Science and Social Studies Flashcards

What is the difference between climate and weather?

Answer: Climate describes long-term patterns; weather is day-to-day conditions

Weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions, while climate refers to long-term average patterns in a region.

The principle of 'checks and balances' in the U.S. government ensures that:

Answer: No single branch of government becomes too powerful

Checks and balances distribute power among the three branches so each can limit the others' authority.

Which of the following is an example of a physical change?

Answer: Ice melting

Melting ice is a physical change because only the state of matter changes — the chemical composition remains water (H₂O).

The Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation of which Native American peoples?

Answer: The Cherokee and other southeastern tribes

The Trail of Tears (1838–1839) was the forced removal of the Cherokee and other southeastern tribes to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.

Which of the following correctly describes the relationship between producers and consumers in a food web?

Answer: Producers make their own food; consumers get energy by eating other organisms

Producers (like plants) create their own food through photosynthesis, while consumers must eat other organisms for energy.

What was the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation (1863)?

Answer: It declared the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate states

The Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in Confederate states to be free, though enforcement required a Union victory.

What force keeps planets in orbit around the Sun?

Answer: Gravity

Gravity is the attractive force between the Sun and each planet that keeps planets in their orbital paths.