“Earth Science” Response Questions
1. How is a scientific hypothesis different from a scientific theory? How does a scientific theory differ from a regular theory (i.e., a non-scientific theory in the way the term is used by lay people)?
2. Explain, with examples, how a change in each sphere will affect each of the other three spheres.
Your response should be at least 200 words in length.
3. Explain how a forest fire could lead to mass wasting.
4. Why is wind erosion more effective in deserts than in more humid regions?
5. Briefly describe at least six depositional features created by glaciers.
6. Why are flash floods common in arid climates?
7. Describe the features created by glacial erosion that you might see in an area where valley glaciers recently existed. Explain how each feature forms.
Your response should be at least 200 words in length.
8. Briefly describe what happens at a subduction zone
9. Explain how an accretionary wedge forms.
10. What is a hot spot? Explain how this forms a volcanic island chain such as that of the Hawaiian Islands.
11. What evidence did Alfred Wegener use to support his hypothesis of continental drift? What additional evidence was added later (post-World War II) as oceanographers began to explore the ocean floor? How do these two ideas unite to form the theory of plate tectonics?
Your response should be at least 200 words in length
