Study Guide

Field 242: Science: Environmental Science 
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Each multiple-choice question has four answer choices. Read each question and its answer choices carefully and choose the ONE best answer.

During the test you should try to answer all questions. Even if you are unsure of an answer, it is better to guess than not to answer a question at all. You will NOT be penalized for choosing an incorrect response.

The following reference material will be available to you during the test:

Periodic Table PDF opens in a new window.

Objective 0001 
Understand practices of science and engineering.

1. Use the information below to answer the question that follows.

Alcohol % Water % Measured Freezing Point (°C)
10 90 25
20 80 20
30 70 5
40 60 0
50 50 minus5
60 40 minus10
70 30 minus20
80 20 minus35
90 10 minus70
100 0 minus130

A student designs a study to determine how adding isopropyl alcohol to water changes the freezing point of the solution. The table shows the freezing points measured by the student for each condition. The student uses this information to draw a number of conclusions. The teacher, however, notices that the student measured the freezing points in Fahrenheit and not in Celsius as labeled in the table. Which of the following conclusions by the student is most affected by the student's mislabeling of the temperature unit?

  1. Increasing the percentage of alcohol in a solution decreases the freezing point of water.
  2. The freezing point of pure water is different from the freezing point of pure isopropyl alcohol.
  3. A solution of 40 percent isopropyl alcohol and 60 percent water has the same freezing point as pure water.
  4. Changing the percentage of water in the solution results in an inversely linear change in the measured freezing point.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
The freezing point of pure water is 32 degreesF or 0 degreesC. When analyzing the table, a student might conclude that a solution of 40 percent isopropyl alcohol and 60 percent water has the same freezing point as pure water. This type of misconception is formed when data is mislabeled. In this case, the table is labeled in Celsius but the data were measured in Fahrenheit. Therefore, in reading the table, the student will infer that the 40/60 solution has a freezing point of 0 degreesC, when in actuality the freezing point is 0 degreesF, which is not the freezing point of pure water.

Objective 0002 
Understand crosscutting concepts and their applications across science and engineering disciplines.

2. Which of the following sequences best describes the changes in energy forms as first a plant grows, then it is consumed by a rabbit, and finally the rabbit runs through a field?

  1. radiant energy becomes chemical energy becomes kinetic energy
  2. geothermal energy becomes radiant energy becomes chemical energy
  3. potential energy becomes mechanical energy becomes kinetic energy
  4. geothermal energy becomes potential energy becomes chemical energy
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The radiant energy from the sun is transferred into chemical energy during the process of photosynthesis when sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide are taken in by the plant to produce sugar and oxygen. The energy is stored as a sugar and can be either used for the function and/or growth of the plant. When the plant is consumed by the rabbit, the plant is digested as food and converted into chemical energy through metabolic processes. These chemical reactions produce and store energy in the form of macromolecules. As the rabbit begins to run, that stored chemical energy is converted into kinetic energy, enabling the rabbit to move and function.

Objective 0003 
Understand the process of reading, and apply knowledge of strategies for promoting students' reading development in the science classroom.

3. Students in a chemistry class will be reading a text that focuses on the complex process of reaction mechanisms and transition states. The teacher wants to teach students how to use visualization as a strategy to improve their comprehension of the text. The teacher begins by explaining that visualization is used to create a mental picture of an object, concept, or process described in a text. Which of the following steps should the teacher take next in teaching this comprehension strategy?

  1. reading aloud a section of the text to students and prompting them to make a detailed drawing of the text's main idea
  2. using think-aloud to model the strategy while reading a section of the text aloud to students
  3. asking students to read the text and analyze how the author uses graphic features to support comprehension
  4. having students read the text silently and then point to a key illustration or graphic in the text
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
A think-aloud process allows teachers to describe things they are doing to monitor comprehension while reading a text orally. By modeling how to use visualization as a comprehension strategy, the teacher shows students how skilled readers construct meaning from a text by generating mental images as they read. The students can then apply the teacher's visualization strategy to create their own images to help them understand the text they are reading.

Objective 0003 
Understand the process of reading, and apply knowledge of strategies for promoting students' reading development in the science classroom.

4. An environmental science teacher would like to promote students' ability to use evidence from a text to support their writing and class discussions about assigned informational and expository texts. The teacher could best achieve these goals by providing the students with explicit modeling and practice in which of the following strategies?

  1. defining new vocabulary in their own words
  2. using visualization during reading
  3. identifying a text's organizational structure
  4. annotating a text during reading
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
The process of annotating a text during reading enables students to engage in a close reading—a thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details—to develop a deeper understanding of the text. When annotating a text, students highlight/underline key information and make notes of key ideas and questions. These notes help students formulate their thoughts for expression in writing and class discussions.

Objective 0004 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of chemistry.

5. Use the incomplete chemical equation below to answer the question that follows.

3 M G C L 2 +  2 F Ee  yields 2 F E C L with an unknown subscript  + 3 M G

In order to complete the equation shown, the subscript on chlorine on the product side of the equation must equal which of the following values?

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Chemical equations must follow the law of conservation of mass. Therefore, the number of atoms for each element on the reactant side is equal to the number of atoms for each element on the product side. In this example, magnesium chloride has a coefficient of three and chlorine has a subscript of two. Since there is no subscript on magnesium, the number of atoms is determined by what its coefficient is. In this case, there are three magnesium atoms on the reactant side of the equation. Similarly, there are two iron atoms on both the reactant and product sides. To determine the number of chlorine atoms, the coefficient number and the subscript number of that element are multiplied together, giving a total of six chlorine atoms in this compound. Thus, there needs to be six chlorine atoms on the product side of the equation. As the equation is presented, iron chloride has a coefficient of two, giving a total of two chlorine atoms. However, in order to balance this equation, there needs to be a total of six chlorine atoms. This is achieved by placing a subscript of three on the element chlorine. This will result in there being two molecules of iron chloride that each contain three atoms of chlorine. This equals a total of six chlorine atoms on the product side, which equals the reactant side and balances the chemical equation.

Objective 0005 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of physics.

6. Use the graph below to answer the question that follows.

graph showing the velocity of a person on a bike

A graph of velocity in M per S versus time in S is shown. From 0 to 3 S, there is a flat line at 2 M per S. Then, there is a line with a negative slope from 3 to 6 S that goes from a velocity of 2 M per S to 1 M per S. Next, from 6 to 9 S, there is a flat line at 1 M per S. Finally, between 9 and 12 M per S, the line has a positive slope that goes from a velocity of 1 M per S to 2 M per S.

The graph shows the velocity of a person on a bicycle traveling on a straight, flat road. Within which of the following ranges is there a net force on the bicycle in a direction that is opposite to the velocity of the bicycle?

  1. 0to3 s
  2. 3to6 s
  3. 6to9 s
  4. 9to12 s
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
On a velocity versus time graph, a negative slope, as shown between 3 and 6 seconds on the graph, indicates a decrease in velocity over time. The bicycle is slowing down because the net force is in the opposite direction of the velocity of the bicycle. This is due to the fact that the magnitude of the frictional force is greater than the magnitude of the applied force. However, the bicycle is still moving forward because velocity is the amount of displacement of the bicycle over a given time.

Objective 0005 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of physics.

7. A physical science teacher wants to relate motion and kinematics concepts to real-world events that occur in daily life. Which of the following student activities would best accomplish the teacher's goal?

  1. Students carry out an imaginary car ride and analyze changes in displacement and velocity that occur.
  2. Students measure the work done in pulling a box filled with books across a rough floor.
  3. Students analyze the forces acting on a piece of classroom furniture and construct a free-body diagram.
  4. Students visit a commercial power plant and describe the ways in which energy changes forms.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The best activity to demonstrate motion and kinematics concepts in a classroom is to have students relate to these concepts by using real-world experiences. Students can use their real-world experience to perform an imaginary car ride and analyze what will happen to a car's displacement and velocity when it changes speeds, reverses, stops, or maintains a constant speed.

Objective 0006 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of biology.

8. Students use a molecular model kit with various colors of beads and are asked to create six carbon dioxide molecules and six water molecules. These bead molecules are then used to represent the process of photosynthesis. This bead model directly shows which of the following aspects of photosynthesis?

  1. The number of molecules of water produced in photosynthesis is equal to the number of reactant molecules of water.
  2. The oxygen that is produced as a result of the photosynthetic process is derived from both carbon dioxide and water.
  3. The splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen in photosynthesis is driven by the absorption of light energy.
  4. There is a conservation of matter during the reaction that produces one glucose molecule.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
The activity described directly shows the conservation of matter because students can observe the number of atoms per element before and after a chemical reaction. When students build the carbon and water molecules, they are able to observe and count how many atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are present before the reaction occurs. Then, as the students represent the products of these reactions, they can observe that the atoms representing these elements were neither removed nor added but rearranged to form a glucose molecule during the reaction.

Objective 0007 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of Earth and space science.

9. Which of the following wind patterns is produced when warm air rises under high pressure and deflects right as Earth rotates about its axis?

  1. Doldrums
  2. Polar easterlies
  3. westerlies
  4. northeast trade winds
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
The northeast trade winds, also known as prevailing winds, develop when the warm air at the equator rises under high pressure and Coriolis forces. As the air rises and flows toward the north, Earth is also rotating about its axis, which produces the Coriolis effect and deflects winds to the right. Around 30-degrees North latitude, the air begins to cool and descend, while still continuing to deflect to the right. The wind moves from a northeasterly direction to a southwesterly direction, and eventually returns back to the equator.

Objective 0007 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of Earth and space science.

10. Use the passage below to answer the question that follows.

When developing earthquake-resistant buildings, many newer designs follow a base-isolation model. This technology enables buildings to remain suspended above the foundation as an earthquake hits, allowing for the foundation to move and not the building. This design relies upon the use of bearings that contain a lead core wrapped in alternating layers of steel and rubber and move with the building and the foundation's movement.

Which of the following improvements would optimize this base-isolation design?

  1. adding shock absorbent materials to the building
  2. changing all metals in the building structure to titanium
  3. surrounding all of the building's bearings with concrete
  4. adding points along the building that can fold with movement
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The base-isolation model is used to prevent damage to a building during an earthquake by displacing and isolating the motion of the building to its foundation. The functioning of this type of design is dependent on the material and height of the building. Shock absorbent materials are added to the design to prevent and minimize further damage to the building in the event that the original design fails and the building would move. The shock absorbent materials function by absorbing the kinetic energy, instead of displacing that energy, in order to protect the building from damage.

Objective 0008 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of environmental science.

11. Compared with other forms of environmental regulation, policies that promote full-cost pricing, such as taxation of pollutants, have the primary advantage of:

  1. coordinating the efforts of many nations to maximize the global impact.
  2. having more transparent and visible benefits.
  3. relying on the power of incentives to encourage efficient responses.
  4. working in a more time-efficient manner.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Full-cost pricing is a policy wherein the price of a product is adjusted to account for any external costs, such as the costs associated with pollution. The taxation of pollutants has the effect of raising the price paid by consumers for a polluting product, or reducing the revenues and profits that its producers receive, or both. Consumers and producers then respond to these price incentives by finding ways to change the quantity of the product that they buy or sell, which reduces the quantity of pollution in the most efficient possible way.

Objective 0008 
Understand the disciplinary core ideas of environmental science.

12. Students are using the engineering design process to create a filtration system that removes microplastic beads from a local freshwater aquatic ecosystem in order to reduce the presence of these beads in top-level predators. Background research needed to develop this filtration system would most likely include obtaining information about the:

  1. production and use of plastics in various consumer products.
  2. movement of microplastics through the food chain.
  3. availability of alternative plastic-free consumer products.
  4. current sources of microplastic pollution in global ecosystems.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
To accomplish the goal of this activity, the students need to have an understanding of how matter moves through the local watershed, including through the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, the students must research the movement of microplastics to determine where the microplastics are in the environment and in which organisms they are concentrated. This will allow them to discover the best design and place for the filter.

Objective 0009 
Understand ecological systems.

13. In which of the following marine biomes are food webs likely to be the most complex?

  1. coastal estuary
  2. continental shelf
  3. open ocean
  4. hydrothermal vent
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
A coastal estuary is a complex food web because the biome has a high productivity rate. An estuary is an area where fresh water from the land and salt water from the sea merge together. The salinity varies depending on the environment and location of the estuary. Since the characteristics and water chemistry can become so dynamic, it provides an opportunity to produce a range of habitat types that can support many organisms.

Objective 0010 
Understand the cycling of matter and the flow of energy.

14. Which of the following statements best explains why continual infusions of solar radiation are required to supply the energy needs of most ecosystems?

  1. Each energy conversion that occurs between trophic levels in an ecological pyramid results in some loss of energy.
  2. Because dead plant material and animal wastes are inert, they represent the ongoing destruction of energy contained in the system.
  3. Each organism in an ecosystem uses all the energy it receives without passing energy on to other organisms in the system.
  4. As the total biomass generated by an ecosystem increases, ever-increasing energy is required to sustain the various life-giving functions of the system.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Most ecosystems require a continual infusion of solar radiation because that energy is the driving force that fuels the high productivity of primary producers. Energy moves up along all trophic levels of the ecological pyramid, but first starts with the primary producers. As organisms continue to consume the nutrients and energy of the lower trophic level organisms, the energy becomes lost through metabolic process and limits the amount of energy available to higher trophic levels. Therefore, in order to maintain and sustain the ecosystem, there must be a constant input of energy at the bottom of the ecological pyramid to balance the gradual loss of energy at each trophic level.

Objective 0010 
Understand the cycling of matter and the flow of energy.

15. A major ecological function of the hydrologic cycle is that it:

  1. maintains temperature differences between adjacent environments.
  2. dissolves rocks to make energy available to consumers.
  3. removes built-up waste and debris that reduce primary productivity.
  4. transports minerals and nutrients within and between environments.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
A major ecological function of the hydrologic cycle is to transport minerals and nutrients within and between reservoirs and ecosystems. The major hydrological reservoirs on Earth include oceans, ice, and underground aquifers. The water cycle also allows for the physical movement of water between and within Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land, and biosphere. The process of precipitation allows for the replenishing of water available to plants and animals in fresh bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds, and underground aquifers. Precipitation and snow melt drive weathering and erosion of continental rocks and produce runoff into other biomes and reservoirs. These processes are responsible for transferring the nutrients between the land and aquatic ecosystems and is the driving factor for major biochemical cycles, such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus.

Objective 0011 
Understand the interactions of the biosphere and geosphere.

16. Which of the following consequences is associated to the greatest extent with increased concentrations of atmospheric nitrogen oxides in some parts of the United States?

  1. increased plant growth from nitrogen-rich precipitation
  2. reduced regional temperatures due to absorption of sunlight by airborne nitrogen compounds
  3. increased stress on trees and fish from nitric acid in precipitation
  4. reduced ozone levels from the bonding of free oxygen with nitrogen compounds
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Nitrogen oxides are a chemical component contributing to the production of smog and acid rain. As nitrogen oxide reacts with water vapor in the air, nitric acid forms and produces a form of acid rain. Therefore, an increase of nitrogen oxide concentrations in the atmosphere will increase the amount of nitric acid precipitation, which in turn increases the stress on trees and fish by creating a toxic and uninhabitable environment for the organisms.

Objective 0012 
Understand the effects of human activities on the biosphere and strategies for mitigating those effects.

17. A scientist trying to determine what is causing the die-off of aquatic vegetation at the bottom of a saltwater bay notices that the water is turbid. The scientist hypothesizes that the turbidity is harming the plant growth in the bay by blocking light. Which of the following actions would be the most appropriate next step for the scientist to take to verify this hypothesis?

  1. making careful observations to determine the source of the water's turbidity
  2. performing an experiment to measure how photosynthesis in the aquatic plants is affected by light penetration
  3. analyzing the dying plants to determine whether other factors may be causing the problem
  4. assessing how the reduced quantity of aquatic vegetation is likely to affect the bay's ecosystem
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
After observing a phenomenon, a scientist creates a hypothesis to explain that phenomenon. Then, an experiment is developed to verify the newly developed hypothesis by collecting and analyzing data to support the idea. In this case, the data being collected and analyzed is the amount that photosynthesis in aquatic plants is affected by turbidity.

Objective 0012 
Understand the effects of human activities on the biosphere and strategies for mitigating those effects.

18. Following large spills of petroleum in the Gulf of Alaska in  19 89  and the Gulf of Mexico in  20 10 , authorities applied fertilizers to the areas of the spills. Which of the following statements best explains the intention of this action in remediating the oil spills?

  1. Ammonias in the fertilizers chemically bond with hydrocarbons in the petroleum to produce inert compounds.
  2. The fertilizers attach to hydrocarbon droplets to form heavy globules that precipitate to the seabed.
  3. Nitrogen in the fertilizers disperse hydrocarbon pools to maximize surface area and speed solar oxidation.
  4. The fertilizers encourage the growth of microorganisms that utilize hydrocarbons as sources of energy.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Fertilizers are applied to oil spills because fertilizers encourage the growth of microorganisms that utilize hydrocarbons as sources of energy. The fertilizers act as nutrients that are not normally available in the environment and allow the microorganisms to rapidly reproduce. This creates a large microbial population that can break down complex hydrocarbons, thus causing the accelerated removal of oil from a body of water.

Objective 0013 
Understand social, economic, political, legal, and regulatory factors that influence the environment.

19. Love Canal represented a milestone in efforts to address which of the following environmental problems?

  1. suburban sprawl into sensitive wetland areas
  2. nutrient runoff and eutrophication of lakes and ponds
  3. contamination of soil and groundwater from toxic wastes
  4. loss of farmland due to unsustainable agricultural practices
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Love Canal is a neighborhood located adjacent to an abandoned canal in Niagara Falls. From  19 42  to  19 53 , a chemical company used the canal to dump its toxic waste. This site was later covered with clay material, which created a  16 acre  toxic landfill, and was eventually sold to a school district. During the early  19 seventies , the local population began to experience a surge of unexplained serious illnesses, birth defects, and miscarriages. It was later concluded that the water table increased because the region experienced a very wet winter. This caused the toxic waste to leach and contaminated the soil and groundwater. This tragic incident triggered the enactment of the  19 80  Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as well as the formation of many environmental justice groups.

Objective 0013 
Understand social, economic, political, legal, and regulatory factors that influence the environment.

20. Which of the following strategies for promoting economic growth while maintaining environmental protections is most likely to also require a large government investment in marketing?

  1. ecotourism
  2. fair-trade agriculture
  3. sustainable forestry
  4. sale of carbon credits
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Ecotourism is the act of traveling to a natural area while actively conserving the environment. While participating in ecotourism, the people who travel to these locations encourage the conservation of the natural areas through education and modeling of practices. This cannot be accomplished without major support and marketing investment of governments because this process takes a significant amount of time, money, and effort to promote the economic growth of the local communities in these areas while still maintaining environmental protections.