Nature of Science
What is the term for a testable explanation for a scientific question?
What is a hypothesis?
Cutting down trees for buildings or farms is called what?
What is deforestation?
What theory explains how Earth’s plates move?
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
What is the outermost layer of the Earth?
What is the crust?
What natural event happens when rocks suddenly break and release energy underground?
What is an earthquake?
What do scientists use to organize and analyze data from an experiment?
What is a graph or data table?
What is the process where fertile land becomes desert?
What is desertification?
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago?
What is Pangaea?
Which layer is made of molten rock and causes tectonic movement?
What is the mantle?
How can human activities like mining affect Earth’s land?
They can cause erosion, sinkholes, or habitat destruction.
What is the difference between an observation and an inference?
An observation is what you notice; an inference is what you think it means.
What are renewable resources?
Resources that can be replaced naturally, like trees or water.
What happens at a transform boundary?
Plates slide past each other.
What are the two parts of Earth’s core?
The inner core and outer core
What layer of the Earth do tectonic plates float on?
What is the mantle?
What is a variable that is changed by the scientist in an experiment?
What is the independent variable?
What is the release of harmful substances into the air, water, or soil called?
What is pollution?
What landform forms at a convergent boundary between oceanic and continental plates?
A volcanic mountain range.
Which layer is solid and made mostly of iron and nickel?
What is the inner core?
How do convection currents in the mantle affect Earth’s surface?
They move tectonic plates, causing earthquakes and volcanoes.
What is the purpose of repeating an experiment multiple times?
To make results more reliable and accurate.
What gases trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to global warming?
What are greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide and methane)?
What is the driving force behind plate movement?
Convection currents in the mantle.
Which layer is broken into tectonic plates?
What is the lithosphere?
What type of boundary forms when two plates move away from each other?
What is a divergent boundary?