STANDARD III: Students will understand the processes of rock and fossil formation.

Objective 1: Compare rocks and minerals and describe how they are related A rock has three minerals in it. One of them, quartz, has a hardness of 7. The second, feldspar, has a hardness of 6. The third, biotite, has a hardness of 2.5. What is true about the hardness of rock? a. The hardness is 15.5, because that is the total hardness of the rock. b. The hardness is 5.1, because that is the average of the hardness of the minerals in the rock. c. The hardness of the rock varies because each of the minerals has a different hardness. The hardness is 2.5, because that is the hardness of the softest mineral.   Correct Answer: c

Objective 1: Compare rocks and minerals and describe how they are related A rock has inter-grown crystals in thin bands. Which type of rock would it be? a. extrusive igneous b. intrusive igneous c. metamorphic Sedimentary Correct Answer: c

Objective 1: Compare rocks and minerals and describe how they are related Which event would most likely produce igneous rocks? a. deposition b. earthquake c. flood d. volcano Correct Answer: d 

Objective 1: Compare rocks and minerals and describe how they are related If you found an igneous rock with large crystals, what would the crystals tell you about how that rock was formed? a. Cooled quickly above the surface. b. Cooled quickly below the surface. c. Cooled slowly above the surface. d. Cooled slowly below the surface. Correct Answer: d

Which statement best summarizes the rock cycle? Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. Which statement best summarizes the rock cycle? a. Rocks are all made of the same materials. b. Rocks can be different types at the same time. c. Rocks are unchangeable. Rocks can change from one form to another. Correct Answer: d

Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. According to the rock cycle, what rock type is formed by cooling magma? a. metamorphic b. sedimentary Foliated igneous Correct Answer: d

Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. According to the rock cycle, what rock type is formed under tremendous heat and pressure? a. metamorphic b. sedimentary Foliated igneous Correct Answer: a

Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. According to the rock cycle, what rock type is formed under the ocean and may contain fossils? a. metamorphic b. sedimentary Foliated igneous Correct Answer: b

a. Dunes, worn rocks, loess b. Landslides, mudflows, soil creep Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. Glaciers have been a dynamic force in shaping the surface of the earth.  What physical features would you find in an area that had been eroded by glaciers? a. Dunes, worn rocks, loess b. Landslides, mudflows, soil creep c. Gullies, oxbow lakes, flood plains d. U-shaped valleys, till, kettle lakes e. Terraces, beaches, sandbars Correct Answer: d 

How does vegetation control water erosion due to runoff? Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. How does vegetation control water erosion due to runoff? a. They make the soil harder and more resistant. b. They stop the rain from reaching the soil. c. They absorb the rain so it doesn't react with the soil. d. Their roots hold the soil in place. Correct Answer: d

Which type of erosion moves the most sediment on the earth's surface? Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. Which type of erosion moves the most sediment on the earth's surface? a. Glaciers b. Landslides c. Running Water d. Wind  Correct Answer: c

Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. What term describes the breakdown of rocks into smaller and smaller parts? a. Erosion b. Deposition c. Weathering d. Cementation Correct Answer: c

Which of the following is an example of chemical weathering? Objective 2: Describe the nature of the changes that rocks undergo over long periods of time. Which of the following is an example of chemical weathering? a. When a bicycle is left outdoors and rusts. b. When water freezes and breaks open rocks. c. When a plant wedges into a rock and breaks it. d. When wind wears away at a rock. When a tombstone freezes, cracks and breaks. Correct Answer: a

What is the following: "Most fossils are found in marine sediments"? Objective 3: Describe how rock and fossil evidence is used to infer earth’s history. What is the following: "Most fossils are found in marine sediments"? a. Theory b. Law c. Hypothesis d. Fact Correct Answer: d 

Objective 3: Describe how rock and fossil evidence is used to infer earth’s history. Assume you are looking at geologic strata exposed in a road-cut. You have no other data available. Your friend says that, “Fossils which are found in lower strata usually represent the remains of forms which lived at an earlier age than those of fossils found in upper strata." This is a statement of a. Data b. A theory c. A fact d. An assumption Correct Answer: d 

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. On a mountaintop, you find rock samples that have large crystals and are heavy and dense. These rocks probably: a. cooled underground and were then thrust up. b. formed in quiet waters and were thrust up. c. were compressed together and thrust up. d. cooled quickly after a violent volcanic eruption. Correct Answer: a

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. What evidence do we see that energy from the earth’s interior has reached the surface? a. large trees b. volcanoes and earthquakes c. the grand canyon d. the global winds Correct Answer: b

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. Which layer would have fossils similar to modern species? a. A b. D c. E d. I Correct Answer: a 

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. Which layers are identical layers? a. A & B b. E & K c. F & L d. I & J Correct Answer: c 

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. Fossil found in layer E would match fossils found in layer . . . a. I b. K c. L d. None Correct Answer: d 

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. What caused layers E to L to tilt? a. Sedimentation b. Faulting c. Erosion d. Folding Correct Answer: d 

Objective 4: Compare rapid and gradual changes to Earth’s surface. What type of force caused layers E to L to tilt? a. Tensional b. Lateral c. Compressional d. Strike-Slip Correct Answer: c