Above is the deer population of Routt County National Forest between 1905 and 2005. The First White-tail deer were introduced to the forest for hunting in 1905. They are not native to the area, though they thrived in the environment.

White tailed deer eat the seeds of coniferous trees, berries, and an assortment of other plants. They tend to roam in small family herds and stick to areas where water is abundant and is unlikely to freeze completely in the winter.

In 1995, an environmental scientist watched a small herd of deer for ten days, recording their movements and taking note of herd size and stopping place. Below is a chart of his results.

Aproximately how many deer per year were added to the population between 1905 and 1920, assuming 1905 marks the 'zero hour' when the deer were first introduced?

Scientists studying historical trends in climate change have a number of tools at their disposal. One method of analyzing paleoclimate data involves the use of fossilized pollen spores embedded in sediment. Pollen spores are specific to the plant that produced them. Because the spores are resilient and are widely-distributed by wind, they provide a snapshot of the vegetation that was widespread at a particular point in time. By identifying the age of a sample and the composition of the various spores, scientists can identify the prominent vegetation and use this information to gain insight into the climate at the time the spores were deposited.

Scientists took sediment samples from various depths of a lakebed. They found that five types of pollen spores make up the majority of spore deposits in each sample. In Table 1, plants are listed along with the respective temperature ranges and levels of precipitation for the areas in which they are commonly found. Table 2 shows the composition of the assortment of spores in each of the four samples taken by the scientists.

Assuming Samples 1 through 4 are arranged chronologically, from oldest to most recent, what can be inferred about the change in temperature across the eras that they cover?

Study 1

A student wishes to study the effects of various household detergents on the mortality of a certain type of bacteria over an extended period of time. She introduces that type of bacteria to four separate agar plates (labeled Plate 1, Plate 2, Plate 3, and Plate 4), and then allows the bacteria to grow for three days. After this period, she treats Plate 1 with water, Plate 2 with Detergent X, Plate 3 with Detergent Y, and Plate 4 with Detergent Z. She then counts the number of bacterial colonies on each plate every eight hours for the next twenty-four hours.

Table 1

Study 2

The student now wishes to compare the effects of Detergent X and Detergent Y on the same type of bacteria as she used in Study 1. The student introduces that type of bacteria to three separate plates (labeled Plate I, Plate II, and Plate III), and then allows the bacteria to grow for 3 days. After this period, she treats Plate I with water, Plate II with Detergent X, and Plate III with Detergent Y. She then counts the number of bacterial colonies on each plate every eight hours for the next forty-eight hours.

A student obtains a mystery detergent of unknown identity and decides to perform an experiment with it. He starts with 80 bacterial colonies on a single plate, and observes that only 2 colonies remain at 40 hours following treatment with the detergent. What is the most likely identity of this detergent?

Glaciers move, on average, 1 meter per day, although many are known to move faster or slower depending on their size. Whether they are alpine glaciers, which form high in the mountains, or continental glaciers that cover huge areas of land near the poles, glaciers are responsible for breaking up rock and moving sediment as they move across the land.

Below is a chart of average speed of movement of an alpine glacier per year, as well the amount of sediment displaced by the glacier.

Two scientists have done research on an alpine lake that lies in the path of the glacier. Each took five samples of sediment from the lake.

Scientist 1 believes that the glacier is beginning to melt as it moves lower in elevation, releasing some of the sediment it has carried into mountain streams and springs, causing the makeup of sediments in the lake to change. He notes that the sediment from the lake bed contains brown chert, a rock that can only be found in elevations higher than that of the lake. Scientist 1 took his sample from the sediments that washed ashore on the beach of the lake.

Scientist 2 believes the glacier is not melting, but displacing rock beds so that the sediment loosens and breaks free of the bedrock and then is carried by wind and other erosive elements to the lake. He notes that the sediment from the lake bed contains only trace amounts of the brown chert, not enough to suggest the glacier is melting. Scientist 2 took his samples from sediment deposits at the bottom of the lake.

Below is a chart of the sediment collection samples and the percentage of brown chert found in each.

What could account for the slow decrease in average movement per year since 1998?

Above is the deer population of Routt County National Forest between 1905 and 2005. The First White-tail deer were introduced to the forest for hunting in 1905. They are not native to the area, though they thrived in the environment.

White tailed deer eat the seeds of coniferous trees, berries, and an assortment of other plants. They tend to roam in small family herds and stick to areas where water is abundant and is unlikely to freeze completely in the winter.

In 1995, an environmental scientist watched a small herd of deer for ten days, recording their movements and taking note of herd size and stopping place. Below is a chart of his results.

Given the current trend in population, what will the deer population likely be in 2015?

Above is the deer population of Routt County National Forest between 1905 and 2005. The First White-tail deer were introduced to the forest for hunting in 1905. They are not native to the area, though they thrived in the environment.

White tailed deer eat the seeds of coniferous trees, berries, and an assortment of other plants. They tend to roam in small family herds and stick to areas where water is abundant and is unlikely to freeze completely in the winter.

In 1995, an environmental scientist watched a small herd of deer for ten days, recording their movements and taking note of herd size and stopping place. Below is a chart of his results.

Which of the following statements could be correct, given the graph above?

Above is the deer population of Routt County National Forest between 1905 and 2005. The First White-tail deer were introduced to the forest for hunting in 1905. They are not native to the area, though they thrived in the environment.

White tailed deer eat the seeds of coniferous trees, berries, and an assortment of other plants. They tend to roam in small family herds and stick to areas where water is abundant and is unlikely to freeze completely in the winter.

In 1995, an environmental scientist watched a small herd of deer for ten days, recording their movements and taking note of herd size and stopping place. Below is a chart of his results.

| | | | Yampa Valley | | - | | ------------ |

What could have caused the sudden spike in population after the deer were introduced?

Researchers have discovered a new planet, Planet Z. This planet is orbited by several comets, A, B, C and D. Researchers have calculated the time it takes each comet to orbit Planet Z, the closest the comet gets to Planet Z and the diameter of the comet.

Another comet that orbits Planet Z was found and the comet has a diameter of 4.6km. Which of the following would be the best estimate of orbit time around Planet Z in Earth years?

Scientists studying historical trends in climate change have a number of tools at their disposal. One method of analyzing paleoclimate data involves the use of fossilized pollen spores embedded in sediment. Pollen spores are specific to the plant that produced them. Because the spores are resilient and are widely-distributed by wind, they provide a snapshot of the vegetation that was widespread at a particular point in time. By identifying the age of a sample and the composition of the various spores, scientists can identify the prominent vegetation and use this information to gain insight into the climate at the time the spores were deposited.

Scientists took sediment samples from various depths of a lakebed. They found that five types of pollen spores make up the majority of spore deposits in each sample. In Table 1, plants are listed along with the respective temperature ranges and levels of precipitation for the areas in which they are commonly found. Table 2 shows the composition of the assortment of spores in each of the four samples taken by the scientists.

The climate associated with Sample 2 could most likely be described as which of the following?

Scientists have long debated the origin of organic molecules on Earth. Organic molecules are those based on the atom carbon, which can form four distinct bonds in contrast to the fewer number allowed in most other non-metals. As a result of this property, carbon can give rise to the enormously complex molecular shapes necessary for life to arise.

Some scientists argue that organic matter was dissolved in water ice on comets, and brought to Earth early in its history. These comets crashed into the early Earth, and deposited carbon-based molecules in copious quantities to the Earth’s surface as their water melted.

In 2014, the first space probe landed on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Suppose that scientists find the following information from 5 distinct samples after landing on the comet. Each sample was taken at a single geographical location, but 5 meters deeper than the last. Sample 1 was taken at a depth of 1 meter below the surface.

These samples were compared to 5 similar samples from the surface of Mars. Scientists posited that this comparison would be meaningful because we know that life does not exist on Mars the same way that it does on Earth. Thus, they are comparing a known non-biological celestial body, Mars, with another celestial body, the comet, which may be seeding life on suitable plants.

On the comet, the best description of the relationship between depth of sampling and the concentration of organics is: