science midterms

Question 1

natural resource

Answer 1

material or substance that occurs in the environment and has biological, economic or aesthetic value. We can classify natural resources as either renewable or non-renewable resources.

Question 2

renewable resource

Answer 2

a resource that can replenish itself within a short period of time. This is typically a human lifetime. This includes sunlight, wind, water, geothermal heat (heat from inside the earth), and biomass (plants/animals).

Question 3

non-renewable resource

Answer 3

a natural resource that cannot be replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. Basically they take longer than a human lifetime to be replaced.

Question 4

Non-renewable resources include…

Answer 4

fossil fuels, minerals, and nuclear ores. These exist in fixed amounts and are consumed much faster than geological processes can replenish them, meaning they are finite and will eventually run out, taking millions of years to form again.

Question 5

Surface mines

Answer 5

extract minerals like coal, gold, gravel, or iron by removing the soil and rock from the top of the Earth.

Question 6

The soil and rock that is removed is called …extract minerals like gold, silver, coal, and diamonds from deep beneath the Earth’s surface by digging tunnels and shafts into the ground.

Answer 6

overburden.
Subsurface mines

Question 7

Land reclamation

Answer 7

defined as the process of restoring land disturbed by mining to a safe, stable, and productive state, often returning it to beneficial uses like wildlife habitats, parks, farming, or even residential areas

Question 8

…is a very important atom that is the basis of all living things.

Answer 8

Carbon

Question 9

… is Earth’s continuous process of moving carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, land (geosphere), and living organisms (biosphere).

Answer 9

carbon cycle

Question 10

Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere as a result of … in living things (think animals exhaling).

Answer 10

cellular respiration

Question 11

Plants take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turn it into the “organic” or “carbon containing” material: glucose, as well as oxygen in a process called…

Answer 11

photosynthesis

Question 12

Carbon cycles through the … when animals eat plants, and animals eat other animals

Answer 12

biosphere

Question 13

When animals and plants die, their “biomass” …

Answer 13

decomposes

Question 14

A …is a type of gas that can trap heat.

Answer 14

greenhouse gas

Question 15

The current rapid increase in the earth’s global temperature as a result of human activities is referred to as …and can have wide ranging environmental consequences.

Answer 15

climate change

Question 16

…. is the establishment of a community in an area of bare rock that does not have topsoil.

Answer 16

Primary succession

Question 17

There are two “types” of ecological succession

Answer 17

Primary succession
Secondary succession

Question 18

…secrete acids that help break down rocks.

Answer 18

Pioneer species

Question 19

As pioneer species die…

Answer 19

their decaying organic materials mix with small pieces of rock.

Question 20

This is a ………. – a stable, mature community in which there is little change in the number of species.

Answer 20

climax community

Question 21

…………. is the orderly and predictable change that takes place after a community of organisms has been removed but the soil remains.

Answer 21

Secondary succession

Question 22

occurs in areas where a community that previously existed has been removed
Might occur after a fire or a flood
Steps are basically the same except some soil is still present

Answer 22

just facts

Question 23

These nutrients include - ………….. among others

Answer 23

water, carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen

Question 24

Just like the carbon cycle the …………… nitrogen, cycles through the spheres of the earth in different molecular forms

Answer 24

atom

Question 26

Nitrogen fixation is the process where ........ turn gaseous nitrogen from the air in the soil (N2 ) into nitrogen compounds like ammonia (NH3) that plants can “uptake” through their roots.

Answer 26

bacteria

Question 27

name all the damn layer

Answer 27

lithosphere asthenosphere mesosphere outer core inner core