SCREENING TEST Type Centers in Box with 9 Point Indent

Name______Date______Class______

B E N C H M AR K T E S T : E A R T H A N D S P AC E S C I E N C E Multiple Choice

Directions: Use the map below to answer question 1.

1. A storm is located at 32° N, 118° D mountain range W. Which of the following major cities is near the storm? A Birmingham, AL B Los Angeles, CA C New Orleans, LA D Washington, DC

2. An area’s topography is determined by the area’s elevation, relief, and A scale. B landforms. C latitude. D longitude.

3. Which of these terms includes all the others? A mountain system B mountain belt C mountain

1 Progress Monitoring and Benchmark Assessments Name______Date______Class______

4. If one centimeter on a map traveled, in degrees? represents 25,000 centimeters on A 45 degrees the ground, the scale of the map B 90 degrees is C 180 degrees A 1 centimeter = 2.5 kilometers. D 360 degrees B 1 : 250,000. C 1 : 2,500,000. D 1 : 25,000.

5. If you travel from the equator to the North Pole, how far have you

BENCHMARK TEST: EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE (continued)

Directions: Use the diagram below to answer question 6.

6. Which of the scientific studies represented in the diagrams 8. What kind of slope do closely above is best aided by the use of spaced contour lines indicate? modern location technology? A wavy A A B flat B B C steep C C D gentle D D 9. The geological principle stating 7. To find the latitude, longitude, that the same processes that and elevation of points on Earth’s operate today also operated in surface, the Global Positioning the past is called System uses A mechanical weathering. A topographic maps. B chemical weathering. B signals from a network of C uniformitarianism. satellites. D soil conservation. C satellite images. D aerial photography. 10. A rock containing iron becomes soft and crumbly and reddish- brown in color. It probably has been chemically weathered by A abrasion. B carbon dioxide. C oxygen. D acid rain.

11. In which climate would frost D D wedging most likely occur? A a wet climate in which temperatures remain below freezing B a wet climate in which temperatures alternate between below freezing and above freezing C a dry climate in which temperatures remain below freezing D a dry climate in which temperatures alternate between below freezing and above freezing

12. Which soil layer contains the most humus? A A B B C C

13. Decomposers are the soil B returns soil nutrients, removes organisms that moisture, and allows soil to A store moisture in the soil. erode B break down and digest the C returns soil nutrients, retains remains of dead organisms. moisture, and holds soil in C make spaces in the soil for air place and water. D rotates crops, retains D burrow deep below the topsoil. moisture, and holds soil in place 14. If a farmer plants the same crop in a field year after year, the soil becomes less fertile. What causes this decrease in fertility? A erosion B lack of water C loss of topsoil D loss of nutrients

15. How does conservation plowing help limit the destruction of soil? A rotates crop, removes moisture, and holds soil in place

16. The Rocky Mountains are more jagged than the Appalachian 18. The major agent of erosion that Mountains. This suggests that has shaped Earth’s land surface A erosion has worn down the is Appalachian Mountains more A mudflow activity. than the Rocky Mountains. B moving water. B more sediment has deposited C glacial abrasion. on the Rocky Mountains. D landslide activity. C the Rocky Mountains are older. D the Appalachian Mountains are Directions: Use the diagram below to answer more likely to experience question 19. landslides.

19. The water slows as it reaches letter G. What feature forms just below letter G? A a meander B a delta 17. The diagram shows soil creep. C an oxbow lake What usually causes creep? D a rejuvenated stream A volcanic activity B freezing and thawing of water beneath the soil C plant growth D plate tectonics

20. Glaciers can only form in an area where 23. Which of these landforms is A there is an ice age. commonly formed by wind? B there is a U-shaped valley in A a fiord the mountains. B a beach C the amount of snow exceeds C a sand dune the amount of rain. D a flood plain D more snow falls than melts. 24. How do most fossils form? 21. Which of these glacial features A Living things die and their results from deposition? remains are buried by A cirque sediments. B horn B The hard parts of an organism C moraine dry out in the air. D U-shaped valley C The soft parts of an organism change to stone. 22. Why does a headland form? D Freezing preserves the A Waves erode a hollow area in remains of an organism. the rock. B Incoming waves build up sand. 25. Which type of fossil can provide C Beach sediment moves down clues about the activities of the beach with the current. ancient organisms? D Part of the shore resists wave A trace fossils erosion. B remains preserved in amber C carbon films D molds and casts

26. The process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over long periods of time is called A sedimentation. B replacement. C deposition. D evolution.

Directions: Use the table below to answer question 27.

27. Which element in the table would be useful for determining the Directions: Use the diagram below to answer absolute age of a fossil from a question 29. plant or an animal that lived up to 50,000 years ago? A carbon-14 B thorium-232 C uranium-235 D potassium-40

28. Radioactive carbon (carbon-14) decays to ordinary carbon (carbon-12) with a half-life of 29. The diagram above shows a 5,730 years. The decay of portion of Earth’s crust. Molten radioactive carbon to ordinary rock has flowed into a portion of carbon can be used to find the the layers and has formed an age of fossil animals, but only if intrusion of igneous rock. What is they are less than 50,000 years the relative age of the igneous old. Why can’t carbon dating rock intrusion? reveal the age of older fossils? A older than the limestone and A It takes longer than 50,000 the layers of shale years for carbon-14 to form. B younger than the limestone B Nearly all the carbon-14 is and the bottom layer of shale gone after 7 half-lives. C younger than the limestone C Half the carbon-12 changes to but older than all the layers of carbon-14 in 50,000 years. shale D Half of 50,000 years is about 4 D older than the limestone and half-lives for carbon-14. younger than the layers of shale

30. If all of Earth's 4.6-billion-year D volcanic eruptions releasing history were squeezed into a 24- carbon dioxide into the hour day, at about what time atmosphere. would modern humans appear? A 9:00 am B 6:00 pm C 11:00 pm D 11:59 pm

31. The layer of the atmosphere labeled 2 in the diagram is called the stratosphere. The stratosphere developed a layer rich in ozone about 2.5 billion years ago. The ozone in this layer of the atmosphere developed as a result of A oceans absorbing large amounts of Earth’s carbon dioxide. B comets releasing frozen gases on Earth. C photosynthetic organisms releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.

32. What is one way that the fossil B An object from space struck record of the Triassic Period Earth, creating dust and clouds differs from the fossil record of that blocked sunlight. the Permian Period? C An ice age covered most of A Fossils of mammals are found Earth with ice. in the Triassic Period but not D The dinosaurs ate too many the Permian Period. other organisms and then B Fossils of mammals are found starved. in the Permian period but not the Triassic Period. 34. What do paleontologists call the C Fossils of dinosaurs are found relatively short time when many in the Permian Period but not new life forms appeared on the Triassic Period. Earth? D Fossils of dinosaurs are found A Cambrian Explosion in the Triassic Period but not B Mass Extinction the Permian Period. C Triassic Period D Cenozoic Era 33. What do scientists hypothesize caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other organisms at the end of the Cretaceous Period? A Volcanic eruptions covered large areas with lava.

BENCHMARK TEST: EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE (continued) Short Response Write an answer for each of the following.

35. Explain how mountain systems and mountain belts are related. ______

36. Your pen pal lives in a town at 62° W. Can you locate this town using only this information? Explain your answer. ______

37. Describe two ways burrowing animals enrich soil with substances that plants need to grow. ______

38. How does a sand dune form? ______

39. What is feature E? How does it form? ______

15 Progress Monitoring and Benchmark Assessments