SWS 2007 Exam 1 Questions and Answers Already Passed
What are the 2 largest water users in the typical home? - Answers Washers and toilets
What is the largest water user in the home? - Answers Toilets
What is the average daily and annual household water use? - Answers 350 gallons daily/ 127,400 gallons
annually
What are the dimensions of the earth and the volume of water on earth? - Answers Dimensions: 8000mi
diameter & 25000mi curcumference
Volume: 326mil mi^3
What percentage of total earth water is readily available freshwater? - Answers 0.8%
What is the evidence for water appearing between 3.5 and 4.3 billion years ago? - Answers 3.5: Pillow
lavas
4.3: Zircon crystals (evidence of interaction with liquid water)
What are the 3 potential sources of earth's water? - Answers Outgassing from earth's mantle, comets,
asteroids
What percent of volcanic gas is water vapor? - Answers 70%
What is the largest known asteroid? What is the significance of its composition? - Answers Ceres; it has a
thick layer of freshwater ice beneath it's surface
What percent of water is in living systems? - Answers 70%
What are the 3 reasons why water is an ideal medium for life processes? - Answers Moderates
temperature extremely well, excellent solvent for a variety of compounds, participates in virtually every
important biochemical reactions in organisms
The earliest organisms on earth were anaerobic and autotrophic. What does anaerobic and autotrophic
mean? - Answers Anaerobic: No oxygen
Autotrophic: self-feeding/use inorganic forms of CO2
What is the difference between photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs? Which were first? What is the
evidence for the first organisms? How long ago did they appear? - Answers The difference is the energy
, source (photo uses light); chemoautotrophs were first; the evidence is miscrotubules in pillow lavas;
they appeared 3.5 billion years ago
What is the primary importance of cyanobacteria on earth? - Answers production of oxygen
What is a stromatolite? Why are they important to the earth's atmosphere? - Answers Layered colonies
of cyanobacteria that build up over many year and form large structures; they were widely dispersed in
Earth's oceans providing lots of oxygen
Why didn't massive production of oxygen in earth's oceans lead to an immediate increase in oceanic and
atmospheric oxygen? - Answers Before photosynthesis, the earth was very active and there was a lot of
water from rain, etc. Rocks (which contained iron) were being beat up and going to the oceans along
with the iron from underwater volcanic activity. This is all dissolved iron (which is water soluble). Iron
oxides sink to the bottom of the ocean because they are in such excess, and until all the excess is gone
the oxygen levels can not rise.
What is the time period during which the first land plants and animals arose, and what was the
development relative to the atmosphere that allowed for colonization of land on earth? - Answers 400-
480 million years ago; the ozone layer allowed for colonization of land on earth
When did true homo sapiens appear? - Answers Between 150-200 thousand years ago
What innovation in pre-human development does "Lucy" demonstrate? What is her age? - Answers
Bipedalism; 3.2 million years old
What are the fundamentals of the "savannah hypothesis"? - Answers Humans come from Africa. The
uplift of the Himalayas alters Africa's climate, lowered rainfall reduces vegetation, distance between
trees increases, hominids must spend more time on the ground so they learn to walk upright
What is the first condition necessary to the settling of humans? - Answers Water
What are the dates of the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods? What are the fundamental differences?
- Answers Paleolithic: 2 million years ago to 12,000 years ago
Neolithic: 12,000 years ago to -3,500 years ago
Differences: Paleolithic period of rudimentary stone tools, while Neolithic period of much development
(like domestication, weaving, pottery, etc)
What is the human development that caused the Neolithic revolution and its approximate date? -
Answers Development of agriculture; about 12,000 years ago
What are the 2 largest water users in the typical home? - Answers Washers and toilets
What is the largest water user in the home? - Answers Toilets
What is the average daily and annual household water use? - Answers 350 gallons daily/ 127,400 gallons
annually
What are the dimensions of the earth and the volume of water on earth? - Answers Dimensions: 8000mi
diameter & 25000mi curcumference
Volume: 326mil mi^3
What percentage of total earth water is readily available freshwater? - Answers 0.8%
What is the evidence for water appearing between 3.5 and 4.3 billion years ago? - Answers 3.5: Pillow
lavas
4.3: Zircon crystals (evidence of interaction with liquid water)
What are the 3 potential sources of earth's water? - Answers Outgassing from earth's mantle, comets,
asteroids
What percent of volcanic gas is water vapor? - Answers 70%
What is the largest known asteroid? What is the significance of its composition? - Answers Ceres; it has a
thick layer of freshwater ice beneath it's surface
What percent of water is in living systems? - Answers 70%
What are the 3 reasons why water is an ideal medium for life processes? - Answers Moderates
temperature extremely well, excellent solvent for a variety of compounds, participates in virtually every
important biochemical reactions in organisms
The earliest organisms on earth were anaerobic and autotrophic. What does anaerobic and autotrophic
mean? - Answers Anaerobic: No oxygen
Autotrophic: self-feeding/use inorganic forms of CO2
What is the difference between photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs? Which were first? What is the
evidence for the first organisms? How long ago did they appear? - Answers The difference is the energy
, source (photo uses light); chemoautotrophs were first; the evidence is miscrotubules in pillow lavas;
they appeared 3.5 billion years ago
What is the primary importance of cyanobacteria on earth? - Answers production of oxygen
What is a stromatolite? Why are they important to the earth's atmosphere? - Answers Layered colonies
of cyanobacteria that build up over many year and form large structures; they were widely dispersed in
Earth's oceans providing lots of oxygen
Why didn't massive production of oxygen in earth's oceans lead to an immediate increase in oceanic and
atmospheric oxygen? - Answers Before photosynthesis, the earth was very active and there was a lot of
water from rain, etc. Rocks (which contained iron) were being beat up and going to the oceans along
with the iron from underwater volcanic activity. This is all dissolved iron (which is water soluble). Iron
oxides sink to the bottom of the ocean because they are in such excess, and until all the excess is gone
the oxygen levels can not rise.
What is the time period during which the first land plants and animals arose, and what was the
development relative to the atmosphere that allowed for colonization of land on earth? - Answers 400-
480 million years ago; the ozone layer allowed for colonization of land on earth
When did true homo sapiens appear? - Answers Between 150-200 thousand years ago
What innovation in pre-human development does "Lucy" demonstrate? What is her age? - Answers
Bipedalism; 3.2 million years old
What are the fundamentals of the "savannah hypothesis"? - Answers Humans come from Africa. The
uplift of the Himalayas alters Africa's climate, lowered rainfall reduces vegetation, distance between
trees increases, hominids must spend more time on the ground so they learn to walk upright
What is the first condition necessary to the settling of humans? - Answers Water
What are the dates of the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods? What are the fundamental differences?
- Answers Paleolithic: 2 million years ago to 12,000 years ago
Neolithic: 12,000 years ago to -3,500 years ago
Differences: Paleolithic period of rudimentary stone tools, while Neolithic period of much development
(like domestication, weaving, pottery, etc)
What is the human development that caused the Neolithic revolution and its approximate date? -
Answers Development of agriculture; about 12,000 years ago
