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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long did it take the Manhattan Project scientists and engineers to build three nuclear weapons?

2. In Chapter 19, for what time period have written records of temperatures been analyzed?

3. In Chapter 18, how many Stinger missiles had been produced?

4. How high in altitude must a person travel to be awarded astronaut wings by the United States?

5. In a pebble bed reactor, how deep is the bed of pebbles where the uranium is placed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the main physics problem in fusion reactors, and what are some solutions?

2. In Chapter 15, what does the author believe is the most efficient way to travel to space?

3. What was learned about the climate of the past from glaciers covering Greenland?

4. Why is it not necessary to enrich the uranium in a nucelar reactor, and what types of moderators can be used?

5. What was the Little Ice Age?

6. What information can be discovered from space?

7. In Chapter 11, what two sides are there to stockpiling weapons?

8. What needs to be understood about global warming?

9. What theory did Milutin Milankovic use to explain the cyclic pattern of the ice ages?

10. At the time the book was written, what prototype of a nuclear waste facility was developed by the U.S. government?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In 1979, a nuclear reactor ran out of control and a third of its uranium fuel melted. What happened during the incident at Three Mile Island? How much radiation was released by the accident? How was the perception of the accident worse than its reality?

Essay Topic 2

Anecdotes are short stories used by an author to provide personal knowledge or experience of a topic being discussed. What are some anecdotes the author uses in the book? How does the use of anecdotes help readers understand concepts?

Essay Topic 3

There is concern that the Earth’s climate is changing because of human activity. Why is it important to distinguish between human-caused phenomena and natural climate fluctuations? How will solutions need to be based upon cause?

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