Scientific Inquiry

Which of the following best describes how science is different from other activities involving thought?

• Science can only be done by an individual person and not by groups that have a common goal.

• Science is the only activity that sometimes requires creativity to accomplish a goal.

• Science is the only activity that requires making thoughtful decisions.

• Science specifically involves observing, asking questions, and doing experiments on natural phenomena.

A student would like to determine how heating a liquid changes its volume. The student hypothesizes that the liquid will increase in volume. The following list shows the steps taken by the student in order to test the hypothesis.

Select the liquid to test.
Place the liquid in a sealed container.
Use a Bunsen burner to heat the liquid by 10°C.
Measure the volume of the liquid.
Record the results.

What is wrong with how the student conducted the investigation?

• The volume of the liquid should be measured before it is heated.

• The length of time it took for the liquid to be heated should be measured.

• The hypothesis was not valid because it is impossible for liquids to change in volume.

• The student should have increased the temperature of the liquid by more than 10ºC.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-4

NGSS.MS-PS3-4

A scientist conducts an experiment to test a hypothesis. The experiment confirms that the hypothesis could be true. When will the hypothesis most likely become a scientific theory?

• when the hypothesis is first thought of by the scientist

• when the hypothesis has survived extensive testing

• when a competing hypothesis has failed testing

• when the hypothesis is published

At one time, most people believed that the Universe was static, meaning it did not change. When larger and better telescopes were invented in the early 1900s, however, it was discovered that light from objects in space shifted toward longer wavelengths. Scientists concluded that only an expanding Universe could explain this shift.

Which of the following statements is supported by this example?

• The principle of the expanding Universe is a scientific law.

• Once a scientific theory has been accepted, it can never change.

• Scientific knowledge can change when new evidence or interpretations arise.

• The theory of the expanding Universe cannot change, even if new evidence arises.

A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question:

• hypothesis

• fact

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Scientific knowledge must be supported by evidence. An idea that is not supported by evidence but is made to appear scientific in order to make people think it is a part of science is called pseudoscience. Pseudoscience cannot be considered scientific because pseudoscientific ideas lack evidence. Which of the following ideas is considered scientific?

• Genes are made up of DNA and affect how an organism looks.

• The way the stars are positioned can be read to know the future.

• Bigfoot lives in the forest and travels around the U.S.

• Crop circles are made in fields by alien organisms.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS3-1

Robert studies ocean life. He observes that a species of octopus squirts a large cloud of black ink whenever a predator approaches. Which of the following is a scientific question that Robert could ask about what he observed?

• Does a predator like the taste of an octopus more than the taste of a squid?

• Does an octopus release a cloud of ink whenever it feels scared?

• Does a big octopus have a prettier ink cloud than a small octopus?

• Does releasing a cloud of ink make the octopus more likely to escape a predator?

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Which of the following statements is true regarding scientific hypotheses?

• A testable hypothesis is valuable, even if evidence shows that it is false.

• There are no valuable hypotheses.

• Every hypothesis is valuable, whether or not it is testable.

• A testable hypothesis is valuable only if all evidence supports it.

Since the beginning of time, some people have believed that the Earth is flat. Beginning around 300 B.C., however, some began to wonder if the Earth is actually spherical in shape. Those that favored the flat Earth theory made the following observations: The Earth is stable because it is a flat landmass sandwiched between a flat layer of air and a flat layer of water. If the Earth is spherical, then oceans should be curved on top, but they aren't. Some rivers flow for hundreds of miles but only fall a few feet. The rivers should fall farther if the Earth is spherical. If the Earth is spherical, people and animals that inhabit the Earth would notice as they walked along its surface. Since mariners are able to use flat compasses to navigate their ships without crashing, the Earth must not be a sphere. Those that disputed the flat Earth theory countered the claim by observing that Christopher Columbus was able to sail around the Earth without falling off the edge and later, by presenting satellite imagery taken from space of a spherical Earth. This example demonstrates that

• it is easy to resolve a scientific argument.

• it is not possible to settle a dispute.

• argumentation is a necessary part of scientific inquiry.

• scientific knowledge is unattainable.

Eric wants to perform an investigation on red blood cells, but before beginning his investigation, he wants to learn more about them. Which of the following is an appropriate reference material that Eric could use to learn more about red blood cells?

• a science-fiction book about blood

• a scientific journal

• a friend from school

• a newspaper editorial