Review Sheet for Earth Sciences 80A Exam #1

Familiarize yourself with these basic questions, from Part I of the class and the reader. Be prepared to write short answer essays on any of these issues, along with some multiple choice or association type questions.

 

  1. What is the Big Bang, and how do we know about it?

     

  2. What is the process by which heavy atoms are created in our Universe? How do they end up in places like our toenails?

     

  3. Earth science involves a merging of gradualism and catastrophism. What are these ideas?

     

  4. The Earth has suffered bombardment from its inception. What major events are associated with large impacts?

     

  5. How unique is the Earth likely to be in the Universe? How unique is life on the Earth likely to be?

     

  6. Did dinosaurs disappear because they were too ugly? What scientific ideas do we have for how they disappeared? Is it possible they could have survived to today or did evolution ensure their extinction?

     

  7. How do we know how old the Earth is? How do geologists measure time in the rocks?

     

  8. You will encounter some association problems which involve identifying terms in a list with their closest associated terms in another list. For example: 
       
Charles Darwin      ___B____		A)  accretion
   
   
alpha particle      ___C____		B)  natural selection
   
   
growth of earth     ___A___		C)  radioactive decay

So, go through your notes and pay attention to major words/concepts and their relationships.

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This page was last reviewed on 3/9/01.