Rashan is performing an investigation using several earthworms.  He places a rectangular box under a bright lamp and covers one-half of the box so that it is shaded.  Then, he puts the earthworms into the box on the side that is still brightly lit.  Later, Rashan notices that all of the earthworms have crawled over to the shaded side of the box. Based on his investigation, which of the following is an observation and NOT a personal opinion?

Gabriel is designing an experiment to see whether sugar or artificial sweetener will attract a greater number of ants.  Which statement BEST describes why Gabriel should write down his experimental procedure?

 A star named Sirius appears as the brightest star in the nighttime sky, even though a star named Pollux actually gives off more light.  Which of the following BEST explains why Sirius appears brighter than Pollux in our nighttime sky?

Jacob started creating a diagram to show some of the common characteristics of the planets in our solar system. 

Which characteristics should Jacob write in the empty circle of the diagram?

Keisha wants to show Amy what happens during one Earth day.  Keisha holds a small globe representing Earth, and Amy holds a large ball representing the Sun.

What should Keisha do to show Amy what happens during one Earth day?

 Dennis cannot scratch a mineral sample with his fingernail, but he observes that he can scratch the mineral sample with a piece of metal.  What physical property of the mineral sample is Dennis investigating? 

There are many different natural resources found in Florida.  Which of the following can be described as a renewable resource?

Earth has a great variety of surface features that are caused by weathering and erosion. Which of the following describes a change due only to weathering?

A model of the water cycle was made using an aquarium with a glass cover, a container of ice cubes, water, and a lamp.

Which part of the water cycle causes the water droplets to form on the glass cover?

 Earth has many types of climate zones.  The map below shows the tundra climate zone of the Northern Hemisphere.

Which of the following BEST describes this type of climate zone?

Kyle and Jan are comparing two samples of matter.  They make a table of the properties of each sample.

Which property provides the BEST evidence that both samples are solids rather than liquids?

Dani adds 10 grams (g) of salt to a jar of water.  She then adds 10 g of sand to a second jar of water.  She covers and shakes both jars and sets them on the table for five minutes.  The materials Dani uses are shown in the picture.

What should Dani expect to observe after those five minutes?

One morning, Ryan noticed there were tiny drops of water on the grass as he walked to school.  That afternoon, he did not see any drops of water on the grass when he returned home.  Which of the following BEST explains what happened to the drops of water?

 Jason stretches a rubber band between his fingers, as shown below.  When he plucks the rubber band, it makes a sound.

Which of the following BEST explains why the rubber band makes a sound when Jason plucks it? 

Frank uses a bowling ball to demonstrate how energy can cause changes.  Which of the following actions would NOT demonstrate a change caused by Frank applying energy to the ball?

Electric circuits must be properly connected or electricity will not flow.  Which of the following shows a properly connected circuit that would allow electricity to flow and light the bulb?

 Bar magnets have a north pole (N) and a south pole (S).  Latrisha places a bar magnet on three small straws so it can roll.  Her setup is shown below.

Placing which of the following objects at point X will cause the bar magnet to move away from point X?

Stephanie started pushing a bookcase across the room, as shown in picture 1. Then, she removed the books and continued pushing with the same force and direction, as shown in picture 2.

How does removing the books affect the motion of the bookcase?

The stem is an important part of many plants.  Which of the following is MOST similar to the role performed by the stem of a plant?

Turtles are cold-blooded, meaning they use the Sun to keep warm.  A student hypothesizes

     that his pet turtle will prefer swimming in warm water.  He places his turtle on a rock in the 

     middle of the bathtub and measures how much time the turtle spends off of the rock during a 

     five minute period.   He conducts the experiment under four conditions in the bathtub: no

     water, warm water, cool water, and room temperature water.  In this experiment , which is the 

     control group?

The drawings show two plants that grow in Florida, a penta and a sword fern.

The drawing below shows the spores that appear on the underside of the sword fern’s leaves.

Which of the following is present in the penta but NOT in the sword fern?

The life cycle of both butterflies and grasshoppers starts at the same stage.  The pictures below show the life cycle of both organisms.

Which of the following is the beginning stage of the life cycle for both the butterfly and the grasshopper?

 Loggerhead sea turtles are large turtles that live in the ocean and nest on the Florida coast. The female loggerhead sea turtle lays more than 100 eggs in the beach sand.  How is laying so many eggs an important adaptation that helps these turtles to survive?

The Sun provides the energy to be used by the living things in the lagoon food chain shown. 

Which of the following describes the transfer of energy from a producer to a consumer?

Organs in the human body carry out different functions.  Which human organ breaks down food so that it can be used by the human body?

Jane conducts an experiment that compares different fertilizers. The same type of bean is planted in each tray and they are all given the same amount of water and sunlight. 

What is the control group in Jane’s experiment?