Unit 1: Studying Science

Scientists make observations, conduct experiments, and draw conclusions. Which statement is true of all scientists?

• Scientists study living things.

• Scientists study the natural world.

• Scientists study items found on Earth.

• Scientists study things found in outer space.

Kim places a cup of water and a cup of cooking oil in the freezer. Every 30 minutes, Kim checks the cups. She records the time when the liquid in each cup freezes. Which question is Kim investigating?

• Which liquid freezes faster, water or cooking oil?

• Which liquid tastes better frozen, water or cooking oil?

• Which item floats better, frozen water or frozen cooking oil?

• Which item melts faster, frozen water or frozen cooking oil?

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-4

NGSS.MS-PS3-4

Kwan asks people in his class to report how many times per week they recycle. Kwan asks friends in two classes to collect reports from their classmates, too. What is true about Kwan's investigation?

• It involves collaboration.

• It follows the scientific method.

• It produces results that don't change.

• It explains why people recycle.

Franz wants to investigate moon craters. He drips water into a shallow pan of flour. He holds the dropper at a different height each time he moves to a new area of the pan. Franz observes that the water drops make dents of differing sizes in the flour. Which types of experiment is Franz conducting?

• modeling

• surveying

• classifying

• directly studying

A scientist looks at a graph of the results of his experiment. He draws a conclusion about the results. What is one way the scientist uses his conclusion?

• to decide whether his results are correct

• to decide whether his hypothesis is correct

• to decide whether he should make a different conclusion

• to decide whether he should share his results with others

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

During Carmela's investigation a plant grew 1 inch each week for 4 weeks. When she displays her drawing of the weekly changes in the size of the plant, what skill is she using?

• communication

• inference

• observation

• variables

Tags

NGSS.3-ESS2-1

Sarah is studying water. She thinks that adding salt to water may make it freeze at a higher temperature. Which word describes her statement?

• conclusion

• hypothesis

• investigation

• variable

Emily grew one plant on the windowsill. She grew another plant inside a black plastic bag. She made a poster about how the plant grew. What does Emily's poster do?

• predicts the data

• classifies the data

• hypothesizes the data

• communicates the data

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Nicholas wants to add more blueberries to a muffin recipe. He thinks it will make the muffins taste better. What part of the inquiry process are the blueberries?

• variable

• question

• hypothesis

• conclusion

Connor and Dylan studied how far two toy pull-back cars travel. Each student pulled a car back and let it go. Then they measured how far each car traveled before it stopped. What part of the inquiry process did the students do?

• made a prediction

• drew a conclusion

• conducted an investigation

• communicated their results

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2