is color a reliable way to indentify a mineral? Explain. Not reliable due to impurities
50. What is streak? Color of a powdered mineral when rubbed on a white porcelain plate
51. What is luster? The way a mineral reflect light
52. What are the 2 kinds of luster and which one is more common? Metallic and nonmetallic (most common)
53. What is the difference between cleavage and fracture? Cleavage is breakage of a
mineral along planes of weakness, fracture is when it breaks randomly
54. What are the 3 most common elements in the earth’s crust? O, Si, Al
55. What class of minerals contains oxygen and silicon? Silicates
56. What mineral is magnetic?Magnetite
57. What is the Moh’s scale? Measures mineral hardness 1 = soft , 10 = Hard
58. What mineral is the hardest? Diamond = 10
59. What mineral is softer than you fingernail? Talc, Gypsum
60. What mineral reacts with hydrochloric acid by fizzing? Calcite
61. Describe the internal arrangement of atoms in a very dense mineral. Closely spaced
62. How is a rock different from a mineral? Minerals are the ingredients that make up
rocks
63. What are rocks made of? One or more minerals
64. What is an igneous rock? Rocks that forms from magma or lava
65. How can you tell if an igneous rock is extrusive? Small crystals Intrusive? Large
crystals
66. How can you tell if an igneous rock cooled quickly? Small crystals Cooled slowly?
Large crystals
67. Do igneous rocks cool fast or slowly deep underground? slowly At the surface? fast
68. What is “texture” in an igneous rock? The size of the crystals Name the different
igneous textures. Glassy, fine, coarse, very coarse
69. What is the difference between lava and magma? Lava is molten rock on the earth’s
surface, magma is molten rock underground
70. What does plutonic mean? Intrusive igrnesou rock
71. What does felsic mean? Light, low density rock Name a felsic igneous rock. granite
72. What does mafic mean? Dark, high density rock Name a mafic igneous rock.basalt
73. What are sedimentary rocks made of? Clasts (pieces of other rocks), evaporate
minerals, organic remains
74. What is compaction? Compressing together Cementation? “Gluing” together using
calcite or quartz mineralsHow are these important for sedimentary rocks? Turns a
sediment into a rock
75. What does “organic” mean in a sedimentary rock? Made from living things
76. What is a fossil and what is the only type of rocks fossils are found in? Why ?
Fossils are remains or imprints of living thing preserved in a sedimentary rock. Fossils
get melted in an igneous rock, and deformed or destroyed in a metamorphic rock.
77. What is layering and how does it happen? Sediment are deposited in horizontal
layers usually by water.
78. What is the grain size of sand? Clay? Silt? Look in ESRT page 7
79. What is a chemical precipitate? Sedimentary rock that forms when minerals
precipitate out of water Give an example. Dolotone
80. How does an evaporate form? Rock forms when water evaporates. Give an example
of one. Rock Salt
81. What is limestone made of and how does it form? Limestone forms from shells
cementing together or from calcite precipitating from sea water
81. What are metamorphic rocks and how do they form? Rocks that form under heat and
pressure
82. What is the difference between contact metamorphism and regional metamorphism?
Contact metamorphism occurs when a magma intrudes into another rock, “baking” the
rock it comes in contact with. Regional Met. occurs on a much bigger scale at higher
temps and pressures due to tectonic plate collisions
83. What is foliation? Why does it occur? Alignment of minerals in a metamorphic rock
due to pressure
84. What is banding? A high pressure form of foliation where minerals separate into dark
and light bands
85. What is the parent rock of slate? shale Of gneiss? Schist Of marble? Limestone Of
quartzite? sandstone Of phyllite? slate
86. Name a non-foliated metamorphic rock? quartzite
87. What is the rock cycle? A cycle in which rocks change from one type to another and
are continuously recycled
88. What is uplift? When rocks get lifter up Weathering? When rocks get broken down
by the weather into sediments Erosion? When sediments get transported somewhere else
89. How can you tell by looking at a rock that it is Igneous? Glassy, vesicules,
interlocking crystals Metamorphic? Banding, foliation Sedimentary?fossils, layering,
pieces of other rocks
90. How does coal form? Plant remains buried in swamps
91. What is a clast? A piece of sediment What does clastic mean? Made up of pieces of
sediment
92. What is a bioclastic rock? A rock made of pieces of biologic origin, like shells
93. What is a renewable natural resource? A resource that can be replenished at about the
same rate that it is used Give examples. Trees, solar energy
94. What makes a natural resource non renewable? Get used faster than it can be
replaced Give an example of one. Petroleum, metals
95. What are fossil fuels? Name them. Fuels made long ago from the remains of plants
and animals buried under pressure and heat. Oil, coal, natural gas
96. What is global warming? What is causing it? Earth’s atmospheric temperature is
increasing due to increasing carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels
97. What is the greenhouse effect? Name a greenhouse gas. Some gases, like carbon
dioxide, trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming
98. What are some of the environmental issues associated with mining? Water pollution,
land reclamation
99. What is the crust? Outer layer of the earth Lithosphere? Crust and rigid mantle
Asthenosphere? upper plastic mantle Mantle? Layer of earth beneath the crust Core?
Center of the earth
100. What is special about the outer core? It’s liquid
101. What are the 3 types of seismic waves? S, P, LWhich on travels through solids but
not liquids? S Which one travels fastest? P Which one causes the most damage? L
102. What is an earthquake? Energy released in the form of waves when part of the crust
breaks
103. What is a normal fault? On side slips down due to extension Thrust fault? One side
gete pushed up due to compression Transform fault? Sides slide past each other
horizontally How are faults related to earthquakes? Earthquakes are caused when rock
breaks and moves along faults
104. What is the epicenter? The location on the surface above the focus. How is it
different from the focus? Focus is where the earthquake starts, usually deep underground
105. What does the Richter scale measure? Measures the magnitude of the earthquake
106. What does the Mercalli scale measure? The damage caused by earthquakes
107. What is a seismograph? Device that records the seismic waves made by an
earthquake
108. What is travel time? The time it takes a wave to travel from the earthquake to the
seismic station Origin time? The time the earthquake occurred Lag time? The difference
in arrival time between the P and S waves Arrival time the time a wave arrives at a
seismic station?
109. If you know the lag time between a P and S wave, what can you determine about
the earthquake? The distance to the epicenter
110. How many seismic stations do you need to find the epicenter of a quake? 3
111. Describe how to find the distance to the epicenter if you know the s-wave travel
time? Use travel time graph in ESRT. Find S wave travel time on y axis, go across to s
wave curve, drop down to read distance.
112. Describe how to find the p wave travel time if you know the distance to the
epicenter? Use travel time graph in ESRT. Find distance to epicenter, go up to p wave
curve, read across to travel time.
113. Describe how to find the distance to the epicenter if you know the p and s wave
arrival times. Subtract the arrival times to get lag time between P and S. Measure this
distance on y axis of travel time graph using a scrap paper. Slide scrap paper up the p
wave curve till the top matches the s wave curve and the bottom is on the p wave curve.
Read down the epicenter on the x axis.
114. Describe how to find the origin time of the earthquake if you know the p wave
arrival time and travel time. Arrival time minus travel time equals origin time
115. What is the theory of Continental Drift? Who was the first person to develop this
theory? Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents have moved over time.
116. What is the evidence for continental drift? Puzzle like fit of the continents, fossil,
glacial, mountain and rock correlations across several continents now separated
117. Where do most earthquakes and volcanoes occur? At plate boundaries
118. What are tectonic plates? Pieces of the lithosphere that move on earth
119. What is the theory of plate tectonics? Earth is broken into plates that move
120. What causes the plates to move? Convection currents in the mantle
121. What is a divergent plate boundary? Where plates move apart What landforms do
we find there? Mid ocean rodge, rift valley, underwater volcanoes Name one such
boundary. mid Atlantic ridge
122. What is sea floor spreading? Where ocean plates diverge, creating new sea floor
123. What is a transform plate boundary? 2 plates slide past each other Name one. San
Andreas Fault
124. What is a convergent plate boundary? 2 plates collide Name the three possible
types. Ocean-ocean, continent-continent, ocean-continent
125. What is a subduction zone and at what type of boundary are they found?
Subduction occurs ant convergent plate boundaries where the denser plate is forced
underneath the other plate.
126. What is a deep sea trench? Where are they found? The place where subduction
occurs at a convergent plate bundary
127. What is a volcanic island arc? Where are they found? Volcanoes that form in the
ocean at a subduction zone
128. At what type of plate boundary do we find volcanoes on land? Convergent oceancontinental
129. What is a mid ocean ridge? Where 2 oceanic plates are diverging.
130. What is a Hot Spot? A hot plume in the mantle that occurs not at a plate boundary.
Name one. Hawaii
131. What is continental crust made of? granite Oceanic Crust? Basalt Which one is
less dense?Granite
132. When was the Precambrian time ? 544 million years ago and older
133 . What early life form is responsible for creating our oxygen
atmosphere?stromatolites
134. What was different about life in the Cambrian as compared to earlier life? Animals
had hard body parts
135. What is an orogeny? A mountain building event, usually due to a continentcontinent plate collision
136. How did the Adirondacks form? In the Grenville Orogeny, continents collided to
form Rhodinia
137. What life forms lived in the Ordovician Period? See ESRT p 8 and 9
138. When was the Silurian Period? See ESRT p 8 and 9
139. What is the NY State Fossil? Eurypterus
140. What is an Index Fossil and why are they useful? Became extinct soon after they
evolved. Help geologist determine the age of rocks they are found in.
141. How did the Taconic Mountains form? Taconic Orogeny during collision with
Taconic Island Arc.
142. What is a passive margin? An area on the coast but not on a plate boundary
143. What is the latitude and longitude of Red Hook? 42N 74W
144. How many minutes are in a degree of latitude or longitude? 60
145. What was the Acadian Orogeny? Collision of Avalon with North America
146. Are the Catskills real mountains? If not, what are they? No, its an eroded plateau.
147. How did the Catskills form? Sediments eroded from the Acadian mountains was
deposited by rivers in the Catskill Delta.
148. What is a tsunami? A destructive wave caused by an underwater earthquake.
149. What can you do before, during, and after an earthquake to keep safe? See your
earthquake safety brochure for these answers!
150. If all sedimentary rocks start out in horizontal layers, what causes some sedimentary
rocks to be folded, faulted or vertical? Plate collisions
151. What is Foucault’s pendulum? What does it prove? Pendulum that knocks down
pegs in a circle as it swings over 24 hours. Proves earth rotates on its axis.
152. What is the Coriolis Effect? What causes it? Tendency for fluids and moving
objects to travel in a curved path due to the rotation of the earth.
153. What it the autumnal equinox? First day of fall When does it happen? Sept. 21
154. How many hour of daylight are there on the autumnal equinox? 12
155. In what compass direction does the sun rise on the equinox? East Set? West
156. Where is the sun directly overhead (vertical ray) on the equinox? Equator
157. What is formula for calculating the altitude of the sun at noon on the equinox?
90 - latitude
158. What and when is the winter solstice? First day of winter, December 21
159. On the winter solstice in Red Hook, in what direction does the sun rise? SE Set?
SW
160. On the winter solstice, where is the sun directly overhead (vertical ray) at noon?
Tropic of Capricorn (23 S)
161. On the winter solstice, where is there 24 hours of darkness? North of Arctic
Circle 66.5 N 24 hours of daylight? South of Antarctic Circle 66.5 S
162. On the winter solstice, where is it summer? Southern Hemisphere
163. What is relative age dating? Comparing the ages of rocks (older vs younger)
without knowing their actual ages.
164. What is absolute age dating? Finding the true of age of a rock using radiometric
dating techniques/ radioactive decay of unstable elements like Uranium or Carbon-14.
165. What is the Principle of Uniformitarianism? The present is the key to the past.
166. What is the Law of Superposition? Older rocks are usually on the bottom.
167. What is an Unconformity? A missing sequence of rocks in the rock record that
have been removed by erosion.
168. What is the half-life of radioactive element? The amount of time it takes for HALF
of a sample of that element to decay into a more stable element. See p. 1 of ESRT
169. What is the two characteristics of a good index fossil? Widespread distribution but
limited existence in geologic time: goes extinct quickly.
170. What is the Law of Cross-cutting? Features (like a fault or an igneous intrusion) are
always younger than the rocks they cut through.
171. How does contact metamorphism help determine the relative age on an igneous
intrusion? If there is evidence of contact metamorphism on the rock adjacent to the
igneous intrusion, the intrusion is younger than the adjacent rock. If the adjacent rock
does not show evidence of contact metamorphism, the intrusion is older than the adjacent
rock.
172. How old is the earth? 4.6 billion years (or 4600 million years) P. 8 of ESRT
173. What are the three major geologic eras? Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic P. 8 ESRT
174. What caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? A meteor impact and excessive
volcanism.
175. What was the early earth and atmosphere like? Early earth was hot and molten, no
water. Early atmosphere formed from outgassing of volcanoes and contained lots of
carbon dioxide. Oxygen was made by early algae/plants called stromatolites .