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- Earth News Issue 001
- Science, Ecology, Geography
- Written By Sarah Connor
- and
- Master Overlord
- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
-
- Well, In our first issue, before anything else, we are going to
- give you a ECO-WISE Quiz that was made up by some friends and we
- decided to put it all into a text file, to see if you know your sciences
- and your earth.
- This is a multiple choice quiz and we will give you the answers
- after we give the quiz.
- This is very important that you know most or ALL of these
- things, and how it is affecting life, studies, education, and other
- materials needed for living.
-
-
- 1. Which of these is a permanent feature of the earth's surface?
- A. The Mississippi River
- B. The Rocky Mountains
- C. The Atlantic Ocean
- D. None of these
-
- 2. Of all the species that ever walked, crawled, flew or just plain
- lived on the earth, how many still exist?
- A. Most-more than 95%
- B. About two-thirds
- C. About one-third
- D. Very few-Less than 1%
-
- 3. Which of these statements about extinction is FALSE?
- A. When one species dies out, other species usually appear to fill
- the empty ecological niche.
- B. Humans had little effect on how many species go extinct every
- year.
- C. Most of the animal species going extinct as a result of the Amazon
- Rain Forest destruction are insects.
-
- 4. What is the original source of nearly all the energy used by living
- things on Earth?
- A. Energy stored in fossil fuels, such as oil and coal
- B. The sun
- C. Heat inside the earth
- D. Heat stored in oceans
-
- 5. Which statement is NOT true for every ecosystem?
- A. Some kind of energy always flows into the system
- B. The elements of life, such as carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, must
- always cycle within the system
- C. The ecosystem must have energy-producing life
- D. There must be always predators
-
- 6. Which animal doesn't belong on the same feeding level as the others?
- A. Killer Whale
- B. Baleen Whale
- C. Spotted owl
- D. Lion
-
- 7. Some people say we need to save every species on earth. Which
- statement is NOT a good argument for this?
- A. Every species fills a vital role in its ecosystem
- B. Every species has unique genes
- C. Every species could give us as-yet-undiscovered chemicals for
- medicines and other uses.
- D. A species, once extinct, can never come back.
-
- 8. After an oil spill, what happens to the dangerous complex carbon
- compounds that make up most of the oil?
- A. Carbon atoms turn into hydrogen and oxygen
- B. Complex carbon compounds slowly break down into sompler ones, to
- be eaten by bacteria and other life-forms.
- C. The carbon compounds stay on the beaches and in the ocean forever
- unless we physically remove them.
-
- 9. Why is destroying large areas of Amazon rain forest harmful to the
- global environment?
- A. Creatures living in the forest may go extinct
- B. Deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect
- C. Deforestation leads to severe soil erosion and then to river
- pollution.
- D. all of the above
-
- 10. Which of the following facts causes scientists to worry about the
- greenhouse effect?
- A. Many human-made gases contribute to the greenhouse effect
- B. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose
- dramatically in the past century.
- C. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of burning fossil fuels-our main
- energy source.
- D. All of the above
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Ok..now for the answers
-
- 1. D - The earth's surface changes constantly. No ocean, mountain range
- or river is permanent.
-
- 2. D - Scientists who study fossils believe that the vast majority of
- Species that once lived on earth are now extinct.
-
- 3. B - Humans, by overhunting and altering environments everywherem have
- Caused a real increase in the rate of extinction. Scientists
- think human actions could kill off 20% of all species in the next
- decade.
-
- 4. B - The original source of energy for life on Earth is nuclear
- reactions in the sun. Hydrogen "burns" in the sun to yield
- radiant energy (such as sunlight.) Through photosynthesis, plants
- convert that energy to the chemical energy we eat as food. The
- energy stored in fossil fuels also came from the sun.
-
- 5. D - In every ecosystem, energy flows and matter cycles. Energy
- producing life-forms, usually plants, are essential. But
- predators, which eat the animals that eat plants, are not found
- in all ecosystems.
-
- 6. B - In every ecosystem, photosynthetic plants are energy producers on
- the bottom level of the food chain. Animals like baleen whales,
- which eat plants, are on the next highest level. Killer whales,
- spotted owls and lions are all predators. They are on the top
- feeding level.
-
- 7. A - Not every species is vital to the survival of an ecosystem. (The
- loss of a single species, though, can upset greatly the
- ecosystem's balance.)
-
- 8. B - Carbon compounds in crude oil eventually break down to become
- food for microorganisms. In this way, nature can gradually
- return carbon to the biosphere.
-
- 9. D - Deforestation has many consequences. As people burn trees,
- unique habitats are lost, and carbon dioxide is added to the
- atmosphere. Oxygen-producing trees are lost, and fewer trees
- means more soil erosion. The mud and silt pollute rivers, and
- destroy delicate river ecosystems.
-
- 10. D- All scientists agre that carbon dioxide and other gases
- Contribute to the greenhouse effect. Human activities,
- especially the burning of fossil fuels, have added a lot of these
- gases to the atmosphere.
-
- I hope you've learned something, or just reviewed what you know.
-
- -sc
-
-