Released STAAR Science Questions

A student wearing skates rolls down a ramp. What force causes the student to slow down and stop rolling?

• gravity, which acts against the direction of motion

• friction, which acts against the direction of motion

• magnetism, which acts against the direction of motion

• mass, which increases with motion

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

The picture shows an athlete hitting a ball with a tennis racquet.

What is the athlete demonstrating in the picture?

• Doing work by pushing the ball and changing its motion and position.

• Changing the position but not the motion of the ball.

• Doing work by pulling the racquet and changing the ball's position but not its motion.

• Changing the position and motion of the ball without doing any work.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Which statement is true?

• The force of the bat will cause the baseball to change direction.

• The force of the bat will not change the direction of the baseball.

• The baseball will continue in the same direction after being hit by the bat.

• There will be no force applied to the baseball, because the baseball is moving faster than the bat.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

The diagram shows a view of a ball from above a table. The ball is rolling across the table. A student lightly taps the rolling ball in the direction show.

In which direction does the ball most likely move after the student taps the ball?

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Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Students drop the same heavy ball onto identical blocks of soft clay from different heights. For each height they measure the depth of the dent the ball makes in the clay. Which question is the student most likely trying to answer with this investigation?

• Does the height of the release affect the force of the impact?

• Does the mass of the ball affect the force of the impact?

• How does the mass of the ball change?

• How does the mass of the ball increase?

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

What other piece of equipment would be most useful for this experiment?

• A graduated cylinder to measure the volume of each sphere before it is launched.

• A beaker to collect the spheres after they are launched.

• A stopwatch to measure how long it takes to load each sphere on the spring.

• A meterstick or measuring tape to measure the height each sphere reaches after the sphere is launched.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

A student designs an experiment to test the force of a spring launcher and four spheres with the same diameter (same size) but with different masses. Which question is the student most likely trying to answer with this investigation?

• How does the mass of an object affect the height reached by that object?

• How do different surfaces affect the height reached by an object?

• How can you reduce the mass of each object?

• Which surface creates the most friction?

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Students used a spring scale to pull 3 different loads across a single surface. Each load had a different mass. They recorded the force (N) needed to pull each load across the surface. Which question were the students most likely trying to answer with this investigation?

• Which surface required the most force to pull the load?

• Does the mass of the load affect the force required to pull the load?

• How can the mass of the load change?

• Does the surface change the mass of the load?

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Cutting the wire at which numbered position would allow two of the lightbulbs to remain lit?

• Position 1

• Position 2

• Position 3

• Position 4

Which switches must be closed for Bulb 1 to remain dark but Bulb 2 to produce light?

• Switch 1 only must be closed

• Switches 2 and 3 must be closed

• Switches 1 and 3 must be closed

• Switches 1, 2 and 3 must be closed

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2