AZSCI Crosscutting: Patterns

Question 1

The periodic table of elements arranges elements in rows and columns. What pattern of properties is generally observed when moving from left to right across a row (a period)?

Accepted Answer

Elements change from metals to nonmetals.

Answer

Atomic radius consistently increases.

Answer

The number of electron shells increases.

Answer

Reactivity consistently increases for all elements.

Question 2

A graph of global average temperatures from 1880 to the present day shows small, cyclical increases and decreases from year to year, but an overall increasing trend over the entire period. This suggests that:

Accepted Answer

Both short-term cycles and a long-term trend are occurring simultaneously.

Answer

Short-term variations are the only factor affecting global temperature.

Answer

The overall climate is cooling despite some warm years.

Answer

The data is unreliable due to the year-to-year fluctuations.

Question 3

In a food web diagram, arrows point from the organism being eaten to the organism that eats it. If you observe a pattern of many different arrows all pointing toward a single species, what does this indicate about that species' role?

Accepted Answer

It is prey for many different predators.

Answer

It is a primary producer with few predators.

Answer

It is a decomposer at the bottom of the food web.

Answer

It has many different food sources.

Question 4

Fossils of a specific, non-swimming, land-dwelling reptile are found in rock layers of the same age in both South America and Africa. What large-scale pattern in Earth's history does this evidence support?

Accepted Answer

The theory of continental drift.

Answer

A global mass extinction event.

Answer

The uniform process of fossilization.

Answer

A period of global cooling and ice ages.

Question 5

The phases of the Moon (New, Crescent, Quarter, Gibbous, Full) repeat in a predictable 29.5-day cycle. This observed pattern is primarily caused by:

Accepted Answer

The changing position of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth.

Answer

The Moon's rotation on its axis.

Answer

The Earth's shadow falling on the Moon.

Answer

The Earth's rotation on its axis.

Question 6

In a healthy ecosystem, the population sizes of predators and their prey often show a cyclical pattern where an increase in the prey population is followed by an increase in the predator population. What typically happens next in this pattern?

Accepted Answer

The prey population decreases, followed by a decrease in the predator population.

Answer

The prey population increases further.

Answer

The predator population decreases, followed by a decrease in the prey population.

Answer

Both populations stabilize and stop changing.

Question 7

All known living organisms, from bacteria to humans, use DNA and the same basic genetic code to store and transmit hereditary information. This universal pattern is strong evidence for:

Accepted Answer

The idea that all life shares a common ancestor.

Answer

The diversity of life on Earth.

Answer

The efficiency of sexual reproduction.

Answer

The classification of organisms into different kingdoms.