Problem: Robbie is heating up two pots of water in his kitchen because he is preparing to make some shrimp. The first pot of water, pot A, has been heating for a long time. The second pot of water, pot B, has only been heating for a short period of time. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which pot will begin to boil its water later? Hint: Further heating then adds energy to the liquid particles, increasing their speed, kinetic energy, and temperature. This is the second slope on the curve. Once the particles are energetic enough to completely break free of each other, they start to enter the gas phase. Boiling occurs at the second plateau of this curve, and the temperature at this point is referred to as the boiling point . Again, the added heat is being used to break up the interactions between particles instead of increasing their kinetic energy, so no temperature increase is observed until all particles are in the gas phase. Finally, adding even more energy will further speed up the gas particles, increasing the kinetic energy and temperature of the substance.

A: pot B

Problem: Barb and Jill practiced small scale farming. Jill farmed the conventional way, while barb used the no-tillage method. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which farmer didn't have soil that took longer to dry in spring? Hint: The benefits provided by no-tillage to predators may lead to larger predator populations, which is a good way to control pests (biological control), but also can facilitate predation of the crop itself. In corn crops, for instance, predation by caterpillars can be higher in no-till than in conventional tillage fields.In places with rigorous winter, untilled soil can take longer to warm and dry in spring, which may delay planting to less ideal dates. Another factor to be considered is that organic residue from the prior year's crops lying on the surface of untilled fields can provide a favorable environment to pathogens, helping to increase the risk of transmitting diseases to the future crop. And because no-till farming provides good environment for pathogens, insects and weeds, it can lead farmers to a more intensive use of chemicals for pest control. Other disadvantages of no-till include underground rot, low soil temperatures and high moisture.Based on the balance of these factors, and because each farm has different problems, agroecologists will not attest that only no-till or complete tillage is the right way of farming. Yet, these are not the only possible choices regarding soil preparation, since there are intermediate practices such as strip-till, mulch-till and ridge-till, all of them just as no-till categorized as conservation tillage. Agroecologists, then, will evaluate the need of different practices for the contexts in which each farm is inserted.

A: Jill

Problem: Two brothers liked natural sciences. Ben decided to study Ecology, while his brother Dan decided to study Geography. They studied a lot and became very good at these subjects. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which brother studied more ecosystems? Hint: Ecology is the study of ecosystems. An ecosystem consists of all the living and nonliving components of the habitat. Whereas nutrients and certain elements are recycled through ecosystems, energy moves in just one direction. Many interactions among species within an ecosystem are centered around the flow of energy. The formation of ecosystems, from new land to current habitats, is usually based on the pioneer species, and these species are able to live in an area due to the nonliving factors, such as the climate, the soil and the amount of rainfall, of that area. The populations within an ecosystem also determine the stability of the system. Recent tremendous increases in the human population have raised many important ecological issues.

A: Ben

Problem: The extensive grazing in Tibet lead to carbon and nitrogen loss, subject to desertification, while Nepal adopted a different approach to food production, putting nature and biodiversity first. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which country experiences a higher anthropogenic productivity? Hint: Besides anthropogenic productivity of the land, the biodiversity of degraded land also declines, as previously mentioned.[12] With less biodiversity, this ecosystem is less adaptable to when disasters strike it[11][8] It has a smaller available food supply, in terms of plants, for animals, who then may die out or more likely may relocate. Proof of this decline is that presently 15-20% of Tibetan Plateau species are now considered endangered; and now because of this animal and plant absence, the soil quality of these degraded lands is very poor.[1] It does not hold the necessary nutrients, such as water, nitrogen, and carbon, essential to either supporting life or inviting life back to that land.[6] As a result of such carbon and nitrogen loss in the Tibetan Plateau, $8,033/ha and $13,315/ha were respectively lost in economic terms. Soils are further weakened by dust storms whose frequency increases because of degradation.[11][4] Erosion of soil becomes a bigger problem, since no longer are there as many plants to anchor in the soil. In the northern Chinese province alone, 400 million are affected every year with an associated 54 billion yuan of annual economic loss due to grassland degradation.

A:
Nepal