Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge: SC.5.N.2.2

Dr. Jones thinks she has just discovered a new plant species. How should she best communicate her findings with other scientists?

• Try to find another plant to discover.

• Post her discovery on the internet as fact.

• Publish her discovery for other scientists to test.

• Call her friends and tell them about the discovery.

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS4-1

Maria and her brother like to go fishing at the lake on Saturdays. They wondered if fish were more likely to bite at one time of day than another. They decided to try an experiment the next two Saturdays.

On the first Saturday, it was hot and sunny, and they went fishing in the morning. Maria and her brother caught a total of five fish. On the second Saturday, it was overcast and cool, and they went fishing in the afternoon. They only caught a total of three fish this time. Can they conclude that fish bite better in the morning?

• Yes. They caught more fish in the morning, so morning is a better time to fish.

• Yes. It is more likely to be sunny in the morning, and fish bite better when it is sunny.

• No. They will need to repeat their experiment several times, since the weather conditions and times were different both days.

• No. They only did their experiment on Saturdays, so they don't know if they would get the same results on other days.

Ximena is an expert at blowing bubbles with bubble gum. She discovered that her bubbles were bigger if she stood facing the Sun when she blew them. At lunch she told her three best friends about her discovery and after school they all tried it. No one else was able to blow bigger bubbles when they faced toward the Sun.

Which of the following would be best for Ximena to do next?

• She should give them each bigger pieces of bubble gum and try it one more time.

• She should prove she is right by blowing bubbles while her friends are watching.

• She should ask her friends to try it again and concentrate harder when they face the Sun.

• She should think about what else she is doing that might have made the bubbles bigger.

Jamal and Billy are testing paper airplanes to see which design makes a plane fly farther. Jamal's design has straight wings and Billy's has bent wings. They stood side by side and each threw their planes at the same time. They did this six times, measuring how far each plane went from the starting line in meters. They decided that Billy's design with bent wings travels farther. What should they do next to see if their results are valid?

• Have other friends try the same experiment.

• Have them throw planes in different locations.

• Have them throw with their eyes shut each time.

• Have Billy bend the wings up even more on his plane.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

Many people take vitamin C when they feel they are catching a cold. In fact, some people seem to recover more quickly when they take C vitamins. What is the main problem with concluding vitamin C helps you fight off a cold based on this information?

• We cannot know exactly how vitamin C works.

• We cannot keep track of how much vitamin C people take.

• We cannot know how long the cold would have lasted without the vitamin C.

• We cannot know what other changes in diet people may have made while sick.

Juana decided to find out if it was worth spending the money to buy bags of potting soil sold at the store. She bought one bag of potting soil and some bean seeds. At home she put potting soil in ten pots and soil she dug up from the yard in ten other pots. She planted one bean seed in each pot. After one week, all twenty seeds had sprouted and all the seedlings had two leaves. She concluded that her soil was just as good as potting soil.

What would be the best thing for Juana to do next?

• Repeat the experiment to see if she gets the same results.

• Mix the potting soil with her soil and see how seeds grow in it.

• Start watering some of the plants in each group twice as much.

• Let the plants grow in different soil types to see if they remain healthy.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Tom is creating an experiment to see what food his pet lizard likes the best. He creates an experiment in which he offers his lizard a choice of crickets or mealworms. He records how much of each choice is eaten each day. At the end of two weeks, Tom finds the lizard has eaten a few more mealworms than crickets.

What must Tom do to be sure his results are valid?

• include another food option besides crickets

• repeat the same experiment to confirm his results

• buy additional lizards and begin multiple experiments

• feed only mealworms for a while then offer a choice again

Ms. Barber's science class was doing an experiment to see how fast a toy car would roll down inclined planes made of three different materials; wood, metal and plastic. For the first trial, each group tested its car on a wooden board raised up by putting three science books under one end of the board. All the cars and boards were exactly the same. Each group used a stopwatch to time how fast the car traveled one meter. They each repeated it three times and averaged the results.

Since there was quite a large difference in average times, what should the class do next?

• Assign students to different groups before testing the metal and plastic surfaces.

• Only allow groups 1, 4 and 5 to participate in testing the other types of surfaces.

• Compare how each group conducted the experiment to see if they were all doing it the same way.

• Conclude that it takes 10 seconds for a car to travel one meter since that was the most common time.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

Ana has to walk her little sister to school each morning and walk her home each afternoon. There are two routes they could take and Ana wants to know which way is quickest. Every day for one week they walk to school down Palmetto Avenue and every afternoon they walk home on Redbug Street. Ana kept careful records of how much time each journey took.

Which of the following would help Ana the most in making sure that Palmetto Ave. is the shortest route?

• She should take Palmetto Avenue in both the morning and afternoon each day.

• She should count the number of steps it takes going down each of the streets.

• She should ask others to walk the same routes and see if they get the same results.

• She should carry her sister's book bag for her when they walk home in the afternoon.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

Janna has offered her canary, Sammy, a choice of sunflower seed or ground corn for two months. She has observed that Sammy eats more sunflower seeds than ground corn during the two months. She concludes Sammy prefers sunflower seeds over ground corn.

What should Janna do if she wants to confirm her results?

• Repeat the experiment with her friend's bird.

• Repeat the experiment using different food containers.

• Repeat the experiment with the same exact conditions.

• Repeat the experiment with another feed instead of corn.