Nature of Science FSA Review

Fatima wanted to learn how much a green buttonwood bush might grow in a month. Every day, she took notes on three green buttonwood bushes in a row in her garden. Which of her notes is a personal opinion?

• The bush in the middle has grown by one inch.

• The bush on the left does not seem to have grown as much as the other two.

• The bush on the right has three new shoots today.

• All the bushes grew two inches in the past week.

A scientist wanted to determine how long it would take to charge different phone batteries. He did his research and found the five most popular phone types and choose those to use for his research. He then bought 5 identical wireless chargers for each of the phones. Before charging the phones he made sure each battery was at zero percent. He placed each of the batteries in a charger and noted his observations. Which of his notes is a personal opinion?

• After four hours, the battery was no longer charging

• The charging process took less time compared to charging the old type of battery

• The charging process took a long time

• After two hours the battery was 90% charged.

Lena did an experiment to see what type of food her parrot liked best. Each day, she fed her parrot the same amount of food at the same time. She gave her parrot four different brands of seed mixes: one each week, for four weeks. What about Lena's experiment allowed her to collect accurate data?

• She kept the conditions for the experiment constant except for the brand of seed mix used

• She never stopped the experiment once she had started it.

• She made sure to continue the experiment for four weeks.

• She used her pet parrot instead of wild parrot as the subject.

Avi is comparing two brands of batteries. He uses two identical flashlights to see which battery lasts longer.

Why is it important for this experiment to be repeated?

• To check whether the results are consistent

• To make sure the flashlights were not broken

• To check that no one turned off one of the flashlights

• To make a prediction about a different brand of battery

Tags

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Manuel and Chris are investigating the kinds of flowers that attract the most butterflies. They decided to use four different flowers, sunflowers, daisies, roses, and dandelions. What is the best reason they should take careful notes about how they carry out their investigation?

• So they do not leave out any steps

• So they can take out answers they do not like and draw a conclusion

• So their conclusions can be checked by someone else repeating their investigation

• So they can decide whether they want to finish their investigation

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Oswald conducted an experiment to determine whether laurel oak trees would grow in very cold weather. Which of his observations is scientifically testable?

• The bark of young laurel oak trees feel particularly smooth in very cold weather.

• Young Laurel Oak trees do not grow to look as nice as when the weather is warm

• Young Laurel oak trees do not like frost.

• Young Laurel oak trees produce less leaves in very cold weather compared to warm weather.

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Jason performed an experiment to find out how well mold grows on different kinds of food. He left a piece of bread, a piece of cheese, and an apple cut in half on the lab table in his science classroom. Every day when he went to science class, he observed the mold growing on the different samples. Then he wrote down his observations. His data showed that the cheese and bread were nearly covered in mold after a week. Samantha decided to repeat Jason's experiment. Her data showed that after two weeks, there was no mold on any of her samples. Which of the following should Samantha do first?

• Repeat her experiment until she gets the same results as Jason

• Research mold on the internet

• Review the records of both experiments to see whether they used the same procedures

• Write a paper on her findings and present it to her science class

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

A scientist conducted an experiment to determine whether dogs will have poor health if they are given food that is rich in sugar. Which of his observations is scientifically testable?

• Dogs that eat sugar-rich food become less friendly

• Dogs that eat sugar-rich food will gain weight

• Dogs that eat sugar-rich food do not grow beautiful hair

• Dogs that eat sugar rich food are happier

Patrick is researching the difference between swamps, bogs, and forests on the internet. Which website most likely contains reliable information?

• Website run by a university

• Website run by a fishing magazine

• Website run by a fifth grade class at another school

• Website in which questions are asked and readers supply answers

Which variable is Beth testing?

• Brand of fertilizer used

• Frequency that the plant is fertilized

• Amount of fertilizer used

• Time of day the plants are fertilized

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

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