5.6D Science STAAR (Force & Motion)

A student uses a spring scale to pull a 50-gram block horizontally across a wood desk. Then the student pulls the block the same distance across surfaces of carpet, sandpaper, and glass. Which question is this investigation most likely designed to answer? (5.6D)

• How do block of different sizes react to force?

• How do different surfaces affect the amount of force needed to move a block?

• How do blocks affect spring scales?

• How does the mass of a block change when it is pulled across a desk?

A student observes that the craters on the moon are different sizes. The student designs an experiment to study the formation of craters. The materials for the experiment are marbles and a pan of flour. The student makes a hypothesis that the size of the craters made on the surface of the flour will depend on the height from which the marble is dropped. Some of the steps in the student's experiment are described in the picture. Which of these is most likely Step 3 in the student's experiment? (5.6D)

• Drop the same marble from different heights into the pan of flour

• Drop marbles of different masses from the same height into the pan of flour

• Drop marbles of different sizes from different heights into the pan of flour

• Drop a single marble one time into the pan of flour

A student designs an experiment to test the force of a spring using a spring launcher and four spheres with the same diameter but with different masses. What other piece of equipment would be most useful for this experiment? (5.6D)

• A graduated cylinder to measure the volume of each sphere before the sphere is launched

• A beaker to collect the spheres after they are launched

• A stopwatch to measure how long it takes to load each sphere on the spring

• A meterstick to measure the height each sphere reaches after the sphere is launched

A student designs an experiment to test the effects of the width of a piece of elastic on the elastic's ability to stretch. The student selects four pieces of elastic with different widths but the same length. The student then attaches blocks with different masses to the pieces of elastic. The results of the student's experiment are shown. What should the student do to improve this experiment? (5.6D)

• Use blocks of equal mass on the four pieces of elastic

• Use blocks with enough mass to cause the four pieces of elastic to break

• Use more than four pieces of elastic and four blocks

• Use four pieces of elastic with different lengths but the same width

Students drop the same heavy ball onto identical blocks of soft clay from different heights. For each height they measure the depth of the dent the ball makes in the clay. Why is depth of the dent different in each trial? (5.6D)

• The size of the ball changes.

• The material of the ball changes.

• The mass of the ball when it hits the clay changes.

• The force of the ball when it hits the clay changes.

The diagrams show two trials of an experiment in which a spring scale was used to measure force. This experiment can be used to determine--- (5.6D)

• how mass affects the force needed to move objects

• how force affects the mass of two objects

• how the fore used to pull a dictionary affects the mass of a box of marbles

• how the mass of a box of marbles affects the mass of a dictionary

Students design an experiment to determine how much force is needed to move blocks of wood of different masses slowly across a lab table. Which procedure should students include in their design? (5.6D)

• Conduct five trials, using a different scale to pull each block of wood

• Conduct five trials, pulling a different side of each block each time

• Conduct five trials, using a different table for each trial

• Conduct five trials, pulling each block of wood in the same way for each trial