John was a relatively thin and bone-y child when he was younger. He would often get bruises and was prone to breaking bones. As an adult however he does lots of weight lifting and hasn't broken a bone yet. Will lifting weights likely increase or decrease bone thickness? Hint: A baby is born with zones of cartilage in its bones that allow growth of the bones. These areas, called growth plates , allow the bones to grow longer as the child grows. By the time the child reaches an age of about 18 to 25 years, all of the cartilage in the growth plate has been replaced by bone. This stops the bone from growing any longer. Even though bones stop growing in length in early adulthood, they can continue to increase in thickness throughout life. This thickening occurs in response to strain from increased muscle activity and from weight-lifting exercises.
Ans: increase

Two groups of scientists examined two fires. Group A put a large log on it, and group B made a fire with small twigs. They wanted to see which fire would last longer. Which group had a fire that lasted longer? Hint: A large log placed in a fire will burn relatively slowly. If the same mass of wood were added to the fire in the form of small twigs, they would burn much more quickly. This is because the twigs provide a greater surface area than the log does. An increase in the surface area of a reactant increases the rate of a reaction. Surface area is larger when a given amount of a solid is present as smaller particles. A powdered reactant has a greater surface area than the same reactant as a solid chunk. In order to increase the surface area of a substance, it may be ground into smaller particles or dissolved into a liquid. In solution, the dissolved particles are separated from each other and will react more quickly with other reactants.
Ans: Group A

Both Nicaragua and Costa Rica had large tract of pristine forests. They had one of the largest concentration of tropical species. In the 1980s Nicaragua started clearing up some of these forests. Instead, they have now vast tract of sugarcane production in that land. One can still visit Costa Rica where they kept those pristine forests intact. Which country would have larger plant food supply for its indigenous animals, Nicaragua or Costa Rica? 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.
Ans: Costa Rica

Dan studied two islands. Loon island had a very stable environment, and there weren't many diverse species of plants and animals. Wolf island displayed lots of evidence for natural selection, and had a large variety of species inhabiting it. Which island had animals that were not adapted to their environment? Hint: New species develop naturally through the process of natural selection . Due to natural selection, organisms with traits that better enable them to adapt to their environment will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers. Natural selection causes beneficial heritable traits to become more common in a population and unfavorable heritable traits to become less common. For example, a giraffe's neck is beneficial because it allows the giraffe to reach leaves high in trees. Natural selection caused this beneficial trait to become more common than short necks.
Ans: Loon