5th STAAR Review 2022

A student recorded the time it took for all the water in a puddle on a sidewalk to evaporate after a rain. Which kind of energy causes water to evaporate?

• Light energy from streetlights

• Sound energy from passing cars

• Thermal energy from the environment

• Mechanical energy from nearby streets

Answer explanation

Turning water from a liquid to a gas is cause by thermal energy. The water is in a liquid state by adding heat to the water it evaporates into a gas or vapor. Vapor is another word for gas...remember that!

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-4

Earth continuously rotates on its axis while also moving in an orbit. About how much time does it take for Earth to make one complete rotation on its axis?

• 24 hours

• 30 days

• 60 minutes

• 365 days

Answer explanation

Rotate is the turning of the Earth on it's axis causing day and night.

Rotate is 24 hours

12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night for a total of 24 hours.

Orbit is 365 days or 1 year

For a class demonstration a student turned off the lights in the classroom. The student then shined light from a flashlight through a hole in a piece of cardboard. The class saw the narrow beam of light continue until another student placed a mirror in the light’s path.

The light did not continue past the mirror because —

• light cannot travel very far

• the mirror absorbed all the light

• the light was refracted back to the light source

• light travels in a straight line and cannot go around objects

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

Canyons and mesas are two landforms found in the western part of the United States. Which statement best describes how canyons and mesas are similar?

• Both were formed by slow-moving glaciers.

• Both were formed by erosion by wind and water

• Both were part of a mountain that was weathered by ice.

• Both were part of a desert that was reshaped by a flood.

Answer explanation

Since that Rivers are formed by moving water then so are mesas.

Tags

NGSS.4-ESS2-1

Students observe a glass of ice and water. The glass is dry on the outside. After ten minutes students see drops of water on the outside of the glass.

Which statement best explains the students’ observations?

• The water vapor in the air changes to a liquid when it touches the cold glass

• The cold water inside the glass rises and then slides down the outside of the glass.

• The ice in the glass melted and caused the water to overflow the glass

• The water moved to the outside surface through tiny holes in the glass

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In the early 1600s, the astronomer Galileo used a telescope to make observations of Mercury and Venus. What are the positions of these planets in relation to the sun?

• Mercury is the planet closest to the sun, and Venus is the second planet from the sun.

• Mercury is the second planet from the sun, and Venus is the third planet from the sun

• Venus is the planet closest to the sun, and Mercury is the second planet from the sun

• Mercury is the third planet from the sun, and Venus is the planet closest to the sun

Answer explanation

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos!

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

Which process will happen when the sun interacts with the ocean?

• Rain will fall only on the land

• Water will not evaporate at nighttime

• Salt water will become fresh water vapor.

• Precipitation will happen less often

Answer explanation

When saltwater evaporates it leaves the salt behind and becomes fresh water. We have evaporated water with salt in a cup during class and saw the salt was left behind as the water evaporated. Ex when we made Stalactites and Stalagmites, the salt was left behind on the string and the water evaporated.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

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A student prepared a snack that consisted of grapes, pecans, and strawberries sprinkled with white powdered sugar. The student stored the snack in a refrigerator. An hour later the student observed that the powdered sugar could no longer be seen but the fruit and nuts had not changed in appearance

What most likely happened to the sugar in the mixture?

• The sugar evaporated at the lower temperature in the refrigerator without causing any changes to the fruit and nuts

• The sugar was more dense than the other foods in the mixture, so it settled to the bottom of the container

• The sugar dissolved in the moisture on the fruit

• The sugar absorbed energy from the nuts and melted into a colorless liquid

Answer explanation

We know sugar dissolves, so must have dissolved from the liquid/moisture from the strawberries. Strawberries are not dry they are moist.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

A group of students is given four small cubes of the same size and instructed to place them in a beaker of water. One cube floats to the surface of the water. Two of the cubes float in the middle of the beaker under the surface of the water. The last cube sinks to the bottom of the beaker. Which conclusion is best supported by what the students observed?

• A Two of the four cubes are soluble in water

• All four cubes have different masses

• Each cube is made of a different type of solid material.

• One of the cubes is more dense than the other three

Answer explanation

Nothing dissolved, you can see the blocks still

2 of the cubes floated under the surface so those 2 cubes are the same mass

We do not know what the cubes are made of

The important thing to NOTICE is that these cubes are placed in a liquid and we are looking at if it floats or sinks- this is relative density which is what the whole experiment is about sinking or floating objects in a liquid.

Tags

NGSS.5-PS1-3

Which effect would most likely occur if a six-lane highway were built through an ecosystem?

• Competition for resources would be reduced

• Habitats available to animals would be reduced

• Air pollution would decrease.

• Water pollution would decrease

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NGSS.3-LS4-3

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