Tori Science Quiz, Lessons 1-3

Which description defines pseudoscience?

• process of investigation that resembles science and follows scientific methods

• process of investigation that resembles science but does not follow scientific methods

• process of investigation that does not resemble science but follows scientific methods

• process of investigation that does not resemble science and does not follow scientific methods

Which activity requires a scientist to use creativity?

• • 
    

    observing the behavior of a mouse in a maze

• measuring the distance an object travels during an experiment

• designing an experiment to test the relationship between force and slope

• • 
    

    repeating an experiment several times to determine whether the results are valid

Which phrase is evidence of the limits of what science can study?

• any phenomenon that a scientist can observe or model

• only a phenomenon that a scientist can observe with instruments

• only a phenomenon that a scientist can observe without instruments

• only a phenomenon that a scientist will be able to explain with certainty

When scientists obtain new information, what happens to an existing scientific theory?

• It is revised.

• It is reevaluated.

• • 
    

    It becomes a law.

• It remains the same.

Which evidence best supports a scientific explanation?

• personal bias and the opinion of the scientist

• hypothesis formed after initial observations

• imagination and originality of the hypothesis

• experimental data obtained by using technology to get objective measurements

One of the following scientists contributed to the modification of atomic theory by showing that electrons orbit an atom’s nucleus and that electron orbits have a particular amount of energy. Which scientist and his work led to the modification of atomic theory?

• Joseph Thomson discovered electrons, which he believed did not move.

• John Dalton proposed a model of the atom showing it as a solid sphere.

• James Chadwick found that, in addition to protons and electrons, atoms also contain neutrons.

• Niels Bohr’s research showed that electrons follow specific paths around the nucleus of an atom.

Many scientists study climate theory and ways that Earth’s climate may have changed throughout its history. Researchers in Antarctica study ice samples that are thousands of years old. Which reasoning describes why they would study samples of ancient ice?

• They expect to find evidence of earthquakes.

• They want to locate traces of ancient human populations.

• They are seeking evidence of past atmospheric composition.

• • 
    

    They are searching for evidence of the region’s natural resources.

Early scientists wondered how two parents with brown eyes could have a child with blue eyes. Which of these studies would best help scientists investigate how blue eye color is inherited from brown-eyed parents?

• study the history of the family eye color of 100 random people

• study the history of the family eye color of 50 blue-eyed people

• study the history of a family in which all individuals within the past five generations were born with blue eyes

• study the history of four generations of 20 different families in which brown-eyed parents had at least one blue-eyed child

Karsten is researching a recent, controversial scientific issue. Which of these sources is a reliable source for Karsten to use for unbiased scientific information?

• an encyclopedia article in a respected, older encyclopedia

• a scientific journal with peer-reviewed articles

• • 
    

    a personal website or blog

• an informative pamphlet mailed to your home by a politician or lobby group

Cosmologists are scientists who study the history of the universe. Some cosmologists claim that our universe is constantly expanding, or getting larger all the time. Which evidence is most likely to support this claim?

• galaxies moving farther apart

• galaxies moving closer together

• galaxies not moving away from or toward each other

• galaxies spiraling away and towards each other