Science 8 · Unit 5: Materials and cycles on Earth · Cambridge Lower Secondary Science Stage 8

Questions

1. 1. What is a glacial period?

   • a warm period with no ice
   • a single cold winter
   • a long, cold time when ice sheets spread
   • a time of volcanoes only
   Check

2. 2. What is an interglacial period?

   • a volcanic eruption
   • the coldest part of an ice age
   • a time with no seasons
   • a warmer time between glacial periods
   Check

3. 3. In a peat core, where is the oldest peat?

   • at the top
   • at the bottom
   Check

4. 4. Why doesn't plant material rot in a peat bog?

   • There is very little oxygen for decomposers.
   • There is too much light.
   • It is too hot.
   • Peat is made of plastic.
   Check

5. 5. What can scientists learn from pollen in a peat core?

   • future weather
   • how deep the bog is
   • the colour of ancient animals
   • what plants grew in the past, showing the climate then
   Check

6. 6. Pollen from cold-region plants is found at some depths. What do those layers show?

   • interglacial periods
   • desert periods
   • glacial periods
   • volcanic periods
   Check

7. 7. Pollen from warm-climate plants shows what kind of period?

   • glacial periods
   • interglacial periods
   • polar periods
   • ice ages
   Check

8. 8. What happens to many living things when temperatures stay far below freezing for a long time?

   • They all thrive.
   • They grow faster.
   • Many die out or move to warmer places.
   • Nothing happens.
   Check

9. 9. What evidence do we have that the Earth was colder in the past?

   • today's rainfall
   • weather forecasts
   • modern thermometers only
   • ice cores, pollen in peat, and rocks shaped by glaciers
   Check

10. 10. Over the last 450 000 years, what pattern do glacial and interglacial periods show?

    • It has been warm all the time.
    • There is no pattern.
    • Only one ice age happened.
    • They repeat in cycles - long cold periods with shorter warm ones.
    Check

11. 11. Are we in a glacial or an interglacial period now?

    • a glacial period
    • an interglacial period
    Check

12. 12. What are ice cores?

    • icebergs
    • ice cubes
    • long cylinders of ice drilled from ice sheets, with layers from past years
    • the centre of the Earth
    Check

13. 13. What is a climate cycle?

    • the water cycle only
    • a repeating pattern of warmer and colder periods
    • a single storm
    • a bicycle for scientists
    Check

14. 14. How long are glacial periods compared with interglacial periods?

    • Interglacials are always longer.
    • Glacial periods usually last much longer.
    • Glacials last one year.
    • They are always equal.
    Check

15. 15. When did the last glacial period end?

    • about 1 million years ago
    • it hasn't ended yet
    • about 100 years ago
    • about 10 000 years ago
    Check

16. 16. What was the first clue that glaciers once covered places that are warm now?

    • sand dunes
    • big boulders left in strange positions
    • very deep river valleys
    • volcanoes
    Check

17. 17. Why has the body of Yuka, a baby mammoth, been preserved for about 39 000 years?

    • She was kept in a museum.
    • She was buried in hot sand.
    • The soil where she lay stays frozen all year.
    • She was turned into rock.
    Check