1. Explain Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift.

2. Give evidence for Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift.

3. Describe seafloor spreading.

4. Summarize the theory of plate tectonics.

5. Compare the characteristic geologic activities that occur along the three types of plate boundaries.

6. Explain the possible role of convection currents in plate movement.

7. Summarize the theory of suspect terrains.

8. Predict isostatic adjustments that will result from changes in the thickness of the earth’s crust.

9. Identify sources of stress in crustal rock.

10. Compare folding and faulting as responses to stress.

11. Describe four types of faults.

12. Identify the types of plate collisions that build mountains.

13. Identify four types of mountains and discuss the forces that shaped them.

14. Summarize the elastic rebound theory.

15. Explain why earthquakes generally occur at plate boundaries.

16. Compare the three types of seismic waves.

17. Discuss the methods scientists use to pinpoint and measure the magnitude of earthquakes.

18. Describe the possible effects of a major earthquake on buildings.

19. Discuss the relationship of tsunamis to earthquakes.

20. State safety rules to follow when an earthquake strikes.

21. Identify changes in the earth’s crust that may signal earthquakes.

22. Describe the formation and movement of magma.

23. Define volcanism.

24. List three locations where volcanism occurs.

25. Summarize the relationship between lava types and the force of volcanic eruptions.

26. Describe the major types of tephra.

27. Identify the three main types of volcanic cones.

28. Summarize the events that may signal a volcanic eruption.

1. Define a mineral and distinguish between the two main mineral groups.

2. Identify the element found most abundantly in common minerals.

3. Name six types of nonsilicate minerals.

4. Describe some characteristics that help distinguish one mineral from another.

5. List four special properties that may help identify certain minerals.

6. Identify the three major types of rock and explain how each is formed.

7. Summarize the steps in the rock cycle.

8. Describe how the cooling rate of magma and lava affects the structure of igneous rocks.

9. Classify igneous rocks according to their mineral composition.

10. Name the three main types of sedimentary rock and give an example of each.

11. Distinguish between regional and contract metamorphism.

12. Distinguish between foliated and unfoliated metamorphic rocks and give example of each.

13. Explain what ores are and how they are formed.

14. Discuss wide variety of uses for mineral resources.

15. Explain why coal is a fossil fuel.

16. Describe how petroleum and natural gas are formed and how they are removed from the earth.

17. Discuss the importance of fossil fuels as sources of energy and of petrochemical products.

18. Explain that fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources that must be used wisely.

19. Describe some of the effects that the use of fossil fuels has on the environment.

20. Summarize the process of nuclear fission.

21. Summarize the process of nuclear fusion.

22. Describe both passive and active methods of harnessing energy from the sun.

23. Explain how geothermal energy may be used as a substitute for fossil fuels.

24. Discuss hydroelectric energy and wind energy as alternative energy sources.

1. Recognize the agents of mechanical weathering.

2. Describe the chemical reactions that decompose rock.

3. Explain how rock composition affects the rate of weathering.

4. Discuss how the amount of exposure determines the rate at which rock weathers.

5. Describe the effects of climate on the rate of weathering.

6. Explain how the composition of parent rock affects soil.

7. Predict the type of soil produced in various climates.

8. Define erosion and list four agents of erosion.

9. Identify various unwise farming methods that result in accelerated soil erosion and list four methods of soil conservation that prevents this damage.

10. Discuss how mass movements contribute to erosion.

11. Describe the major landforms.

12. Outline the stages of the water cycle.

13. Explain the components of a water budget.

14. List two approaches to water conservation.

15. Describe the way in which a river develops.

16. Explain how a stream causes erosion.

17. Distinguish youthful, mature, and old river valleys.

18. List two types of stream deposition and explain the difference between them.

19. Describe the change in a stream that causes flooding.

20. Identify direct and indirect methods of flood control.

21. Distinguish between porosity and permeability.

22. Describe how ground water can be polluted.

23. Describe artesian formations.

24. Describe two land features produced when ground water is heated beneath the surface.

25. Describe how glaciers form.

26. Compare two main kinds of glaciers.

27. Explain two processes by which glaciers move.

28. Describe the landscape features that are produced by glacial erosion.

29. Name and describe five features formed by glacial deposition.

30. Explain how lakes are formed by glacial action.

31. Describe the climatic cycles that exist during an ice age.

32. Identify and summarize the theory that best accounts for the ice ages.

33. Describe two ways that the wind erodes the land.

34. Compare the two types of wind erosion.

35. Describe the movement of sand along a shore and the formations produced by wave erosion.

36. Explain how changes in sea level relative to the land affect coastlines.

37. Analyze the effect of human activity on coastal land.

1. Describe how astronomers determine the composition and surface of a star.

2. Explain why stars appear to move to an observer on the earth.

3. Name and describe the way astronomers measure the distance from the earth to the stars.

4. Explain the difference between absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude.

5. Describe how a protostar develops into a star.

6. Explain how a main sequence star generates energy.

7. Describe the possible evolution of a star during and after the giant stage.

8. Describe the characteristics that identify a constellation.

9. Describe the three main types of galaxies.

10. Explain the big bang theory.

11. Explain how the sun converts matter into energy in its core.

12. Explain how sunspots are related to powerful magnetic fields on the sun.

13. Describe how the solar wind can cause auroras on the earth.

14. Explain the nebular theory on the origin of the planets and the rest of the solar system.

15. Compare the models of the universe developed by Ptolemy and Copernicus.

16. Summarize Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion.

17. Identify the basic characteristics of the nine known planets.

18. Describe the basic characteristics of asteroids, comets, meteors, meteorites and meteoroids.

19. Describe the interior of the moon.

20. Summarize the four stages in the development of the moon.

21. Describe the orbit of the moon around the earth and explain why eclipses occur.

22. Describe the phases of the moon.

23. Explain how the calendars are based on the movements of the earth and moon.

24. Compare the characteristics of the moons and rings of the other planets in the solar system.