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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Richard Owen coined the term paleontology as the study of prehistoric life forms and called the giant animals dinosaurian, meaning:
(a) Ancient animal.
(b) Enormous creature.
(c) Large reptile.
(d) Terrible lizard.

2. An asteroid strike on Earth would most likely affect the climate for how long?
(a) 1 million years.
(b) 10,000 years.
(c) 5 years.
(d) 500 years.

3. When did the last supervolcano erupt on Earth?
(a) 74,000 years ago.
(b) 1,100 years ago.
(c) 9,000 years ago.
(d) 23,000 years ago.

4. Atoms are made up of smaller particles, including:
(a) Bytes.
(b) Cells.
(c) Quarks.
(d) Molecules.

5. Max Planck ignored those who urged him to avoid physics and ended up doing groundbreaking work on:
(a) Acceleration.
(b) Optics.
(c) Entropy.
(d) Electromagnetism.

Short Answer Questions

1. What organization opposed geologist Clair Patterson and his campaign?

2. Between 1980 and 2003, how many supernovas did the Reverend Robert Evans of Australia discover using a simple backyard telescope?

3. Invented in the 1930s, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have proven to be damaging to:

4. What campaign did geologist Clair Patterson take on?

5. Harry Hess determined that, in the Atlantic, the ocean floor is:

Short Essay Questions

1. How close did asteroids come to Earth in 1991 and 1993?

2. Where do earthquakes occur?

3. When scientists first tried to grasp the idea of atoms, what did they disagree on?

4. Why does Bryson consider Pluto to be an oddity?

5. What explanation did James Hutton come up with to describe the phenomenon of seashell fossils frequently found on mountaintops?

6. Describe inner solar system asteroids.

7. Explain how inventor and engineer, Thomas Midley, Jr., solved some problems but created enormous safety and environmental issues by adding lead to gasoline and by inventing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

8. What are quarks? How are they categorized and classified?

9. Describe what happens in a supernova.

10. Describe what happened when astronomer Edmond Halley asked Sir Isaac Newton for mathematical help.

(see the answer keys)

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