EARTH SCIENCE
MIDTERM EXAM
REVIEW
NOTE: You do not need
to study the challenge
questions for the exam.
MOON FEATURES
• Since the moon has no
atmosphere, then
• A. it experiences big
temperature changes
from day to night.
• B. it experiences no
erosion.
• C. it gets bombarded by
meteorites.
• D. all of the above.
CHALLENGE! (MOON FEATURES)
• Who publically opposed
the Apollo moon
landing?
• A. Carl Sagan
• B. Richard Nixon
• C. Walt Disney
• D. Mohammed Ali
PHASES OF THE MOON
• What phase of the
moon do you see here?
• A. Full moon
• B. First quarter
• C. Waxing crescent
• D. Waning gibbous
CHALLENGE! (PHASES OF THE MOON)
• What movie will sync up
with the Dark Side of the
Moon album by Pink Floyd?
• A. Snow White
• B. Willy Wonka
• C. Wizard of Oz
• D. Wall-E
ECLIPSES
• In order to have a lunar
eclipse, the following
objects must be in what
order?
• A. moon-earth-sun
• B. Earth-sun-moon
• C. moon-sun-Earth
• D. None of these
CHALLENGE! (ECLIPSES)
• How wide is the moon’s
umbra during a solar
eclipse? (average)
• A. 1 mile
• B. 10 miles
• C. 100 miles
• D. 1000 miles
TIDES
• What type of tide do
you see here?
• A. Spring tide
• B. Neap tide
• C. Rip tide
• D. Roll tide
CHALLENGE! (TIDES)
• Where could you
experience a tidal bore?
• A. The Atlantic Ocean
• B. The Sienne River
• C. The Great Lakes
• D. None of these
SS MODELS
• How did Kepler improve the
Copernican model?
• A. He put the Sun in
the center.
• B. He put the Earth in
the center.
• C. He said the orbits
were elliptical.
• D. He added comets.
CHALLENGE! (SS MODELS)
• Where is the Very Large
Array?
•
(27 radio telescopes used
to collect pictures from
satellites in space)
• A. New York
• B. New Guinea
• C. New Mexico
• D. New Zealand
SUN FEATURES
• Where is the
convective zone?
• A. A
• B. B
• C. C
• D. D
CHALLENGE! (SUN FEATURES)
• If we could gather all the
energy the sun put out in
one second, for how long
could we power all our
needs on Earth?
• A. 5 years
• B. 500 years
• C. 500,000 years
• D. 5 million years
SEASONS
• Which of the following
causes seasons?
• A. Earth’s tilted axis
• B. Earth’s elliptical
orbit
• C. The moon
• D. Solar wind
CHALLENGE! (SEASONS)
• Where and when could a
person develop insomnia
due to lack of nightfall?
• A. The equator at noon
• B. Northern Alaska in
summer
• C. Mt. Everest in
summer
• D. Death Valley in
winter
PLANETS
• What planet is found
between the asteroid
belt and Saturn?
• A. Mars
• B. Earth
• C. Neptune
• D. Jupiter
CHALLENGE! (PLANETS)
• Mars Curiosity Rover
recently found
• A. The “flower” rock.
• B. a small stream
• C. martian fossils.
• D. gold.
COMETS
• What is the name of the
rocky center of a
comet?
• A. Core
• B. Mantle
• C. Coma
• D. Nucleus
CHALLENGE! (COMETS)
• How close did Comet
Hyakutake (1996) came
within ___ of Earth.
• A. 9.3 miles
• B. 9.3 thousand
miles
• C. 9.3 million miles
• D. 9.3 light minutes
EARTH IMPACTS
• Shooting stars are not
stars at all… they are
actually
• A. Meteoroids.
• B. Meteors.
• C. Meteorites.
• D. Comets.
CHALLENGE! (EARTH IMPACTS)
• How big was the meteorite
that made this crater
(Meteor Crater in AZ)?
• A. School bus
• B. High school
• C. High school weight
room
• D. The football stadium
SS FORMATION
• While the universe is about
14 billion years old, the
solar system is about
• A. 1 billion years old.
• B. 5 billion years old.
• C. 10 billion years old.
• D. a google years old.
CHALLENGE! (SS FORMATION)
• Many planets of the solar
system may have formed
from a star that had been
recycled ___.
• A. Never
• B. Once
• C. Twice
• D. 100 times
DISTANCES
• The Sun is ___ away.
• A. 93 billion miles
• B. 1 AU
• C. 150 km
• D. 8 light years
CHALLENGE! (DISTANCES)
• How far away is the
Hubble Telescope?
• 347 miles
• 347 light seconds
• 347 light minutes
• 347 AU
STAR LIFE CYCLE
• What stage is blocked
by the gray box?
• A. Supernova
• B. Main sequence
• C. Nebula
• D. White dwarf
CHALLENGE! (STAR LIFE CYCLE)
• How many supernovas
happen in the universe per
year?
• Our galaxy has about two
per century.
• A. 100
• B. 100,000
• C. 1,000,000
• D. 1,000,000,000
STARS
• Which of the following belongs
in this list?
•
BLACK HOLE, PROTOSTAR, SUPERNOVA
• A. main sequence
• B. Galaxy
• C. Constellation
• D. Comet
CHALLENGE! (STARS)
• What European soccer
team’s nickname is inspired
by our galaxy’s nickname?
• A. Real Madrid
• B. Chelsea
• C. Newcastle
• D. Los Angeles
GALAXIES
• What shape is the Milky
Way?
• A. Irregular
• B. Spiral
• C. Sombrero
• D. Amoeba
CHALLENGE! (GALAXIES)
• Where is the Sun?
• A. The Orion Arm
• B. The exact center of
the SS
• C. The middle of the
Milky Way
• D. The Andromeda
Galaxy
HR DIAGRAM
• What type of star is
Rigel?
• A. Giant
• B. Blue supernova
• C. Blue supergiant
• D. White dwarf
CHALLENGE! (HR DIAGRAM)
• What nationalities were the two
men that made the HertzsprungRussell diagram?
• A. American and German
• B. English and Swedish
• C. Scottish and South
African
• D. American and Danish
BIG BANG
• The diagram here explains how
• A. Stars that are moving
away show red shift.
• B. Stars that are moving
away show blue shift.
• C. Stars don’t move.
• D. Stars emit slinkies into
your eye if you wear a hair
piece.
CHALLENGE! (BIG BANG)
• Who suggested that there
was no such thing as linear
time before the Big Bang?
• A. Stephen Hawking
• B. Albert Einstein
• C. Carl Sagan
• D. Edwin Hubble
MAGNITUDE
• The Sun has an average
___ magnitude.
• A. Absolute
• B. Apparent
• C. Relative
• D. Convective
CHALLENGE! (MAGNITUDE)
• In terms of apparent
magnitude, what is three
times brighter than Venus?
• A. The Sun
• B. A full moon
• C. A new moon
• D. Saturn
ATMOSPHERE
• Which of the following is
NOT true about the
troposphere?
• A. It is the air we
breathe.
• B. It has our weather.
• C. It has the ozone
layer.
• D. It is the most dense.
CHALLENGE! (ATMOSPHERE)
• The highest wind ever
recorded on Earth (231
mph) occurred where?
• A. Mount Washington,
NH
• B. Green Bay, WI
• C. New Orleans, LA
• D. Death Valley, CA
HUMIDITY
• As humidity increases…
• A. the air gets more
saturated.
• B. the air gets heavier.
• C. the air gets colder.
• D. dew freezes.
CHALLENGE! (HUMIDITY)
• What US city gets the
LEAST precipitation per
year? (2.65 in)
• A. Denver, CO
• B. Yuma, AZ
• C. Cheyenne, WY
• D. Bishop, CA
POLLUTION
• Carbon dioxide is NOT
increased when
• A. fossil fuels are
burned.
• B. biomass is burned.
• C. volcanoes erupt.
• D. the air gets humid.
CHALLENGE! (POLLUTION)
• What greenhouse gas is
buried in Siberian ice?
When the ice melts, this
gas will increase global
warming significantly.
• A. Nitrous oxide
• B. Water vapor
• C. Methane
• D. Propane
WEATHER STATIONS
• What can be determined
from this station model?
• A. Wind speed
• B. Wind direction
• C. Cloud cover
• D. All of the above
CHALLENGE! (WEATHER STATIONS)
• What year in the US was
the warmest on record and
the 2nd most extreme in
weather conditions?
• A. 2012
• B. 2009
• C. 1992
• D. 1906
FRONTS
• Where would the coldest air
be?
• A. Gold star
• B. Purple star
• C. Red star
• D. Green star
CHALLENGE! (FRONTS)
• In 1985, Virginia recorded
its lowest temperature ever.
It was
• A. -60 F
• B. -30 F
• C. -3 F
• D. Absolute zero
SIZE
• Which of the following is
the largest?
• A. Star system
• B. Universe
• C. Galaxy
• D. Star
CHALLENGE! (SIZE)
• What is my high score
in bowling?
• A. 300
• B. 3000
• C. 256
• D. 255