Republic of the Philippines

TAGOLOAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Baluarte, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Natural Sciences Department (NSD)

Departmental Midterm Exam

(Earth Sciences)

General Instruction: Please write your answer(s) on the Examination Booklet.

Modified Fill in the Blanks: Write the best letter of your choice – capital letters.

*** For numbers 1 – 15 only ***

G. humans Z. fossils M. animal B. diversity

A. biological Y. genetically H. evolutionary C. ecological
P. diversity E. creatures T. ancestors K. life
S. Natural Selection O. physically R. traits U. evolution
D. system L. theory Q. cycle X. taxonomical

Since Darwin's time, ___(1)___ classification has come to be understood as reflecting ___(2)___
distances and relationships between organisms. The ___(3)___ of our time have had common ___(4)___
in the past. In a very real sense, they are members of the same family tree.

The great diversity of life is largely a result of branching ___(5)___ or adaptive radiation. This
is the diversification of a species into different lines as they adapt to new ___(6)___ niches and ultimately
evolve into distinct species. ___(7)___ is the principal mechanism driving adaptive radiation.

It is also important to realize that most species are ___(8)___ and ___(9)___ diverse. Many are
far more varied than humans. When you think of an animal, such as the jaguar shown here, and describe
it in terms of its specific ___(10)___ (fur color patterns, body shape, etc.), it is natural to generalize and
to think of all jaguars that way. To do so, however, is to ignore the reality of ___(11)___ in nature.

The tremendous ___(12)___ in life today is not new to our planet. The noted paleontologist
Stephen Jay Gould estimated that 99% of all plant and ___(13)___ species that have existed have already
become extinct with most leaving no ___(14)___. It is also humbling to realize that ___(15)___ and
other large animals are freakishly rare life forms, since 99% of all known animal species are smaller than
bumble bees.
(AHET / UCS / OYRP / PMZG)

Multiple Choices: Write only the best letter of your choice – capital letters.

16. Evolution, a unifying principle in D. All of the above.

___________ and will continue to be a
major framework that will bind diverse 18. Most of the energy used by life on earth
specialization within the life sciences. comes from
A. Vitalists A. the sun
B. Botany B. the rotation of the earth
C. Microbiology C. the moon
D. Biology D. geothermal energy

17. If photosynthesis on this planet is to stop, 19. It is said to be the largest and oldest object
what will happen? in our solar system.
A. The atmosphere would become A. Jupiter
depleted of oxygen. B. Earth
B. Most animals would become C. Sun
extinct. D. Moon
C. Most plants would become extinct.
20. The planet with an unusual orientation A. compound
since the world is tilted on its side with its B. element
north and south poles in about the same C. mixture
plane as the planet's orbit around the Sun.
D. atom
A. Pluto
B. Earth
C. Uranus 32. The rock cycle suggests that __________.
D. Venus A. rocks are always being added to
Earth's mass
21. Bedrock is B. rocks are continually recycled
A. layer of solid rock under soil into different forms
B. rock under soil C. rocks disappear from Earth as they
go underground
22. Clay is D. rocks always stay in the same form
A. soil that has small grains and
holds water easily 33. What are rocks that have changed due to
B. holds water easily temperature and pressure called?
A. igneous rocks
23. Conservation is
B. metamorphic rocks
A. saving resources by using them
C. sedimentary rocks
carefully
D. lava rocks
B. saving resources
34. A metamorphic rock with a foliated texture
24. Erosion is
_________
A. when soil is moved by wind or
A. has mineral grains that have
rain
lined up in parallel lines
B. when soil is moved
B. has mineral grains that have lined
25. Fossil is up perpendicular to each other.
A. marks or remains on once living C. has mineral grains that form no
things distinct pattern
B. remains on once living D. has mineral grains that have lined
up in diagonal lines
26. Igneous rock is
A. rock that was once melted but 35. Sedimentary rocks __________.
has cooled and hardened A. all of the above
B. melted but has cooled B. form when sediment is pressed
together
27. Metamorphic rock is C. often form in layers
A. rock that has been changed into D. form from existing rocks
another type of rock by heat and
pressure 36. What are sedimentary rocks made of?
B. changed into another type of rock A. They are made of the remainders of
volcanic activity.
28. Mineral is B. They are formed only underwater.
A. solid natural object that has C. They are made from almost any
never been alive matter found in nature.
B. has never been alive D. all of the above

29. Rock is
37. Weathering is an example of what kind of
A. solid material made of one or
breakdown?
more mineral
A. chemical and mechanical
B. made of one or more mineral
B. only chemical
C. only mechanical
30. Rock cycle is
D. chemical and physical
A. a process of changing rock types
B. process of changing rock

31. A rock is a (an) __________.

38. When minerals act like glue to hold D. Late Proterozoic
sediments together this is called
__________. 45. The absolute age of a rock is the
approximate number of years ago that the
A. cementation
rock formed. The absolute age of an
B. fermentation igneous rock can best be determined by
C. mineralization A. comparing the amounts of
D. filtration decayed and undecayed
radioactive isotopes in the rock
39. Why do chemical sedimentary rocks have a B. comparing the sizes of the crystals
non-clastic texture? found in the upper and lower parts
of the rock
A. because they are made from pieces
C. examining the rock’s relative
of other rocks position in a rock outcrop
B. because they are made from D. examining the environment in
volcanic rock which the rock is found
C. because they are made from
igneous rocks 46. The diagram below is a portion of a
D. because they're not made from geologic time line. Letters A through D
represent the time intervals between the
pieces of other rocks
labeled events, as estimated by some
scientists.
40. Why can't humans just make more fossil
fuels like coal? Fossil evidence indicates that the earliest
A. because we're not sure how coal is birds developed during which time
made interval?
B. because coal is formed over
millions of years of compacting
materials within Earth
C. because we're not sure what coal is
made from
D. because coal is formed from
synthetic materials that humans A. A
don't have access to B. B
C. C
41. Compared to felsic igneous rocks, mafic D. D
igneous rocks contain greater amounts of
A. white quartz 47. The Earth's shape most closely resembles
B. aluminum which of the following object
C. pink feldspar A. a basketball
D. iron B. a pear
C. a ping-pong ball
42. What are the two most abundant elements D. an apple
by mass found in Earth's crust?
A. aluminum and iron 48. An observer watching a sailing ship at sea
B. sodium and chlorine notes that the ship appears to be "sinking"
C. calcium and carbon as it moves away. Which statement best
D. oxygen and silicon explains this observation?
A. The surface of the ocean has
43. Which mineral is white or colorless, has a depressions
hardness of 2.5, and splits with cubic B. The earth has a curved surface
cleavage? C. The earth is rotating
A. calcite D. The earth is revolving
B. halite
C. pyrite 49. Compared to Earth’s crust, Earth’s core is
D. mica believed to be
A. less dense, cooler, and composed of
44. During which era did the initial opening of more iron
the present-day Atlantic Ocean most likely B. less dense, hotter, and composed of
occur? less iron
A. Cenozoic C. more dense, hotter, and
B. Mesozoic composed of more iron
C. Paleozoic
 D. more dense, cooler, and composed 59. Which of the following materials is the
of less iron hardest?
A. calcite
50. The true shape of the Earth is best B. silicon carbide
described as a C. topaz
A. perfect sphere D. quartz
B. perfect ellipse
C. slightly oblate sphere 60. Igneous rocks that form from magma are
D. highly eccentric ellipse known as:
A. minerals
51. The water sphere of the earth is known as B. granite
the C. intrusive rocks
A. Atmosphere D. gneiss
B. troposphere
C. lithosphere 61. Molten rock beneath the Earth's crust is
D. hydrosphere called:
A. magma
52. The __________ includes organisms living B. liquicite
on Earth and their environments. C. lava
A. hydrosphere D. igneous
B. atmosphere
C. biosphere 62. The disappearance of the dinosaurs also
D. lithosphere marks the end of which geological era?
A. Precambrian
53. What type of Earth scientist studies how B. Cambrian
organisms impact their surroundings? C. Mesozoic
A. meteorologist D. Cenozoic
B. geologist
C. environmentalist 63. Galena is a primary ore of which of the
D. oceanographer following metals?
A. zinc
54. The solidified lava of a volcano belongs to B. tungsten
which rock family? Is it: C. lead
A. igneous D. silver
B. metamorphic
C. sedimentary 64. Which of the following is the most
D. fossilized important chemically-active fluid involved
in the formation of rocks?
55. Which of the following energy sources does A. hydrochloric acid
NOT originally come from the Sun? B. sulfuric acid
A. wind C. water
B. Ocean thermal energy conversion D. methane
C. geothermal
D. hydroelectric 65. Diamond and graphite are polymorphs of
which of the following elements?
56. The tanning rays of the sun are called: A. magnesium
A. infrared rays B. carbon
B. visible light C. sulfur
C. ultraviolet rays D. nitrogen
D. gamma rays
66. The streak of a mineral can be obtained
57. Which of the following is an igneous rock? most easily by performing which of the
A. Granite following tests?
B. Shale A. rubbing the mineral on an
C. Coal unglazed white tile
D. Slate B. putting the mineral into acid
C. scratching the mineral with a
58. Which of the following is a metamorphic diamond
rock? D. examining the mineral under a
A. sandstone microscope
B. granite
C. quartz 67. The nickname, "Fool's Gold," refers to
D. marble which of the following?
A. calcite
 B. apatite
C. fluorite 76. Glass has a hardness of 6, which of the
D. pyrite following minerals that could scratch the
glass
68. Which of the following names is given to A. corundum-9
the supercontinent thought to have existed B. Diamond-10
in the Cambrian period? Is it: C. Magnetite-5
A. Pangaea
D. Pyrite-6
B. Afrasia
C. Gondwana land E. A & B
D. Europia F. None of these

69. Which of the following time periods 77. Which rocks that formed from magma that
includes part of the geologic range of cools and solidifies or hardens.
dinosaurs? A. Igneous
A. Mississippian B. Metamorphic
B. Devonian C. Sedimentary
C. Jurassic D. Sediments
D. none of the above
78. When melted minerals cool, ___ rocks
70. What name is given to the science which formed.
studies the atmosphere? A. Lava
A. oceanography
B. Igneous
B. atmospherology
C. Metamorphic
C. meteorology
D. weatherology D. Sedimentary

71. Minerals in rocks go through a chemical 79. Mineral is naturally occurring because it
change when rocks are subjected to is___
A. Bonding A. invented by human
B. Heat B. Non-synthetic
C. Mantle C. Synthetic
D. Pressure D. None of the above

72. Rocks that formed from the particles that 80. Melted minerals inside the earth are
settle to the bottoms of lakes, rivers, or called_____.
oceans. A. Lava
A. Igneous B. Magma
B. Metamorphic C. Mantle
C. Sedimentary D. Molten rocks
D. Sediments
81. In what kind of rock are most fossils found?
73. Molten rock that reaches the earth’s surface A. Igneous
is called___ B. Metamorphic
A. Lava C. Sedimentary
B. Magma D. Sediments
C. Mineral E. Molten rocks
D. Rock
82. Use the choices above, which of the
74. These are made of minerals following above that are deposited most at
A. Inorganic compounds the sea floor? D
B. chemicals
C. Rocks
83. It was believed as a black hole or body that
D. Substances
composed of hydrogen and helium which
E. Mixtures
was accepted as the origin of universe.
75. If you are an expert in minerals you are a A. Big bang Theory
______. B. Nebular Theory
A. Ecologist C. Collision Theory
B. Geologist
C. Mineralogist
D. Meteorologist
84. Use the choices above, which theory that B. False
accepted as the explanation of the origin of C. Cannot be determined
our solar system? B D. None of these

85. Which of the following is a sediment? 93. Solid and composed of cohesive aggregate
A. Carbon of one or more minerals is called__.
B. Corundum A. Compounds
C. Diamond B. Mixtures
D. Quartz C. Pure substances
E. Sand D. Rocks

86. A mineral with ____ breaks or split into 94. About three-fourths(75%) of the earth’s
pieces with uneven or edges crust is
A. cleavage A. oxygen
B. fracture B. Oxygen & iron
C. Streak C. silicon
D. Weak bond D. Oxygen & silicon

87. In Moh’s hardness scale, a mineral with a

high number scale cannot be scratched by a Text Twist: Arrange the letters to get the correct
mineral with a lower number scale. This word described by the given clue.
is__.
A. True *** For numbers 95 – 100 only ***
B. False
C. Cannot be determined CORRECT
GIVEN CLUE
WORD
88. Igneous and sedimentary rocks can be The softer mineral
(95) produced this colored
changed into metamorphic rocks by Streak
KREATS powder after rubbing it
A. cementation with harder mineral.
B. Heat (96) Traces of pre-historic
C. Lithification Fossils life such as bones
SLOSIFS
D. Pressure (97) Igneous, sedimentary &
Rocks
E. B & D CORKS metamorphic
(98) The composition of
Mineral rocks
89. The most common mineral group is the NAERLIM
_____. (99) Comprised 47% in the
Silicon crust.
A. Carbonates IONSLIC
B. Halides (100)
C. Sulfates Talc Softest mineral
CALT
D. Silicates

90. What are the compositions of the answer in

number 4? “Never regard study as a duty,
A. Carbon & Oxygen but as the enviable opportunity to
B. Halites
C. Sulfur & Oxygen learn and to know the liberating
D. Silicon & Oxygen influence of beauty in the realm
91. Which of the following processes include of the spirit for your own
all other?
A. cementation
personal joy and to the profit of
B. compaction the community to which your
C. crystallization
D. lithification later work belongs.”
92. The chemical make-up of an igneous rock
is ultimately determined by the chemical
 Natural Sciences Department 
composition of lava from which it
crystallized. This statement is__.
A. True