How hazards and resources shaped where people live
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
A world map marking the Ring of Fire and the Nile and Mississippi floodplains. A student says damaging earthquakes are a hazard for California alone. Which reply fits USGS, by Jun's reading?
- Correct; damaging shaking is limited to the Pacific coast
- No; earthquakes strike each state equally often
- Correct; earthquakes strike at random, so hazard maps can't show any risk
- No; nearly 75% of the U.S. could have damaging earthquake shaking
A student says that after a 100-year flood, a town is safe for 99 years. Which reply fits USGS, by Kira's reading?
- Correct; the river has used up its floodwater
- No; each year starts with the same 1% chance
- Correct; the next one is 100 years away
- No; the chance rises to 50% the next year
With a 1% yearly chance (USGS), about what is the chance of at least one 100-year flood in 10 years, by Luz's math?
Use the picture in question 2.
- About 99%
- About 0.1%
- About 90.4%
- About 9.6%
Read this first
Use this
Table, U.S. coastal counties (NOAA), with columns Measure, NOAA figure: People in coastal counties, 129 million, almost 40% of the nation; Share of land (excluding Alaska), less than 10%; Coastal people per square mile, about 468; Nation's people per square mile, about 113.
Using the NOAA table, about how many people would live on a 10-square-mile coastal area at the coastal density, by Milo's math?
- About 47 people
- About 478 people
- About 4,680 people
- About 1,130 people
Model site scores, 1 (weak) to 3 (strong) (model data)
Site Soil Water Transport Safety from hazard A 3 3 3 1 B 3 2 1 1 C 1 2 3 2 D 1 1 1 3 Using the model scores, if safety counted double, what would sites A and D total, by Noah's math?
- A: 11 points; D: 9 points
- A: 10 points; D: 6 points
- A: 13 points; D: 7 points
- A: 20 points; D: 12 points
Use this
A world map marking the Ring of Fire and the Nile and Mississippi floodplains.
Which evidence best supports that floodplains make good farmland, by Pia's reading (USGS)?
- Floodplain farms need no water from the river beside them
- Floodplains sit high above rivers, out of reach of their floods
- Floodplain soils wash away each spring, leaving bare, hard rock behind for farmers
- The Nile and Mississippi floodplains owe their rich soils to flooding rivers
Which evidence best shows that earthquakes and eruptions are not random, by Ren's reading (USGS)?
- Most quakes and eruptions line up along plate boundaries
- Earthquakes strike evenly across each part of each continent
- Volcanoes appear wherever the most people live
- Eruptions happen most often at the poles
Model site scores, 1 (weak) to 3 (strong) (model data)
Site Soil Water Transport Safety from hazard A 3 3 3 1 B 3 2 1 1 C 1 2 3 2 D 1 1 1 3 Model data: town X sits on site A with levees; town Y sits on site D. Which comparison fits the model scores, by Tala's reading?
- Y has richer soil, since dry land holds more nutrients
- X has better soil, water and transport; Y is safer from hazards
- X is safer from floods, since levees remove the flood hazard
- The two towns score the same on each criterion
A world map marking the Ring of Fire and the Nile and Mississippi floodplains. Which summary of why people live near hazards fits USGS, by Zee's reading?
- People pick places by one factor, such as scenery, and skip the rest
- People live near hazards because those hazards have no costs at any time to weigh
- Rich soils, water, routes and resources draw people, who weigh them against hazards
- Hazards strike at random, so where people live does not matter
Which summary of a 100-year flood fits USGS, by Ari's reading?
- A flood that waits a full century after the last one
- Exactly one flood each century, spaced 100 years apart
- A flood 100 feet deep along the river
- A 1% chance each year, which can happen two years in a row
