Understanding Nature of Science Pretest

What is science?

• Knowledge about the natural world

• A process of discovery

• A way to help explain phenomena and events that occur in the universe

• All of the above

What is evidence?

• A strong opinion for a scientific idea

• An educated guess about a scientific idea

• Proof that supports or refutes a scientific idea

• An explanation for how something works in the natural world

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

NGSS.MS-PS3-5

Who has contributed to our understanding of the natural world?

• Only the ancient Roman and Greek philosophers

• Only scientists that have performed scientific research over the past 50 years

• Many people from different nations, societies and cultures over the years

• A select few individuals who lived in the early 1900s

Investigating involves:

• Testing questions

• Making observations

• Analyzing data

• All of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

NGSS.MS-ETS1-4

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

True or False: Scientific knowledge never changes. What we thought 100 years ago is the same as what we know today.

• True

• False

Which of the following does NOT correctly describe a scientist?

• A scientist is someone who uses science to explain things in the natural world

• A scientist carries out investigations and makes discoveries about the natural world

• A scientist is mostly likely an older male with a degree from a prestigious college

• Anyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, religion or socioeconomic background can be a scientist

Which of the following scientific ideas is a prediction about the natural world?

• A scientific theory

• A scientific law

How do scientists learn about things in the natural world?

• They philosophize and make up ideas based on their personal beliefs

• They carry out investigations and perform experiments

• They make non-scientific observations about things in the environment

• They create new evidence based on their assumption about the natural world

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-1

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Which of the following would NOT improve the validity of an investigation’s results?

• Performing a controlled experiment

• Using a large sample size

• Using assumptions and biases to form a conclusion

• Having the investigation reviewed by a peer review

Complete the statement. To reduce errors in an investigation, the experimenter should:

• use a small sample size and perform only one trial

• use a small sample size and perform multiple trials

• use a large sample size and perform only one trial

• use a large sample size and perform multiple trials

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-5