Big Ideas 1 and 2: Nature and Practice of Science

Students look out a window for 5 min. They record the number of vehicles that pass, the type of vehicle (car, pickup truck, motorcycle, and so on), and the color of the vehicle. What are the students doing?

• concluding

• experimenting

• predicting

• observing

A scientific method is a way to investigate a scientific problem. Although the order of the steps can vary, the tasks performed during each step often stay the same. During which step of the scientific method would a scientist collect data?

• developing a plan

• forming a prediction

• testing the prediction

• communicating the results

Joshua has been growing plants that receive 1/2 cup of water two times per week. Now he wants to see what happens to the plants when the amount of water is reduced, as shown in the chart. Which plant is the control group?

• Plant 1

• Plant 2

• Plant 3

• Plant 4

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Lily wants to determine how color affects the ability of a material to absorb heat. She places a sheet of white construction paper under a lamp and a sheet of black construction paper in a closet. She places a thermometer on both sheets of paper and records the temperatures. After ten minutes, she records the temperatures again. Lily concludes that white objects absorb heat better than black objects. She shares her results with the class. Is her conclusion valid?

• Yes, because she analyzes data.

• No, because she does not control variables.

• Yes, because she communicates her results.

• No, because she set up an experiment using two different colors.

Scientists want to determine if walls that are painted a certain color will raise a person's blood pressure. They plan to set up four rooms. Which variables should stay the same (constant) in each room?

• the color used

• the type of room used

• the instruments used to test the blood pressure

• the amount of time the person spends in the room

Over the years, a scientist collected information about the number of turtles living in a river. The following graph shows the information the scientist collected. What is a reasonable prediction to make from this graph?

• The number of turtles in the river will continue to drop.

• The number of turtles in the river will start to level off.

• The number of turtles in the river will start to increase

• The number of turtles in the river will not be able to be estimated in the future.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Javier wanted to learn more about Igneous Rocks, one of the three types of rocks that are naturally formed. Which of the following sources of information would be Javier's best choice?

• a book of poems about landscapes

• his friends

• a geology textbook

• wikipedia

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

Imagine that a scientist suggests that the size of a spider population depends on the temperature. What observations must this scientist make in order to collect evidence to support his or her hypothesis?

• The scientist must observe the spider population only in winter.

• The scientist must observe the spider population in the laboratory.

• The scientist must observe the spider population in different areas.

• The scientist must observe the spider population throughout the year.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

A scientist explained that the fish population in a pond was getting smaller. She proposed that the cause was an increase in the water temperature. The scientist collected information and recorded it in the following table.

What other information should this scientist have collected to support her explanation?

• the water average water temperature

• the times and dates that the counts were completed

• the number of lily pads in the pond

• the other types of organisms that were living in the pond

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

What are the types of investigations we have learned about in class?

• controlled experiment

• conclusions

• repeated observations

• models and simulations

• field studies

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-2