Unit 2 Study Guide
Answer Key
Earth’s Resources
1.Vocabulary
a.) Natural Resources - natural things (land,
water, air) that you would use.
b.) Alternative Energy Sources - different ways
to get power/energy (clean energy - solar,
geothermal, wind, hydroelectricity)
c.) Fossil Fuels - any hydrocarbon that may be
used as a source of energy.
d.) Point Source Pollution - water pollution that
comes from a known and specific location.
e.) Nonpoint Source Pollution - water pollution
that does not have a specific point or origin.
f.) Runoff - water that flows over the land
surface rather than seeping into the ground.
g.) Urbanization - the transfer of land into an
urban area.
h.) Deforestation - the cutting down of a forest
to use the lumber for human use.
i.) Conservation - the careful use of resources.
2.) What is a renewable resource?
a.) A resource that is virtually
inexhaustible or that can be replenished over
relatively short time spans.
3.) What is the advantage of solar energy?
a.) Renewable, nonpolluting, clean energy
4.) What is contour plowing?
a.) A soil conservation method that plows
along/across the hill slopes (with the hill)
5.) How is hydroelectric power produced?
a.) Falling water that passes through a
turbine and turns the turbine.
6.) What is a major use of freshwater?
a.) Drinking water, cooking, growing food,
flushing toilet (most)
7.) What is the source of geothermal energy?
a.) Natural underground reservoirs of
steam and hot water
8.) What are land resources?
a.) Soil, minerals, forest
9.) How does mining damage land?
a.) Increases soil erosion
10.) What does the greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide help to do?
a.) Maintain warmth near Earth’s surface
11.) Give information about the
following:
a.) Peat - youngest fossil fuels, relatively cheap
resources when compared to others.
b.) Coal - is formed when peat is
physically/chemically altered, when burned
impacts greenhouse gases and climate change
c.) Natural Gas - transported by pipeline,
cleanest energy source, a flammable gas
d.) Oil - formed when the remains of small
animals are buried/compacted, drilled from the
Earth, starts out as petroleum
e.) Wood - can lead to deforestation if not
managed, used for many different purposes.
12. Pros & Cons of the following
a.) Mining P - obtain resources from underground
C - dangerous to humans, soil erosion,
large open pits for animals/humans to fall into
b.) Drilling P - small openings (no large pits) to obtain
oil
C - leaking of oil into soil/water, spills as
oil travels through pipelines
c.) Fracking P - a “clean” way to obtain oil from lower
ores (under the water table)
C - harmful to human health if leaked into
water table, by product is flammable
d.) Deforestation P - allows for use for building materials,
resources used on daily basis
C - large areas of land are lost, habitat
loss, soil erosion