Test your basic knowledge |

CSET Earth

Subjects : cset, science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The source of energy for evaporation is primarily through ___________






2. Form when dissolved mineral solutions crystalize out of lakes and oceans






3. A huge ball of incandescent gases - Its mass is more than 300000 times that of the earth - Principal constituents are the lightest elements - hydrogen and helium






4. Evaporation often implicitly includes ___________ from plants - although together they are specifically referred to as evapotranspiration






5. Stars with the highest ___________ appear blue - while stars with the lowest surface temperature appear red






6. Forms south of the Arctic and is cold






7. Travels in an orbit that is slightly elliptical (oval) - and so the distance from the sun ranges from 91.5 to 94.5 million miles - Its daily rotation deforms the earth to a flattened spheroid - with a polar radius slightly less than the equatorial ra






8. Both gravity and inertia work together to keep planets in orbit around the sun - Inertia makes a planet travel in a straight line






9. Rising air currents take the vapor up into the atmopshere where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into ____






10. The difference between levels of ocean water at high and low tides






11. Occurs at the instant when the sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer's hemisphere - Depending on the shift of the calendar - the winter solstice occurs some time betw






12. 4 terrestrials: Mercury - Venus - Mars - Earth 4 gas giants: Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune At least 5 dwarf planets: Ceres - Pluto - Makemake - Haumea - Eris






13. The tendency of a moving object to stay in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place - Without _______ - a planet would be pulled into the sun






14. Deviates by an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees - Thus - at any given time during summer or winter - one part of the planet is more directly exposed to the rays of the sun - This exposure alternates as the earth revolves in its orbit






15. The state change where a solid (ice or snow) changes directly to a gas (water vapor)






16. This upslope wind is called a...






17. The fossiliferous strata record is only the last __% of the earth's history






18. Characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the same area - Atlanta tropical cyclone activity is generally enhanced during La Nina - Often follows the El Nino - especially when the latter is strong






19. Two types of mountains are formed - depending on how the rock reacts to the tectonic forces






20. Giant masses of solid rock that float upon the earth's mantle - These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries...






21. Formed from calcium carbonate - also an example of chemical sedimentary rocks - like roock salt - can contain organic or once - living matter and can record the history of that matter's formation in features such as strata - fossil evidence - and rip






22. Officially defined as sustained sea surface temperature anomalies of magnitude greater than 0.5






23. The outermost part of the earth's interior is made up of two layers...






24. Occur twice a year - when the tilt of the earth's axis is oriented neither from nor to the sun - causing the sun to be located vertically above a point on the equator - The name derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night) - because at the e






25. The resulting dust layer would act as a shield - blocking out much of the sun's rays - This would result in lower global temperatures and a general _____ of the earth






26. Occurs when the moon sets at sunset - Then the moon is between the earth and the sun - so we see only the dark half of the moon






27. Forms over land and is associated with dry air






28. Human civilization has lasted only _____ years






29. Erosion in many places is increased by human land use - Poor land - use practices include deforestation - overgrazing - unmanaged construction activity - and road building






30. Occur when two plates pull away from each other - Such faults are generally weak and shallow Example: the Mid - Atlantic Range in the Atlantic Ocean






31. A land form that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area - with a peak - Usually produced by the movement of lithospheric plates






32. Natural chemical compounds that are the crystals that make up rocks - Each has a specific composition or narrow range of composition






33. Pulls the planets toward the sun - while their inertia keeps them moving forward in an elliptical orbit around the sun


34. Test the item against materials of known hardness; for example - use your fingernail or the graphite in a pencil to attempt to scratch the items. This process should result in assigning a relative hardness to the unknown items.






35. The transformation of water vapor to liquid water droplets in the air - producing clouds and fog






36. Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface - water bodies (and the ocean) as...






37. Almost all familiar weather phenomena occur in the __________ (the lower part of the atmosphere)






38. (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean - the Atlantic Ocean - the Indian Ocean - the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean






39. Used to arrange strata in a standard order - Used to measure the amount of radioactive decay in minerals and calculate the time at which the rock formed






40. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the...


41. Takes approx. seven and a half earth months to revolve around the sun - Takes approx. eight earth months to rotate on its axis - a day on ________ is longer than a year






42. Continental tropical (dry - warm air)






43. Formed by sodium chloride






44. Weather occurs primarily due to density (temperature and moisture) differences between one location and another - These differences can occur due to the angle of the sun at any particular spot - which varies by latitude from the tropics






45. Theory that the earth's continents were originally united as a supercontinent - Pangaea - Established by Alfred Wegener in the early 1900s






46. Two high waters and two low waters each day - in most locations - tides are semidiurnal






47. Sometimes called minor planets or planetoids - Bodies






48. Water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil






49. Takes place when the moon passes between the earth and the sun - with the moon blocking the sunlight for about two minutes - A total ___________ may be seen only from a small zone on the earth






50. A semi - closed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it - and with a free connection to the open sea - Often associated with high levels of biological diversity - They are made up of brackish water - Often given names