Science Benchmark Practice

Martin and his family are going on a camping trip for five days. He checks the weather ahead of time so that he knows what to pack. Martin puts together the chart shown below to record the data that he finds.

Which row of Martin’s data table describes climate instead of weather?

• Row 1

• Row 2

• Row 3

• Row 4

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

A family wants to take a trip in the spring. They can choose from four places to visit. They look at climate patterns for each place to help them decide where to go. Below is a table of their data.

The family wants to do a lot of outdoor activities. They want this place to be mostly dry and warm. Which location would they most likely choose to visit?

• Place 1

• Place 2

• Place 3

• Place 4

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

A team of scientists studied the climate of one town for 30 years. They put information about the average daily temperature for each month on graph A. They put information about the average total precipitation per month in graph B.

Using the graphs above, which statement best describes this town’s climate?

• Cold and moist

• Hot and moist

• Hot and dry

• Cold and dry

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

The table below shows 10 years of climate data for the month of May in Pleasantville.

How would you describe the climate of Pleasantville during May?

• There is a lot of sunshine during the month of May.

• Each month of May is colder than the previous year.

• Pleasantville usually gets less than 1 inch of precipitation in May.

• The high temperatures in May are usually in the 60s and 70s Fahrenheit.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

Rainstorms can wash away dirt, sand, and other parts of the land. A student wants to find a way to protect the earth from rainstorms. She fills three trays with the same amount of soil. Tray 1 contains only soil and no plants. She puts some plants into Tray 2 and a lot of plants into Tray 3. The picture below shows the student’s setup.

The student pours the same amount of water into each tray. A hose carries the extra water from each tray into a dish on the floor. She finds that Tray 1 had the most soil washed away. Tray 3 had the least amount of soil washed away. What can she learn from these findings?

• Water is stronger than plants.

• Plants can help keep soil in place.

• Trays with more soil will have more soil to wash away.

• Warm water makes soil wash away faster

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

A town received a warning that a big rainstorm was headed its way. The storm was supposed to bring many inches of rain and a lot of lightning. To prepare, the people of the town placed bags of sand around their homes, as shown in the picture below.

Why did the people of the town use the bags of sand?

• The bags prevent the lightning from hitting the house.

• The bags protect the house from strong winds.

• The bags protect the house from flooding caused by rain.

• The bags remind people to not go outside during the storm.

People who live in a windy town have a problem. Many of their houses get damaged because of the strong winds that blow into them. A local roofer has a possible solution. He wants to build a new type of roof. He tells the people of the town that the new roof will be slanted at an angle, as shown in the picture below. The angle will allow wind to travel up and away from the house.

Why should the people of the town buy this new roof?

• It is designed to change the direction of the flow of the wind.

• It is designed to stand up taller than the wind.

• It is designed to create wind below the house.

• It is designed to stop wind from reaching the house.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

Juanita lives in a house on the beach. There are hurricanes in the area that make the waves on the beach rise as much as 30 feet high. Juanita wants to give her parents ideas to prevent the house from flooding from these high waves. Which of the following ideas could possibly prevent this from happening?

• Putting a stronger roof on the house

• Moving the house about 10 feet away from the beach

• Placing a lightning rod on the house

• Raise the house up by 40 feet by putting it on tall stilts

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

Priscilla lives in a part of the country where it is very cold and snows a lot. They even get blizzards during the year.

She has gloves to keep her hands warm, but they aren’t warm enough during the blizzards. She wants to design gloves that will help her hands stay warmer. She did research on this problem before designing new gloves. What should she do next?

• Think about reducing the cost of different glove designs

• Think about different glove design solutions and then test them

• Think about researching the effects of blizzards on homes

• Think about a problem that relates to keeping her feet warm

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-4

Rosa is trying to design a new type of umbrella. When opened, the umbrella has a fan on the top that blows rain away from the person carrying it. This feature will help people stay drier in a rainstorm.

What is the best way for Rosa to test her design for the umbrella?

• She should open the umbrella outside on a sunny day.

• She should use lawn sprinklers outside to see how the fan works.

• She should use the umbrella on a day where there is a lot of wind.

• She should practice opening and closing the umbrella in the classroom.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-4

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3