USUS UKUKIndiaIndia

Every Question Helps You Learn

Join Us
Streak
Leading Streak Today
Your Streak Today
Streak
Leading Streak Today
Your Streak Today
The Earth and its Atmosphere
Oxygen started to appear on Earth due to blue-green algae which formed colonies called stromatolites.

The Earth and its Atmosphere

This Science quiz is called 'The Earth and its Atmosphere' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at middle school. Playing educational quizzes is a fabulous way to learn if you are in the 6th, 7th or 8th grade - aged 11 to 14.

It costs only $12.50 per month to play this quiz and over 3,500 others that help you with your school work. You can subscribe on the page at Join Us

When the Earth was formed about 4,500 million years ago, it was a very different place. The surface was extremely hot, possibly even molten, there were no oceans and little or no atmosphere. It is believed that the early atmosphere was formed from volcanic gasses and was highly toxic. It is not known for sure but one theory suggests that during the first billion years of its existence, the Earth’s atmosphere was mainly carbon dioxide and there would have been little or no oxygen, rather like the atmospheres of Mars and Venus today. There may also have been water vapor which eventually condensed to form the oceans, and small proportions of methane and ammonia.

Somewhere around 3.5 and 2.7 billion years ago, bluish-green microscopic organisms called cyanobacteria (commonly called blue-green algae) appeared in Earth’s oceans. They made oxygen from carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight by photosynthesis. As cyanobacteria created more free oxygen, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere slowly increased. Earth scientists (geologists) have discovered rocks in Canada that are about 2,500 million years old and contain iron oxide. This is good evidence that there was definitely free oxygen in the atmosphere at that time.

For the last 200 million years, the proportions of different gasses in the atmosphere have been about the same as they are today (about four-fifths nitrogen, about one-fifth oxygen with small proportions of various other gasses, including carbon dioxide, water vapor and noble gasses). Since the industrial revolution began, human activity has started to change the composition of the atmosphere - burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the air. This comes from carbon that was locked away in rocks hundreds of millions of years ago.

No one knows how life began on Earth but there are several theories. The scientist Charles Darwin suggested that it had arisen in warm ponds, hundreds of millions of years ago. That was in the 19th century and science was not advanced enough to be able to offer any possible mechanism. It is still not possible to prove or disprove theories about how life started on Earth, but we know much more about it now. In the 1950s, two scientists (Miller and Urey) carried out an experiment and managed to produce some simple organic chemicals that could possibly eventually have given rise to life by using a mixture of gasses similar to what they thought were in the early atmosphere. Since then, other scientists have come up with other theories including one that suggests that life developed around hydrothermal vents on the sea floor and that the first food chains and webs were based on chemosynthesis instead of photosynthesis. In your exams, you may be given information or data about these theories and asked to interpret it.

1.
Which was thought to be the most abundant gas in the Earth's early atmosphere?
Carbon dioxide
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Argon
Oxygen didn't appear until the cyanobacteria had evolved. These microorganisms were able to photosynthesise
2.
Carbon dioxide entered the early atmosphere when it was released from...
the oceans
the volcanoes
comets from space
water in the atmosphere
Volcanoes released other gasses into the atmosphere too, including water vapor
3.
The percentage of water on the planet did NOT increase due to...
volcanoes
comets
condensation from the atmosphere
plants
Plants give out oxygen as a waste product of the process of photosynthesis
4.
Which of the following gasses is thought NOT to have been present in the early atmosphere?
Carbon dioxide
Water vapor
Oxygen
Methane
Oxygen did not appear until the evolution of photosynthesising organisms
5.
Oxygen started to appear on Earth due to what organisms?
Blue-green algae
Plants
Humans
Viruses
More accurately called cyanobacteria
6.
What process produces oxygen as a waste product?
Respiration
Photosynthesis
Decomposition
Combustion
During photosynthesis, the useful product glucose is made from water and carbon dioxide. The process gets its energy from sunlight
7.
Which of the following is NOT a reason for the small percentage of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere today?
Some carbon dioxide has dissolved in the oceans
Carbon dioxide has been used to form sedimentary rocks
Some carbon dioxide has been locked up in fossil fuels
There has always only been a small amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
The carbon cycle locks away carbon dioxide. The Earth needs some carbon dioxide so that plants can photosynthesise and also to help to keep the average temperature of the Earth at about 15°C, but if there is too much, there would be a runaway greenhouse effect and the Earth would become uninhabitable
8.
At one time in the Earth's formation, some of the surface iron was oxidized. What gas in the atmosphere could NOT have caused this change?
Nitrogen
Carbon dioxide
Oxygen
Water vapor
Nitrogen is almost inert, it is very hard to get it to react with anything
9.
Which of the following developments is NOT as a result of concerns about carbon dioxide levels and global warming?
Use of ethanol as a fuel in cars
Use of diesel oil instead of gasoline in cars
Use of vegetable oils as a fuel in cars
Development of electric cars
Diesel is also a hydrocarbon obtained from fossil fuels and produces carbon dioxide when burnt
10.
The change in carbon dioxide concentration in the last 50 years is thought to be a result of...
increased volcanic activity
increase in the use of fossil fuels
variation in the sun's energy output
increase in ocean temperatures
More and more people have cars and the developing countries have a greater need for energy as they become more industrialized
Author:  Kate Gardiner

© Copyright 2016-2024 - Education Quizzes
Work Innovate Ltd - Design | Development | Marketing

We use cookies to make your experience of our website better.

To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent - I agree - No thanks - Find out more