Terrestrial Biomes: Deserts, Grasslands, and Forests
Name_______________________________ Period______ Teacher_______________________________
1.
Biomes are best described as:
a.
b.
c.
d.
2.
Which two requirements of life are most unevenly distributed on Earth?
a.
b.
c.
d.
3.
Regions that support animal life.
Regions of characteristic vegetation.
Regions with climates that support life.
Regions with specific levels of annual precipitation.
Nutrients and energy.
Liquid water and temperatures appropriate to carrying out life processes.
Nutrients and liquid water.
Liquid water and energy.
The reactions that build living tissues occur in which medium?
1
a.
b.
c.
d.
4.
What usually sets the limit on the amount life in a biome?
a.
b.
c.
d.
5.
Water
Alcohol
Blood plasma
Oxygen
The availability of liquid water and temperatures appropriate for life.
The availability of nutrients and liquid water.
The availability of nutrients and energy.
The availability of liquid water and energy.
What is the major factor affecting the distribution of water and average temperatures on Earth?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Altitude
Sunlight
Climate
Weather
6.
Climate is defined as:
7.
a. A regions characteristic vegetation.
b. Average temperature in a region.
c. The factors that generate wind, ocean currents, and the global water cycle.
d. The weather conditions that prevail in a region.
What is the major factor powering the wind, ocean currents, and global water cycle?
a.
b.
c.
d.
8.
The Earth’s rotation.
Solar energy.
The Earth’s tilt on its axis.
Temperature changes at the equator.
Which of the following statements is incorrect?
a.
b.
c.
d.
High energy ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by the ozone high in the atmosphere.
High energy ultraviolet solar radiation is damaging to DNA.
About 95% of the sunlight penetrating the atmosphere reaches the Earth's surface.
Solar energy is unevenly distributed among the different latitudes of the Earth.
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9.
The sun is directly over the equator:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Two days out of the year.
During the spring and fall equinoxes.
Both of the above.
Neither of the above.
10. During the June solstice:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Solar energy is higher in the northern hemisphere.
Solar energy is higher in the southern hemisphere.
Solar energy is equal in the northern and southern hemispheres
The sun is directly overhead at the equator.
11. The 23.5 0 tilt of the Earth is responsible for:
a.
b.
c.
d.
The different seasons in the northern and southern hemisphere.
The tropics lying between 23.5 0 north and south latitude.
Both of the above.
Neither of the above.
12. What is the major cause of air currents?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The even heating of the Earth’s surface.
Solar winds from space.
The uneven heating of the Earth's atmosphere.
Variations in elevation on the Earth's surface.
13. Trade winds between 30 0 north and south latitude
a.
b.
c.
d.
Blow from east and west.
Are created in part by the Earth’s rotation.
Both of the above.
Neither of the above.
14. The temperature along ocean coastlines is generally __________ than inland areas.
a.
b.
Less variable
More variable
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c.
d.
Higher
Lower
15. Ocean currents are driven by?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The Earth’s rotation.
The wind.
Direct heating of the water by the sun.
All of the above.
16. Which statement is incorrect?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Continents heat and cool relatively quickly.
Oceans heat and cool relatively slowly.
As elevation increases, the atmosphere becomes denser and retains more heat.
Water in the atmosphere tends to condense into rain or snow on the windward side of a mountain.
17. The biomes with the most biological diversity are:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Tropical rainforests
Savannas
Deserts
Taiga
18. What best describes savannas?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They arise along the edge of tropical deciduous forests, and the climate alternates between very rainy
and very dry seasons.
They tend to arise along coastal areas that border deserts.
They tend to be found along the side of high mountains.
They are populated almost entirely by evergreen trees.
19. What best describes taiga?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Characterized by huge populations of deciduous trees.
Characterized by extremely high temperatures.
Characterized by an abundance of liquid water throughout the year.
Covered almost entirely by evergreen trees.
20. Where is chaparral usually found?
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a.
b.
c.
d.
Extremely rainy mountain areas.
Coastal areas that border deserts.
Around 60 degrees north or south latitude.
Inland areas with great temperature extremes.
21. What best describes grasslands?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They receive less rain than deserts.
They arise along coastal areas that border deserts.
These have a continuous cover of grass, are grazed by herbivores like bison, and generally have no
trees except along waterways.
Populated almost entirely by evergreen coniferous trees.
22. What biomes are characterized by rainfall below 25cm a year?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Tundra and deserts
Taiga and grasslands
Tropical rainforests and deciduous forests
Savanna and grasslands
23. Which of the following is true of temperate deciduous forests?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They are marked by rainfall of 75 – 150 cm/yr.
They have cold winters with periods of subfreezing temperatures.
Most the trees drop their leaves in the fall.
All of the above.
24. Which of the following is true of temperate rainforests?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Severe frosts do not usually during winter.
Their rainfall is less than average.
Much light reaches the forest floor.
They are found in the rain shadow of mountain ranges.
25. Which biome is encountered nearest to the polar ice caps?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Taiga
Tundra
Temperate rainforest
Ice sheets
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