Act Aspire Science Prep

Which question is the experiment most likely designed to answer?

• What are the effects of water on plant growth?

• What amount of fertilizer is best to use for plants?

• How does the height of a plant affect how much sunlight it needs?

• How does the amount of sunlight a plant receives affect its growth?

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

A scientist studied two species of sea snail and recorded the physical characteristics in the data table. Which conclusion about the data is based on correct reasoning?

• If a snail she studied had a brown shell, then it was a red foot snail.

• If a snail she studied had a brown shell, then it had a white underside.

• If a snail she studied was 175 millimeters long, then it had a white underside.

• If a snail she studied was 125 millimeters long, then it was red foot snail.

A scientist studying a species of flower that grows on the side of a mountain measured the height of many of the flowers at different elevations. His results are shown in the graph. Which statement best describes the pattern of growth for the flowers during this experiment?

• The flowers cannot grow below elevations of 1,000 meters.

• The flowers’ heights increase with higher elevation.

• The flowers’ heights are unaffected by elevation.

• The flowers grow taller at elevations of around 3,000 meters.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

Jenny compared the average temperature and annual rainfall for two towns in the same state. The results are shown in the data table. From these results, Jenny concluded that hotter weather causes more rain to fall. What is another reasonable interpretation of this data?

• Farmon is a very cold place to live.

• Colder weather causes more rain to fall.

• Rain causes the temperature to increase.

• Davis is the rainiest town in the entire state.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

Rachel wonders how the number of ice cubes added to a glass of juice affects the temperature of the juice. She wants to design an investigation that tests this question and that will produce clear, repeatable results.

Which data table shows the best experimental design? A, B, C, or D?

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Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS3-4

Miguel was conducting an experiment. He wrote the following sentences in his notebook:

1. The starting temperature of the water was 10 degrees Celsius.
2. An object weighing 5 grams was placed in the water.
3. The temperature of the water increased to 15 degrees.
4. The object must have been hotter than 10 degrees.

In which sentence did Miguel make an inference?

• sentence 2

• sentence 4

• sentence 1

• sentence 3

Which graph best represents the information in the table?

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Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Four separate experiments were performed to compare the friction of different objects with gravity. One experiment used an ice cube. Another experiment used a rock. The third used an eraser, and the last used a wood block. Each object is placed at one end of a plastic tray. The end of the tray is lifted slowly. A metric ruler is used to measure the height of the raised end of the tray at which each object begins to slide.

Identify one similarity between the four experiments.

• A)The friction of the four objects are dissimilar.

• B)The objects started to slide at different heights.

• C)An ice cube, a rock, an eraser, and a wood block were used.

• D)A metric ruler was used to measure the height of the tray.

Sarah is performing two experiments to measure the correlation between light exposure and plant growth. Sarah uses ten plants of the same species that are approximately the same starting height. She divides the plants into two groups. In one experiment, she places five plants outside in the school yard. Sarah grows the plants under natural conditions: light, water, and temperature. In the second experiment, she keeps the other group of five plants in the lab and places them under grow lights, special plant lights that have more blue and red wavelengths than natural sunlight. Sarah adds water to the pots every 48 hours. Sarah measures all plant growth daily for thirty days.

Disregarding light as a variable, which is a significant difference between the two experiments?

• A)the age of the plants

• B)natural genetic variation

• C)the care the plant groups receive

• D)techniques for measuring plant growth

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Bill did an experiment to find the best propellant for his model rockets. He took several 10-gram samples of assorted fuels and lit them with nichrome wire, recording the time it took to completely burn teach sample. He thought the faster-burning fuel would be best.Ted also liked to fly rockets and wanted to determine best rocket performance. He tested different amounts, measured in milliliters, of the same fuel and timed the burn rates for each volume of fuel.

What is the one criteria both Bill and Ted thought was important for their experiments?

• A)the fuel burn rate

• B)the type of fuel used

• C)the size of the rocket

• D)the amount of fuel used