Lesson 1 – Review Question Answers

Use the sample answers below to check the Review Questions on your own.

1. Describe the contributions and interactions of the Earth’s spheres at the beach/shoreline.  

Weathered rock materials make up the beach, which is worked over by waves of water driven by atmospheric winds that are generated by energy from the sun. (Many different components of Earth’s systems find a point of interaction at the shoreline.)

2. Complete the following diagram by labeling the lettered components of the geosphere, and the depths (in km) of each boundary.  

A – Crust (5-70km); B – Mantle (70-2,890 km); C – Core (2,890-6,371 km); D – Lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle); E – Asthenosphere (plastic layer below crust, 100-370 km); F – Mantle; G – Outer core (2,890-5,150 km); Inner core (5,150-6,371). (Figure 1.12)

3. An atmospheric scientist is working on determining the relationship between temperature, moisture content, and ice crystal formation by manipulating an artificial atmosphere in the laboratory. Is this research experimental or historical science? Explain your choice.  

This is experimental science because it involves controlled conditions in which a hypothesis is tested in a repeatable fashion.

4. What are the two sources of energy that drive Earth processes? What are two examples of these processes at work?  

The sun is one source of energy, and the heat from the planet’s interior is the other. The sun warms the oceans and land, creating evaporation and weather patterns, and provides energy for plants via photosynthesis. The planet’s thermal energy comes from initial formation during Creation Week and radioactive decay in the mantle and crust, expressed at the surface in volcanic eruptions, geysers, and plate tectonic movements.

5. Provide a brief comparison of young-Earth creation and naturalistic evolution concerning the following issues: use of the Bible, age of the earth and universe, and ancestry of life forms.  

Young-Earth creation uses the Bible as a source of accurate information about the world’s history, while naturalistic evolution says scripture has no bearing on matters of Earth history. Young-Earth creation says the earth and universe are only a few thousands of years old, while naturalistic evolution says Earth is billions of years old. Young-Earth creation says God directly and miraculously created kinds of organisms that have since diversified in a limited fashion and humans were created separately and miraculously apart from other animals, while naturalistic evolution says only natural processes working over immense periods of time are responsible for the evolutionary history of all living and extinct inhabitants with no role for God.

6. What verses from the Book of Genesis contribute to the dominion mandate? How are the terms and language used in these verses similar? How are they different?  

Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 2:15 contribute to the dominion mandate. Both verses involve God telling mankind to rule over creation and care for it. The first verse uses words like “subdue” and “rule over,” while the second uses words like “work it” and “take care of it.”